Ding!
A new quest was announced, similar to an icy wind crossing the pines of the heights. For fourteen days, the chosen one had to devote himself to two secret arts torn from the second floor of the Jade Lotus Pavilion: the Invisible Lotus Dance and the Original Breath Slice.
Promised rewards: Sword Proficiency +1, Movement Proficiency +1, and 40 system points.
Preparation and framework
The training room looked like a timeless suspended sanctuary. The golden light of the high windows fell like silk nets on the straw mannequins, while the suspended ropes danced to the rhythm of the wind. A discreet altar, adorned with some offerings, invited Yuto to calm his mind, to unite his breath with silence.
First day: foundations
The Invisible Lotus Dance began with humility: fragile balance on one leg, slippery weight like water, slow rotation of the hips, each gesture sealed in a deep breath. His steps seemed uncertain at first, but little by little they became the whisper of a stream, invisible but constant.
The Slice of the Original Breath, for its part, was based on the purity of the link between hand and sword. His firm but alive fingers guided a still hesitant blade. The strikes were simple, stripped, but already the wood of the models vibrated with an old breath.
Week 1: inner awakening
The dance lost its rigidity to become fluid. Yuto learned to listen to hidden tensions, to release every muscle, every joint. It was no longer a mechanical chain, but a river that followed its secret course.
The slice, for its part, turned into interior music: its parades became notes, its blows became rhythms. The saber was no longer a tool, but a vein of steel connected to its beating heart.
Sometimes, he stumbled; sometimes, his breath broke. So he sat down, closed his eyes and let silence re-tune his body. And the system, like a benevolent shadow, whispered to him: the finger has firmed, the elbow has opened, the eye has found its direction.
Week 2: fusion of breath and steel
The second week was that of the union. Each step of the Invisible Lotus Dance became the prelude of a blow, each stroke of the Slice of the Original Breath found its momentum in the fluidity of the movements. The gestures ceased to be separated: they were chained like waves and wind, like clouds and rain.
When the body pivoted, the sword sang. When the breath lengthened, the strike just hit. Yuto then felt that his flesh and weapon were breathing from the same heart.
Achievement
Ding!
Rewards: Sword Proficiency +1, Movement Proficiency +1, +40 system points.
But there was no explosion of joy. Only a gentle gravity, similar to the tranquility of a lake under the moon. Yuto did not gain a flamboyant power, but a more intimate mastery: that of his steps, his breath, and a blade that was no longer foreign.
At the end of these two weeks, he carried a new assurance in himself. The path to immortality remained infinite, but now two stars guided his steps: the Dance of the Invisible Lotus and the Slice of the Original Breath, who became his faithful companions and his weapons of destiny.