It took a week. A whole week just to complete the course once! Managing KI is barely harder than breathing but running out of KI feels worse than suffocating.

“Well done. You will complete this course once in the morning, then you will train with daggers, then train stealth in the afternoon, and finally complete the course once again at night,” said Peter.

And that’s when training hell began!

*2 weeks later*

Flooding my system with KI, I see Peter lunging forward with a wooden dagger in his right hand. I drop down to one knee and use my left foot to push myself forward, activating my Hyper Focus. The world slows down, and I see Peter's hand pull back the dagger while his free left-hand stays for defense. I push my right foot down, slowly twist, and lunge at him. Just before my wooden blade reaches his skin, his right-hand twists with the dagger, and he manages to counter to my blow. Expecting this, I use momentum to spin around him, and with my right hand, I place my thumb in the wooden loop, spin the blade around so I’m holding it in a reverse knife grip, and go for his back. He quickly spins to try to counter me, but it’s too late, I make contact.

I drop to the floor panting, trying to catch my breath.

“I’m impressed. 2 weeks and you already managed to hit me. That move at the end - spinning the blade to get a better grip - was pure genius!” Peter exclaims.

System Alert

Basic Daggers – level 4

System Quest

Reach Basic Daggers Level 5 in 1 week

Reward – 200p

Failure – lose 100p

Stupid quest system.

“Peter, can we go again?” I ask.

“Sure, Brat,” he replies.

We continued to spar until it started to get dark. I didn’t manage to get another hit, but Peter also didn't hit me. I could feel myself getting better, but I couldn’t understand how Peter could last this long without KI.

“Okay, go once around the course, then we'll go get some food,” Peter instructs me.

I nod and approach the course. I focus and shoot forward.

This time it only takes me 30 minutes to complete the course, but I can feel my core nearly empty.

After eating dinner with Peter, I head to my room and start cultivating. I notice that pushing my core to its limit increased the quantity of KI it could hold.

I feel my KI ready to upgrade a level, but regardless of what I do, I can’t push through. It must be another limit the system has imposed.

So, if my cultivation level is at its limit and I still have over a year till my 10th birthday, I've got to focus on other skills. I suppose that means training my dagger, stealth, and thunder-step ability. The last one must remain a secret, though. I'm still surprised that I unlocked that skill with pure will and practice, but it will take more of those to use it well. I should go out now, while it's dark, and practice my stealth.

I manage to get outside without anyone noticing me, but that's not exactly an achievement for someone who lives in an empty church. I travel over what they call a road here (essentially a muddy track), approaching a small town. It looks completely empty, apart from a lonely 2 story building in the center of town - the tavern. I decide that that would be a perfect place to test my stealth skills.

As I approach the wooden building, I notice that the windows are all steamy to a point where I couldn’t see through them. I can hear the merriment of all the people inside and the sound of music. I pull the hood up on my black cloak and circle the building to find the back door. I look through the keyhole, making sure no one is on the other side. Then, I crack the door open and slide into the room, keeping to the shadows. I peek around the side and see a busy chef focused on his pans. I crouch and use the ball of my feet to step, gently placing one after the other. I successfully sneak past him.

System Alert

Stealth level up

Stealth – 2/5

Moving forward I approach a hallway that leads to the main floor and a staircase going up to the rooms. I decide to sneak up the stairs. They lightly creak with each step, making me cringe. At the top, there are 5 rooms, all with the door shut. I move towards the first door and place my ear against it to listen. Nothing but snoring.

I repeat this, checking each room. As I am about to go back downstairs, I hear someone approaching the stairs. Panicking, I quickly open the door to the room which had no sounds and shut it gently. I look around and see a small bed to the left, a small wardrobe to the right, and a chamber pot at the end of the bed that stunk. I push my ear against the door and hear footsteps approaching.

I rush to the window, only to notice that it's locked and the key is missing. I quickly hide under the bed and slow my breathing. I hear the door open then shut.

“One second, let me set a silence ward,” I hear a gruff voice say.

I feel a wave of air compress around us; it's a weird feeling, but I keep myself calm and completely still.

“There, done. So, how far are we from the light sect's main city?” The gruff one says as he sits down on the bed.

“Still a few weeks but we should get there before the yearly exams. We need to make sure we 'nap a few young ones this year. The sect doesn’t have many disciples left,” a high-pitched female voice explains.

“Well, it's a shame that they all die in the mine before reaching KI refining level 5, but no way am I working in there. Let the wastes die for all I care,” the gruff one tells the woman.

I think these are dark sect members. I need to make sure they don’t notice me.

“Hmph, we all start in the mine. It builds character,” the female says before sitting down in a crossed-legged position on the floor, looking directly at me.