## Chapter 349 – The First Dream (4)
<Aaron's Parallel Story Episode 20>
***
Whoosh!
The sound of the air being torn.
The wooden shaft of the spear extended.
Crack!
The blunt tip of the spear embedded itself in the straw scarecrow.
Aaron twisted the shaft and pulled out the spear, adopting the stance once again. Thousands of times, no, tens of thousands of times he had practiced that stance. Left hand forward, relaxed; right hand back, firm.
“……!”
He advanced and extended his left arm, simultaneously pushing the spear shaft with his right arm. A clean thrust, without flourishes.
Whoosh!
The spear blade cut through the air.
Crack!
The spear tip sank deep into the scarecrow.
Aaron caught his breath for a moment, then pulled out the spear. ‘Once more,’ he thought. He repeated the same stance, just as he had learned and practiced, adopting a perfect stance and launching the thrust. ‘Again.’ He launched the thrust. Again. Again. He continued launching thrusts.
Soon, sweat covered Aaron’s forehead, but he didn’t pay attention to it. He was focused on a single movement: launching the spear at the exact point. His entire mind was focused on that single task. Dozens of thrusts became hundreds, and the hundreds became thousands.
‘I can do it.’
He didn’t know how much time had passed. He wasn’t hungry. He also didn’t feel sleepy. Leaves fell like rain, suspended in the air. The twilight on the horizon never ended. How mysterious and blessed was this world?
If he felt he couldn’t do it anymore, if he couldn’t launch even one more thrust, he would lean on the fence and close his eyes. Here, there was no day or night. The same landscape continued infinitely. He didn’t need the physiological functions of a human being. He could dedicate all his time to his effort.
‘How much time has passed?’
When he closed his eyes to rest, the kid’s biting words appeared repeatedly in his mind.
— Effort is useless. An ant is still an ant, even after a thousand years. You won’t get anything here.
Every time the kid’s voice suddenly assaulted him, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. But he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t return empty-handed.
“Huuh…”
Aaron opened his eyes, regaining some energy. It was time to train again. He took the practice spear leaning on the fence and went to the scarecrow on the training ground.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
On the other side of the field, Sragin was frantically cutting the scarecrow with his sword. The air whistled as his sword pierced it again and again, disintegrating the straw that flew in all directions.
“You think I’m useless!”
Sragin, with bloodshot eyes, swung his sword. It was unknown how many days he had been doing this. Aaron decided to focus on his own thing: launching thrusts, repeating the thrusts.
“I’m going to kill him. That bastard, who is he to judge my limits? I decide that, no one else,” Sragin shouted with fury. Then, he launched a violent attack, and the scarecrow split in two and fell to the ground.
“Damn it!”
Sragin moved towards another intact scarecrow and adopted his stance, beginning a new destructive attack. His actions didn’t seem so much like skill training as a senseless destruction of the scarecrows. However, the scarecrows immediately repaired themselves as new ones. The training area behind Sragin was filled with fragments of destroyed scarecrows.
“How are you doing?”
The kid appeared at the entrance of the training ground with a smile.
“Watch out!”
Swish!
A sword cutting through the air. The kid’s figure vanished like a shadow, appearing to one side. Easily avoiding Sragin, he went to the center of the training ground. His eyes fixed on Aaron.
“It’s okay to train, but don’t stop being human.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, here you don’t need to sleep or eat, but even so, you must maintain certain habits. If you don’t eat or sleep at all, you’ll be in trouble when you leave.”
“…….”
“That cabin isn’t there without a reason.”
Aaron wanted to respond. He didn’t want to lose to that kid who despised the value of effort. But the words didn’t come out of his mouth.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“How many days have I been here?”
“Two days.”
Aaron pressed his lips together. ‘Only two days.’ He felt like a month had passed.
“So, I’m leaving.”
The kid gestured with his hand and vanished like fog. His skill was still impressive.
“Damn bastard.”
Sragin spat on the ground.
“……Two days.”
Aaron smiled bitterly.
Maybe, just as real time slowed down, time also flowed slowly within their bodies.
‘It can’t be.’
The kid was right. To see the results of training, he needed to keep track of time. From that day, Aaron decided to sleep in the cabin at appropriate times.
The wooden cabin was larger than it seemed from the outside. He chose an empty room in a corner and turned it into his room.
‘It has everything.’
The private room had a clock and a calendar. They weren’t mechanical, but artifacts with magical properties. This way, Aaron could keep an accurate record of the time he spent in that place.
‘There’s also a library.’
On the left side of the cabin, there was a small library. There were books about martial arts. One of the environments that Aaron had always desired.
‘Nothing is out of place.’
He flipped through the pages of the book. From basic to advanced techniques. Just by reading, he could see that all the books had been written by experts with deep knowledge.
‘I can do it.’
Aaron smiled. If he didn’t understand, he could learn it by reading. He had all the time in the world.
‘Yes.’
With theory and effort. If he combined both, Aaron could also find his way. Here were all the elements to become stronger: the theory of martial arts, a time close to eternity, and a training partner nearby to test his progress. It didn’t make sense. With such perfect conditions, it didn’t make sense not to become stronger.
‘Talent?’
What does that matter? He would overcome it with effort. If it wasn’t one day, then two days, and if not, three. If it wasn’t enough, ten days, a month. And if it still wasn’t enough, a year, ten years, even a hundred years. He was determined. He had come prepared for everything. Aaron strengthened his resolution.
* * *
He had to start from the basics. Instead of spending all day launching senseless thrusts on the training ground, he decided to learn the theory of martial arts. Gaining understanding through pure repetition is a luxury allowed only to geniuses. Inept people must impregnate their brains with the fundamentals of martial arts.
In this place, there was everything: a pile of blank paper and clean writing utensils. Aaron took a book from the pile in the corner of the table and read the title.
«Fundamentals and Deepening of the Spear – Volume 1»
The library also had books about the use of the spear. He took the thickest book. It was a series of three volumes: upper, middle, and lower. Each one was almost half a palm thick.
Aaron opened the book immediately and began to read non-stop.
‘…….’
The beginning of the book about the spear contained information that Aaron already knew: how to hold the shaft, thrust techniques, the usefulness and stance for sweeps.
‘It’s true.’
This book was made for beginners. Aaron could feel the author’s consideration for the rookies. But the problem arose from the middle.
[There are three essential fundamentals that every spear user must master.]
[The spear is like a sharp lightning bolt, a typhoon that pushes everything, and an abyss that devours everything.]
“…….”
[Simply stabbing and sweeping won’t get you anywhere in the world of experts.]
[Push from inside, pull from outside, and stab along with them.]
[This is called Lan, Na, and Chal respectively.]
LanNaChal. Is it the next level of stabbing and sweeping?
[When you extend the spear shaft, establish a radius of movement as your domain to push, pull, and deflect everything.]
[When the opponent’s defense is ineffective, then stab (Chal).]
[All spear movements must be performed with the minimum of actions.]
[You must join the spear to your body as if it were another bone. The shaft moves not with the arms, but with the waist. From the feet to the waist, from the waist to the shoulders, direct the force with the entire body to move the shaft.]
What… does this mean?
[The spear tip within the domain must not tremble. It must not move outside the width of the body, only push and pull everything.]
[In the typhoon and the abyss, extend the lightning bolt; this is the essence and the basis of the spear technique, LanNaChal.]
Aaron stopped taking notes. He didn’t know where to start.
‘Why did it suddenly become like this?’
The beginning of the book was understandable. Aaron stared at the open page.
Pushing from inside is Lan.
Pulling from outside is Na.
Stabbing is Chal.
So, what is the domain and what does the waist have to do with it?
Moving the shaft not with the arms but with the waist?
Twisting the force from the feet?
[You can’t master this with theory alone.]
[You must practice, train, and fight to understand its usefulness and learn with your heart.]
[If you don’t understand it, you won’t be able to advance.]
Aaron stopped reading. It hadn’t been half a day since he had decided to try it, and he already felt stuck.
“…….”
Aaron was thoughtful, staring at the lines of text that seemed challenging. He sighed and closed the book, aware that theory alone wouldn’t be enough. He needed practice and experience. He got up and left the cabin, heading to the training ground once again. It was time to put into practice what he had read, even if it was just the beginning.
He gritted his teeth. Alright, it’s normal to not understand it at the beginning. If he didn’t understand it, he would read until he understood it. The important thing was to get it into his head. He could understand what he didn’t understand while training.
Aaron locked himself in his room and read the entire upper volume about the spear. He didn’t learn anything. But it was okay. He took the middle volume.
[In the world of martial arts, the body is the means to amplify and transmit force.]
He read without stopping.
[Every insignificant movement can be like the flutter of a butterfly that causes a typhoon.]
From the middle volume, the book stopped describing stances and training methods and began to use incomprehensible poetic expressions.
[If you understand it, you can advance ten miles in a single step, and cause a typhoon with a single stomp.]
What do I have to understand?
Aaron continued reading. From a certain point, he didn’t understand a single line. At the beginning, he understood it. But from the middle, suddenly, it began to say strange things, skipping several levels.
Consideration of the author for beginners?
“Damn it…”
He exhaled deeply to calm himself. There were many books left to read. During the next month, Aaron dedicated himself to reading and learning from the books about martial arts. He followed the kid’s advice and slept at regular intervals. He ate a ball made of compressed leaves once a day. Even so, he had enough time. More than 20 hours a day. Sitting in front of the table, with his head in his hands, reading and reading. He put in effort to memorize at least the content.
And thus, he came to a conclusion. ‘Theory is just theory.’ Even the numerous books about martial arts emphasized it in common. The path of martial arts was found in the repetition of training and practice. In the revelations that are born from it. ‘If you don’t understand it, you won’t be able to advance.’ He had to confirm this difficult truth several times.
In the end, Aaron had to return to the training ground.
“It’s been a while.”
The man who was adjusting his stance in front of the scarecrow spoke. It was Sragin. He seemed to have calmed his anger since his arrival. A month was a considerable time.
“It’s been a while.”
Aaron slightly bowed his head in greeting. The conversation ended there. He went to his position on the other side of the training ground. He took the practice spear leaning on the fence and looked at the scarecrow.
“…….”
He didn’t see anything. He couldn’t see anything. He only saw the straw scarecrow and the extended shaft. ‘For a master, it must be different.’ They could do anything. They would cause typhoons with their swords, move like fire, and make beautiful flowers bloom. The only thing Aaron could do was to stab the spear blade into the straw. If he didn’t understand, he could stubbornly launch thrusts. But with the theory, he now knew there was something beyond.
Aaron relaxed his stance.
“Excuse me.”
Aaron spoke in a low voice. Sragin turned to look at him.
“Could I ask you a favor?”
Aaron spoke, standing and with a lost gaze.
“I don’t have enough skill, it’s difficult for me to learn alone.”
“…….”
“If it’s not a bother, could you teach me?”
Aaron turned his head. Sragin was looking at him with an emotionless expression.
“I’ll do whatever. If you need a training partner, I’m willing to help you. Just call me. I’ll do what I can.”
Aaron’s voice trembled.
“I recognize that I’m a deficient opponent. But, I’m more useful than a scarecrow.”
Aaron contained his emotions as he spoke.
“I want… you to help me.”
Sragin silently observed him for a moment before responding.
“Alright. I’ll teach you what I know.”
Aaron felt immense relief. He bowed deeply in gratitude.
“Thank you. I’ll do my best to learn.”
And thus, Aaron began to train under Sragin’s tutelage. Although the path would be arduous, he now had a guide who would help him overcome his limitations and advance in mastering the spear.