Every day, thousands of metallic sounds of clashing weapons could be heard in this place. Disciples were everywhere, training their skills and getting used to their new strength.
At a certain spot in the Training Yard, a man with a terrifying burn on his left cheek tightened his grip on his swords while looking at his opponent. On the other side, an old man held a sword in one hand, the other resting behind his back.
Desper charged at the old man, swinging the right sword. The old man blocked it easily, so Desper struck with the left one. His opponent was fast enough to move his sword to block the second attack, but suddenly Desper changed the motion of his sword from a swing to a stab.
The old man remained calm and twisted his body, dodging the attack. Desper swung his right sword while moving the left in a pincer-like attack. The old man took a step back, letting both swords cut through the air.
Desper stepped back as well to evade his opponent's counterattack, but suddenly the old man charged forward waving his sword. Desper tried to parry, but he was too slow.
"What is wrong with you, Desper?" the old man narrowed his eyes, the sharp blade of his sword resting on Desper's neck. "Your talent is very good, your moves show great maturity, and your reactions are fast. Why are you so tense in every attack?"
The old man was one of the instructors who trained the new disciples in the Training Yard, preparing them to fight the monsters. For the last month and a half, Desper had come here every morning to train with him.
The instructor looked at the dark circles under Desper's eyes and asked, "Why are you so nervous? Is it because of the missions in forty-five days?"
Desper stared at the sky in silence, then sheathed his swords. "I'm sorry. I'm done for today."
The instructor watched Desper leave.
"If you keep leaving your training early, you might really die in your first mission."
Desper didn't respond and continued walking, lost in his thoughts.
After a while, he reached a small restaurant.
A young man approached him. "How can I help you, sir?"
"Give me anything to eat," Desper answered.
"We have—"
"It doesn't matter. Give me anything."
The young man looked confused and left to get the food.
The food in this place wasn't that good. If Desper wanted good food, he would need to eat at the restaurant near the Training Yard. However, he preferred this place because he couldn't hear the sounds of clashing weapons or instructors yelling.
After a few minutes, the food was served. It was fish and rice. Desper didn't care and started eating.
He didn't need to worry about the expenses, since all basic services within the sect were free for the disciples and their families.
After finishing, Desper sat there for an hour doing nothing.
Suddenly, a man with blue eyes and yellow hair sat across from him.
"Long time no see. How are you, Desper?"
Desper stared at Varik and said, "I don't know. Although the sect is the safest place in the area, it is also the most dangerous. If someone learns about my identity, I will be dead. On top of that, I can't leave the sect because that would be suicide. So tell me, how do you think I should be?"
After their conversation forty-five days ago, Desper's state of mind had been terrible. He didn't know whether to fear the monsters, his clan, or the sect.
Varik smiled. "I'm here in the same situation as you, and I'm not that gloomy."
Desper frowned. "Are you?"
"Hmm?" Varik looked confused for a moment, then remembered. "Oh, you must be talking about your Origin. Did you do the test?"
Desper had thought that his Origin was in his chest because he was a Svikari, but Varik had denied that, which made Desper even more upset.
Desper took out five small, oval red stones. "I can store three of them."
Varik was astonished. "What about the absorption speed?"
"Each one took me ten minutes," Desper answered.
Varik's mouth dropped open.
"Ahahaha…" He burst out laughing. "In the end, you're not unlucky; you're actually very lucky."
Desper's expression didn't change as he asked, "What do you mean?"
Varik explained, "The Red Essence Stones contain a concentrated amount of Essence. Most of us can only absorb one of them before our Origins become full. Also, we need thirty minutes to absorb one. Not only is your Origin three times bigger, but it's also three times faster. Do you know how amazing that is?"
Varik didn't give him time to think and continued.
"The biggest problem we—cultivators—can face is when our Origins run out of Essence during a fight. However, you don't have that problem. Even if you somehow use all your Essence, you still can refill it quickly."
Desper exhaled a deep breath. His face didn't show it, but he felt deeply relieved. His Origin had been one of the things worrying him the most during the past period. If he wanted to survive his miserable situation, he had to grow stronger. If something had been wrong with his Origin, that would have been disastrous.
…
Twenty minutes later, Desper and Varik were standing in a completely empty room. It was the Silent Room of Desper's apartment.
Desper drew both of his swords, while Varik wore two metallic gauntlets with long, sharp fingers.
"Are these your weapons?" Desper asked in confusion.
Varik smiled. "Does that matter to you?"
Desper didn't respond.
Varik sighed. "Let's start."
Desper focused on his body, precisely on his stomach. A stream of strange energy flooded his body, accompanied by the appearance of green veins in his eyes.
The green veins continued spreading through his eyes until they reached the edges of the black in his eyes. He didn't let them go any further; pushing beyond that would increase his strength, but he would lose control of his body and his power, plunging into the Berserk State.
Seeing that, Varik nodded in approval. "I guess you weren't playing around during the last month."
After practicing every day, Desper was able to activate his Svikari Bloodline without Varik's help after fifteen days. During the last month, he had been training to control it and prevent it from overwhelming him to the Berserk State. That was why he had to leave his training early in the Training Yard.
Desper took a deep breath, then launched himself at Varik.
If the instructor had seen him, he would have been shocked. Every strike of Desper's swords was much faster and much stronger. He attacked Varik with an endless barrage of strikes, yet the latter still blocked every attack.
Even though Desper's Svikari Ability increased his strength, Varik had been a cultivator for a much longer time and had a very high cultivation level. Right now, Desper was just a Bone Cultivator, while Varik was an Organ Cultivator. The difference was huge.
The green veins moved back and forth in his eyes as it was still hard for him to fight and keep control of his power at the same time.
In the end, he started to lose control, so he stopped.
Varik praised him, "Good job, Desper. By the time of your first mission, you should be able to use your power freely."
Desper narrowed his eyes. "It uses double the amount of Essence."
"Hm?" Varik seemed surprised. "Maybe it's because your Origin is in your chest, not in the stomach near our bloodline ability. Since your Origin is three times bigger than normal, this won't affect you much."
Desper didn't know whether he should be happy about that or not.
"Now for the next step," Varik said.
Desper frowned. "Next step?"
Varik smiled. "Activate your Bloodline and start cultivating."
Desper was confused, but he still closed his eyes and did as told.
The Channels in his body were much longer than before and ran through half of his bones.
Just five minutes later, he suddenly opened his eyes in astonishment.
"It… it is much faster," he stuttered.
"That's right," Varik confirmed. "The best thing about our Svikari Power is that it makes our cultivation about twice as fast as normal."
"Tha… that is amazing." For the first time since he had joined the sect, Desper heard some good news.
Then his expression turned annoyed. "But it also consumes double the Essence."
Varik sighed. "Again, that's because your Origin is far from our clan's power."
After that, Varik walked toward the door.
"From now on, all you have to do is the same as before: train in the morning, then practice controlling your power, and finally cultivate, but this time while activating the Clan Power."
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly stopped.
"Do you remember when I told you that our clan is hated because of the many horrible things we did in the past?"
"I do," Desper replied with a nod.
"The ones who did those things were the very strong members of the clan."
"Okay… so?" Desper was still confused.
"Our clan is secret and well hidden. Only cultivators from the very top sects know about us. Other than the Sect Leader, you don't need to be too afraid if someone sees the veins in your eyes. If that happens, you just need to escape before the Sect Leader finds out. Then you can join another sect under a different name."
"Okay." Desper rubbed his forehead, processing the new information.
Shortly after Varik left, Desper closed his eyes. Activating his Bloodline, he began cultivating.
He repeated the routine Varik had told him about day after day, until finally the three-month period came to an end.