Cultivation Through Artifacts

Inside one of the most valuable places of Moon Academy, Blade Mountain's one and sole cave, Khal was leaning against the cold and rigid wall on the side while reading an opened scroll in his hand.

Hours have passed since he has obtained and started reading his first-ever Secret Art, the Dance of The Celestial Serpent, but unfortunately, it turned out that its context held bigger surprises than he first believed.

The Dance of The Celestial Serpent Secret Art was categorized as an Agility type Art on the Moderate Level, yet, for some strange reason, it had not 1, but 7 forms, each having its unique aspect. But Khal was not confused because the text held complex information, but instead because it had 7 forms! Anyone with a basic knowledge knew that any Secret Art that had more than one form should be categorized as a Cultivator Level Secret Art.

This Secret Art in his possession that has not one, but 7 forms, should be classified as a Cultivator Level Art and not as a Moderate Level! 

Or at least that is what he first thought, but the more he deepened himself into its context as he read the more he realized just how wrong he was.

One Secret Art on the Cultivator Level had several forms such as Khal's currently obtained Art and that is why knowledge about the Essence Paths in the body was a must. Yet, this understanding wasn't needed at all for Secret Arts on the Moderate Level and for some strange reason, this was also true for the Dance of The Celestial Serpent that had 7 forms!

This was quite confusing, but Khal didn't care about it. It seemed he obtained a precious item for free so he should learn it properly.

The Dance of The Celestial Serpent had 7 forms each having their own uniqueness and advantage; from these seven forms, the very first was called as the Crimson Snake Dance.

Out of the 7 forms, the first form was the easiest to learn because it only needed two things; fierceness and durability. By channeling almost all the Essence into both of the legs one was required to make the Essence circle around in the feet while making its speed constantly flow faster and faster.

The scroll said that once one achieved perfection with the First Form of this Art, traveling hundreds of miles in a split second would be no longer a dream. But because of the constantly accelerating Essence inside the feet, not only the leg's speed but it's momentum was building up continuously too, giving the user an incredible amount of speed and crushing power; the faster the circulation speed was the bigger this increase in power was.

Once it reached a certain point, it was said one could kick even a huge mountain into dust and split a whole ocean into two in a single motion!

"Is this really an Agility-type Secret Art?" Khal started to doubt himself if he chose the right Secret Art or not, but still decided to learn it.

He put the scroll down to his side and after standing up closed both of his eyes. Instantly, the interior of his body materialized in his head and the Essence in him became as clear as day.

"So I should control the Essence into my feet then make it flow in a cycle constantly." understanding the context behind the First Form, Khal controlled the Essence inside his body toward both of his feet and once they were there, he made them flow in a cycle.

"!?"

The moment he succeeded, around both of his feet the air slightly started to vibrate while a slight pain pierced into his leg.

"So this should be why one needed durability? To bear the pain that came with the constantly flowing Essence in the body." pondered Khal and started to run here and there testing his new speed.

"Yeah, my movement speed truly became faster but only by 5% if not less. I should try to accelerate the flow in my feet even more." 

As his voice fell, Khal sped up the flow's pace in his feet by 10 fold and moved.

*Swish!*

The next attempt was even faster than the previous one and Khal noticed with satisfaction that his speed increased at least by 30%! But at the same time, the pain grew by 30% too.

"Again!"

*Swish!*

"Again!"

*Swish!*

"Again!"

*BAM!*

Khal's speed increased every time he accelerated the Essence flow inside his feet and after his 5th attempt he accumulated so much momentum that his feet left a deep crater in his wake, sending flying debris around the place.

"Argh..." groaning with pain, Khal stopped circulating the Essence in his feet and slumped down. 

"It seems it's truly working and with my current limit, I can easily reach around 5 to 10 meters in a single instant. In a close-combat fight that will be extremely useful."

As Khal thought about this he couldn't wait to see what more interesting stuff this Secret Art held so picked up the scroll and began to learn the remaining 6 forms one by one.

-

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An entire day has passed once again, and after learning everything about each form of his Secret Art, Khal decided to start practicing only with the First Form; the Crimson Snake Dance.

Learning each and only trying them out once was naturally not enough and Khal knew this too; that's why he decided to hone the First Form to almost perfection with his current strength before going onto the next one.

But even before he had the chance to start his practice, a figure suddenly emerged at the entrance of the cave.

"Logan!"

"Yep, that is me." grinned Logan but his smile slowly faded away as he looked at the surroundings. Deep footprints, shallow craters, and small pieces of debris all around the place; it was noticeable that Khal started to practice something which was either a skill or a Secret Art.

"What is this?" asked Logan as he picked up the Secret Art from the ground and started to read it.

"I finished the mission and that is one of my rewards," replied Khal as he walked closer to his teacher.

"..."

Logan read the Secret Art in silence but from time to time his eyes flashed with a profound glint then turned into shock, then amazement; it seems this was his first time too meeting with such a complex, but at the same time simple Secret Art like this.

"What level is this?" asked Logan as he handed back the Art to Khal.

"It's on the Moderate Level."

"Moderate Level... I see." nodded Logan like he just understood something and tilted his gaze back at Khal, "Make sure you learn it well. If you can master it, that will be a great asset to you in the future."

"Sure." nodded Khal and asked, "So why did you come? Will we go and hunt again?"

"Hunt? No, that is no longer my business. If you want to become stronger you need to hunt for beasts on your own." waved his hand and with a slight curve with his mouth he said, "You will spar against me."