Andrew quickly threw out a punch with his full power.
He could feel the air resisting his punch, as if the laws of physics were saying 'you shall not disobey me'.
As his fist continued, the resistance finally grew to its peak before there was a boom.
His fist came into contact with the masters body, a turbulent wind unfolded from this single strike, the nearby grass shook in the wind.
Even Zachary felt the need to shield his eyes from the momentum of the airs assault.
Just then, everything settled into a calm.
Zachary looked upon this with subtle disbelief, he knew Andrew had power, but this seemed even beyond what he displayed during the exam.
"This kids a little more impressive than I imagined, to already have such delicate control over innate energy in just a couple days…"
Zachary heard this voice ring out in his head, which confirmed his suspicions even more.
"Master, do you think hes similar to me?" Zachary thought to himself.
"Honestly, I cant tell— I cant see through his destiny, even using my profound understanding of the dao."
"But what I do know is hes certainly someone you should build a connection with… Dont worry, you wont ever get outmatched, you are the most talented disciple ive ever taken after all, haha!"
"Okay, ill definitely take your word then." Zachary responded, as his jaw slightly clenched.
….
As the blow landed on its target, Andrew noticed something.
As soon as his fist came within 3 inches of the old mans body, it physically couldnt travel any further, as if there was something invisible blocking it.
"This must be the externalization of his Qi…. Quite powerful indeed!" Andrew gulped.
"Hoho, young man youre indeed just as talented as Zachary has said. You havent even begun properly cultivating martial arts yet, but you can reach this level of power..." The old man said, his face still in a warm smile.
"I shall take you in as a disciple, I believe in no time at all youll move out of this small area in pursuit of higher martial arts… my name is John Quazo, but you may refer to me as master Quazo."
"Its my pleasure, Master!" Andrew said, taking a knee.
"Okay, enough with the formalitys, lets quickly begin todays training. I primarily use the sword, and I can tell you have yet to train with one yet… So ill teach you the simple premise of what it means to wield a sword, and if you have the talent it will show relatively quickly."
"As you know, a blade is used to cut slash and stab, those being the primary movements of the sword…"
"However, what you must realize is that in order to interpret the dao of swordsmanship, the true essence as it is, you must connect body mind and emotion—or action, intent, and feeling."
"If you can understand this whilst holding the blade, I believe you shall go far."
"Now, take this wooden sword and practice the simple motions. Try holding that model in your mind and well see the results over the next couple of days."
Master Quazo passed Andrew a rough looking wooden sword.
He knew the essence of swordsmanship in this world probably had to do with understanding more than just having a good tool.
Having been an experienced neet in his past life for a little, he felt thsi had to be trye.
He started swinging his "sword" slowly, hand clasped tight.
His movements were quite sloppy, he felt that he wasnt getting nearly as much force out of his swings as he shouldve.
It was as if energy was leaking through his entire body.
Andrew decided to observe Zacharys movements for a little bit.
He took note of his posture, the way his foot, knee and hip shifted slightly before releasing a strike, the way his core stiffened slightly, the way his spine rotated, and the way his scapula worked with the rest of his body to transfer the power.
"Just watching probably wont do much—let me just eye him up while I practice…" Andrew thought, not even realizing how creepy that sounded.
Andrew dropped his sword for a second as ge removed his shirt.
Zachary couldnt help but sneak a glance in admiration of his sculpted figure.
Even Master Quazo couldnt help but nod his head in approval.
"Sigh… reminds me of my younger days. Such dedication!" Quazo thought as his hands tightened behind his back.
Andrew picked back up his sword, positioning himself 10 feet across from Zachary, looking directly at him.
Zachary felt a shiver down his spine, he was starting to feel… violated for some reason.
"What the fuck is this dude doing? Is he just trying to flex?"
Andrew gave a creepy smile, but Zachary quickly returned his attention to the sword, he didnt have time to start slacking.
"You might be bragging now, Andrew, but well see how things are looking in a couple months when i inevitably surpass you in looks, figure and strength."
Zachary felt confidence being hyped by his master, and with this thought, he started moving a bit faster, quickly returning to a flow state.
Andrew didnt know any of what he was thinking, however what he did know was this was a fantastic training method.
With his shirt off now, he could more accurately feel and see specific muscle groups contracting.
Andrew quickly began swinging his sword again, this time a tad more precise than before.
The old man quickly saw this, suspecting what Andrew was up to.
He noticed his movements were slowly but surely starting to become more aligned over the span of the hour, and thats when his suspicions were confirmed.
"What a pair of talented disciples!" He thought to himself, stroking his chin that contained no facial hair.
"Once he masters the optimal movements, he will have properly stepped into the action category, and then all thats left after that is aligning emotion and intent, and then putting it together…"
He watched on, marveling at the speed of improvement.
Zachary to him actually appeared to be the more talented one out of the two of them. However, what he wasnt aware of was that his real master was giving him tips every few swings on what to clean up for faster progress.
Little by little his understanding of the sword dao began to become more and more powerful, using different tactics of aligning the 3 main variables.
Different emotions and intent aligned with movements released a slightly different visceral feeling when looking at his swordsmanship.
At first his sword felt almost determined, then deeply sad, then enraged, and then blissful…
After about another hour or so, they both decided to sit down and take a break, drinking some water.
"Okay boys, its already 9 pm and unfortunately my old body cant stay up all night to give you pointers. However, to me it seems like you dont even need them…"
"Andrew, youre learning from Zachary just by watching his movements… and Zachary you are learning fantastically fast on your own with almost no instruction, already showing signs of deeper understanding…"
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