Like an angel plummetting down from heaven, my body sank back into the water, landing on my right foot.
Then, pushing myself back into the air, I placed down my left foot and lunged forward, holding the hilt of my sheathed sword with both my hands.
The dance had to tell a story.
About a being that once was atop the world, a god or creator, falling to reality and meeting his own creations.
I began ceaselessly dancing on the unmarked rocks, marking my footprints with blood, for minutes...perhaps hours.
All concept of time had been lost at this point.
Drawing my sword and stepping forward, I stabbed it forward and crouched down, my head now completely submerged under the water.
Pausing, I glanced back, a joyful smile appearing on my face.
Blood outlines of my footprints, which, when combined, would make my dance, now lay on the previously unmarked rocks.
I had created a dance.
At that moment, as I rose back up from the water, the pyramid wall before me suddenly began shining a jade-green.
In the next moment, I saw it.
The green tablet levitated in the air before me, waiting to be grabbed.
I lazily reached my right arm forward and touched it; however, instantly, a bout of drowsiness attacked my mind.
Images of thousands of different footprints and movements invaded my mind and planted themselves there, alongside videos of figures dancing with swords.
My previously calm and tranquil mind was now overcome with so much information that it felt like it might explode.
Before me, the jade-green tablet slowly disintegrated into pieces and dropped into the water, vanishing on the blood-stained lake floor.
Finally, after two minutes, the ordeal was over.
As I turned around, the wall of water was still there...waiting to be crossed.
Collapsing on vibrant-green grass surrounding the lake, my clothes torn to shreds, and scars all over my body, I silently gazed at my own body.
The bottom of my feet were in shambles, the bones sticking out, preventing me from moving.
At that moment, as my gaze shifted upward, a purple holographic menu suddenly appeared above me.
---> [Perception: G+]
---> [Magic Power: G]
---> [Intelligence: E]
---> [Perseverance: C-]
Gift: [Swordsmanship] / [Novice] [Level 1] [EXP 0%]
Innate Ability: [Calm Tide]
Innate Ability Description: [Your eyes possess a serene vision that can read the rhythm of all motion. You can read and predict the trajectory, speed, and endpoint of any object in motion. The calmer your mind, the clearer and more precise your foresight becomes.]
Gifted Ability: [N/A]
---> ***** [Dance of Ten Thousand Stream] (1/5)
Rooted in ancient Taoist philosophy, this art transforms combat into a flowing dance, where every step evades danger and turns defense into seamless counterattack. With movements as fluid and unpredictable as water, the user seems untouchable.
Scanning the measly stat menu, all I could do was sigh and move on.
If someone like the protagonist or even a side character with high potential had gone through that same ordeal as I did, their stat increases would have been much higher, probably up to even F- rank.
Glancing downward at my new martial art, I tried to recall the countless images and videos that had flown through my brain a moment ago.
Yet...only one video appeared.
A man, with a long white beard and a head full of white hair, simply danced without a sword, his matching white robe flowing through the air.
After a moment, a name instantly appeared in my mind.
The first movement of the "Dance of Ten Thousand Streams" allowed the user to...completely vanish from their opponent’s point of view for a single moment.
After successfully evading an attack, I could disappear from sight and draw my sword, performing an unbeatable counter.
Of course, an enemy could still predict my movements or block their entire body, but I would be on the offensive.
From the dance I had created a moment ago, I felt that...I could perhaps perform the movement, albeit terribly.
My figure would likely not disappear entirely from the enemy’s sight, but perhaps just flicker and throw them off.
If I wanted to master Torrent Step and move onto the next movement fully, I would have to perfectly replicate the white-robed man’s dance, which was implanted in my mind.
However, just from obtaining the art, I passively felt a multitude of attack styles flood my brain.
While I couldn’t use them, I could examine them from the outside...and dissect them, discovering their weaknesses and creating dances to evade them.
The common jab? Simple side-step, duck to avoid a side-swipe, and counter-jab.
That, combined with my innate ability, which allows me to predict movements of swords and other weapons, made me confident.
If given enough time, I could create a movement to counter any battle style perfectly.
At this moment, I could no longer be considered a magic user...but a martial artist.
With my measly stats and potential, it was time to abandon the idea of magic.
From now on, I would be the only person in the world to carry and use the Taoist art.
As the artificial sun within the pyramid, a ball infused with light magic, shone down on my broken figure, my ocean-blue pupils dazzing under the light, I suddenly recalled something. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the noⅴelfire.net
It had to have been at least a day, right?
Glancing at my broken tablet in the water, I sighed and slowly pushed myself backward, eventually finding and leaning against the trunk of a nearby tree.
I had to go to the academy on time.
If something were to go off the storyline I had created, as with the elves in the fortress, I had to be there.
Of course, though, I had no intention of making connections or befriending the characters I had created.
That, in itself, would be going off the storyline and could cause a multitude of other problems later on.