31 Four Months I

The warm sunlight shone on the light expanses of green of the Outer Sect as a carriage slowly made its way to the north. The morning dew glistened on the light, making the grass look as if it was covered with uncountable small stars.

Inside the carriage, a young boy was lying with his head on the wooden wall with his eyes closed. His breathing was slow, and the rocking of the carriage didn't seem to bother him one bit as he enjoyed a deep sleep. By his side was a crude sword in a simple leather sheath standing against the wall.

To make the most of the last days in the Warrior Hall, Amon had decided to go on without sleep. As a Body Tempering cultivator, he could forfeit sleep for a few days without much problem, so Lya allowed it.

It was also a good way for him to test the limits of his stamina and mental resistance as he dealt with one failure after another without rest. He also decided to use the Soulrousing Technique during this time, as a way to make the most of the time.

Lya realized that he was turning more and more irritable by the hour, but he managed to channel all of his negative emotions into fighting spirit. He decided to vent his frustrations on the training.

This was a lesson for him. Because Amon started losing his cool and making more mistakes than usual.He had to learn to clear his mind during combat or it would make him perform at a lower level than usual.

To her surprise, the results were good. On the thirteenth day, Amon managed to pass the third level of the Myriad Projectile Room and he almost beat the sword puppet on the Sparring Room after a combat that took a full fifteen minutes to finish.

Most fights would end in mere seconds, as any mistake during a fight was potentially lethal. For a fight to drag on for minutes while Amon faced a stronger opponent meant he was starting to properly analyze his movements, detect feints and what the puppet could be planning to do next.

In other words, Amon was starting to attain a warrior's mindset: he was starting to look past what was happening and taking a glimpse on what would happen after each move in combat. His experience was accumulating and the possibilities of counters, attacks and dodges possible after each of his moves or the puppet's were starting to be engraved into his mind. He was starting to learn how to react under each situation, and as such he managed to balance a fight where he was at disadvantage.

More than that, the last exchange, where Amon lost, would have been his victory if he and the puppet had the same level of physical strength. Lya had to admit that even if Amon was no genius, he had a good head on his shoulders and the proper mindset of looking past his mistakes and learning from them rather than letting them weight down on his mind.

Considering that he fought dozens of rounds each day and lost all of them, it was an incredible achievement. He was nothing more than a kid approaching his fourteen years of life, acting this way showed a great deal of maturity and focus.

In the fourteenth day, Amon failed the fourth level of the Myriad Projectile Room, but almost managed to win. His eyes were bloodshot as he left the room in defeat without a word. Looking at his expression, Lya knew that his exhaustion and frustrations were piling up again and he wasn't able to deal with them anymore.

During the combat with the puppet, his strikes turned more and more aggressive, lacking the cunning and cool-headedness of the last day. As such, his results worsened very swiftly. This only added to him getting more and more frustrated as he felt he was taking a step back instead of a step forward. It was in that moment that Lya decided to act.

"Amon, pay attention." Her voice was incredibly serious as she spoke with him. "You can't let yourself be influenced by emotions this way."

"I know that, Lya, but what else can I do?" He asked in frustration. His brows were creased and he looked very annoyed. "At most I'll learn how to hold it back."

"It is not about holding them back; it is about dealing with them." Lya's tone was grave. This was an essential lesson. "Sit down and close your eyes."

Amon had a weary look on his face and dark circles surrounded his dark eyes as he hesitated for a moment before sitting down and crossing his legs.

"We must never hold our emotions back. This will eventually numb us to it, and your cultivation will suffer greatly." Lya started lecturing him with a calm and serene voice.

"What we must do is face these emotions head on. You have to accept them, but not let them influence your thoughts or your decisions."

"You are tired, you are irritated and you are frustrated." Lya voice was like a stream of cold water extinguishing a fire as Amon slowly calmed down. "When you are feeling negative emotions, you must balance them, otherwise you will always be a slave to your emotions."

"Soul Cultivators must use their emotions, not the other way around."Care and concern showed in her voice as she advised him. "Find a way to use all of this negativity to your favor. Let it power a strike of your instead of deciding how you should act in the fight."

"Your emotions control your sword; your reason controls your body." It was a common saying in the past. You should let your emotions power your strikes, as the emotions originated from the soul and the soul controlled the Qi. You should let your reason dictate how you act, for this is when you would avoid making mistakes. The emotions were the sword; the reason was the hand wielding it.

"This is how a Sword Cultivator should act. You must make a clear distinction of reason and emotion." Lya concluded.

Amon took deep breaths as he listened to her. He knew he was being overwhelmed by his emotions, but getting back in control was incredibly hard.

"Try again." Lya said when Amon seemed to have calmed down.

Amon slowly got up, still taking deep breaths. He opened his eyes and faced the blank puppet.

"Start!" He shouted. The room went dark and the puppet moved in his direction.

This time, the fight lasted longer. Amon had gotten a better hold of himself than in his previous fight. Still, the result was a loss.

By the fifteenth day, Amon was still failing in everything, but he was slowly improving. He was far from the level he was at before the marathon, but he was also above than when Lya interfered.

This meant that his progress was actually very good, because he was getting better at controlling himself while his frustration and exhaustion only grew. In other words, his rate of improvement was higher than the worsening of his mood.

On the sixteenth day, Amon packed his things at sunrise and left Hell's Keeper City. His ashen hair was a mess and his eyelids were falling all the time, as if he was going to sleep on his feet at any moment. Still, there was a faint and cold confidence in the glint of his golden eyes that had not been there before.

It was different from being cocky. It was not an overestimation of his capabilities; it was simply complete understanding of what he could do. Amon had taken truly taken the first steps in the path of Sword Cultivators.

Now, what was left was for him to further reinforce his foundations and learn more under Lya, all of that to prepare for the Promotion Competition in four months.

In the dark-red space, Lya smiled tenderly as she saw Amon sleeping soundly through her divine sense. He was a very eager kid, and it was only normal for him to make mistakes. There was no such thing as a perfect human. Every single person had flaws, and those that believed otherwise were the most flawed of all, because they would never grow.

The bright sun rose higher and higher in the sky as the carriage got closer to the Northern Station. It was a beautiful day, perfect for one to take a walk and enjoy the fresh air and the view.

"Arthur really built something nice." Lya thought to herself. Arthur Royce… he had been a strange man.

On one side, he fought for his ideals with everything that he had, just like Alexei. On the other, even if he did his utmost to avoid killing, Lya knew that Arthur had no real regard for life. She had never been able to understand Arthur and she thought that she would never be able to.

In that regard, Arthur was almost the opposite of Alexei. Because Alexei cherished life like no one Lya had ever met. Yet, he wouldn't hesitate to kill if needed.

They had been the strongest cultivators of their generation, and they were most likely the most flawed of them all.

She could only give a wry smile thinking of this as tears started falling down her face. Maybe if they accepted their flaws they would have been able to deal with them. Because only when you recognize the existence of a problem you are able can solve it.

She would not let Amon go down that path. She would give it her all to be sure he wouldn't have his pride stand in the way of his growth. Because pride was what held a person back when it was time to rush forward, and cultivation was an endless path.