The darkness receded slowly, like a veil lifted from the face of the earth. The first faint light of dawn crept over the horizon, casting a pale glow over the sleepy town.
Damon threw off the covers, revealing his lean, athletic build honed from years of rigorous training. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, his feet connecting with the cool wooden floorboards. He stood up, his joints cracking softly as he stretched, the morning stiffness melting away from his muscles. His eyes, sharp and focused, gazed out the window, where the sky was deepening to a rich shade of indigo, like a canvas awaiting the brushstrokes of the sun.
He dressed quickly, donning a simple white gi and tying his black belt around his waist. His hair, still mussed from sleep, was slicked back, revealing a strong, angular face with high cheekbones and a determined jawline. Damon took a deep breath, feeling the cool morning air fill his lungs, and set out into the dawn, his footsteps quiet on the dew-kissed grass as he made his way into the forest.
As Damon arrived at the forest, he looked everywhere for the old man, but he couldn't find him.
"Where are you!" He shouted.
"Am right here." A voice came from his back. He immediately took a few steps back as he was startled.
"How long have you been there." He asked.
"I have been here the entire time. The man replied.
"How is that possible, I didn't even feel your presence. Damon said.
"Concealing my presence is child's play for someone of my statue." The man said.
"Wow, that's impressive, I can't wait to be able to do that. So when do we begin." Damon said excitedly.
"Slow down, before we begin, I want to see all you are capable of right now." The man said.
"You want to see all capable of. I thought you had already seen enough yesterday. " Damon replied.
"You mean to tell me that that little trick of yours was all you can do." The man said disappointed.
"Well, not exactly. There is still something else." Damon said.
"Then stop wasting time and show me." The man said.
'Alright, I call this the crimson slash." Damon said. He then pulled out his dagger, took his stance, and faced a tree.
SWIRL! He began concentrating his energy into the dagger.
RAAAGH! SLASH! He launched the strike at the tree.
BOOM! The crimson energy sliced through the tree, and it fell.
"So, what do you think of that?" Damon asked.
"Not bad, as i thought you can use sword arts."The man said.
"Wait, what? How can I use sword arts? I just channelled my energy into my dagger and stroke with all I had, creating an energy wave that sliced through the tree." Damon said.
"Hmm.. I guess you did without even realising." The man said in disbelief.
"Wait, how is that possible?" Damon said shocked.
"I don't know, but some how you were able to create a sword art, and you did it all by yourself." The man said.
"I still don't understand, please explain to me how someone can use a sword art." Damon said.
"Alright, listen carefully. The attack you displayed was a combination of spirit QI and world energy which is called Battle arts. Sword arts originally come from battle arts, which I have told you before. Battle arts are fighting techniques that come from the fusion of spirit QI and world energy to create an attack of greater power. The ability to control these two energies depends solely on the spirit core, if the spirit core is weak you wouldn't be able to control these energies and combine them."
"But isn't my spirit core weak, how come I was able to use a sword art?" Damon asked.
"What do you mean your spirit core is weak?" The man asked.
"Well I am an E rank so my spirit core is weak." Damon replied.
"Huh...your an E rank. How is that possible? The man said in disbelief.
"Come over here for a second. "The man said to Damon.
As Damon came towards him, the man placed his hand on Damon's chest and used his energy to inspect Damon's spirit core.
"It's not possible, your spirit core hasn't reached the foundation level." The man said.
"Foundation level?.. What is that? Damon asked.
"Foundation level is the spirit core's first stage achieved one's you awaken, but for some reason your spirit core hasn't fully awaken." The man replied.
"So that is what the foundation level is." Damon said.
The man continued to inspect Damon's body.
"How!...you haven't fully converted your spirit energy to spirit QI. The man said surprised. "How is this possible? In order to fuse spirit QI and world energy a balance must be meet, this means that both energies must be in harmony, one energy cannot be greater than the other, unless the fusion will fail. There are situations where one can fuse these energies even if the spirit QI is low, especially in high stakes battles, but that depends on the level of the spirit core. This boy's spirit core is nowhere strong enough,so how did he pull off the sword art. Not only that, there is still the situation of what happened inside the inner layer of the mysticwood forest, how was he able to unleash such power." The man was in deep thought.
"Sir!...Sir!..Sir! Damon called out.
"Huh..."
'Sir, what is wrong? Damon asked.
"Nothing.." The man said.
"Were you able to figure out how I was able to use a sword art? Damon asked.
"If I am to guess I would say that you have a natural ability to control world energy. " The man said.
"I..I have the natural ability to control world energy, are you sure? Damon said in disbelief.
"Most likely, I told you before that spirit QI has unique attributes and it seems yours has the ability to control world energy and fuse with it." The man said. "This is the only explanation I could come up with." The man thought.
"My spirit QI has the ability to control world energy, I cannot believe it. To think I had such an ability. This is amazing." Damon said excited.
"Don't get too excited, this is just speculation. We will find out for sure once you fully awaken. " The man said.
"Alright then, let's start the training. I can't wait to see what powers I have after I awaken. " Damon said.
"Am just as curious as you are." The men thought.
"Follow me." The man said.
Damon followed him and they began to walk until the reached the barrier between the outer and inner layer of the mysticwood forest.
"Huh..This is the barrierthe blocks the inner layer. What are we doing here? Damon asked.
"Is it not obvious, you will be training inside the inner layer." The man replied
"Wh..what! Train inside the inner layer, are you nuts. Do you know how dangerous it is in there. " Damon said agitated.
"Are you scared? If you are scared leave now, I don't have time to waste on cowards." The man said staring deeply at Damon.
"Who said anything about being scared and I am no coward. I have no problem training inside the inner layer. " Damon said confidently as he stared back at the man.
"That's good, I expect nothing less." The man said then he used a token and opened the barrier. "From this point on your training begins and you shall hence forth call me master." The man said.
"Master, may your student know your name?" Damon asked.
"My name is Draven, call me master Draven." The man said. They both enter the inner layer.