Chương 36: Chapter 35 - Implementation of the Legendary Technique

In North-West Quarter, back behind the decrepit warehouse overshadowed by The Crossroads' massive wall, Alice began to train Ren once more.' Is it going to rain soon?' he mused, looking up at the still overcast sky as Alice approached him with a sword of condensed shadow in her hand.

"What should I start with today?"

"A thousand strikes, of course!" Alice replied cheerfully as Ren took the weapon from her.

"Ren has to complete it every day until his strikes are perfect!" He nodded with determination and got into a stance.' Until they're perfect.' Alice watched from not far off, inspecting his movements and offering up the same string of useless criticisms about his form as Ren repeated the downward arc over and over again. At some point, just as the sweat began to bead along his brow, a thought struck him.' I wonder if I should try to circulate my essence while practicing?' Mr.

Jester had said the goal was to keep it flowing constantly throughout his body after all.

Ren paused his movements and closed his eyes for a brief moment as he pictured his soul. Then he imagined the essence from the river surrounding it flooding out into his body. Just as it had the last time, strength surged and flooded into him, rushing through his muscles and bones alike. And just as it had the last time, his essence began draining away at an absurd pace.

"Huh?" he heard a distant Alice say.

"Why'd Ren stop?" Ignoring her, he raised the sword in his hands and tried his best to maintain concentration before bringing it down in a clean arc, just as he had countless times before. Only this time, the strike fell significantly faster and far harder than any that had come before it. Ren immediately opened his eyes, breaking the circulation and stopping the flow of essence.

"Damn," he muttered, breathing hard.

"Just a single movement uses so much..." He noticed Alice staring at him with wide eyes.

"Wow…" she said, her expression lighting up.

"Whatever Ren did just then, keep doing it! Because that one was perfect!" He blinked.

"Was it really that much better?"

"Yep!" she swung her sword around, "that one had much more oomph to it."

"Hmm…" Ren mused, looking down at his hands and the dark blade that was in them.' Just how much stronger will this technique make me...?' The rest of the day passed much like the one before it, except this time Ren worked short bursts of essence circulation into his practice wherever he could manage it, slowly familiarising his body to the strange feeling while also fine-tuning his control over just how much essence he burned through in maintaining the technique.

Today's training hadn't been nearly as gruelling as yesterday's either, as Ren had wasted no time at all putting those gold coins to good use, buying a hearty breakfast for both himself and Alice to start the morning off right. Throughout the day he ran through countless repetitions of the basic overhead strike, drilling that clean downward arc into his muscles again and again, before he and Alice eventually turned their attention back to Night's Opening Bar.

Ren did his best to apply his essence circulation here too, weaving it into the Form as smoothly as he could, to varying degrees of success. And now, as the day's training wound down in the mid-afternoon, Ren stood with his sword raised in front of his face, steadying himself as he prepared to give Night's Opening Bar one final attempt.' It keeps throwing off my timing because I'm still not used to the boost that circulating my essence gives me,'he analysed.

The sky was truly threatening to rain now, the clouds having steadily darkened over the course of the day until the smell of rain hung heavy in the air.' I just need to get used to more...'

"Ren need to be quicker! But actually slower," Alice called out to him, as helpful as ever.

"Move your legs quicker!"

"Move my legs quicker, huh?" he mumbled.

"But not the rest of body? How am I supposed to do that when the technique targets everywhere..." Ren trailed off as an idea suddenly came to him. What if he could actually dictate where the essence focused its strength? It wouldn't hurt to try, so he closed his eyes and focused on his soul and the essence swirling endlessly around the island, letting it expand outward around his body.

His essence started to drain away quickly, trading it for a surge of strength, so Ren promptly shifted his attention to the movements of Night's Opening Bar, all while forcing his essence downward at the same time. Down into his legs. And much to his surprise, it actually worked, the added strength in Ren's upper body draining away in favour of boosting his legs instead.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity while he still had essence to spare and his concentration held, he performed Night's Opening Bar to the best of his ability, and this time it felt far better than any other attempt he'd made at completing it before. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Yes! That's it!" Alice celebrated happily.

"Ren got it! He did it much quicker than Alice too... That probably means Alice is such a great teacher!"' How are you supped to do that without circulating your essence?' Ren breathed heard, but couldn't help the smile forming on his face.' I've still got a long way to go but this technique of Mr. jester's really is legendary if it lets me skip a couple steps without consequence!' Thunder rumbled overhead.

"That was really good Ren!" Alice said as she walked up to him.

"Did Ren feel the woosh?"' Did I? I was mostly focused on keeping my essence flowing, so I didn't notice...' Ren spun the shadow sword in his hand.

"Maybe, I was circulating my essence. Have you heard of it?" Alice raised and eyebrow and shook her head.

"Uh-uh""Yeah, I assumed so," he said, "since it's supposedly Mr. Jester's legendary technique. I'll teach it to you tonight since it's actually pretty useful."

"Ok!" Alice answered with a bright smile.

"Will it be hard for Alice to learn?"

"No, I don't think so," Ren said as he brushed off the dust from his clothes and picked up his cloak.

"I got the hang of it pretty quick. The hard part is mastering it."

"We'd better call it here for the day, though. I don't really want getting rained on, and besides, we still haven't got a single lead on the preacher. At this rate I'll be stuck working for Mr. Jester here in the Crossroads forever."

"The preacher?" Alice asked as the started to walk. She dismissed both of their swords, allowing the shadows to settle back into the ground that the massive wall loomed over. He nodded.

"Yeah, the guy that goes around proselytising about the Cult. Do you know anything about him?"

"No. Alice has never met him, sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Ren said with a sigh, though he wasn't really disappointed or anything since she had already been an invaluable help by teaching him how to use a sword. As the two of them made their way past the docks, which bustled with workers hauling boxes and cargo aboard ships being readied to sail off down the river, they cut through the same side street they had been using for their usual commute to the 'secret training spot'.

Only this time, they found that a small crowd had gathered in the little square they emerged out into.' What's going on here?' Ren thought, slowing slightly. His musings being answered immediately after when he head a familiar, fervent voice speak.

"…The Eternal Flame's light is waning," the speaker called out in a way that inclined Ren to listen.

"But the Abyss doesn't need her light. He offers the truth of the dark."' The preacher!

'Ren exclaimed inwardly, straining to see the threadbare man somewhere near the centre of the square as thunder once again crashed overhead,' What are the chances?' He'd only just been thinking about tracking the man down, and now here he was, preaching out in public right in front of him. The shock was short-lived, however, as the square abruptly erupted into chaos when several Flameguard came bursting into it, almost on schedule.

"Stop the heathens!" one of them shouted as they rushed into the crowd from the far side, just like they did last time. Ren reacted instantly, breaking into a run toward the commotion before glancing back over his shoulder at Alice.

"We've got to follow the preacher!" She nodded, and together the two of them slipped into the dispersing crowd, weaving and ducking past the people and Flameguard as they went. Ren scanned the fleeing people until he spotted a figure in threadbare clothing with clumped, unkempt hair dashing away from the square, and despite his frail appearance, the man moved with surprising speed. Strangely though, Ren noticed that not a single Flameguard was giving chase after him.

"There!" he shouted, pointing the man out to Alice before the both of them immediately broke into pursuit. The Flameguard didn't stand a chance at catching up, their heavy armour clanking loudly with every step and slowing them down considerably.' How were they ever planning on catching up with him in full armour?' Ren wondered briefly, though now really wasn't the time for conspiracy theories. Their target was already beginning to pull away as he and Alice sprinted through the streets of the North-West Quarter.

And the moment the two of them burst back out onto the docks, the preacher was already widening the gap further, disappearing deeper into the bustle of the waterfront ahead.

"So fast…" Ren breathed heavily and it didn't help that he had tortured his body with hours of training just hours earlier.

"Ren, he's getting away!" Alice called.' I know that!

'he thought, frustrated at his own inability.' I need more speed…' While still running, Ren closed his eyes for a split second and focused hard, picturing the essence within his Soul Plane before imagining it flowing down through his body and forcing it into his legs. Power swelled within them instantly, just as it had before, and Ren snapped his eyes back open before he could crash into anything, his very next step pushing off the ground with exceptional force and launching him forward.

His speed immediately doubled and he began closing the distance between himself and the fleeing preacher. But just as quickly as it had come, the essence in his legs ran dry as his concentration wavered.

"One more time…" Ren whispered to himself. Any more than that and he risked falling into essence overexpenditure, and he knew just how badly that could end. He focused once more and flooded the essence back into his legs before exploding forward, the air whistling past his ears as he tore down the street. Now he was barely twenty metres behind the preacher when the man suddenly darted into one of the many narrow alleys lining the street.

Ren was moving way too fast to stop in time, skidding straight past the alley's entrance, boots scraping loudly against the cobblestone before he finally managed to bring himself to a halt.

"Dammit!" he cursed under his breath as he spun around. His felt tired after using so much essence so quickly and his eyes felt heavy due to it, but there were more important things than that right now. Ren tried to run again but stumbled to all fours as a weakness suddenly spread through his legs.' There'll be another chance,' he told himself, closing his eyes to rest just for a moment just as raindrops started to patter around him. But would there?

How could he be sure this wasn't the last time he ever saw the preacher? Ren clenched his teeth and forced himself back upright.' Yumè won't get saved if I rely on what-ifs.' He looked up and saw Alice was running across the rooftops above him, evidently at some point during the chase she had switched to pursuing the preacher from up there. Ren pointed toward the alley and the direction he'd lost their target in.

She caught his gesture and gave a nod, changing course immediately and sprinting off across the rooftops in that direction. Ren smiled faintly, taking a deep breath in before taking off running again.' It's only truly over when I give up.'