"Ok, I am gonna go now."
Sundrin said to Torvyn as he got up from his bed and started walking towards the door,
"Don't stay outside for too long, or else you won't have the energy for tomorrow's classes."
Torvyn said with deep exhaustion as he lay flat on his bed,
"Don't worry, I will return quickly, so get some sleep."
Sundrin reassured with a smile as he walked out of the cottage.
As he closed the door behind him, he looked up to see the many stars glittering across the night sky while the moon illuminated the areas that lay beneath it.
A smile crept onto his face as he looked towards his front and started walking with slow and steady steps.
It had been two months since he and the others had come here, but still many of the kids couldn't get used to the training regime as whenever the third elder felt like it was becoming easy for them he would increase the intensity of the training.
During this time Sundrin had become nine years old and had started to lose his baby fat due to the intensive training he was going through.
He, just like the others was also vey tired but still he quite enjoyed training and the feeling of progress he felt from his power increasing steadily filled him with joy.
That's why even after the training was done for the day he would come to the nearby waterfall where everyone washed their clothes and train some more.
And during the two holidays, he would go out hunting at the edges of the nearby forest not going too deep in. This hunting not only kept him from getting rusty but also provided him with enough food for the upcoming days.
He would leave the cooking to Torvyn who was very skilled at it and share the meal together with him.
This was another reason why he and Torvyn excelled over others in their training, unlike the others who would work on the farms nearby and get some rice in exchange, they ate meat which gave them energy and repaired their bodies quicker.
Sundrin had by now distinguished himself as a top student as he not only excelled in training and knowledge, but was also among the handful of people who could hunt.
Soon, he had arrived near the waterfall and breathed in a mouthful of fresh air. Feeling the cool winds caress his face he closed his eyes.
….
Suddenly his eyes jolted open as he punched forward, then he swung his leg to kick up.
Beginning his practise he started by doing some punches and kicks to warm up his body. Soon he was doing pushups, squats, and many more exercises taught by the third elder.
After an hour or so he was completely soaked in sweat as his breathing grew ragged, his throat felt dry and his head hurt a bit.
He then sat down in lotus position and started regulating his breathing.
Straightening his back he could feel the chakra around him entering his body and swirl inside him.
If a person could inspect the flame inside his consciousness right now, they would be astounded by the fact that it had almost enlarged to be a boulder.
He was just one step away from becoming an initial warrior!
Having been stuck at this breakthrough point for ten days now he was determined to advance today.
Soon he could feel the repulsion from the dark space just like when the flame was first formed.
He had grown used to this level of repulsion, but as he kept on pushing he could feel the repulsion grow which had started to hurt his head,
'Should i stop?'
As soon as this thought entered his mind he grew furious,
'No! I refuse to stop now!'
He scream in his mind as he grit his teeth and pushed forward, his body began to shake as blood seeped out of his nose, closed eyes and even his body pores.
As time passed the intensity of shaking grew, and by now he was covered in a cocoon of his own blood.
Suddenly his eyes opened and he got down vomiting blood out of his mouth.
As he vomited he felt his mind spin and his stomach churn, even after a while when there was nothing left to vomit his stomach still hurt.
After having finished he gasped for breath as he fell on his back and lay on the ground looking above at the star filled night sky with his hazy vision.
Gulping down some saliva he grimaced at the taste of vomit, after a while he got up and walked towards the stream and quickly dived into it to clean himself.
It was a good thing he had brought some extra clothes with him as the third elder had said they would bleed when advancing to a new realm,
"If i am not wrong, he said that this is because we discharge the built up impurities in us thus cleansing our body"
He said as he quickly got out of the stream after finishing washing up, then he changed clothes and started walking way, he was too tired today and might not be able to come tomorrow, but he was still satisfied with the results.
Soon his figure disappeared fromnear the waterfall and silence once again returned to the quite place.
However it was unknown to Sundrin that all this time some was watching him.
Above one of the hills stood the third elder Survath as straight as a pole radiating the aura of a sheathed blade.
He looked on quietly as the figure of Sundrin disappeared from his view.
A small smile emerged on his usually stoic face, and this time he didn't hide it, turning back he left the scene silently.
.
.
.
.
The next day all the kids gathered infront of the huge tree like usual, but today they were met with a different scenery.
Many weapons such as stone swords, stone spears, and wooden bows were neatly arranged on the floor.
Soon the third elder arrived and all the kids stopped their chatter and bowed,
"From today on you all will be training in weapon arts as well, pick a weapon that you think suites you, and pick wisely."
After having said this with a serious face he folded his arms and stood with his eyes closed as if disinterested in what the kids picked.
But the kids were very excited, they had been only training their body for the past two months and even if they didn't say it out loud they were clearly frustrated by the rigorous routine.
Now that they had been given the opportunity to actually train with weapons they were very excited and couldn't wait any longer to grab one before the others.
Although there were about two to three hundred students there seemed to be enough weapons for everyone even if all of them chose the same weapon.
Sundrin walked towards the bow section and swiftly picked up a wooden bow.
Feeling the light weight of the bow and stretching the string a bit few times he was satisfied with the bow quality.
He looked around and saw that Torvyn had picked up a spear while three of the big four except for Helisra who didn't have any weapons on hand.
Confused a bit he looked at her direction and saw that she wasn't going to pick any weapons,
'She probably has some special circumstances'
He thought as his head moved and looked at the third elder,
"All of you form straight lines of ten people each, and you all will be divided into three groups of each weapon, Helisra for now you will be standing beside me, i will ask the crafters to make some stone daggers for you latter"
The students quickly followed Survath's order and got in their position.
When the kids saw that Sundrin was using a bow most of them were puzzled and shocked and some of them even mocked him.
In the tribe the bow was not seen as a weapon of valor thus it was not very popular, but Sundrin didn't care about other's opinions so he just got to his position and ignored the scornful gazes.
Soon Survath started giving advise to the sword using apprentices, and after he was done he moved on to the spear holding ones.
Finally after waiting for a long time he moved on to the bow apprentices which were only twenty or so in number,
"For now I am gonna teach you all a basic move called fire arrow"
He said as he took up a bow and stood straight, he pulled the string but didn't put a arrow on the bow which confused the students including Sundrin.
Closing his eyes he concentrated, the surroundings seemed to go quiet as the temperature rose sharply.
Flames stared coming out of his hand and quickly took the shape of an arrow strung on the bow.
His eyes swiftly opened as he let go of the string.
The arrow seemed to come to life as it flew across the field and landed far away, but it didn't stop there.
*boom!*
The arrow exploded into flames as soon as it hit the ground and made a booming noise.
Survath turned around not caring about the flames as he looked at the students with his usual solemn face.
The bow apprentices watched in utter shock with their eyes wide open and even Sudnrin who thought a bit more highly of himself since yesterday couldn't help but gulp down his arrogance as he thought,
'That… that was…. Basic?'