Litori continued her story. “He didn’t give up. He challenged the same person again. The fights devolved from a light spar into physical abuse. Ghaster’s opponent maintained that he had a warrior’s honor so he continued to accept the challenge but he stopped going easy on him. He asked Ghaster to stop pestering him but you know Ghaster. He didn’t back down and has been taking a beating ever since.”
Soverick knew Ghaster was stubborn so the sequence of events was expected. He considered the entire endeavor with the fight as a waste of time. They had been informed that after the basic skills and techniques stage comes the fighting stage. At that time, he would be able to use the techniques he learned against other opponents and fight to his heart’s content. Even if Ghaster was bored without something to do, he could do what he is currently doing, listen to a story. Instead of getting beaten up. That made sense.
‘I suppose some people have to be stupid to create funny stories that will entertain the bored but smarter people.’ That’s what he thinks about the entire thing.
He wasn’t going to advise Ghaster to stop, that would be another waste of time and effort. He also wouldn’t go and confront the person that has been beating him up.
Soverick felt no need to and he did not want to, so he would not. Mihila had asked them to stick with him and Ghaster had refused. Instead of mimicking Soverick and concentrating on his training, he chose to fight others. It was his decision and he will bear the consequences.
Honestly, he sympathized with the person beating Ghaster. He knew how adamant Ghaster can be, the person must be frustrated that’s why he took it out on Ghaster. He couldn’t be blamed. If it were Soverick, he would break the cause of the disturbance.
“Couldn’t he sleep in his apartment?” Soverick asked.
“I was the one that dragged him here. The recent battle was particularly nasty. I wanted to watch over him just to be sure that there are no complications.”
Soverick nodded.
If he were the one, he doubted he would be so caring. “I hope he has not been delaying your progress. It has almost been a year already and you have yet to meet the physical requirements.”
“Don’t worry eldest, I am trying my best, but not everyone is as talented as you are. I am almost done with the spiritual aspect but my progress with the physical aspect has slowed down. I should be done in a couple of weeks if I maintain my pace.”
“That’s good then. Don’t waste your time sparring with people like Ghaster. Everything has a time and a place. Focus on what you’re doing for now before moving on to the next.”
They engaged in more small talk before Soverick left to resume his training. The short reprieve was enough to energize him. He returned to his training room to resume the challenges.
A few moments after Soverick left, someone entered the room to sit in another chair beside Litori. Her perception of movement drew her out of her meditation.
“You seem well.” She commented casually.
Ghaster remained quiet for a while. When he finally spoke, he said “Thanks.”
Litori snorted. “Mom will get her pound of flesh from me if you die. You are her favorite after all.”
Ghaster grinned at her. “Thanks anyway.”
“You should focus more on your training. Fighting right now is counterproductive.” Litori advised with a stern tone.
Ghaster sighed. “I think you’re right. I am almost done with the physical exercise but I’m stuck with the spiritual exercise. I can’t seem to get the hang of splitting my mind.”
“It is not surprising, you have a one-track mind. You need to fix that.”
Ghaster gritted his teeth and asked. “Will you teach me?”
Litori was shocked. “Are you really Ghaster? Maybe you sustained more damage than I thought.”
The Ghaster she knew would remain stubborn to the bitter end. He would never admit inferiority.
“I can see that you’re making quick progress in the physical training. I might not know how well you’re doing in the spiritual training but I know that you are better than me when it comes to the mind. At this rate, you will leave me behind. I don’t want that.” Ghaster explained.
Litori examined him in a new light. “Maybe the fighting is not a waste after all. You finally learn that there are some things that blind effort cannot overcome.”
“Will you teach me or not?”
“I have to teach you seeing how desperate you are. Let it not be said that Litori the soul reaper refuses to help out a damsel in distress.”
Ghaster sighed in acceptance. He knew that she was likely to help him, but the mocking and jabs taken at him will make the process very unpleasant. Certainly more unpleasant than trying to divide his mind and wield the fractions as a whole, but it will be worth the sacrifice if he can figure out mind division. Still, he swore to himself that he must beat her up one day.
She continued to mock him before she put her hands together and assumed an air of importance. He thought she was getting serious to teach him but her next words made his face darken. “As a sage of the mind and a benevolent Saint of the people. I will not consider your lowly position and unworthy countenance. I shall deign to enlighten you on the ways of the mind. Even the dimmest of wisdom will be able to make progress with just a single line of advice from me. You are not particularly bright but the little intelligence you have should suffice. Now, praise me.”
And the mocking continued for a while. Litori tried to ease the atmosphere before she started the training. She knew it took a lot out of her brother for him to ask her for help. Joking was her chosen method to make him relax.
She didn’t mention the fact that the eldest came over and saw his debilitated state. She didn’t see how it mattered personally, the eldest had bested them multiple times in the past, and him seeing them incapacitated due to injury couldn’t be worse than suffering defeat at his hands. But she knew it would affect Ghaster. She cared about her brother. They might become enemies in the future but she cared, for now. They aren’t true siblings because they don’t have the same bloodline. Having the same parents does not make one true siblings, only blood can truly bind. So it is likely that something in the future can make them want each other’s life.
Soverick’s training room. Dodging and perception.
He chose dodging and perception after footwork, and eye-to-body coordination. He chose it because he thought it was easy and he was right. The entire regimen revolved around perceiving incoming threats and dodging them. It might be difficult for others but it wasn’t difficult for him at all.
The first challenge was perception. He had to identify sounds, tastes, and textures with his divine sense.
The divine sense is a new organ based on the spiritual power of the soul. It is capable of sensing a wide array of objects but it is not omniscient. The divine sense works by acquiring information about a target and cross-referencing it against a database. This database contains verified properties of objects that one has come across before, it can only be trained through personal experience.
He had a lot of knowledge and experience but it still took him a long while than pure physical training to complete the challenge. The processing, learning, and identification ability of his mind is very powerful but it took him 3 weeks to complete the identification of millions of plant parts, animal tissues, and various energy and sound signatures. He had become truly learned by the end of it capable of using his divine sense and mind to make complex calculations for the estimation of the mass, density, and volume of an object. In the past, he had always used a method of estimation, but now he can be precise.
The second part involved using the knowledge he acquired to solve puzzles and avoid danger. It required him to combine and apply the knowledge he had acquired. Wisdom is knowledge correctly applied. It is not enough for him to know, he must be able to do and execute.
For example, he was asked to identify poisonous substances or identify beneficial substances, identify an animal by the sound it makes, and determine the number of ants in a bucket by whatever means. There were more and more convoluted tests of wisdom but he finished it in just two days.
“Not bad, not bad at all.” He said after he finished.
The information he gained increased his wealth of knowledge and the best thing is that it will also empower all of Legion’s clones. It might not be useful to him but he knows it is useful to the others.
