Systemless in a Parallel World

Chapter 85 The Dojo

Of course, Zayn couldn't use the Soul Guidance technique immediately. He didn't have enough soul particles to exert Soul Guidance and blindly enter his Sparrow Spirits' body with his consciousness.

He had to come up with a proper plan to create his Spirits' Soulrings as quickly as possible, otherwise, the exponentially increasing consumption of soul particles would drain him dry in no time. He wanted to avoid complications if possible. Thus, the Sparrow Spirits would have to be overflowing with soul particles which was not yet the case.

They didn't even possess enough soul particles to create a stabilized soulframe, which was actually what Zayn wanted to help with since it was much faster than creating the whole Soulring in a single session.

He knew that it would take a while before he could use the Soul Guidance technique to help his Sparrow Spirits but it was not as if time was running away from him.

Furthermore, there were other things that required his full and undivided attention as well.

Zayn wanted to try convincing Merlin Kivan one last time. He figured that the letters were useless but that didn't mean he couldn't visit his home. Nobody visited the dojo, which was practically Merlin Kivan's house, anymore. As for the reason for nobody visiting the dojo, there were various rumors but none of them had been confirmed so far.

Thus, Zayn chose to ignore most of the rumors and merely consider them as something that had an equal chance of being right or wrong. It was better to be vigilant as long as he didn't come off as rude in front of the person the rumors were about.

He gave convincing Merlin Kivan to one last attempt because he may as well leave the city and go somewhere else if the one-armed Blessed was not interested in teaching him the One-Armed Saber technique.

Merlin Kivan had been the strongest Adventurer in Zerek, and he was the only one with a combat technique and fighting style that might actually suit Zayn. That was the whole reason behind Zayn's attempts to learn from Merlin Kivan. If he was to be rejected, that would be fine, but he didn't like to be in the dark and kept waiting.

Once he ate his fill of some delicious dishes that were incomparably better than the well-preserved cold jerkies he was forced to eat every single day for the last week, Zayn found himself in front of the dojo's entrance.

The entrance of the dojo was a small gate, surrounded by walls that were constructed using traditional building methods, using clay and bamboo. These walls gave the dojo a unique look which was a huge contrast to all the buildings that were constructed in the surrounding area, maybe even the entire city. Zayn stared blankly at the dojo's gate where a unique sigil representing the Dojo's Martial Arts technique was drawn on.

The Sigil consisted of two crossed arms with each hand holding a large saber. Zayn felt a little weird when he compared the symbol to the One-Armed Saber technique from Merlin Kivan but he couldn't help feeling anxious upon hearing the swishes and clangs that reached his ears from within the dojo.

The sound of a sword swinging resounded through the entire dojo. It echoed off the walls, ceiling, and floor. The sharp, metallic sound was carried way beyond the walls of the Dojo, stirring Zayn's heart.

He was not sure what was going on, but Zayn could clearly feel a sense of power and purpose in the sharp sounds created as the clashes of the blades made him feel thrilled.

It was not possible for him to resist his instincts anymore and he found himself entering the dojo through the gate that wasn't even locked.

Stepping through the gate, he was led to the well-maintained courtyard where a small pond and various exotic flowers gave Zayn a sudden feeling of peace and tranquility.

As Zayn approached the dojo, the sounds grew louder, drawing him closer to the dojo. His feet moved of their own accord as he felt almost as if the blade that was swung tirelessly was calling him.

The louder the sound of the blade slicing through the air became, the faster Zayn's heartbeat, and he found himself stepping onto the terrace of the dojo just a moment later.

He had never seen a structure such as the dojo that towered in front of him. It was a seemingly simple structure with a wooden floor and walls made of a mixture of wood and bamboo. The walls were decorated with large banners on which someone had practiced calligraphy with letters that Zayn couldn't understand.

There were also a bunch of martial arts weapons kept by the wall, but none of that attracted his interest as much as the one-armed middle-aged man who was sweating profusely as he kept slashing his saber downward. He seemed to be following a certain rhythm but Zayn had a hard time keeping up with the pace and movements of the seemingly unmoving man.

At first, Zayn was just watching the one-armed man, who had to be Merlin Kivan, through one of the many windows of the dojo. But it didn't take long before he found his way to the wide-open entrance of the dojo's training ground. However, instead of entering the training ground, he retrieved his own saber and stared at the movements of the middle-aged man.

He tried to replicate Merlin Kivan's movements and slashed when he slashed, but his attempts failed miserably no matter how hard he tried.

It seemed almost as if he had no talent for rhythm, which was something Zayn never thought to be a problem.

Zayn didn't give up after he noticed that his rhythm and timing were bad. On the contrary, his failure seemed to drive the young boy even more. He wanted to replicate Merlin Kivan's movements by all means.

The sounds stirred his heart and ignited the desire to become a skilled combatant. He didn't want to leave before he could replicate the same sound and wield the saber with the same precision. Whether it was arrogance or blind trust in his abilities, Zayn was certain that he could achieve something like this in the span of a few hours.

What he didn't know was that two hours without a single successful attempt of trying to copy the Blessed had elapsed before Merlin Kivan stopped training.

The middle-aged man turned around and was just about to store his weapon away when he saw a young man with a serious expression on his face, pointing a saber in his direction appeared in the corner of his eye.