Training is a Chain of Torments
Training was an endless chain of agony. Each family had its own brutal methods to forge knights, methods so excruciating that outsiders would mistake them for outright torture. For Eira's family in Bostain, they scorched the skin with whippings, toughened it by soaking in brine, and built resistance to the cold through inhuman ordeals—trials that bordered on torment.
The Bone Breaker that Black Dog had mastered came with its own pains: shards of shattered bone embedding in the knuckles, flesh tearing with every strike. Black Dog's path to learning martial arts hadn't been easy either.
"Gaaahhh!"
The training method Suhyun called Pure Refinement Technique was excruciating. A grueling blend of stretching, weight training, and Pilates-like contortions, it demanded circulating inner power through it all. Built on an understanding of human muscle structure and function, Suhyun taught Black Dog only the most essential movements for now.
Forcing the body to move while reinforcing muscles with inner power tuned the flesh like an instrument—and the whole body screamed in protest. As his hunched back straightened, long-atrophied muscles were dragged into motion, sparking muscle pain and awakening dormant nerves. Overloaded bones and joints damaged in the process healed via inner power, turning destruction into strength—the more it hurt, the healthier it grew. This martial art stimulated muscles, bones, and joints with inner power, forcibly reshaping the body toward perfection. The worse the damage, the greater the pain—especially for Black Dog, whose poor diet had left him a wreck.
A proper posture always feels awkward and painful at first. Fixing a body warped by bad habits? Pure hell.
The agony contracted even the muscles not yet reinforced by inner power. Black Dog couldn't even breathe right amid the torment.
"Regulate your breathing."
Deep, rapid inhales followed by shallow, prolonged exhales—Black Dog endured through sheer grit.
"The foundation is key to getting strong. Breathing's the most basic of basics, isn't it?"
The diaphragm and intercostals, reinforced by inner power, forcibly expanded his chest cavity. Ribs cracked, alveoli tore from overexpansion—but Suhyun's inner power healed the micro-damage in real time. Now they compressed to the limit, squeezing out every last bit of air like toothpaste from a tube. Lungs tore again, but recovery made them tougher, more elastic.
Each breath reeked of blood from the lungs, muscles ripping nearby—but it built overwhelming lung capacity, flooding his blood with oxygen. With ample oxygen, his muscles truly awakened.
Contracting and relaxing to extremes, absorbing inner power, the empowered muscles hammered away like a blacksmith at the forge—throughout his body. Inner power coursed through nerves, burning away chemical buildup, heightening sensitivity and speed. Fierce muscle contractions micro-fractured bones; osteoblasts, fueled by inner power, rebuilt them relentlessly.
His body grew healthier and stronger in real time, but its owner suffered unimaginable pain. A kinder word for it was "training"—it evoked the bone-rending, marrow-scraping tortures of wuxia tales!
"K-Kill me, please."
Inner power depleted mid-session, Black Dog collapsed, begging for death—but Suhyun refused. He crammed a pulp of medicinal herbs into Black Dog's mouth, forcibly converting its mana to inner power. Black Dog's inner power originated from Suhyun's anyway, so he could control it fully—forcing the training to continue.
"Next up: Purification Technique."
Suhyun beamed with pride at his creation; Black Dog's face darkened like his name.
The Purification Technique washed away the tainted mana staining Black Dog's body while forming meridians. It pierced not just flesh but mind and soul—leagues beyond the physical agony of Pure Refinement Technique.
Drilling channels through living tissue, past vital organs and nerve clusters? No escaping the pain.
"Grrraaahhh!"
Meridians cycled from the dantian, fine vessels branching like roots—Black Dog bled from every orifice, even his pores. Marrow channels supplied inner power, birthing mana-rich blood that flushed out the old, filthy kind. Gruesome to behold.
But Black Dog had no eyes for it. Pores felt like stuffing watermelons up his nose; shedding old cells birthed new, ripping out the living ones in the process—pure agony.
"Huff... huff..."
Yet the payoff was sweet. Clenching his fist, Black Dog felt the transformed muscle quality, sensed inner power flowing where none had before. He gazed at Suhyun with eyes mixing reverence, gratitude, resentment, and fear.
"What're you doing? Get up—we're learning forms now."
Suhyun ignored the look, prodding like an impatient player tailing a slow NPC on an escort quest.
"Y-Yes..."
Suhyun crafted a simple martial art for Black Dog: Three Talents Fist Method, just three forms handling swift, heavy, and yielding energies.
"This is the first form of the Three Talents Fist Method: Heavenly Wind Tempest Strike."
Three Talents Fist Method — Heavenly Wind Tempest Strike
Inner power flowed lightly, ethereally from the dantian. Lightening the upper body for speed while channeling momentum into successive strikes. Light per punch, but relentless pace disrupted foes—perfect for seizing initiative.
"Second form: Earth Rock Heavy Fist."
Three Talents Fist Method — Earth Rock Heavy Fist
Inner power surged heavy and majestic. Condensed in the stamping foot, it propelled upward into a crushing fist smashing empty air. Slower than the first, but devastating—meant to shatter defenses.
"Final, third form: Human Chain Flow Hold."
Three Talents Fist Method — Human Chain Flow Hold
Inner power flowed soft and subtle, enveloping the body. It protected, expanded joint range and muscle relaxation—making the form fluid. A defensive form, redirecting enemy force and weight against them.
Suhyun's hand touched Black Dog, lifting him feather-light before slamming him down.
"From now on, master these three forms."
Simple? Sure—but timing inner power's nature along three meridians? No easy feat. Black Dog had no choice anyway.
---
While Black Dog trained under Suhyun, the other parolees felled trees in the northern snow mountains. Northern wood was denser than common timber; axes barely bit deep. No wonder lumberjacks had specialized felling arts.
Parolees, lacking such skills, hacked till their palms shredded.
"Tch, weaklings."
A supervising northern lumberjack snatched an axe, chopping effortlessly—while the parolees endured abuse. Initially sympathetic as fellow laborers, the lumberjacks turned hostile upon learning they were black mage minions.
Palms torn, backs breaking, the parolees glared at Black Dog.
"That bastard wags his tail like a dog and scores scraps?"
Having survived Suhyun's "torture"—one second an hour, one hour a month—Black Dog tried ignoring it. But when a shoe splashed into his soup, he snapped.
"You fuckin' bastard!"
"What? You're the bastard, black dog shit!"
Already resentful of Black Dog ditching work for Suhyun, the parolees—mostly his old street thugs, beefed up by Malik's mods—charged. Stronger than average, they aimed to pummel him.
But Black Dog's short-term body overhaul changed everything.
Starting with a brawl, outnumbered, he recalled Suhyun's forms.
Three Talents Fist Method — Heavenly Wind Tempest Strike
Light body, swift strikes—speed became mass. Light but proportional velocity matched full swings; scattered blows floored or staggered most.
Spotting defenses hardening against speed, he switched.
Three Talents Fist Method — Earth Rock Heavy Fist
Heavy inner power smashed a blocking arm, piercing through to the body.
"Guhk!"
Power dulled but still hurled the man back. Others sweated coldly.
"He's stopped—get him!"
Seizing the opening, they rushed—but Black Dog brimmed with confidence.
Three Talents Fist Method — Human Chain Flow Hold
Fluidly redirecting rushers into each other, buying time for Heavenly Wind Tempest Strike again.
"Kuhaha! Come at me—I'm the heir to martial arts!"
Numbers win out, though. Black Dog downed most but succumbed to the swarm, eating hits. Chairs and tables flew; exhausting untested arts drained his inner power, devolving to bare-knuckle brawl.
Without inner power, Heavenly Wind Tempest Strike was flailing; Earth Rock Heavy Fist, a telegraphed haymaker; Human Chain Flow Hold, limp waving.
"Did you win or what?"
"This counts as a win, right?"
Suhyun arrived after a quest completion ping, sighing at the wrecked mess hall.
"Energy overflowing into fights? Labor quota up 50% starting tomorrow."
"That's impossible!"
One parolee stepped up boldly.
"I wanna learn martial arts from you too, Suhyun-nim."
Black Dog gawked at the foolhardy words. The man crowed triumphantly at Black Dog.
"I bet I learn better than that idiot!"
"M-Me too! I've got confidence!"
"Yeah?"
Suhyun saw no reason to limit to Black Dog— he'd tested on him first, but more guinea pigs were better.
Black Dog pitied them. But who to blame for inviting their own doom?