Martial Arts Essence

Discord Link ~ https://discord.gg/smAesXp

***

Waking up early in the morning like always, Sora entered his Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal and started working out.

Nirvanic Taichi.

Nirvanic Taichi Art.

Washing himself up, Sora was heading out already to head over to Ryozanpaku before finding a smartphone on the table with a note on it.

[Latest model!

Use it wisely and guard it well!

Call me when you have the chance, I have left my contact in the phone already.

Rinko]

Grabbing the phone, Sora ran out the door as he called Rinko. He jumped onto the roofs of the buildings as the phone rang, waiting for Rinko to answer.

[Hello, Rinko speaking.]

"You sound so formal," said Sora as he made a jump.

[Who?- Ah! Sora, you got the phone. I didn't expect you to be up so early.]

"I always wake up early, so I can have time to train," said Sora as he rubbed his nose.

[I see. Well, what do you think about the phone?] asked Rinko.

"It's perfect! Thank you for the phone," said Sora as he closed in on Ryozanpaku.

[That's a relief. Well, I have to go now. Bye!]

"Goodbye."

Beep!

Putting the phone away, Sora looked forward and found Shigure still sitting on top of the gate of Ryozanpaku, waiting for him to arrive.

"Hey!" yelled Sora as he landed on top of the gate with a smile.

"... You're here," muttered Shigure with a calm and gentle voice as her eyes looked at Sora inspectingly.

Sora smiled and used his hand to gesture on to the detached building, "Now you can lead me."

Without wasting a second, Shigure grabbed onto Sora's hand and pulled him forward over to the detached building where her blacksmithy is at.

Arriving in just a few short steps, Sora and Shigure appeared inside the detached building.

Despite the detached building's worn down looks from the outside, the building looked fairly new from the inside. Weapons were hanged on the walls and on various poles like if they were clothes. The weapons all varied from sizes and shapes.

Walking through the many weapons, Sora noticed that they were all very high grade weapons. Most that could cut through glass bottles like if they were butter.

"Amazing..." said Sora as he looked at all the weapons inside the blacksmithy. He even found many Hidden Weapons inside the blacksmithy.

Sora turned to look at Shigure and said, "This is really amazing. They're all really durable and of high quality. Not a speck of impurity lies inside the metal used to forge the weapons."

"Hm..." Shigure smiled in obviously pride from being complimented on her weapons.

As Sora was observing the weapons and admiring their fine workmanship, he was approached by Shigure who carried a hammer over to him.

"Make a sword." Shigure handed the hammer over to Sora and looked at him with bright eyes, waiting for him to make something amazing.

"A sword it is..." muttered Sora as he took the hammer and walked over to the forge. He grabbed a pure iron bar and heated it up.

Looking at Sora from the sides, Shigure paid close attention to the way Sora was handling the metal and the forge. Her eyes fixated on the melting iron bar and Sora's well toned muscles.

Clang!

Sora began the process of changing the shape of an iron bar into a sword.

Clang!

Hearing the sound of Sora's hammer falling on the metal, Shigure felt stunned. It was like she was listening to an instrument being played. Sora hit the iron bar in all the correct places with rhythm, shaping the sword beautifully.

Perfect Flowing Hammer Technique!

The idea behind this forging technique was to shape a weapon to have no weaknesses at all. Whether it be the tip, the spine, or the edge of the blade, it would have no weakness. Whichever weapon is created using this forging technique at the hands of a master, it would be perfect in every way.

It would fit well in the hands of a designated person and fit well with any technique they use with it. The weapon would beautifully flow along with their movements and technique, making the weapon seem to be one with the user.

The weapon wouldn't work well in the hands of any person unless the weapon was made specifically for them.

Making the hammer technique live up to it's Perfect Flowing title.

Beads of sweat dripped down Sora's face from the heat as he hammered out the weaknesses in the sword. After hammering the blade a bit more, Sora heard a different sound coming from the blade this time around.

Cling!

With the sound of that *Cling!* coming from the blade, Sora saw the blade shine and release a soft glow. He smiled and looked at it for a short time.

Shhhh…

Once Sora was done looking at the blade, Sora dipped the blade into a bucket of cold water. He left the blade in the bucket and moved off to the side, grabbing some bamboo for the hilt and a scabbard.

Quickly making a sheath and hilt perfectly, Sora took out the blade from the water and placed it inside the hilt before securing it in place. He tied a red string on the hilt before placing the sword in the bamboo scabbard.

"Done!" said Sora as he lifted the sword in his hands up to Shigure.

"..." Shigure grabbed the sword by the hilt and scabbard before pulling it out in an instant. She performed some quick slashes with the sword before widening her eyes in surprise before putting the sword away in it's scabbard.

Sora smiled, knowing what she was thinking, "It's called Bamboo Sword. You could give it a better name since this sword will now be yours. It was form fitted to you, so if you refuse it, it will sit here lonely."

Shigure kept quiet as she held on to the Bamboo Sword. She looked up to Sora before looking at the sword in her hands. She brought it close to her chest and hugged it together with the other sword in her hand.

"No need," she said as she held on tight to the sword.

"Good, I will now continue blacksmithing," said Sora as he grabbed another iron bar.

Eloquent Flickering Hammer Technique!

Nirvanic Taichi Art!

Sora didn't use the Perfect Flowing Hammer Technique this time since he wasn't making a weapon for anyone. Rather, he was using this chance to train his Nirvanic Taichi Art better and to further refine his blacksmithing techniques.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The hammer in Sora's hand flickered, moving at incredible speed. Each time the hammer landed on the metal, three Clangs! were heard.

His speed in handling the hammer was impressive, especially more so when he would also switch hands when using the hammer. Sora wouldn't just strike down the hammer with his right hand, he would also do it with his left hand.

Shigure was in a daze as she looked at Sora work. If his previous method of hammering sounded beautiful, then this time the hammering looked amazing.

As Sora immersed himself into the forging, Sora felt like he had entered a new state with his Nirvanic Taichi.

Mental State.

A state where one can embody the skill, technique, art, or even move, making it 25% more effective. Even an illusory image appears that follows their movement.

For example, a move like Rushing Bull, a technique where one rushes the enemy with a shoulder tackle. An illusory bull appears around them, strengthening the move by 25%.

In this instant, Sora embodied a hammer that eloquently flickered across the sky as it struck down like lightning.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The strikes became more powerful as Sora perfectly embodied the Eloquent Flickering Hammer Technique.

"Wow… amazing," mumbled Miu as she entered the detached building to hand out some cups of tea.

Shigure took a cup as she looked at Sora with amazement in her eyes. Miu blinked as she looked at Sora's technique with fascination, more attracted by the illusory image that appeared.

"Can you do that Shigure?" curiously asked Miu.

Shaking her head, Shigure said, "Never seen anyone do something similar."

"So he's pretty amazing. Wow!" Miu's eyes brightened up as she realized that Sora must be even better than Shigure at blacksmithing.

"Wow indeed. I think he reached Grandmaster in just blacksmithing alone, too bad he doesn't feel the essence behind blacksmithing," said a buff blonde old man, appearing mysteriously behind Miu and Shigure without a single sound.

"Grandfather! What do you mean by essence?" asked Miu with wide eyes.

"It's what a martial artist culminates besides Ki. It's like finding out the truth behind something, making you completely understand it. You may know a martial art and be very experienced with it, but do you truly understand it?"

Hayato looked at Sora with interest as he paid attention to his hammering technique.

"If he truly understood it's essence, he would become even more stronger, becoming a Legendary Master. By then, he will be like me, Oganosuke Yogi, Silkwat Jenazad, the Ogre Yuujiro, Kaiou Kaku, and even the monster Jin Taejin."

"That amazing?" asked Miu with shock in her voice.

"Yes, although his bodily strength won't be enough to take us on. Using techniques, he might be even better than most Legendary masters," truthfully said Hayato.

CLANG! CLANG! CLING!

Stopping there, Sora had created 4 weapons in total. Three of them were just random weapons Sora was trying his luck on. Using what remained of his stamina and time for Nirvanic Taichi Art to tire him out, Sora decided to use Perfect Flowing Hammer Technique on the last weapon for himself.

The outcome was a powerful and beautiful silver belt with the buckle being shaped as a Dragon shaped handle. Sora dropped the hammer to his side as he saw the belt successfully shine in a light golden light.

Grabbing onto the belt with his sora body, Sora put on the belt and made sure to secure it in place. With a weak body, Sora placed his hand on the buckle and tried pulling on it before sighing in disappointment as he realized something.

'Damn… I now have to wait for the future...' thought Sora as he let go of the buckle. He left the belt around his waist and decided to go for a random item he had made already.

Hidden Blade.

A 70 cm double edged thin sword that can be hoisted onto the hips. It's blade shine beautifully under the light of the detached building's lighting.

"What a beautiful blade you have crafted there," said Hayato as he walked up to Sora with his hand on his beard.

"Indeed," said Sora as he nodded whilst looking at the sword in his hand. 'Would have been better if it glowed gold.'

"It's a shame we couldn't see the one you put on your waist," mentioned Hayato.

Sora sighed and said, "I'm Sora, and you are?"

"Hoho! Where are my manners, my name is Fuurinji Hayato, the grandfather of that girl over there. Miu say hi!" said Hayato as he waved over at Miu.

Sora chuckled and said, "What were talking about just now?"

While blacksmithing, Sora had zoned out and focused only on blacksmithing. Yet when he was nearing the end of blacksmithing the final item, Sora heard Hayato speak and mention something about the essence of martial arts.

At that moment, Sora got thinking.

'Essence? Does each martial art have essence? What does this essence do? Is it like intent? Or is it like the culmination of one's understanding that had condensed to form one's essence over a martial art? Does that mean that although I become better and improve in realm, that as long as I don't understand the essence of a technique or martial art, I won't ever be truly strong?'

It was until then that Sora understood some essence for his Nirvanic Taichi, and since his Nirvanic Taichi was every martial art and technique, Sora made a minor breakthrough. It was what allowed Sora to make his belt that glowed gold.

'Essence… I need to understand essence before I leave this world...' thought Sora as he looked at the dragon buckle of the belt he's wearing.

Hayato and Sora had some talk and listened to some stories from Hayato. As well as some experiences of himself and even a partial of his understanding of his martial arts essence.

From just a short talk with Hayato, Sora felt like he had become much stronger. He looked at his martial arts from a completely different view. Instead of seeking to become proficient with martial arts and techniques first, he should be focussing on understanding first and proficiency second.

It was until now that Sora remembered the Basic Sword Techniques.

Essence… I must seek to understand the martial arts. To understand every technique I know and even the cultivation techniques. Only when I truly understand these things, can I truly create something powerful and perfect with zero flaws.