Act II - Ryun

Ryun sat with his legs crossed on the padded mat, in Tali’s training hall, with her sitting across from him. He had spent the last few days coming to her training hall daily. He was extremely interested in her way of fighting, her martial art. It was much different than the things that he had learned on Earth. But also, he wanted to see what she could offer him, to see if it was worth his word. Tali didn’t seem quite happy about what he was asking. He could tell that she assumed that he would jump at the opportunity to learn from her. He didn’t know who she was, so her knowledge meant little to him. But he could make a few assumptions. The fact that Eerv’s family had kept her for so long meant that she did possess knowledge.

But he had found that he liked her. She was arrogant, that could be seen from even the short time he had spent with her. But then again, most people he had met in this world were arrogant. But there was also a fire inside of her, she wanted to get her power back. She was desperate even. He could see that she was willing to give Ryun anything as long as he agreed. And Ryun was considering taking her up on her offer.

“So, tell me what can you teach me about,” Ryun said.

Tali seemed a bit uncomfortable, but she answered quickly. “I am a Cultivator, and I can teach you a lot about it.”

“I already know a lot,” Ryun countered.

She grimaced. “I know that you think you do, but if you have arrived in the Infinite Realm just recently, then you do not know everything. Why don’t you first listen to what I have to say?”

Ryun gestured with his hand, but then remembered that she was blind. He waited for a bit to see if she would react, but she didn’t. So, she couldn’t really perceive her surroundings. He shook his head and spoke out-loud.

“I’m listening,” Ryun answered.

She nodded her head. “Good. As you know, there are three ways to achieve power; Class, Cultivation, and Skill. The Class is the simplest and in my opinion the weakest. You will find many people in the core disagreeing with that opinion, but that is their right. I’m not saying that a Classer can’t become strong, but their power is too… rigid. If there is a single word that can be used to describe each way of gaining power, then for the Class it would be structured. Their advancement is steady, and their growth even. They gain power early and keep attaining it at the same rate.

For Cultivation the word would be inspiration. A Cultivator gains power slowly, by accumulating Essence and enhancing their body and Qi. But a Cultivation path is more complicated. It is not straightforward. It is filled with opportunities, but also dangers. A bad act can cripple you for life, or halt your advancement, prevent you from reaching higher. The Skill is the hardest way of attaining power, and the word that describes it is understanding. It requires something that few people have.”

Ryun found himself drawn in to her words, and found that everything she said made sense. It put into words what he felt inside himself.

“The biggest mistake many people make is that they spread their Essence to wide, trying to advance in all three areas. I can see that even you have done this, but for you it is a bit more understandable, surviving the old world is hard and you knew little. But you need to decide what your focus is, and then put most of your effort into it. I would suggest picking one of the two remaining areas as your supplement, but you need to abandon one area completely.”

“Why?” Ryun asked.

“Because, the higher you climb in each area the more you are shaped in the image of your power,” Tali said.

Ryun frowned. “What does that mean?”

“You’ve reached the Monarch Realm, you had to have noticed it,” Tali told him.

“Noticed what?”

“Your Path, it is more than just a set of techniques. It is the way of life, a precept for your entire being.”

Ryun tilted his head in confusion, and when he didn’t answer Tali had to have realized that he was confused.

“Take Eerv as an example, he follows the Path of the Venomous Strike and the Path of the Spearman. Both of these paths complement each other. His main Path makes him always seek the opportunity to strike where his opponent does not expect, to poison their perception of the fight and force them to make mistakes, and his second Path makes him patient and always looking to find an advantage and keep his opponent from utilizing their greatest strengths. The higher he reaches, the more those tendencies will slip into his being, shaping his personality to take on those characteristics. You had to have noticed the nature of your path seeping into your fighting, feelings that drive you to do something. Learning how to manage your two paths is one of the key parts of being a high Realm Cultivator.”

Ryun was stunned, he hadn’t known about that. But as she spoke, he found that he had felt things like that. Even back on Earth. The drive to end all in his way. To finish them completely. Once he started a battle, he rarely stopped, even when his opponent couldn’t fight anymore. He remembered the cities on Earth that he ended, and realized that it had been like something was pushing him. He was on the Path of the Final End, a path that was meant for destruction, for the end of all things. Even his aspect seemed perfectly made for his path, and he wondered if it was just a coincidence. Or if his actions on Earth had somehow made it happen naturally. The Aspect of True Death as well, his perk fit his Path completely. The Path of the Unbreakable Wall seemed to be meant for someone who was unwavering, who didn’t break in the face of an onslaught. Would he start to act in a more rigid manner as he raised that path?

It seemed that he had underestimated just how much he didn’t know, even when he had thought that there were things to learn he was blind to something like this.

“Can I remove those effects?” Ryun asked.

“Do you want me to teach you?” Tali countered.

Ryun grimaced, but he realized that he had been relying on himself for far too long. Even with Anrosh, he would just let her do everything and stay on the outskirts. He hadn’t trusted anyone since Melody. But in order to learn from someone he needed to be able to trust them.

“I do not know you, Tali, how can I learn from you if I don’t know what your goals are?”

“I want to restore my power,” Tali answered.

“That isn’t enough,” Ryun said.

“Who I am would mean nothing to you, the knowledge might even put you in danger. But, if you want trust I can do as Eerv had done and we can make a contract. Not of servitude, I will not serve anyone ever again. But perhaps one of confidentiality, I would make an oath not to reveal anything about you or your power for as long as I live. In return you agree to give me your trust and let me teach you how to grow stronger,” Tali said.

Ryun thought about it. It seemed like a generous offer. And he had learned that there were many different types of contracts, for different needs.

When Ryun didn’t respond, she spoke again. “We can make a full teacher and student contract, it will protect both of us. Neither one of us would be able to divulge the secrets of our powers.”

Ryun sighed, it seemed like he did need guidance. He was lucky with Eerv. Lucky that he hadn’t been strong enough, and lucky that he was someone reasonable, to a point at least. Ryun nodded his head and then agreed verbally. A moment later a notification appeared in his head and he read through the contract. Everything that she said seemed to be covered so he accepted.

“Well, now that that is settled, maybe we should start with you telling me everything that you know and everything that you did?” Tali asked.

Ryun told her. He was never good with keeping secrets. A part of it was arrogance, since there wasn’t anyone who could threaten him even if they knew. The other part was simple, he didn’t want to hide who he was. It had never been him. He wanted to live his life openly and freely.

Tali listened to what he had to say patiently, asking questions every now and then. She paused when she read his titles, and Ryun wondered what she thought about them, but she didn’t comment. She continued to his Path, and wanted to know how he advanced, how he cycled, how much Essence he could draw in and where he usually did it. When she found out about Kagehime she asked how long he had been drawing in Essence through her. She asked when he gained an aspect, and asked how he obtained it. She asked to see his screens and he showed her only after hesitating for a moment. He had seen just how ignorant most everyone here was, and he knew that it was because they didn’t share secrets about their power. He did not want to be like them.

She looked at his screens in silence, without commenting. After a while she asked what his class abilities did and Ryun wondered if he should answer. But she couldn’t share that secret, and she wasn’t really a threat to him, crippled as she was. He told her, and she seemed surprised at some of the effects. Finally, he finished with telling her everything, and she turned thoughtful.

“You’ve been very lucky,” Tali said. “But also smart, and insightful.”

“Thank you,” Ryun said.

“Lucky in that you cycled so much before you had an aspect,” Tali said. “Cycling pure Essence is fine, but if you want to see real gains you need Essence with aspects that are related to your own. The closer the better. It is why people don’t generally go for aspects like yours, the ones that are hard to find. But I, personally, agree with your decision to use the aspects that you found on yourself. It is one of the benefits that Rankers enjoy, our acts on the old worlds fill us with single use aspects. Drawing them out and combining them had been a good decision. But, if you had gained an aspect as soon as you reached the Infinite Realm, and then proceeded to draw in Essence from your surrounding, you would’ve harmed your Cultivation, your aspect. It would’ve made it incapable of growth. Thankfully you are not too far gone now, and you have been fortunate to have never used cycled Essence. That Essence is tainted with the aspect of those who created it, it would’ve watered down your own aspect. You just need to stop drawing in Essence from your surrounding. Your ability gives you pure Essence which isn’t bad, but you need to cycle with related Essence. Shadow is good, it is the absence of light, which is related to Void. But you will need to find another closely related source if you want to keep drawing in Essence.”

Ryun remembered giving Anrosh Essence, and he feared that he had harmed her, he told Talia what he had done but after hearing everything she waved her hand.

“Again, you were lucky. Your Essence was pure before you gained an aspect, and in any case if you had her remove her old aspect then her new one wouldn’t be affected. The amount of cycling you were doing was good, but you will need to gather at least one full cycle with just related aspect Essence, that will help you in the future immensely. You’ve split your focus a bit, with cycling full amount and smaller chunks, but that isn’t bad exactly. Your Qi channels and your core are equally enhanced, but I would suggest a better focus.”

She paused, her finger tapping against her knee. “You are fortunate to have such good titles, you have far too much stats for anyone of your Realm, and that is without using the resources that most of them have available. The potions that you drank are a good example, although there are better ways of using them. Pouring them all in a bath and soaking in it for several days would’ve given you more stats, but not a title, but those were lower leveled potions, you didn’t waste too much. I can see that stats are your focus, even your techniques are geared toward taking advantage of greater stats… I will need to come up with some exercises for you to make better use of bonus stats.

“You’ve also made mistakes. I can see how your class is useful, and I will not ask why you needed it. But, you need to make a decision, right now. What do you want your focus to be and what you will use as supplement?.”

Ryun didn’t even need to think about it. “My focus is my Path.”

She nodded her horned head. “Then you need to stop advancing in one of the remaining two areas.”

Ryun tilted his head. “Why?”

“You’ve already spent a lot of Essence in both your Class and Cultivation, and you have achieved a perfect skill. This… it isn’t good. Just like a Cultivation Path has a drawback, like how it shapes you in the form of giving you a precept, so do the other two areas. A Class is more dramatic, it narrows you down, makes you obsessed with the core of what your Class is. And Skills… they are the opposite, they don’t change you, but they make you incapable of change. To acquire a perfect skill you need to take a piece of who you are and attribute it to the skill. That action makes it powerful, makes it able to warp reality, but it seals that part of yourself in time. You will never be able to change that part of you again. The more perfect skills you acquire, the more unchanging you become, until you reach a point where you are incapable of inner growth.

A Classer grows through their evolutions, the meaning of their Class change and they change with it. For Cultivators the change comes from battling the precept of our Paths. But those who’ve achieved true power through Skill? They are so true to themselves that reality can bend around them, their power comes from complete understanding. You can chose either Class or Skill as your supplement, their effects won’t be so pronounced if they are not your focus, but you need to do it now.”

Ryun thought about what he wanted to do, mulling over her warnings. His Class had been instrumental in his growth, it had allowed him to reach where he was right now. But he also felt like he didn’t need to have it evolve more. The amount of Essence he could take with his ability was already insane, if he could take more it might let him climb faster, but from everything Tali told him, Cultivation was not about speed of advancing. Pure Essence that his Class gave him won’t be as useful going forward.

 His skills had proven more useful in some ways. They allowed him to compensate for the weaknesses of his paths. And if he was being honest, he preferred them. He felt like he knew himself fairly well, like he could advance them quickly.

“I’ll continue with skills,” Ryun said.

She sighed, but nodded her head. “Skills are the hardest thing to master, but you already managed to understand one. I know of only one person who was able to do that at your age…”

“Really?” Ryun asked.

“Yes, but he… He isn’t like normal people, even those who are incredibly powerful. It doesn’t matter,” she shook her head. “For now, I would suggest you focus on cycling and reaching Peak Monarch Realm, it will take you a long time, even with your ability, but you will advance faster than most. We will also need to see about getting elixirs and potions to improve your body. Finding an aspect that will be useful to help you reinforce your channels and core further… there is a lot to be done. But that is the Path of Cultivation, we do not get to rest, every moment in our life is spent Cultivating and working in order to increase our future gains.

You are a natural at that. But you need to do more. A Class is unchangeable aside from their evolution. Their abilities would always remain the same, perhaps only change their flavor. A technique that you are given by the knowledge from the Framework is just a blueprint, a foundation upon which you need to build. To experiment and develop your technique further. To change it to fit yourself, but you will never be able to change its purpose, only make it manifest in a different way.”

Ryun nodded, that at least he understood. Then, he got a thought. “I know that you said that I shouldn’t level my Class, but… I have enough Essence to reach the next perk level. Would that be?…”

Tali sighed. “Your age shows itself, you are so eager for new powers… It will not harm you too much, as long as you stop leveling after. If I had met you long in the past, I would’ve counseled you to focus solely on Cultivation, but… it is what it is. My debt to you requires me to help you to my utmost capabilities, so my advice is that you do not try to reach level 90 in your Class. That is the point where most Classers gain a class defining perk, and it is a point where you will start to feel the effects of your Class exert themselves on you. Better to keep your focus away from that.”

Ryun nodded his head and thanked her for her advice. “I need some time to think about everything you said. I’ll come by tomorrow for another lesson.”

Tali waved her head and got to her feet. Only then did Ryun notice the tiredness in her body. She was exhausted, she walked away and into her room behind the training hall. He felt her collapse on her bed, and realized that her injuries ran far deeper. He wondered what happened to her, but he wouldn’t pry. Not yet at least. But he did like the woman. There was a… regal tone to her voice. She spoke as if she expected to be obeyed. Not at all like someone who had been a slave. He realized that he hadn’t had a chance to ask her about their conversation in the garden, he had forgotten about it. But there would be other conversations.

He glanced at his screens, and then leveled his Class. He hit level 75, spending 2,640 Greater Essence, and he got the choice of a new Class Perk.

Rapid Regrowth	Once per week regrow a lost body part. Speed of regrowth depends on your vitality stat.
Harbinger’s Due	In combat, every strike you make sends a weakened version of your [Bringer of Sorrow] ability at your opponent's mind. Strength of effect depends on wisdom stat.
Blood Lord	In combat, blood that touches your body become a part of you, coating you in an armor made out of hardened blood. Effect starts off small and increases depending on amount of blood.

It had been a while since he had to choose a Class Perk. Blood Lord, aside from being gross, was useful, but not to him. He had his Qi armor now. Harbinger’s Due was interesting, and he wondered what he would be able to do with it. But the first one was the most interesting. He wondered if he had gotten it as a choice just because he had lost his eyes. He didn’t need it to regrow his eyes, he felt like he could do it without any potions at all even if it would take a long time. But having something like that perk could be a good thing, depending on the speed. It could help him in combat in cases where he lost a limb unexpectedly.

In the end the Rapid Regrowth seemed to be the best choice. A defensive perk that could help him in a pinch. He made his choice, and then assigned his stats. Finally, he looked at his screens.

Name	Ryun Nacht
Race	Human (Earth—Iteration 7)
Titles	First Kill, Adventurer, Hero of Promise, Transcended, First Body of Iron, First Quickened Mind, First Lake of Qi, Beaten but not Broken, Cannibal, One Against Many, First Lord, First Qi Manipulator, One Against Horde, First True Body, Hated Foe, One Man Army, Butcher of Humanity, True Understanding, Limitbreak, Monarch, Ruler, Alchemical Tester
Essence (Greater)	54,128 Greater Essence

Perks
Void Touched Body (Path Perk)	Your body is touched by the void. Damaging effects of the Void have less effect on you. Immobilizing effect are 50% less effective on you, all physical or Qi attacks deal 80% of their total damage to you, +40% to endurance.
Tinker’s Mind (Path Perk)	Your mind is quickened, able to think faster than ordinary humans. Able to alter perception of time for the user. +15% to intelligence. Strength of effect equal to 2x your intelligence.
Void Forged Core (Path Perk)	Your core is forged by the Essence of the Void. Increased core capacity by 20%, increase Qi density 40%, +20% to wisdom stat, able to create a personal void space inside of your core. Size of void space dependent on wisdom stat.
Feast (Class Perk)	Killing enemies heals you. Strength of effect depends on vitality stat.
Vampire (Class Perk)	Killing enemies adds one tenth of their highest stat to your own temporarily. Strength of effect depends on level.
Regenerator (Class Perk)	Heal rapidly when in combat. Strength of effect depends on vitality stat.
Silent Hunter (Class Perk)	Your movements don’t disrupt the air around you, making you nearly silent. Strength of effect depends on dexterity stat.
Qi Controller—Thousand Threads of Destruction	Your Qi control is nearly perfect, able to finely manipulate your Qi and use up to 3 techniques at the same time. +20% to wisdom. Control depends on wisdom stat. You weave a thousand threads of Qi, each thread filled with power. As you weave, you ensnare all those who would stand in you way.
True Body—Untethered Cloud (Path Perk)	Your body retains all the abilities granted by Untethered. Untethered Cloud is your truest self. Your body is soaked in Void Qi, and you may assume the state of Void Cloud. While active your body becomes a cloud of the Void, giving of the Essence of Void , increasing the effects of your Void Qi based techniques by 20% in your immediate surrounding. While in Void Cloud state, you gain a +80% increased resistance to physical attacks but you also gain a -40% to special attacks resistance. While full Void Cloud is active you have none of your physical senses. Running out of Qi while in Void Cloud will result in death. Entering the Void Cloud when your physical body is damaged allows you to regenerate it through expenditure of Qi. You gain +10% to wisdom and +20% to endurance.
Indomitable (Title Perk)	You are immune to all mind altering effects from opponents that are of a lower level or cultivation stage than you.
Reaper’s Aura (Title Perk)	You can no longer be scanned by any abilities, technique, or skills from people who are less than twenty levels above you, less than a single stage above you, and whose skill level is less than one tier above your highest. You may manifest the Reaper’s Aura filling all within your presence with dread.
Great Hunter (Contract Perk)	Any person whose blood you have drawn is marked by your power. The mark allows you to track them no matter the distance between you.
Shadow’s Favorite (Bond Perk)	When standing in shadows your form blends in the surrounding. Strength of effect depends on the depth of the bond with the awakened object and the darkness of shadow.
Void Qi (Aspect Perk)	Your Qi passively enhances your body with the essence of the Void. Gain +20% to Strength and Wisdom.
Aspect Manifestation: Void Aura (Path Perk)	Manifest your Qi in the form of an aura around you. Dealing Void damage equal to 0.5x (0.1x) your wisdom per second. Anything marked by the Void Qi takes additional one quarter of total damage dealt over the next four seconds.
Eternal Hunter: Reaper (Unique Perk)	You hold the essence of Twin Aspects of True Death. You are one part of two, and are inescapably linked with your other half. Your mind is linked with that of your other half, allowing you to speak to one another regardless of distance. You may sense your other half regardless of distance. You gain Death Mark: Anything with a soul killed by you has its soul completely destroyed and returned to oblivion. You gain the ability to sense death. You gain the Presence of the Eternal Hunter Aura, when active, nearby enemies suffer -25% to all regenerative effects and -25% to total stats, half of the drained stats are granted to you, the other half to the Scythe.
Rapid Regrowth (Class Perk)	Once per week regrow a lost body part. Speed of regrowth depends on your vitality stat.

Class	Harbinger (E)
Level	75 (0/330 Greater Essence)
Combat Ability	Bringer of Sorrow
Movement Ability	Inevitable Step
Support Ability	Reave

Cultivation	The Path of the Final End (E)
Stage	Early Monarch (0/60,000 Greater Essence)
Aspect	Void
Base technique	Null Mantle
Branch technique	Breath of Destruction
Fruit technique	Darkest End

Cultivation	The Path of the Unbreakable Wall (U)
Stage	Mid Lord (0/12,000 Greater Essence)
Aspect	Void
Base technique	Qi Shaping
Branch technique	Qi Armor
Fruit technique	Avatar

Passive Skills	Active Skills
Combat Mastery (10/10) >> Sword Mastery (10/10) >> Sword Art (1/10)	Perfect Cut
Vibration Sense (10/10) >> Enhanced Vibration Sense (10/10)>> Resonance Sense (5/10)	Pounce (8/10)
Enhanced Balance (9/10)

Strength	669
Dexterity	607
Vitality	772
Endurance	724
Intelligence	588
Wisdom	791

It was an incredible feeling, seeing his own growth. But he knew that he had far more things to do. He was supposed to meet Anrosh and Eerv for another session. They were trying to figure out a way to save the sect, to find a source of income that would let them stay afloat. Eerv had some options, but the one that seemed the most likely was the dungeon. And Ryun couldn’t help but feel eager to go and test himself. The fact that he didn’t get to fight Eerv again made him feel anxious.

But first the meeting. He stood up, and walked out of the small training hall, heading toward where he could already feel Anrosh and Eerv waiting.