Chapter 49: Yin and Yang sword technique
"Oden? Isn’t that the Viscount’s hometown?" Michael asked.
"Yes, it is," Andrew replied, his tone flat.
"Why would you want to go there?" Michael asked. He walked up to his brother from behind, his face showing genuine concern.
"I have something to do there, you don’t have to worry about it," Andrew said and then kept packing.
Michael stretched out his hand and grabbed Andrew by the shoulder, turning him to look at him. "You’ve been my brother since I was born, and I’ve always been close to you. I know when something is wrong with you, so tell me what it is," Michael said. He looked right into the eyes of his brother. Their shadows flickered and danced under the light; there was a heavy silence.
Sigh!
Andrew sighed and then slapped Michael’s hand off his shoulder. "There are things you can’t understand, Michael, things that are beyond what you know and can know," Andrew said and turned around.
"I just need to clear my head, and Oden is a bigger town. It’ll allow me to do just that," he said.
Michael frowned. He clenched his fist hard and looked at his brother, his breathing heavy and scattered. "What... did that Viscount tell you?" Michael said, heaving in anger.
Andrew turned around when he heard that. "What did you say?" he asked, looking Michael right in the eyes.
"I saw you walk into the carriage, and I saw you leave. You had a discussion with the Viscount, what was it?" Michael asked, stepping forward.
Andrew looked at Michael, his face carrying confusion and shock, but he swallowed all that down a few seconds later and kept an expressionless face. "That’s none of your business. Please leave me," he said and turned back to continue packing. But Michael grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around.
"The hell do you mean not my problem!" he roared and grabbed Andrew with both hands, veins on his head bulging. "That fucking Viscount wants our family’s assets! He’s been the pain in our lives and has made us feel the weight of being a ruined family.
If not for Father and Raze somehow fixing the issue, we would’ve been in massive trouble. So I want to know, what the hell did you discuss with him?" Michael roared.
As Andrew heard everything his brother had to say, his anger spiked. "SCREW YOU!" he barked, saliva flying out of his mouth. He shoved Michael back with full force, slamming him into the door.
"Don’t come here and start telling me all that! You’re pissing me the fuck off!" Andrew said, curse words leaving his mouth easily.
Michael looked up, the anger in his eyes visible. "I can’t believe you allowed your jealousy to get this far," Michael said.
"Arghhhh!" Andrew roared in anger and lunged forward, his fist ripping through the air and heading for his brother’s face. Michael moved fast and parried the fist before kneeing Andrew right in the gut and knocking him back.
Michael didn’t push after that; he just looked at his brother, disappointment and pain in his eyes. "I hope that whatever action you choose to take, you do not end up regretting it."
He walked to the door, opened it, and then stepped out. He looked back at his brother again, then walked away, leaving Andrew in the room as he shut the door. Andrew stood there for a few minutes, not moving at all. Then finally, he walked to his bed, sat down at the edge, and buried his head into his arms.
[....]
[If you ever find this, then you have the original and first copy of my book. I wrote over thirty volumes of this book over my life, each progressively getting harder. My only desire was that someone would master it all.
So reader, if you have found this, then find all thirty left and master them all. A reward beyond words awaits at the end.]
The written letter ended with that, no name, no other information. That was just it.
[Special Library Mission Unlocked: Read and understand all thirty volumes of the book.]
[Rewards: Unknown]
The library sent a message to him; that meant he had to follow up and learn everything that had to do with the sword technique.
He opened the first page to start, and as usual, he fell into a trance like state. The Yin and Yang Sword Technique incorporated two main attributes: the fiery and explosive power of the sun during the day and the cool and calm power of the moon at night.
It created a merge between both and formed a sword art that harnessed them. The sword art aimed to teach how to attack in an explosive manner and defend in a calm and cool way. It spoke about the ability to use the mind and channel two types of Qi.
The mind was very important in this situation, as only through a flawless connection would one be able to harness the true potential of the technique.
The way the book explained splitting the Qi was by training your mind through Yin and Yang, explosive and calm, every day until the body could understand and learn to merge them.
The first stage of the training was the search for understanding, and that began with two training sequences. The book instructed that he train at night under a rushing cold waterfall, learning parries and blocks, while when the sun was high, he had to stand in an intensely heated furnace house and train attack sequences. All the sequences were explained in the book.
"This sounds like torture," Raze muttered. What it was asking was for him to put himself in the craziest situations in order to gain a better understanding of Yin and Yang.
"Sigh, I have no other choice but to begin," he said.
[Yin and Yang Beginner Sword Technique Progress: 4%]
"Whoa, it jumped to four percent so quick. Maybe this won’t be too bad."