The ship that we are traveling on at this moment is called the "Gentle Sword" and it used to be a sledder. Well, to put it precisely, it used to be the sledder that was gifted to us by Cloak.
My master has been ripping out all the snow tribe runes powering the ship and storing them somehow. At least that is what he is claiming he is doing, but all it looks like he is doing is wiping the ship with his bare hands.
All the removed runes he has been replacing with formations. Formations that you would need to make an airship, to be precise. Even now, the man is running about the ship creating formations on the fly.
It would take even experts entire months to make an airship like this. Especially when the ship is already constructed like this. A few of the powers down south might replicate this feat. (Quite a few now that I think about it.) They would need entire legions of formation mages, carpenters and architects to do so.
On top of that, as if what he is doing is not enough to cause most people's hearts to fail. The truly terrifying thing is that he is trying to build the airship while the damn thing is still moving. I don't even mean on the ground, where a crash would simply mean a hole in the ship. I mean, we are moving in the air where a crash would crush the ship into individual planks.
Every time the ship lurches, I can feel my heart plummet to the ground. He says the reason for this is that he needs to test the formation before putting it into practical use. I say that the reason is that the man wants to screw with me. To cause my heart to fail out of pure fear.
That is why I have been confining myself to the room, keeping myself locked inside here. I don't want to interrupt the man in the middle of his work. If he were to make any mistake, this ship would fall. Anyway, I need to meditate. Damage to the soul is not a simple thing. The only real way to fix something like that is to cultivate and grow your soul. You can patch it up during meditation like I am doing now, but it only means that you are preventing further damage.
I have to say that my master is a cruel man. I mean, how can the man show me something like that and not expect my curiosity to be fully stoked? I have been stopping myself from even thinking about that display these days. There is no point in going to my master right now with injuries.
At the moment, I am in a state where I don't even know if I will lose consciousness in the next five minutes. If I were to fall unconscious in the middle of his lecture, the man would shut up completely. The little he might have been willing to share will also not be shared anymore.
My master has always been very careful in showing his power to me. It is almost as if it will motivate me into cultivating. Anybody else in his place would have been doing the exact opposite of this. After all, what is the point of becoming his disciple if I can't even learn his skills?
Then again, my master has always been paranoid about me cultivating. You know, I have not even heard of the stages beyond the foundation stage, as I have said. My master has threatened everybody into not saying anything to me. He has managed to shut the mouth of the legion.
I don't know what the man's threats are, but they must have been pretty extreme. It was almost like the moment that they heard the word cultivation from me, they shit their pants. It is not like I have tried my best as well. I have tried almost every trick that I know of. I have tried to threaten people into speaking about it. I have tried to trick people into revealing it to me. I have begged people to speak about it.
They just keep their mouth shut as if my master is right next to them, glaring at them. That is why in the last few years, I have learned nothing new about cultivation. That is why I have actively stopped cultivating to focus on creating formations. Even then, I am nowhere near building a class seven formation.
I had hoped that I would be able to find something about the elven path in the Snowwind Empire. Nothing concrete, of course, but something to get me started at least.c
The instant that I got access to the markets of the frozen peak, it became clear that they would be of no help to me. While they were certainly selling spells and cultivation methods. All of them are related to the draconic path. (They were putting those at such high prices anyway that I would not have been able to buy anything.)
The path that I follow, as I mentioned earlier, is the elven path or at least something very similar to it. The only people who have any idea of the cultivation of this path should be the elves. Now that there are no elves, their path has been derived in its entirety by the scholars and their research.
You can say that only scholars have any real idea about it. Now I realize that only my master can decide when I can learn more about cultivation. If what the man claims is true. That the magical path of his is different from the elven path. Then it would mean that there can't be more than ten people who know of this path.
The given path is pretty similar to the elven path, I am sure of that. After all, I am building my foundation using an elven technique. (At least it is similar enough that I can ask them questions about it). That means that what my master is doing is not easy.
The elven path is complex enough that even the scholars can't do it. They have spent entire millennias to reach even their present level. Anyway, there has been enough complaining. It is not like I will be able to learn anything even if the man is willing to teach me. A magical path is no easy thing to learn. Even the foundation stage took me half a decade to figure out. (Granted, I had to basically figure it out from scratch.)
Fuck, it looks like I will need to rest. I had started this record so that I could record my conversation with my master. He will just send me back, even if I were to go meet him. I guess that another day of meditation should fix me back up.
Right now, even if I were to somehow make it to my master, he would be busy with the formations. If I were to go tomorrow, I would be able to witness the completed airship as well.
(After a day.)
Right now, I am in the newly created formation room of the gentle sword. I have to say that my master has been busy.
My master has managed to change the shape of the entire ship. The first thing he clearly did was throw away all the cushions. Everything that was making the room comfortable.
Right now, he is standing in front of me, messing with one of the sensory formations, I think. Without my mana sense, it is harder for me to grasp which runes he is playing around with. So I can't say for certain what exactly he is doing.
"Well, you really should learn to mask yourself better while recording that log of yours." my master speaks, looking up from his work suddenly. "I can tell without looking at you that you are recording."
"I am in the process of learning exactly that. What can I do if my skill with mental magic is bad?" I reply, a bit frustrated.
"Well, it would still be wise to learn that quickly, though. You will face no problem among our allies, but if you were to do that in front of an enemy. That will be enough to start a fight.", he says. "Anyway, your skill at mental magic is not why I have called you here."
As he speaks, he gestures me towards a small tree that he has placed in the center of this room.
"Well, the first thing is that I have to give you a challenge. I have completed every formation in the room, except for one.", he says.. "It is a class six formation, with a unique ability."
"Well, you can't expect me to complete a class six formation." I reply, feeling the annoyance resurface. This man and his impossible expectations. "I haven't even mangaged a class seven formation yet."
"Well, I don't expect you to. I just need you to complete this formation to its minor completion for now.", he says. "I have already inscribed nine of the class seven spells required by this spell. My challenge is that you need to complete the inscription of the last seventh-class spell. Then we will see about class six."
"Fine, what is the reward for this challenge? You can't just expect me to do all of this just to remove the ban on the next stage. This is a class seven spell linked to a class six formation. It is not going to be easy.", I ask.
"Well, the reward for this challenge I will give to you a bit prematurely.", he replies, with a little grin. "You can keep this ship with you from now on, and all the formations on it belong to you. You can consider it as a reward for this challenge."
"Fine, I accept. What does this formation do then?" I ask. "It is not an infernal summoning circle, I assume."
"Well, let's keep that a bit of a surprise. I need a guarantee that you will work on it. Let's put your curiosity to good use, I say.", he speaks. "All I will say is that I am not an idiot to trust you with a summoning circle. I am sure that if I were to give you a class six summoning circle, you would end up summoning a demon prince somehow."
As I stare at the man's face, I wonder if I should accept it. The man and his challenges are never easy. My present situation is a pretty good example of that.
"Well, this challenge is something that you are going to enjoy.", he says.
"Okay, I accept this challenge of yours.", I speak, as I ponder about just which new hell I am putting myself in. "Can we now return to the matter at hand? You were going to start teaching me this magical path of yours. Are we going to start now?"
"This is why I am so careful at sharing anything with you, kid." my master speaks. "Look at you, I have barely shared anything about this, and you are already getting so impatient. This much haste won't serve you in this path."
"I am more than capable of being patient, old man.", I reply, getting irritated. The man speaks about me being impatient. My fellows are all already at the peak of the foundation stage. I am stuck at the second slab because this man was never willing to share anything. "I have waited two entire weeks before coming to meet you, haven't I? I am more than capable of being patient."
"Only two weeks and you already lost your patience.", the man begins.
"Fine, what is the second thing then?" I reply. I have discovered that there is no use arguing with my master on certain matters. Better to cut him off at such times.
"Well, that is going to be a bit harder to tell you. You will have to swear to me that you won't lose control. That much anger also will not serve you, you know." he speaks, as he begins to ramble.
"What did you do now, you old bastard?" I speak. my master doesn't take that tone unless he has seriously ended up screwing up something. The last time he took it, the man had accidentally destroyed a class eight formation sword I was working on. That managed to delay the crafting of my first class eight formation by half a year.
"Should you be taking that tone with your master, you little brat? You don't even know what I have done.", my master speaks. "Well, it is tradition. My master has done it for me. His master for him."
"Just out with it.", I snap at the man.
"Well, I might have had to destroy every single formation of yours except your sword.", the man says.
The world blacks out around me as I find myself swinging my fists at my master.