Chapter 21: Sword Arts and Preparation
After talking with Cole, Mira went to go find Maria to talk to her as well. She found Maria in a hallway talking with her mom.
"Maria." Mira called out to her.
"Oh! Hey Mira. What's up?" Maria said with a smile.
"I think you are currently at a point in your skills and strength to be able to utilize a sword art. Does your family have any sword art manuals for you to learn? Preferably ones that don't require an element or ones of the light element." Mira said.
"Hehe, my mom and I were just discussing that, and yes I have already decided what Sword Art Manuals to learn. One is a Mid-Grade Mortal light element sword art and another is a Low-Grade Earth sword art. The light element is called Light Sword and the Earth Grade one is called Triple Draw. Light Sword overlays my sword with light making it longer, sharper, and wider. Triple Draws combines 3 sword attacks into 1. So if I use this and slash with the sword, the power will be equal to 3 sword attacks." Maria said, excited to try out these new attacks.
"Good. You should be able to learn and use these at the end of the next 3 months, but since you are only at Stage 1 out of 9 in the Qi Condensation then these attacks will use a lot of energy. You won't be able to practice these techniques too often, but enough to learn them and have them be a trump card or finishing move. You should go with your mother to grab the manuals and go to the practice area and you should go with her Miss Erika. You should be able to give Maria some pointers. I don't know these sword arts and won't be of much help, plus I don't use a sword. I'll periodically check on you for the next 2 months than during the last month we will spar and I'll have you utilize those sword arts to make sure you are proficient enough to use them in battle. You still need to go to the pond for a total of 6 hours every day though. I don't care how or when, but get 6 hours in the pond to try and temper your meridians and bones." Mira said.
Erika nodded at that plan, but Maria was ecstatic when she heard that. She finally has free time. She just has to make sure to learn these sword arts and stay in the pond for 6 hours a day.
Mira made her way to the pond and started tempering her meridians and meditating on what type of ice suits her. Maria decided that she would go outside the house as much as she could within these next 2 months as she is not sure when the next time she will have free time like this. It didn't matter what she did outside, even just walking around the streets would be fine.
They continued their schedule like this for the next 2 months until it was time for Mira to test Maria on her.
In the training ground, Mira and Maria were standing, facing off against each other. They both had their weapons out. Maria charged toward her and used her Triple Draw Sword Art. Three illusory swords combined into her physical sword, but the second and third illusory swords were barely visible. Mira felt danger from this move. If this were a fight she would've dodged, but since this is only a spar she wanted to take this move head-on. This would also give her a feel for her strength. She blocked the hit head-on with her scythe and got pushed back 10 meters by the force of the strike. Mira's body was aching, but no bones were broken. If she were to fight someone that could use a move like this more than once then she needs to be extremely careful. She realized her physical prowess is in the Early Qi Condensation Realm, but if she has to fight someone in the Qi Condensation Realm then the best thing to do is to dodge the weapon art attacks. She would have to end the fight early if she wanted to win.
"That's a good attack, but it looks like you still haven't been able to completely form the second and third illusory sword." Mira said trying to examine it.
"Right! It's so cool! And if I don't use it at full power, I should be able to use it a few more times without running out of energy."
"Alright, restore your energy for now. After that, I want to see your Light Sword sword art next."
Maria restored her energy then got into her fighting stance. She then used Light Sword and a light started to cover her sword making it longer and wider. It also looked sharper. The light that was overlaid on the sword was rather faint, but as long as Maria progresses further in the Dao of Light then the light around the sword will get denser.
Maria charged at Mira, but Mira didn't feel the sense of danger from this attack like the other. She blocked it and was pushed back about half a meter and her hands shook a little, but other than that she was fine. She wouldn't want to block this attack constantly as it might cause injuries after a while.
"This attack doesn't cost nearly as much Qi as the other sword art and the strength mainly relies on how deep my understanding is." Maria said after examining the attack.
"Good. You should use this attack at full power until you run out of energy just to see how long is the maximum time you can last." Mira said and walked off the training ground. She didn't feel like blocking that sword so many times even if she could.
Maria kept Light Sword active and continuously swung it. She was able to swing it at full power around 30 times before her energy started running out.
"Not bad. As long as you keep increasing your understanding this move will only get stronger. I don't think there is really any need for me to spar with you. It also looks like you consolidated your foundation already. Just use this next month to rest up and prepare for our journey in the forest. Our goal in the forest is to look for any lucky encounters that can increase our strength. I have a plan already set for when we get there."
"FINALLY!! No more tort-I mean training!! Ok, Mira, I know you don't like people, but I'm taking you out into the city to do a bit of shopping. We can also have lots of food on the way!" Maria exclaimed.
"Very well. I also thought about going out in the city to prepare. Prepare a mask for me. If someone asks where I come from just say that I come from the East and that I asked you to be my guide. If they aren't brainless, they will know that means."
"Okay!"
After an hour or so Mira and Maria were finally set to go out into the city. Mira wore a black hanfu with red lining that Cole had just decided to give to her. She was also wearing a black mask that covered her entire face. She didn't change her hair in any way as it might actually be better if she doesn't. Mira also carried a frosty aura around her.
Maria just wore a white Hanfu with a red flower in her short golden hair. She looked like a beautiful young maiden.
They started walking down the streets and Maria discussed the currency in town. Apparently, there are several different types of currency. Basically, anything that is Rank 1 or below cost coins. The coins are separated between Copper, Silver, and Gold. 10 copper coins equal 1 silver and 10 silver equal 1 gold. People still in the Body Tempering Realm use this currency because they can't be considered a true cultivator until they reach Qi Condensation. The currency that Qi Condensation people and above use are Spirit Stones. There are 4 types of spirit stones, Low, Mid, Late, and Peak; 1000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones equal 1 Mid-Grade, 1000 Mid-Grade equals 1 Late-Grade, and 1000 Late-Grade equals 1 Peak-Grade. Spirit Stones are generally around the size of a baby's fist. Spirit Stones are stones that hold a massive amount of Qi in them. Generally, it is much more efficient to absorb the energy from Spirit Stones than it is to absorb it from the air. Even with that being the case, one cannot simply sit and absorb Spirit Stones until they ascend. One's foundation becomes more unstable if you only absorb from Spirit Stones. In order to stabilize it, one has to consolidate one's foundation. This is essentially getting your body accustomed to the new power it holds, slowly assimilating the power, going through life and death experiences, then absorbing enough Qi from the air until you hit a bottleneck; Only then can you go back to using Spirit Stones to keep a steady foundation. If you keep absorbing Qi with an unsteady foundation, you won't be able to progress as far as you could and may even end up dying due to it.
They stopped at a number of food stalls to have a snack while they walk around. Mira said that she wanted to have a couple of Rejuvination Pills and some Blood Restoration Pills. The Blood Restoration Pill does exactly what it says, it helps supply lost blood to the body. She also wanted a Spatial Ring. She only wants one that has around 5 cubic meters in it. She also wanted some bandages just in case. Mira wanted some herbs as well, but decided that she can get what she needs during her journey in the forest.
They walked into some random Herb and Pill shop and Mira had Maria buy what she wanted. All Mira needed were rank 1 Pills, which were incredibly cheap especially for someone like Maria. Maria decided to buy some for herself as well.
After they got the herbs, Maria brought Mira to a magic treasures store and bought a low quality Spatial Ring for her. Most people have Spatial Rings, but they get more rare the higher in quality they go. Many people in large cities have at least a Spatial Ring with 5 cubic meters. When all of those people came to search for Mira when she was still living in the cave, most were just villagers and common hunters so she didn't get to plunder any spatial rings from them.
Maria bought Mira a spatial ring that had 5 cubic meters then Maria dragged Mira to a restaurant for some dinner. Lots of people stared at her as her silver hair was rather abnormal, but with Mira's frosty aura exuding from her body everyone knew that she wanted to be left alone. There were even some young masters of different the various families in the restaurant that thought about talking to her as she seemed like an incredible beauty underneath the mask. But for sometimes Mira would sweep her gaze across the restaurant and anybody that was looking at her felt a suffocating killing intent. The amount of danger that they felt from this girl was immense and they felt that nothing good would come from talking with her.
Mira and Maria had a nice dinner then went back to the Zaria household. Mira was going to use the next month to rest her mind. Living in a forest with constant dangers in extremely taxing, so she wanted to use this time to just relax. Maria did not have such thoughts, she was just going to continue doing whatever she wanted.