Chapter 94: Commitment

"Wait, that's it?" Paike said as he followed his brother out of the room.

"Liming can hold a grudge, but I think she will give me another chance eventually. But there isn't much I can do about that now, can I?" Taka said.

Paike wasn't so sure he would count on his sister's forgiveness like that. She knew how to hold a grudge and had been nursing this one for a while now with no end in sight. He also wasn't going to go out of his way to convince her for Taka. Certainly not now.

So he let the topic drop, having had enough family drama for the moment.

They walked for a little bit, and Taka quizzed him on how his training had been going while they moved through the forest looking for an empty clearing. He didn't just ask about the battle trance, but his cultivation in general.

When he heard about the change in the physical cultivation classes, he was very interested. He didn't have any information about Elder Ji anymore, though rumors had been going around the inner sect about increased barbarian activity. Apparently, expeditions were being planned to beat them back. It had been nearly a hundred years since the last punitive expeditions, and the voices calling for a more permanent solution were growing more prevalent.

As sons of the Kong family, they knew something about the military history of keeping the barbarians in check. Their family had been in every major conflict with them for the last several thousand years. So they had some idea of how futile it was to try permanently wiping them out.

Despite it being the same land every few generations, the barbarians bore no relation to the ones the empire had fought before. This was not commonly known or cared about by the empire, as these barbarians were not trading partners of any kind. Simply blights on their populations.

Even when the empire had totally depopulated the entire wild areas of humans, it would only be years before a new society took up residence in the mountains beyond the empire's borders. So the empire didn't bother anymore, yet the lands still changed hands with some regularity, another tribe driving the current barbarians from the high peaks.

Only the inevitable march of the empire's borders would eventually solve this threat for good. But it would be a long time before the area was fully conquered and assimilated. The breadth of the territory and the other countless places the empire was expanding into meant progress was slow.

"Are you going to be involved?" Paike asked his twin. It was something they had always talked about as children. They spent many of their youngest years playing cultivator and barbarian, taking turns saving the border settlements from the raids and killing the bad guys.

This sort of play was encouraged by the family. Not only was it seen as patriotic, but it was also a large part of the family's business. Many of their contracts were about protecting zones owned by the empire or trade caravans that were vulnerable to such threats.

"Potentially," Taka said. "It is unclear what level of power they are looking for."

"Most barbarians aren't in the fourth realm, certainly?" Paike asked. Sometimes the elders of the tribes would be midrealm cultivators, but there were usually not that many. Nothing like the empire would field.

"Yes, typically. But with a fifth realm so grievously wounded, I don't think they see this as a learning opportunity, " Taka responded. "Now, as for the physical cultivation, you can't just wait for the class; you don't want to lose momentum."

"I know," Paike sighed. "It's just that there are so many other things pulling at my time, and I don't have a clear path forward as I do for some of my other tasks."

"Well, your battle trance comes from the method of physical cultivation that you practice, yes?"

"It does."

"You will find that progress slows if you halt even working on the physical cultivation, and the class doesn't start until after your deadline, does it not?" Taka prompted.

"Are you saying I won't be able to master the battle trance if I don't advance more in my physical cultivation?" Paike asked.

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"In short, yes. But you don't actually need to master the trance to get some control over it," Taka responded. "I don't think you want to just have some control, do you?"

"Obviously not, but that is the priority now, and I have too many other things to focus on to fully dedicate myself to it," Paike explained.

"Well, for me, the second stage of physical cultivation was not simple. Where the first was about distributing power into the body; the second was about tuning the control such that speed and power were balanced. It may not be the same for you, but I think you should look in that direction, and you might make some progress. At least I can guarantee that the effort will not be wasted." Taka gave some unexpected advice.

"Much of my advancement through my first stage was actually about that. Changing the control was how I moved to the second realm, actually," Paike was surprised to find himself giving any information to Taka about his cultivation. But the conversation just naturally flowed that way, and really it wasn't such a private thing; he wouldn't be against sharing it.

"Interesting, you might have gotten more of the first stage than many do. It will make it easier to move through the second and maybe third, but you will have fewer returns from doing so." Taka warned, "It is still easily worth the trade-off, but many wouldn't take the time. But something to be aware of."

"I didn't know that. It was rather unavoidable for me, though. It was just what was necessary to keep my body functioning." Paike said.

"Then you already know the general method for advancement in the next stage. I doubt they will teach you anything fundamental that you already don't know in the class." Taka said.

Paike still had every intention of continuing to go to the class, even if he fully trusted what his brother told him, but it was good to hear he didn't have to wait. What he would get out of the class was personalized advice from an elder for free. He would also have exercises that would not only keep him sharp but also give him information on his rivals' abilities and a source of sect points. All things he couldn't afford to give up.

They reached a clear spot.

"So far we have made decent progress," Taka said. "We managed to get you to enter the trance semi-intentionally. We also worked on some basic control once you were in the trance, as well as maintaining awareness while consumed. The next steps are simple. You mostly just need practice."

"What about being able to end the trance? And I don't feel like we did much work on the control." Paike objected.

Taka waved his concerns away. "You were already better than with our first lesson. And ending it will come with practice. You will see. Now, do you think you can enter the trance on your own yet?"

Paike was a bit put out that Taka had been so able to easily guess what he had been working on. This wasn't something they had even talked about. Taka was better at teaching than he had given him credit for.

"I think so. I have never actually pushed over the edge, but the meditation you helped me with got me familiar with the approach."

"Good, that was the intention. Let's see you try."

Paike closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He found that edge he had been riding on when he reached for his before. Every time he had found this spot while he had been watching over Liming, he hadn't dared to go any further. This time, though, he wasn't in a position to hurt anyone.

Stepping over that line was like diving off a cliff into a lake. There was a small moment before anything moved while he convinced himself to actually go through with it. Then he moved, and at some point he reached far enough that he could no longer recover. That was when the fear and doubt finally fled. Even though his feet were still on the ground, his weight was over the air. There was no stopping the plunge into the water below.

Giving in to the inevitable, Paike felt his fingers shift and his body change. He grew a little taller, which was new, but he didn't have time to categorize all the changes before he felt his hand slam into Taka.

The sudden speed caught both of them off guard, and Taka staggered before recovering.

A slash of talons was ducked under, and Paike found himself flying backward into a tree. He reached out and ripped the small truck from the ground as he twisted past, landing on his feet.

Roaring, he hurled the tree as his brother charged behind it. Only then did he realize his awareness was starting to slip.

***

"That was much better." Taka praised as he helped Paike up. "I see that you were not kidding when you said your first stage of physical cultivation involved a lot of control. I don't know anyone at your stage who could match that. How long do you remember being in control?"

"I wouldn't say I was totally in control, but about up to where I threw the tree at you."

"That far? Well done. So what I want you to do this time is, when you're about to go over the edge. When you have passed the point of no return, remember that feeling of commitment. Try to hold on to that feeling as long as you can. It will help you stay grounded." Taka told him.

Paike closed his eyes.

When he felt himself change and grow, he kept his eyes closed. He felt that lightweight moment after he had made the decision to jump. That moment of 'I'm actually doing this,' and he held on to it.

It was easier than he had expected. Some time passed, and Paike didn't move.

When he opened his eyes, he found his twin just watching him.

This time his first attack was a feint.