Born in Blood

Liam took a deep breath and swung at the first boulder.

He almost used Transfiguration by instinct, but stopped himself right before he did.

At one point, Liam's swordsmanship was mostly based on speed.

But ever since his bodily strength had increased to such an extent, he switched to a strength-based fighting style.

That was why the Dusk Blades were made. 

They were vicious, cruel and bloodthirsty weapons. 

That pretty much summed up Liam's fighting style.

But now, he was forced to try something else. 

As Liam swung across the first boulder of the thousand, he calculated the least amount of strength needed to split the boulder in half.

His Black Blade ripped through the top of the marble sphere, cut through the midsection and…

…got stuck inside the sphere.

"Failure."

Liam frowned.

Again, the Trial restarted, and Liam was blinked back to the start.

'This is gonna take time.'

***

4 and a half months passed.

…Yes, 4 and a half months.

And Liam was still in the third Trial.

Of all the challenges Liam had faced, this was the most obnoxious, annoying and abhorrent one of all.

So many repetitions!

So many swings of his Black Blade!

So many split boulders!

But the highest Liam got to was 722.

There were still 278 marble spheres remaining.

When Liam stopped using brute force when swinging his sword, it actually worked as intended.

As he got a bit more proficient, he no longer became as physically tired as the hours passed. 

Through that, Liam figured out the gist of the Trial.

'Technique over brute strength.'

'Precision over speed.'

'Mastery over power.'

Thus, that's what Liam focused on refining for the upcoming weeks, which quickly turned into months.

Obviously, Liam's swordplay improved massively compared to before. 

But apparently, he'd hit a bottleneck in understanding the sword.

No matter what he did after the initial 3 months of developing his stroke, he was still stuck around the 700 mark with the boulders.

His swing didn't get better for one whole month after that.

At one point, Liam decided to mix the two styles of brute force and technique to see if it would work.

It didn't.

Firstly, even his 'technique' – if it could be called that – required strength. 

If Liam cut half of the boulders with his technique and the other half with brute strength, time would still run out before he could complete the task.

It was all so… tiring.

Currently, Liam was laying flat over the patchy grass.

All 1,000 of the boulders were perfectly reformed, and their sight pissed him off.

Liam heaved a sigh.

'I've gotten used to too many fast results. Elder Jane was kinda right. I am impatient.'

Liam sat up and took out the Black Blade. 

He'd never really spent time studying the sword, other than when he wanted to forge something and understand its dimensions.

Liam laid the odachi flat across his knees. 

Closing his eyes, Liam ran his fingers across its edge and repeated the Celestial's words.

"A sword is not a piece of metal. It is fluid like water, strong like earth, fierce like fire, and sharp as wind. It is made for a dark purpose, but could be wielded for light."

Silence.

There was no magical enlightenment.

Liam was about to change his tactics when he suppressed the urge and kept studying the sword.

'Patience.'

'I need to practice patience,' Liam thought, his eyes fixed to his odachi.

He continued to feel every corner of the weapon.

The paperthin edge.

The black, leather-wrapped hilt.

The long length between the sharp tip and base.

'What is a sword?' Liam asked himself. 'Not a piece of metal, apparently.'

'It's deeper than that.'

Another month and a half passed as Liam continued in this state.

He didn't eat, nor did he drink any water in that period.

Even more, he didn't cultivate!

He simply sat there, curiously admiring his sword and examining it.

Liam didn't feel any different, but when he held the sword, it felt like an extension of his own body.

It was a strange feeling. Like the sword had connected to him in a way. 

Liam rose to his feet.

He didn't eat or drink despite not having any food for a whole month and a half.

He needed to preserve this feeling and express it in its rawest form.

Liam walked forward with a slow, unusual gait. 

Before, Liam's step was always fast and quick, like he was rushing to reach wherever he wanted to go.

But now, his gait was calm and patient, like he was walking at his own leisure. 

There was still that fire in his eyes. Of ambition, greed and maliciousness.

It wasn't like Liam's personality had changed.

But his sword had now been fitted to his needs.

As Liam got close to the marble spheres, the same words rang out.

"Split them in half within the allotted time."

Liam didn't run and swing like he always did when the announcement started.

Things were different this time.

Liam felt at ease.

Liam moved between the left and right boulders.

SHING! SHING!

Two slashes.

The boulders split in two.

Liam moved on, his steps light and unrushed.

Each time he lined himself between the left and the right boulder, then made a fluid, curved swing.

SHING! 

SHING!

SHING!

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

SHING!

SHING!

SHING!

Six hours.

Seven hours.

Eight hours.

SHIING!

Only the sound of Liam's sharp blade echoed through the fake dimension.

Funny enough, Liam wasn't counting how many boulders were left. 

Liam never felt so close to his sword.

All this time, it was a weapon to him.

But no.

Just as he was walking forward and clearing away the boulders, the sword was something else.

The sword was a path.

Ten hours.

Eleven hours.

Twelve hours.

Silence.

Liam closed his eyes and heaved a long sigh, then held the odachi vertically and ran a hand across its side. 

One thousand boulders.

12 hours.

Done and dusted.