Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

Stark was sitting in front of a fire, sweating profusely, yet wrapped up in so many blankets that he looked like a mushroom.

The Sage, Alaric, sat by the other side of the fire, watching him with great detail, while Jade gave him a weird look.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Stark shrugged and shot a stare at the sage. It was his idea of training, after all.

As usual, the old man stroked his luscious beard. "We need his body to experience chaos. That way he will summon the aura of Fa Jin automatically. Only when he gets a feel of it will he be able to summon it himself."

"It looks like he will die first," Jade said blankly.

She was not wrong…

After running for so long that he felt he would die of exhaustion, the sage had wrapped him up in blankets Stark had no clue how he had.

Now he was practically slow cooking like steamed potatoes.

His vision dimmed, and he almost fell head first into the fire before catching himself.

He sucked in a deep breath and focused, not on the heat but on what was happening inside his body.

For minutes he remained this way, his skin pink from the heat, his breaths quickened, and his body soaked in sweat.

He focused on the way his heart was beating erratically and the speed at which blood was soaring through his veins.

And then he closed his eyes and focused on his core.

At first, he could not feel it properly, but after a few seconds the pulsing feeling surged through his body like a quiet storm.

At that moment, his eyes shot wide open, and when he did, the sage was standing in front of him, a bright smile on his face.

His entire body was surrounded by a smoky white aura that was seeping through his skin. Not steam from sweat but something else—it was his internal energy, an excited version of it.

Immediately it happened, it was as though Stark was suddenly enlightened.

Like learning to do a backflip for the first time.

He compressed the energy into himself as a test, then released it once more, this time more vibrantly.

Fwooosh!

His aura shot into the air, flying as high up as the trees, and then he sucked in a deep breath, his skin tingling red, and his body quivering.

"You have completed the next step…"

Immediately, Stark was freed from the wall of blankets. He plunged into the river, the cold water clashing violently against his hot skin.

The feeling was invigorating, like tasting ice-filled water during a hot summer outing, or like the first drop of honey from a new batch.

Stark allowed the currents to carry him, the cold doing wonders for his weakened body.

As he enjoyed his soak, Jade walked up to the edge of the river and sat down, her feet playing with the water.

"You know… you might just die from this training…"

Stark laughed, staring up at the sky.

"This is far too easy for me to die."

Running till he dropped, cooking alive? It was nothing compared to the anguish he felt when he saw everything ripped out of his very hands.

If he could endure that, then this was nothing.

"This isn't nearly as life-threatening as when we fought those banshees, right?" He placed his hands behind his head, as his feet moved to keep him stable in the water.

"I really thought I would die back then..."

She looked to the side, her chin resting on her palm and a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

But at the same time, there was an uneasiness in her eyes, one that Stark had noticed since they reunited after Sandhill.

•••

The next morning…

"I'm really going to die!"

"Stay quiet and focus! You're a martial artist, not a whining kid!"

It was just the next day, and yet Stark was already seeing the gates of heaven.

The sage had chosen another bizarre training for the second step of learning Fa Jin, one that trumped the others in terms of fatality rate.

Stark was seated on a rock, right underneath the waterfall…

If the river was cold, then the waterfall was freezing. It was death.

A few minutes after sitting under it, Stark felt his body temperature drop to a terrifying degree, and the clattering of his teeth had not stopped since then.

The goal of the test was simple: use Fa Jin to maintain your body heat while underneath the water. If he was able to conquer the cold with Fa Jin alone, he would have mastered circulation of his core energy.

But it was easier said than done.

His eyes snapped shut and he collapsed into the water, overcome by the cold.

Days went by and he was still stuck on the same training, always collapsing before he could make headway.

On another fateful day, Stark was back in his usual spot underneath the water.

He focused on the river in front of him as the unforgiving waves washed him with unending currents.

His body was being battered by water, his lungs were trembling, and his mind was seconds away from shutting off.

But with hands clasped together and his eyes staring ahead, he focused.

Stark felt his core, he moved the energy around his body, and then he boosted its speed.

It was there… a warm heat rising within him, fighting to push away the cold, and yet it was not enough.

He was failing, his vision darkening and his body shivering terribly—then his eyes snapped closed, the darkness overtaking him for a second before he opened his eyes once more.

"Not now, just a little longer…"

He kept his gaze on the water all while channeling his internal energy, but then something strange happened.

Before his very eyes, the water around him turned to blood, and that blood began to swirl around him, creating a whirlpool just a few feet ahead of him.

Stark blinked, his exhausted body too tired to do anything. He simply stared ahead, waiting for whatever was to come.

And then out of the whirlpool came a figure in the shape of a human—only it was made entirely of blood.

'What the hell?' He tried to stand up, but it felt as though his legs were locked in place, paralyzed by the cold.

The figure began to walk above the water towards him, their steps annoyingly slow.

And then they finally arrived at his feet and sat cross-legged right in front of him.

The blood began to fade, giving way to dark brown hair, vibrant green eyes, and a smile that sent sparks coursing through his body.

Stark smiled with his eyes, his heart overcome with joy as he stared at her.

At the woman he had given his heart.

"What's up, Vee?"

The woman returned his smile and placed her head on his lap. "It's been a minute, hasn't it?"