Sword training

After I tested my new capabilities, I went to bed all giddy. The next day, I went down the long flights of stairs to the dining room. The orcs were seated around the table.

"Good morning L-"

Quincy's sentence was cut short as soon as he looked at me. The faces of the three orcs changed immediately and their jaws were almost on the floor. I could also see something different about them, there were spheres in their abdomen. That should be their energy cores. 

"How did you-"

"The dragon showed me how to create an energy core," I said.

Jasper and Quincy looked even more flabbergasted. Grald already knew about the dragon as I had told him before. 

"WHAT DRAGON," Jasper yelled.

I explained everything related to Drago and also explained how I sensed energy and formed the core. Their faces kept getting more shocked.

"What levels are you guys at?" I asked.

"Jasper and Quincy are at the third level and I'm at the fifth level."

"What's your father's level?"

"He has reached the seventh level. Only a few orcs have reached the seventh and there are also rumors that a couple of chieftains have reached the eighth level."

"This changes your training completely! What you are doing is for beginners and will not be suitable for you. You will also need to start leveling up your body cultivation," Jasper said.

"Now what is body cultivation?" I asked.

"Body cultivation is the official grading of your physique. There are also ten levels to it and you will need to balance both body and energy core. If your energy core is too high, your body will not be able to maintain the power and you will die. Body level is also harder to estimate," he replied.

"Doesn't energy increase your strength?" I asked.

"Yes, but that's only because of the core. Body cultivation is about your innate strength, without including energy."

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The strength training had changed. The orc told me to restrict the use of energy to the maximum of my capacity. Instead of only using my body weight, Jasper placed several wooden logs on my body and made me perform the exercises. Obviously, they were a lot tougher, but I also felt my muscles working more. After the morning session, we began sword training.

Jasper wielded a stick to demonstrate the movements while I grasped my new sword, Diablo. He showed me a variety of slashes and stabs. The motions were smooth and natural. I followed suit and began practicing the strikes.

Sweat dripped down my forehead as the repetitions piled up. Using a sword was awkward at first, but I was getting the hang of it. The fact that I could only wield the sword with one arm was also challenging, but the orcs made some changes to the techniques. My empty sleeve floated with every strike.

"Send your energy to the sword. Form a cloud around the sword with your aura."

The energy traveled through my body, into my arm and flowed into the sword. Slowly, a purple aura formed around the blade. I felt an energy crawl back up my arm. I looked at the sword in confusion.

"What the hell!" I said.

"What happened?" Jasper asked.

"I feel an energy crawling up my arm," I replied.

"Accept it! Some mystical swords have spirits in them."

I allowed the energy to travel towards my brain. A cranky voice began speaking gibberish until it adapted to our language.

"Who is this wimpy kid?" Diablo asked.

"You enter my mind and now you ask such stupid questions?"

"Why did I end up in your hands?" the sword asked.

"I don't know, the blacksmith just gave me the sword."

"I haven't looked into your memories yet. Allow me to do that and then I'll see if you're fit to be my master."

After the sword went through every second of my life, the blade began shaking in despair. The sword was crying.

"You're worthy to be my owner. I shall help you in any way that I can. I do have a bit of knowledge as you are my second master."

"But the blacksmith said that you were the first?" I asked.

"The person who forged me was my first master," Diablo replied.

After having communicated with the sword, I turned back to Jasper and explained what had just happened. His head was bowed, trying to capture every detail of my explanation.

"Keep the sword well, a sword spirit is usually a companion for life. Martial arts can be a very lonely journey and practitioners usually depend on spirits to not go crazy," Jasper replied.

After the rigorous training, I had to sit down and catch my breath. Jasper let me know that I would have to go dine at a restaurant, as none of the orcs would be home to prepare the meal. He threw some bronze coins into the palm of my hand and left. I swiftly placed my sword in my leather scabbard before throwing on my black coat. A loud rumble echoed in the clearing. 

"I must really be hungry. I better hurry up," I thought to myself.

Without wasting time, I used energy to run at my maximum speed throughout the forest. It was only when I reached the border of the tribe that I slowed down. It would be weird seeing a human sprinting through the city. There were plenty of restaurants to choose from, but the one that I kept hearing about, was a luxurious establishment in the center of the tribe. Even though those sorts of places were not my thing, if even Jasper recommended it, the food must be otherworldly!

As I ambled towards the restaurant, a serpentine queue appeared in front of me. I waited in the back of the line and soon enough, they began letting clients inside. Even though the line was already long before I got here, there were even more orcs behind me! My belly rumbled again out of hunger.

"This is torture!"