Black String of Fate

*Swish*

The swing produced a calm gust of wind and kicked dust, while not looking like it carried any power. Xavier then performed thrusts, guards, parries, different swings and slashes. He danced around with his sword, being nimble and agile in his feet, yet his strikes carried stability and power that was not expected from the complex maneuvers.

Each of his strikes kicked up the dust around him. His firm footwork resounded across the courtyard and his perfect strikes left the Grandmaster mesmerized.

The inside of Xavier's head was completely empty, the only thing going through his thoughts was to perform the next move, move his body to the next stance. No excitement, no happiness, just cold instructions to his body to complete this art.

He was drenched in a muddy sweat that came out from all over his body. His skin had turned red, and vapor was rising from his body. He looked like he was overheating, but it was just the effects of the foundational setting method. In fact, the redder and hotter his body became, the better he would burn and expel his impurities.

'Now, the final thrust.'

Xavier smoothly moved his whole body and got into the stance of a thrust, powerfully pushing the sword forward. The move kicked up a whirlwind of dust, temporarily clouding him inside.

Arkham, who was enthralled in that wonderful performance, quickly snapped out of it and turned to Zorak, quickly giving him a command that demanded absolute obedience.

"Bring a healer here as soon as possible! He might die if left alone."

Zoark nodded and immediately began running out of the building. He was headed to the church, where the priests who specialized in light magic resided.

Arkham immediately waved his hands and cleared out the whole dust cloud. He saw Xavier standing there, in the same pose that he finished his art in, but there was no consciousness in his eyes.

He moved closer to see that he was releasing a black, gooey substance from every part of his body, and his qi pathways were so thoroughly purified that they looked inflamed and red even through the skin.

'What monstrous vitality. Any uninitiated should've died from such an extreme cleansing, but a child like him managed to pull it off. His talent and his physique, it's like he was made for the warrior path.'

The grandmaster infused some of his qi into his eyes to check how the impurity cleansing went. He was shocked to see the results,

'N-Not a single impurity is left?! How is that possible?! Did this kid really create the mythical perfect foundation?'

Arkham had to take deep breaths to calm himself down. It wasn't the first time he had seen a cleansing through the foundation arts, in fact, he had done so himself. But, not a single art in this world was able to cleanse as thoroughly as this kid's foundation arts have.

The Foundational Sword Techniques that this boy had based his foundation arts on, even if they targeted all the qi pathways, were not capable of cleansing it so thoroughly.

Soon, the magician arrived while bringing along the head priest of the city. He was an Expert rank healer who had hurried when being called by a master mage who said he was under the instructions of a grandmaster swordsman.

"Healer, use some energy recovery spells on him. A simple Recover should be enough."

The head priest wanted to ask more about the situation, but seeing the face of the grandmaster who demanded action, he put aside his thoughts and did as he was told.

"Recover."

The priest cast the spell, and his hand started to glow with a soft, ethereal light, unlike the warm light of the heal spell. He put his hand on Xavier's heart and started restoring Xavier's vitality.

He was an Expert, so the amount was nothing significant for him, but he was still surprised as to how much mana it consumed for him.

"My god, his vitality is similar to the Rank 3 Elites. This child is blessed with a strong vessel." The priest commented and removed his hand after finishing the spell.

Soon, under the eyes of everyone, Xavier's finger twitched.

"...Urgh."

He slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself being stared at deeply by three old men.

"...Some space, please. You guys are too close."

"You can already speak? Indeed, this child is blessed."

"Haha, I told you so. Child, rest for some moments. You'll probably be very hungry right now, someone will bring some food here soon. We'll leave you alone."

As soon as he said that, Xavier's stomach grumbled loudly.

"...Please bring at least 4 people's worth of food… And more, if you want to talk over lunch."

"Sure. Let's do that. I have a lot to talk about with someone like you."

Saying that, Arkham motioned the Zorak and the priest to leave him alone for some moments. They followed Arkham out, leaving Xavier with his thoughts.

Xavier took a deep breath as he recalled the foundation setting he had just performed. He had finally created a perfect foundation for himself in the warrior path.

'This will be the start to my rise. The start to my path to unforeseen heights. I'll never stop, I'll keep growing. I'll surpass my past self, and then I'll surpass even that height.

The journey to my power will be limitless. This will be the base of that path, so I'll name it…

Limitless Ascension Foundational Arts.'

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[Foundational Sword Techniques of the First Swordsman, Four Basic Sword Stances, Guide to Heavy Swords, Basic Light Sword Arts, Sixth Sword Sense merged]

[New Skill Added]:

Limitless Ascension Foundational Arts:

The foundational arts created by a regressed genius who had achieved the greatest mastery of his old arts. Combines the Foundational Sword Techniques of the First Swordsman, The Four Basic Sword Stances, Guide to Heavy Swords, Basic Light Sword Arts, and Sixth Sword Sense.

This art encompasses and balances all the basic stars of the warrior, making it the sole art that specializes in all the stars of the warrior path.

Only practicable by those who have achieved the harmony state.

Rating: Epic

Mastery: Perfect Adept

[Note: Further Mastery is only possible by evolving the Skill beyond the Foundational State]

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