Omari lay broken and unconscious on the ground, his face twitching, eyebrows drawn together into a deep, troubled V.
A drop of water landed on his cheek followed by many more.He snapped his eyes open, taking a deep breath and lay back first, looking up.
He closed his eyes so the rain didn't get into them.A faint ability to move returned to his body, a small victory against the pain. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out an orange healing pill and swallowed it. His whole body felt refreshed for a few seconds, then he was only left with soreness. He forced himself up and started his training, pushing his body beyond its limits.
His body was a symphony of pain;each sword swing was a leaden arc, his muscles screaming in protest. The air sawed in and out of his burning lungs, forcing him to a stumbling walk.
Still,he forced himself forward, a slave to his own will, until his legs finally gave out and the world tipped sideways. The taste of dirt was a welcome bitterness compared to the taste of failure.
"A new life is waiting for me,I won't give up," he groaned.
Though his body demanded he stop,he willed himself forward, each step a struggle, until he could not take another.
At the end of every week,the three men he hired would return and beat him up, leaving him passed out. His training continued for three weeks straight with him sleeping there and waking up there, never going back to his room in the inn.
He woke up and swallowed a healing pill after getting beaten up the previous day by the three men.He rolled and lay looking at the sky.
Ngrr!!He groaned, slamming his hand into the ground. He stood up, his body sore and in pain, filled with anger and frustration, and walked for a bit then stopped, leaning on a tree.
Thud!
His punch landed on the tree,"Why! Why! Why haven't I broken through yet?" he vented, punching the huge tree.
Ignoring the pain,he started punching faster, letting his anger out.
"Was it all a lie,why can't I break through!!" He yelled.
His heart was beating faster with every punch,but he didn't slow down.
Ahhhh!!!He screamed.
A strong heartbeat shook the stones and sticks on the ground around the tree and a wave of air pressure exploded from his body,shattering boulders around the area.
His punch landed on the tree,breaking through the bark and shattering it. The upper part of the tree fell down, leaving Omari frozen in shock.
"I...I did it,"he uttered.
He examined his body for a while and walked over to a boulder.
Looking down at the huge boulder,he inhaled and exhaled slowly. Then he felt a newfound strength gathering in his right arm; he felt a bit lighter and more agile.
"This is it;this stage is all about making the body incredibly resilient and durable, a true vessel ready for spiritual energy."
Thud!!!
His fist fell down hard on the boulder,shattering it to small pieces, leaving a small crater on the ground.
A smile crept up on his lips,overjoyed, "Finally, the last stage of Body Refinement, the Unbreakable Body."
The next moment he was speeding in the forest with a smile on his face.His speed was incredible, beyond a mortal's speed. He screeched to a halt while looking at a tree branch.
"It's been a while since I tried it,"he said, and jumped up, landing on the branch and almost lost his balance. With a deep inhale and exhale to calm himself, he jumped again, landing perfectly on another branch, instantly jumping to another.
He started going as fast as he could,jumping and appearing above the treetops and landing perfectly on the branches. His senses were a bit sharper, but his body had the most improvement.
A few hours later,after testing the power of Body Refinement, the Unbreakable Body, he was now standing on the tallest tree he could find on a branch, arms opened on his sides, looking at the sky.
The wind was hitting his face,his locs fluttering back and forth with the wind.
"This is amazing,this feeling is so addictive, I feel like I can own the world now."
A drop of water fell on his forehead and he opened his eyes with a smile.He fell backwards, still smiling, and twisted in mid-air, then landed on his feet with grace. He instantly sprinted forward, heading back to the city while the rain started falling down.
A few moments later he was in his room at the inn,putting his clothes on after taking a bath. He pushed his window open and stared at the rain pouring down from the night sky and couldn't help but feel lonely.
"Hope you're well,mother," he uttered in his mind.
The next day he was back at his training grounds,wondering how he would have to proceed with his training and finding the cultivation world.
"There's no need to look for what's right in front of you....when your spirit awakens,you'll see past the veil," he repeated the words of the storyteller.
"When your spirit awakens,you'll see past the veil. I'll have to reach the Awakened stage to find the cultivation world. He also said I'll have to risk my life for my spirit to awaken. What does that mean?"
After a while of pondering,Omari decided to focus on training his mind and body, getting used to his late-stage Body Refinement.
He did his normal body exercises and then did breathing exercises.For the next two months, that was all he did. He had become better and better at meditation. From doing it for a couple of minutes to doing it for half a day.
After the two months,he was used to his Unbreakable Body power. He stood up from his meditation position and stretched his muscles and joints.
"My progress is slow and I still haven't figured out how I'm supposed to risk my life.A month ago I tried risking my life by letting those three guys beat me to a near-death stage, but with my body right now, they didn't do much damage."
He walked his way back to the city,wondering how he was supposed to risk his life. People in the city were a little too busy, but he tried his best to ignore them. He went to his room as the sun went down.
Without anything else to do,Omari decided to continue his meditation in his room.
Paaaaaa!
Paaaaa!
Paaaaa!
He snapped his eyes open and instantly opened his window to see fireworks.
"Happy New Year!!!"the people on the streets yelled, and they started singing and dancing with their families.
Omari closed his window,jumped into bed, and covered his ears with his pillow.
The next day,Omari jumped out of his bed, haunted by his three victims in his sleep. He took a bath, made his bed, and cleaned his room.
"I'm running out of money;I need to find the cultivation world before that," he sighed.
He walked out of the inn and saw two knights dragging a man away with people on the streets throwing trash at the man.
"How dare he try to rob the palace,what a fool," a woman spoke.
"Who would risk his life robbing the palace?That's just suicide; he's definitely getting the death penalty," another man spoke.
Omari raised an eyebrow,"He risked his life; he knew if he got caught he would be killed, but he risked it. I told those men to beat me up, but I've never told them to hit to kill; I always told them to leave me alive, so I never really risked my life," he thought.
He left the city and started running to his training site next to the river.After doing his daily training, he kept on training, pushing past his limits.
After he was done,he ran deep into the forest; even though he had little to no strength left, he kept going with a destination in mind.
He ran for almost an hour,then finally came to a stop, his tank empty, breathless and out of strength.
He stood at the edge of a mountainous terrain,where a sheer rocky cliff dropped into the valley below, scattered with massive boulders.
"If this fails...."He clenched his fists. "I'm dead."
He leaned forward and let the ground vanish beneath him.The wind roared in his ears as the world blurred. His stomach lurched into his throat. This wasn't a training exercise; it was suicide.
"I'm going to die",a primal part of his mind shrieked.
He instantly fell into a state of panic and fumbled for his blade,his fingers numb with terror. His grip tightened around its handle and he slammed it against the cliffside. Sparks skittered, the shriek of metal on stone deafening, but the knife failed to impale the rocky sides and he rolled on the side before continuing to tumble down faster, closer to death.
He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself,doing his breathing exercises. For a while, nothing happened and he was just falling down into the valley head first.
"This is it",the thought was cold and final. The ground felt like it was rushing up to meet him.
But then,a voice echoed in his mind, calm and certain.
"...you must be willing to risk your life."
In that absolute acceptance of looking death in the eye,a strange calm washed over him. He closed his eyes, and for the first time, he truly listened.
The roar of the wind in his ears faded.The world shifted into a profound, crystalline slow motion. He could hear the skitter of a lizard on a rock a hundred feet below.
He could see individual raindrops hanging in the air,each one a perfect, shimmering lens. His own frantic heartbeat was a slow, powerful drum in his chest.
He snapped his eyes open,blazing with an intense, luminous green. The world was impossibly sharp, every detail screaming for his attention. A surge of burning energy, hot and alien and wonderful, erupted through his veins.
The energy rushed to his right arm and he felt its warmth,strengthening the arm. With a guttural roar, he slammed his knife into the cliffside and it sank in. The blade screamed against the cliff side, sparks showering, until it bit deep.
Omari dangled there,breath ragged, alive.
He planted his feet against the cliff wall and kicked off,yanking the knife free. He twisted in mid-air, did a backflip, and landed gracefully on the valley floor, one hand braced against the ground for balance.
He slowly rose,breathing heavily, the power of an Awakened coursing through his body, and when he opened his eyes,
In front of him,shimmering ahead, a barrier as clear as day and fluid as water appeared. Beyond it, he could see people in white robes flying in and out of a beautiful mountain crowned with palaces.
His lips parted in awe,
"The Cultivation World."