Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

The next day, Stark woke up early and went straight to the bridge, alongside Jade and Chubby.

When he got there, he met the old man standing, both arms crossed behind him as though he already knew Stark was coming.

"Welcome, welcome… shall we begin?" he asked with a very strange smile plastered on his face. A smile that made Stark question his decisions.

"I guess?"

"Good, come with me," he said, turning to leave.

The old sage led them deep into the forest, a place so far in that it took about thirty minutes to get there, but when they did—

Fwooosh!

The first thing Stark saw was a large waterfall. Heavy amounts of water descended into a large river with a thunderous roar that overshadowed most sounds in the area.

Jade stared at the waterfall as though enthralled by it, while Chubby let out a satisfied hum, appreciating its beauty.

The old man sat on the ground and prompted Stark to do the same. "First of all, let's start with introductions, shall we? I am Alaric."

"Stark, and she is Jade," Stark replied, pointing to Jade who was still standing.

She glanced around and then her eyes landed on a large tree with a particularly soft-looking patch of grass, then began walking towards it.

When she got there, she laid down on the grass, watching them from the cool shade.

Chubby, on the other hand, floated towards the waterfall, eager to explore it.

Alaric's expression became a bit more serious. "There are many martial arts techniques, many of which are lost now. But the technique I have decided to teach you is Fa Jin. Also known as Kinetic Burst."

Stark nodded, soaking up the information.

"You see, Fa Jin is the energy of motion. It is the ability to manifest your inner energy through a specialised type of movement."

The old man waved a transparent hand in front of him and a white, steamy aura began to rise from it.

"Do not be confused. Although Fa Jin relies on movement, it does not mean you will always have to move erratically; this will only tire you out."

"What you do is first master your internal energy, then cause it to surge violently within you. Finally, you release it with a BANG!"

"?!"

He had screamed the last word so loud that the birds around them shrieked and flew away in haste.

He cleared his throat. "Alright, let us begin. First close your eyes and enter your mind space."

Stark placed his hands on his lap and closed his eyes tightly.

"What do you see?"

"Nothing…"

"You are not looking deeply enough. Sight is not just what we see, but what we imagine."

Stark opened one eye to shoot the spirit a blank look. "You're just trying to sound ancient now, aren't you?"

"Uhum…" Alaric cleared his throat. "Feel it at the pit of your stomach, visualise it."

Like he had instructed, Stark tried to create an image just as he explained, but strangely, whenever it would appear, it would suddenly fizzle away.

He continued like this, repeating countless circles of visualisation, the internal struggle so much that he began to feel his body heat up and sweat drip down the side of his face.

But finally, after many failed attempts, it formed.

A swirling ball of pure clandestine energy, surging within his stomach.

The old man smiled. "Good, you have completed the first step."

Then he rose to his feet.

"Now that you are able to feel your internal energy, next you need to be able to manifest it."

"But to master Fa Jin, you must first master movement."

"What do you mean by master movement?" Stark asked, slightly confused.

Alaric smiled and ran his hand through his beard.

He was enjoying the whole teacher-apprentice thing way too much.

The sage picked up a stick and began drawing what Stark assumed to be a human on the floor, but in reality, what he drew was closer to a grasshopper.

He drew a circle in the centre of the image.

"Inner energy forms and coalesces in the pit of the stomach. It is called the focal point."

He then drew swirly lines that climbed up all the way to the 'head' of his artwork.

"Like blood vessels, there are countless channels that help transfer this energy around the body. They are the same channels that move mana in mages."

Stark ran his hand over his chin but suddenly drew it back when he realised he was picking up the sage's bad habit.

"But what does this all have to do with mastering movement?"

"I'm getting to that. Like I said earlier, Fa Jin is all about movement, but that doesn't mean you will be running around like a headless chicken to excite your energy."

"Instead, Fa Jin works by sending your inner energy on a turbulent ride, a chaotic form of movement that will excite energy within you, thereby empowering your body."

Stark leaned back slightly and imagined it. Technically, just like blood flowing through his veins was movement, this was technically movement as well. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. So how do I do that?"

The old man placed a finger on his chin, stroking his beard. "Well, first you need to have a feel of chaos."

Then he pointed to the river with the stick he was still holding. "This is pretty ironic, considering what I said earlier…"

"…Uhum—let's start with two hundred laps."

"Two hundred what?"

•••

Jade was lying underneath the tree, with Chubby on her stomach.

Towards the river, Stark was still running, his legs quaking with each step he took and his mouth open as he gasped for air.

Yet his expression remained firm.

"What the hell are they doing?" she wondered as she tore her gaze away and glanced up at the tree.

High up in the canopy of leaves, a lone dry leaf snapped free and began drifting towards her.

Jade reached out and held it before it could reach her face, but as she did, she blinked, her eyes slowly widening.

"My arms—"

Her hands began to tremble slightly and she felt the beat of her heart, or rather her core pulse quicken.

"Not again…"

She immediately sat up straight, lifting Chubby off her body to gently place him on the grass—when she suddenly convulsed and he fell from her grasp.

Jade lifted her trembling fingers to her mouth as a wave of what felt like nausea washed over her.

She buckled uncontrollably and gagged, but she was a spirit, she had nothing to throw up.

Once again, she convulsed, electric tingles speeding through her body as she was violently thrown to the floor, clutching her head with both hands.

Her body…

This body…

It was rejecting her.

Her spirit core thundered in her ears like war drums and her breath came out in ragged gasps—it felt as though a fire had been ignited within her chest, and that heat was slowly spreading, taking over every single part of her.

From her shaking hands, to her tired lungs, to her quivering body…

Everything felt on fire.

She slowed down her breathing, which was unnecessary since spirits did not need to breathe, yet it was what managed to calm her.

After a few seconds, the entire feeling vanished, leaving her in an odd state.

She cursed, sat up straight and pushed her hair behind her ears, then stared down at her arm.

Her skin was once again fading.

Slowly, with trembling fingers, she began sending mana to the affected area, little by little up until it finally regained its colour.

It was a temporary measure she found to hide it, but it did little to solve the problem.

The more time passed the more obvious her condition was becoming.

She then looked to where Stark was to ensure that he had not seen her, then breathed out a sigh.

"Huuu?" Sitting on the grass where she had placed him, Chubby stared up at her, looking concerned by her strange behaviour.

She picked him up and smiled. "Don't worry, little guy, I'm alright. Don't say a peep of this to Stark, okay?"

The little spirit glanced at Stark then nodded.

"Good."

She turned to watch him as well, and it was at that exact moment his legs gave out, and he fell face-first to the floor.

"Hahahahaha! You lasted more than I did when I started out!" said Alaric. "Come on, catch your breath quicker. We have much to do!"

Taking in a deep breath, Jade slowly rose up and began walking towards them.

The evening had come, and with the approaching night came a new, even more absurd training, as well as the smell of smoke.