Having strengthened his body through weight training and sparring, the change in Vera started to become apparent.
Ligaments, tendons, and, by extension, joints thickened. The sheer mass in his legs had increased immensely. The muscles over his thighs stretched through his skin, leaving feathered marks at its edges.
Despite all these changes, what surprised Vera most was his leverage. After twenty, it was highly unlikely for one's skeletal structure to change.
However, as he gazed into his mirror, it was unmistakable…
The structure of my body is changing.
Joints unburdened by musculature had widened, the size of his hands, the length of his clavicles, and the width of his pelvis had all increased. It was as though each change was made to accommodate more mass and more striking power.
His fists cut through the air in swift motions. Each blow left dull beats in the air; the pace of each swing had shortened significantly. His expression turned from one of surprise to that of conflict. No matter how much he thought of it…
This isn't a natural change in my leverage. If anything, it's closer to optimisation.
While his ability to handle static loads had increased, the change wasn't comparable to his new capability for momentum.
As Vera continued to observe the changes in his body, the door to his room swung open. Chun walked in with a frown on his face.
"Are you cooking breakfast, or are we eating out?"
The boy stared at Vera blankly. His expression soon changed to a smirk.
"Old man, are you really admiring your body first thing in the morning?"
Vera threw on whatever clothes he had strewn around his room and dashed over to Chun, picking him up in one fell swoop. His massive hand encompassed the entirety of Chun's head as he ruffled his hair.
"I can smell your breath all the way from here. Have you brushed your teeth yet?"
Dull thuds sounded through the flat as Chun flailed at Vera, to no avail. A few moments of struggle later, Chun was dropped off at the bathroom. Vera rushed to the kitchen and started to prepare breakfast.
He hurriedly threw in a few eggs onto his skillet and diced up vegetables. A pot of rice was set beside a makeshift fireplace that he made to speed up cooking.
Utensils clattered as he dashed back and forth, praying that he would be done by the time Chun left the bathroom.
And as fate had it, he was not done in time. Chun sat by the table, staring at the fireplace, waiting for the rice to be done. While the two waited for the rice to cook, Vera pulled up a chair beside Chun. Sword Dog curled up beside the fireplace, chowing down on some raw meat.
"What do you have planned for the day?"
Chun turned to face Vera, finally looking away from the rice pot. "Big Brother Yang-chun said he'd teach me about the Blade Master sect's history again today."
Vera leant against the table's edge; the foot of his chair creaked. "What have you learnt until now?"
Bored of the wait, Chun fiddled with Vera's long hair, yanking at the knots over it.
"I learned that because of the Blade Master's contributions in the war of the Blood Sea and his continued support in defending the domain from demonic beasts, he was given dominion status over the land. Ugh… the name for it was…"
Vera, being familiar with the governing structure, mimed the word to help Chun. His mouth opened wide; each syllable was enunciated. "Dyar…"
Just then Chun tugged at Vera's hair. "I got it! The structure was called a dyarchy. Ah… the rice is boiling over, by the way."
At his words, Vera rushed over to the fireplace, startling Sword Dog's peaceful breakfast. He grabbed the pot off the fireplace and set it over the table, unbothered by the heat.
"Shall we eat breakfast?"
***
Well into the night, Vera sat beside Aspartese in the Mian mountain range. A bottled concoction was placed by Aspartese's side.
"The concoction is here, but let's finish your Law training for the day, first. I believe, by some miracle, you are already close to comprehension."
At his words, Vera nodded gently. He cleared his throat and began reciting his learnings.
"The elements, while within the umbrella of energy, aren't actually energy. They are particles with the 'right'."
The wind brushed against the range's jagged edges; hollow whistles sounded as they passed the mountains.
"Fire is not actually fire; rather, it is the call to combustion, the variable being energy. Water isn't a function of liquids; rather, it's the function that dictates state, the variable being energy."
Aspartese let out a single clap, calling for Vera to stop. He extended his arm and let out two orbs of qi. One shone with a silvery lustre, and the other exuded an intent of rigidity.
"Why are earth and metal considered separate, despite their similarity in use?"
Vera wiped the blood trickling down his nose from the earlier sparring session; his gaze sharpened.
"Both possess the capability to deter impact, the main difference being in shock absorption. Metal is the function of binding energy to other functions. Earth, on the other hand, is a part of the esoteric group."
Aspartese waved his palm. The orb of metallic qi dissipated. "Expand on the esoteric class and its components."
Loose pebbles slipped from Vera's fingers as he picked up a handful of dirt. A low breath escaped him.
"'Esoteric' refers to amorphous structures with a clear function. Earth under this umbrella is known as the cradle. A substance that adapts to the environment and takes a structure that is most suitable to giving birth to life."
As the loose sand escaped his palm, a single vine remained. The final element of the esoteric class…
"Wood, the most powerful implication. It refers to a propensity. The propensity to live and the function to develop traits that elongate life."
His gaze turned skyward; the myriad stars painted constellations. Art that guided sentient beings in the early world. Giving them the capability to navigate and, by extension, flourish.
"The implication of the esoteric class is that the heavens want life to exist. Unlike the other elements, which to a vague degree propagate life, the esoterics are blatant in that regard."
Aspartese reached out for the bottle by his side and flung it over to Vera. He stood up and dusted the mud off his robes.
"You understand all the theory behind the Law of Compression. All that remains is for you to find a method. Our classes on this matter are over."
Without speaking another word, Aspartese dashed off to the sixth branch's grounds. Only a screen of debris remained in his path.
A dull pop sounded as Vera removed the cork from the bottle; his eyes trailed the path Aspartese took.
"You're only going to drink when you get back; why not stay and guard me while I drink this?"
Of course, his words wouldn't catch up with Aspartese. Vera stared blankly at the trail; the bottle's mouth pressed against his lips.
Followed by an exasperated sigh, Vera looked into the concoction. A viscous green liquid with oily stains above it.
"Cheers… I guess."
Vera took a deep swig, draining the bottle in a single movement. He shut his eyes and took a series of deep breaths, waiting for it to take effect.
The wind blew silently. Then it blew silently again. Then it blew a few more times
"Uhh…?" Not a single thing changed. "No subtle warmth, no stabbing pain." He fidgeted with the empty bottle, waiting for some sort of signal. "Does it work over a long time?"
His questions went unanswered in the empty forest. "Aghh! I'll figure it out after I get back home."
Vera got off the ground and dusted his robes. And exactly at the thirty-minute mark, he tried to lunge toward the Second Home inn. But only a dull thud sounded as he crashed into the ground face-first. Spit trickled down his mouth as his entire body seized.
With the remaining strength he had, Vera rolled over to his side. He mumbled through his gritted teeth. "Definitely… stabbing… pain."
From the cover of the trees, close to the mountain's peak, Aspartese observed the entire scene. Barely stifling his giggles, he patted the empty space beside him.
"Stop hiding and come sit, Zhuge Jin. This show won't end until dawn."
A shadowed figure emerged from Aspartese's right. Zhuge Jin walked over to the empty space and sat down quietly. "How did you know I was here?"
Aspartese pulled out a flask of Dukuang and a pack of jerky. He spoke while offering Jin a piece and a cup. "You're a swordsman, not an assassin. Your stealth might have worked on that brat, not me."
Jin stared at Vera, who rolled around the ground in pain. "You sure are one evil master."
Aspartese let out a hearty laugh and patted Jin's back. "If you knew the number of times that brat bit me in spars, you wouldn't say that."
The air around them grew several degrees colder. Despite Aspartese's hearty laughs, his gaze was sharp with killing intent. His grip over Jin's shoulder grew tight; the sound of bones creaking became audible.
"Mind explaining why you've been following a child of my branch?"
***
Within the covers of night, the highest-ranking members of the beggar coalition convened. Hidden in the southern end of the Blade Master domain, they discussed what was to come next.
Beggar Gan, the foremost member of the coalition, called for attendees' attention. "We received a reply from the Golden Dragon mercantile."
He fished out a letter from within his tattered robes. The seal over the letter was undone; he had read the contents.
His brows furrowed; the letter was being crushed under his grip.
"They are willing to help, but under certain conditions only—"
One of the leads spoke out of place; spit splattered as he shouted raucously. "Conditions?! Without us, they would still be a third-rate mercantile in this domain—"
A dense bolt of qi burst through the air, bludgeoning the man's chest in. His body lay crumpled over the ground as he gasped for air.
Beggar Gan continued speaking, unbothered by the man's guttural screams. "The party that wanted to buy the child of Zhuge is willing to step in. Of course, here is where the condition comes into place."
He rose from his chair and walked over to the beggar who spoke over him. With a swift stomp to the head, he ended the man's screaming. "Are there no suitable representatives from the sixth sector? I even tried to let him live."
The other representatives sat silently, not daring to utter a single word. Only the Gan's attendant, beggar Lao, answered. He walked over to Gan and handed out a set of letters from the sixth sector camps.
"As far as we know, the Phantom Sword has killed off all Second Synergy masters in the sixth sector. Hence, only a One-Law practitioner was available."
Beggar Gan nodded and took the documents from his attendant. He turned to face the rest of the representatives. "The man of the hour, the Phantom Sword. Our condition is also impinged on him."
He rubbed his boot over the ground, removing the blood and grime from it.
"The buyer is willing to extract us from the Blade Master domain and give us a new role within their sect. The condition being, we lure the Phantom Sword into an encirclement. Of course, our forces won't be enough to handle him."
He looked down at his bloodied boots and realised that the scrubbing wasn't doing anything. Without much thought he walked over to the sixth sector rep's corpse and took his shoes off. A dull thud sounded as he flung his dirty shoes at the corpse. Gan walked back to his seat and put his new shoes on.
After a moment of fiddling, he turned to the representatives. "Ahh… Sorry I got sidetracked. As I was saying, the buyer will send a Fourth Synergy master over to handle the Phantom Sword."
He scratched his unkempt beard and looked at the corpse again. "Considering the sixth sector members aren't worth much anymore… Let's gather them into bigger camps and spread rumours of them knowing about another child of Zhuge. That way we have fewer people to extradite and a strong lure."
Attendant Lao hurried over to Gan's seat, ready to take his orders.
Gan leant to his side and spat on the ground. He then turned to face Lao.
"Pick a rep from a sector that hasn't been bringing us much money as of late and send him to lead the lure at the sixth sector. And issue orders for the remaining groups to plunder as much as possible to keep the Blade Master sect on their toes."
Without a word in response, Lao hurried out of the meeting area to enact Gan's orders.
A sharp sound broke up the silence in the room. Beggar Gao grinned at the representatives.
"Now comes the part where you're needed. By the deal's conditions, I can only take 3 sectors of manpower along, so…"
His words trailed as his grin stretched to the corner of his eyes. His voice grew in pitch, sounding almost jovial.
"Kill each other until there are only three left!"