Studying the Arts
He sat down in front of the monolith in a lotus position.
He took a big breath of air, and started reading the script again.
Then, he read it once more.
Then, once again.
Each time, he would gain new insights on the Art.
Understand it, bit by bit.
His high IQ was the catalyst for his ability to understand the concepts at a deeper level, the more he read the golden script.
Some people would find it very difficult to even make out the basic ideas, while others would have completely no concept of the Art.
They would not even understand it's some kind of Art.
The script was complex and deep, many things requiring certain knowledge that was not of this world, or this universe for that matter, and therefore were inaccessible even to Iono.
He spend 30 days reading the script.
Over and Over and Over.
No food, no water, no breaks.
Like a statue, he stood in front of the monolith, and read it again and again.
By know, although he didn't understand even 1%, he had memorized the words and could recite it back and forth.
He was worried about spending so much time in this space, mainly because he did not know where he was, but also because his parents did not know where he was.
Although, he didn't have a clue as to how to leave this place, therefore he could only wait.
Other than the two monoliths, he was surrounded by pitch black darkness.
His small chest heaved, up and down, as his breathing was the only sound in this desolate darkness.
The only thing keeping him sane was reading the script over and over.
By now he understood the basic principle behind the Art.
This was to cultivate a Soul Beast.
The practitioner would breed a Soul Beast by using the energy of his body and a spark of his soul.
The beast that was bred, would take the form that resembles the practitioner's soul the most, and would feed upon his energy to become stronger as he grew stronger himself. It would reside inside the practitioner's body and aid him to cultivate the Art.
Regarding the actual properties and abilities of the beast, Iono was absolutely clueless.
He figured he would find out with time, as he practiced the art.
Using a spark of his soul to breed a beast, meant connecting his soul to the beast, which was a rather big deal.
It would mean the beast and him would be forever connected, even after death, and in case the beast died, he would lose that spark, weakening the integrity of his soul.
Weakening the soul was no funny business, as the soul was the only thing that allowed mortals to exist in perpetuity.
Not in mortal bodies, of course, but in spiritual ones. As written in the scriptures.
There was also the matter of promising his soul to the Jester.
Iono, still being clueless about his situation, had no indication whether surrendering his soul was an option or not.
The safest choice, is the best choice and so he decided against it.
But he had made a promise.
Would the Jester think of taking his Soul Beast as payment?
He might seem kind to his chosen one, but on the inside he's one of the vilest of Gods.
Too many irregularities had appeared and Iono still had no answer to his circumstances.
He was infinitely grateful to Kyomu for giving him a second chance, and choosing him as its wielder.
But, swimming in a swarm of unverified possibilities wasn't exactly pleasant.
After a lot of thought and consideration he decided he would take the chance and breed the Soul Beast.
Hoping, it would lead his strength to new heights and shield him from the imminent danger of the Jester and the future danger of Heaven.
Before actually breeding the beast, he had to memorize the Cosmic Daemon Art as well.
Therefore, he lifted himself up, and as he did he stumbled.
Sitting on a lotus position for 30 days, unmoving, made his legs go numb.
After a few squats to restore the blood flow, he proceeded to sit in front of the other monolith.
At the very top it wrote:
Cosmic Daemon Art
Iono proceeded to read the rest.
It took about 10 minutes to finish the whole thing.
By the end, he was left speechless.
"I... have no idea what the hell this is!
This isn't a cultivation Art, this is something else. It's like nothing I have ever seen before. It seems to be talking about... body... cultivation?? But that's done in the foundation stage...
Wait!
The thought I had the other day...
Further enhancing you body with energy...
I thought of it as impossible, the cells can only contain so much before they explode.
But this...
This is the solution to that!
This is a way to enhance the body using energy even further...
Kind of like, a double cultivation...
Is that even possible??
This is the first time I've heard about this!
Double Cultivation... Is this even possible??
And why did this come at such a perfect timing??
I... have so many questions and no F*CKING ANSWERS!
*Sigh*
Let's get cracking then!", he said as he cracked his neck and fingers and proceeded to spend 30 more days memorising the Art.
Just like the Sacrilegious God Art this was a rather deep and profoundly mysterious Art.
Given that the context was body cultivation most of the Art was unknown gibberish to Iono who had no idea what the concept even was.
He was a semi-pro regarding energy cultivation, but this... This was an entirely different playing field.
The Art talked about the body as a living organism.
A universe on its own.
That each and every cell of the body was its own little universe.
Something Iono didn't think possible.
The world he lived in, did indeed identify that the body is made up of cells but nothing further than that.
They had no knowledge of physics or biology.
Everything they knew, was because they could see it using the energy that circulated their bodies.
But there always limits to ones physique.
This Art was the hammer one used to break those limits.
That's why this was so extraordinary.
It wasn't simply a way to use energy to enhance the body's capabilities.
No.
This was completely reconstructed the physical body using energy.
Making it stronger.
Faster.
More durable.
A better energy conductor.
Myriads of improvements.
This wasn't simply training the body.
No.
This was a whole different way to become strong.
A way that could rival energy cultivation.
------------------------
After 30 days, Iono found himself still completely clueless on the mysteries of the Art.
A completely new domain.
Exciting.
He didn't gather much but he did understand that just as in Energy cultivation there were stages, similarly the Body cultivation had stages as well.
The first step was to finish foundation, which Iono had not done yet. The road of body cultivation was basically a continuation of the body refining stages.
Therefore, although he did have the Art he would have to finish the body refining stages first to actually cultivate it.
The same applied to he Sacrilegious God Art. As an energy cultivation Art, it required the user to be at least at the Energy Gathering stage. Aura, Mana, Either, even Prana. Any Energy that the user cultivated would be the main energy that was cultivated by the Art.
Therefore, although exciting and amazing these Arts were currently unusable.
Although slightly disappointed, Iono knew that he simply had to finish the body refining stages to start cultivating them.
His goal was clear.
Since he had memorized the contents of both monoliths he had no need for them any longer and therefore decided it's time to go home.
He lifted himself up and looked around, searching for the exit.
His deep-blue eyes shined in the darkness.
One could see the sky reflected in them.
He searched the monoliths, hopefully to find some kind of button or energy ring.
He found nothing.
Other than the monoliths he found himself in absolute darkness.
He started running, away from the monoliths.
Hopefully to the exit.
No use.
The further he walked from the monoliths the more the darkness consumed his surroundings.
The more whispers he could hear coming from inside the darkness.
Unknown whether there was someone there or his mind was playing tricks on him.
He changed direction.
Still nothing...
He decided to return to the monoliths.
"The clue MUST be there!", he thought.
"This is one more of his challenges. If I can't make it out of here I am not worth his legacy, is that what it is...?"
Therefore, he returned to the monoliths.
He stood in front of both of them.
Staring at them.
His eyes rapidly scanned every corner for any irregularities, gaps or any kind of clue as to how to leave this place.
Nothing.
His eyes wondered in the golden text covering the deep-blue monoliths.
He read it, even though he had it memorized.
Suddenly-
His eyes went wide.
"The first letter...
Of each sentence!
It forms a phrase...
T-
O-
R-
K-
A-
R-
I-
A-
I-
L-
A-
R-
R-
E-
L-
E.
What does this even... mean? This isn't goblin tongue... No this is the other language... The one I have seen all over this thing but I do not know...
Torkaria Il Arrele-"
The moment he said the sentence out loud the ground started trembling.
Iono panicked and looked around him.
As he turned around he saw something terrifying.
A wave of darkness in the form of a mist came crushing on him.
Like a dust cloud it covered him from head to toe, devouring him.
*Deep Breath*
Iono suddenly opened his eyes and lifted himself into an upright position.
He touched his chest to check if his body was still in tact.
He had returned to his physical body.