Chapter 151: Favor or requests, what’s the point?

Meanwhile, as the plays, cries, depressive throughs, and hilarious sights were happening, in the region of the Griontesse city, a pair of boy and a girl were laying on the rocky ground.

At this point, one was pretending to sleep, while the other lay there just for the sake of it.

“Hey, Allan,” Sarey asked, opening her eyes as she lazily turned to face him.

“What? You are awake now, or is it the unconscious talk of a madman?” Allan jokingly said.

“Neither… I have a favor to ask you,” Sarey muttered right to his ear as she leaned on her side.

“Favor? How can I be of any help to you? There is nothing… I can give you.”

“There is. Probably. I was discussing some stuff with 36 before. He was doing the usual style of telling a little. It was the usual stuff happening behind your back. While there are some things that he wanted to tell us both, and others were kept between us.” Sarey explained, telling the truth, but not going too much into any details.

“I am fine with you and 36 having some secrets. I am not bothered by that if that's what you are trying to tell me.”

“No. No. That's not what I mean. I am trying to say something new… Whenever you will go to the place within the book for your reward. Do you think you can try to get there something that would be of some use? Even for me… I don't want to be left behind”

“For you? What do you want when you have no idea what will even be there for us? This book, and journey towards there, could be quite… bad, or straight up useless when I think about it now.” Allan argued.

“It is a hope for me…. for whatever this will be. That's about everything I am asking, so take it as you wish.”

“So a hope? I am not promising you anything.” Allan told the truth.

“That's fine with me. I am feeling much better after telling you what I wanted. So… Hey! Let's go!”

Sarey got back to her feet and jolted Allan up by grabbing his hand.

“W-what? Are you fine? You appeared quite tired after this outburst.”

“What what? I feel much better now than ever. Perhaps this rock smashing is ideal for me to quench my anger and frustration away. My body could get tired but my mind gets better in return. It is a win-win!”

Pulling Allan upwards, the pair continued to have another go of rock smashing. Sarey insisted on that anyway, and Allan had no way to refuse her at all. They rested for a few moments between some rounds before embarking on the climbing part of the hill not so far away.

Time would always prevail, and their relationship was doing alright. Allan never even knew what it was like to have another person by his side. It was something that he could trust with most things, and caring for that put a new perspective into his life. Although it was not the thing he usually even imagined, especially considering the situation of his youth. Now, he felt nothing like a kid who tried to please his father, hoping to achieve something in life.

It was different now. Allan had a hope of getting his life back on track. He could tell the world was changing around him, and not for the better. The war, things with 36, and so on. It put him under a small stress that he had never felt before, but he did his best to focus on the tasks at hand.

That was to make proper use of what he could do, and ignore what he couldn't.

Yet, the willingness to get back to that life of the past was slowly drifting away. It may never return to the time from before, yet it still fueled his mind with power. His body strength filled his body with the motivation of reaching the point that no mortal could think of. It was a start of the Cultivation and a time when the Immortal raised above the sky. At one point, Allan thought this could all very well be a psychological effect that he caused himself. Perhaps, at this point, he shouldn't question his decision or worry too much. Questioning his own life wasn't something he should be doing when the path forwards was before him. Albeit, it wasn't so clear yet.

He could only continue, slowly reaching the time when he would touch the skies.

Patting the immense wall of cold stone, Allan pulled his body upwards while the weights were hindering him below his hips on a rope.

It was time for climbing again. Allan felt like it was a routine way to get up. Climbing until the 100-meter mark was easy, but then, things became much harder because of the wind, and walls which changed into a more slippery slope.

He continued, as his hands, fingers, and tight grip would clutch the small crack. Feelings of the surrounding rock were within his mind, making a picture of where to put his hands next, swing his body, or put his legs that had no shoes. It wasn't that long before he figured that being barefoot was much easier for his flexibility. It allowed him at least 50% effectiveness, but that was only for his guesses.

This was a path he took multiple times already. It was the path he could finish, making this climb end once and for all. Still, he had to continue forth to the end of this wall. There was still a section he wasn't familiar with. He could even slip and had to restart his tries within the darkness, ending his attempts with bitterness.

Sarey watched everything with very few opportunities to be of any help. It was Allan's work to do it, and not hers. All she needed to do was to keep hoping that the rope was firm and Allan wouldn't fall to his death. Anytime that Allan was close to his limits, or slipped a few times, there was always a rope beside him for support. It was an advantage of continuing this climbing in the same sections of the wall that were littered with staircases of ropes. They made a good helper, much to Sarey's inability to help herself.

In almost two hours, Allan was already on the 7th attempt. This was the last one, so he was doing his best to reach the furthest.

His forearm, shoulders, and biceps were doing their best to support his movement. Allan had to move across one particular wall in a quick motion because there was no place for his legs. This was a dangerous section in the 170th meter where he slipped the most.

Alas, not this time. He clenched his hand on a boulder that was protruding from the wall after jumping and seeking the boulder with his right hand. He secured the grip and legs around some quick findings.

“Heh, I knew you would be here,” Allan muttered as he continued forth, even when his body was already stressed enough. This swing would usually let the weights below his body slide, ending his grip useless. It would let his center-of-gravity shift, causing his body to follow along and slip. The quick grab of a rope was usually the case of whether Allan felt his chances being low.

He had to either expect it or move along with the failure in mind. Being considerate of his own movements was also one of the key reasons 36 had chosen this training for his sake.

Allan had already had a long time of this experience, yet he still failed every other try because of his instabilities and the hellish weight under his body.

Allan was yet to know that this was a rather good way to train the body. It was for the muscles, inner strength, and flexibility. The whole premise was behind the weights, and not the climb itself.

It was still a rather diabolical and sinister idea of 36 that even Sarey criticized since it was dangerous. Allan could slip easily, so a lot of effort went into the ideal solution to make it safer. Even 36 made some comments about the rope, and Sarey finished the job.

Still, the road toward the end of the cliff was around 15 meters away. There weren't a lot of obstacles, apart from the slippery walls which had some flowers here and there from the forest up at the apex.

Allan chose to end it thereafter and continued 10 minutes after passing that jump. This was the furthest he reached, so it was a matter of time before he ends it all.

After descending, he praised the earth to the bitter end of a few minutes.

“You did well.” Sarey praised his results.

“At this point, I am just fearful about what will come after this thing. I am so exhausted, it goes out of my head. I hope 36 won't come with something like this ever again.” Allan lamented, hoping it would be the case.

“I bet it won't be anything easy,” Sarey argued.

“Thanks a lot for easing the suffering away, Sarey,” Allan said sarcastically.

“Calm down with this. It's the same situation every day. You always scowl at this before moving away just fine. Let's go towards the next destination so we can go home to eat.” Sarey ordered as she was already prepared to leave.

Allan gave a last pat to the earth before getting up to finish the day. The last part wasn't the toughest, but it was also quite intense and draining. It was the water bending by Allan's poor naming scheme.

After spending 20 to 30 minutes in 3 rounds in the raging waters, Allan was more than done for today.

Contrary to his expectations, there weren't a lot of improvements when it came to time, and how long he stayed in the river. It was rather stagnant since the 10th day of this training. The time he was able to stay within the waters changed very little in the past 10 days. Now, he was closing to the month, which was 36's ideal time when Allan would finish everything up.

Out of the water, Allan was looking forward to the journey tomorrow, wondering what would a portal to the other world look like. He couldn't tell much but imagine it through Sarey's examples and descriptions. It wasn't much, so it was what he was able to do. He already decided to do it the next day and not delay this journey any longer. Allan was reluctant before, but as per 36's idea, he figured it wasn't bad to do things faster.

Perhaps it was also a part of the next steps of the training, but Allan had no idea what 36 planned, so he could only imagine it.

The remaining training was no longer an issue. It was a matter of decision on his part and figure out the remaining rock climbing in a couple of days. Rock smashing was more or less finished, even though 36 didn't tell much about the requirements. Adding the strange healing factor that Allan had, the rock smashing was easier than it should have been.

All he had to do was improve the form of the Body Whip technique according to the mass of the rocks, and finish them. When it came to that technique, there seemed to be things it was better suited for. Arms were much more flexible, rather than leg movements with this technique.

Allan considered all sorts of motions that a human body could achieve. After much distress and experiments, the joints and the general movements of all limbs came to a simple conclusion.

This was about flexibility and speed. Almost all body parts could be used with this sort of technique. Even while using one whip of a hand, the start of the movement had to come from the tip of a toe on a foot, across the hip, and up the spine toward the shoulder.

The rest of the movement was the whole whip motion of the whole arms. It made not much consideration to the elbow, wrist, or fingers, but everything was working in tandem for the sake of this technique. Allan must hold firmness within the arm, flexing his muscles just a tiny bit, so as not to smash his own arm into oblivion.

“Phew, done for today. I feel like today was rather easier than usual.” Allan gave a rare, yet somewhat funny sight. It was different from the time he complained while praising the earth.

“You don't say. You are improving every day, so that could be the reason.” Sarey added while sitting by his side as she was checking his body.

This was also a part of the acupoint book she is currently trying to comprehend. Using Allan's body as a source of ideas, practice, and knowledge, she long figured out how to do things efficiently as well.

There were quite a bit of useless words with the way 36 copied the work, but it was still usable. Once she put some sense out of them, of course. She was drawing certain diagrams out of Allan's back muscles. With the right direction, she could straight-up pinpoint the acupoints through the drawings, which was one of the core beliefs of what Acupoints were. They were set, unable to change the moment a person was born.

Sarey could more or less already figure out all the methods from a couple of pages. She got them not long ago from 36, but she managed to understand them much each time she put them to use. Adding the written stuff, in addition to Allan's practical use, Sarey was feeling better about it than she let out. It was also clearer to her that without those pages, she would not figure out much, even with the regular mortal acupoint book. Even if a doctor taught her something, it was still improper. That's how these pages of immortal value were.

It was a treasure in her eyes, even though she was hoping for something else, rather than that.

To her utmost surprise, 36 also included one particularly impressive news for her. It was one thing that was shocking to her, causing her to appreciate 36 a bit more. The acupoints pages 36 gave her were rare and precocious knowledge. They were prohibited to share in almost all organizations that had any kind of medical standpoint, or power in general. This talk involved the Immortal organization and no mortals.

The reason for that? Value, care, and importance. Every single Acupoints diagram had to go through many iterations to make them universally stable for normal uses. It didn't matter if one's acupoints were different from someone else's, as the diagram would cease these differences away.

What 36 gave her was his own knowledge that he tightly kept for himself, or it was something he stole from someone. It wasn't something Sarey thought of since there was no need to care about how 36 knew things. He was an old and legendary figure in her eyes, so that may be why.

One such diagram from the pages Sarey acquired would be quite costly for anyone interested in the Auxiliary pathways. They were special in their own right, so 36 gave up on them for the sake of Allan's future. Someone with them would embark on special kinds of acupoints treatments, but it involved talent and hard work. Either of these was something Sarey could have, but 36 wasn't sure of either.

It wasn't that Immortals had it all. The ordinary mortal had their ways too. After all, acupoint therapy was considered a medical treatment in mortal realms. Though, it was in no way as complicated and exquisite as diagrams that could take years to build and write. They weren't as harsh o the body as them, and they couldn't straight-up change or improve the human body in many ways.

They could ease the blood flow and muscles, and improve the natural regeneration powers of the human body. That was the basis of the mortal acupoints.

There were still a lot of mysteries left for Sarey to discover. It all sounded rather exciting to seek those two parts of the acupoints. One was her of mortals, while the other was exquisite and majestically important. Both sounded the same on the surface since they involved needles all the same. Though, what was mortal and immortal were vastly different things.

Thinking of that, Sarey slapped Allan's back after giving him a light massage. “Hey, have you thought about my request more? The one about the favor, or a request?” Sarey asked as she finished his check.

“Answer remains the same. I have no way of knowing what it means to come to that portal. This Reward of this Diary of the Body could involve something. If it's good, that it is good, but if it's not, I wonder what that will be. You know that 36 didn't say, or explained it all that much when we talked. Excusing himself to tell it was so much like him…” Allan argued.

“Yeah… Tell me about it.” Sarey sighed and rather changed the topic. “The inside world of this diary, I wonder what sort of place it is.”

“Since it is some sort of prison for Immortal, I doubt it is anything good-looking. I am also quite doubtful about one problem which 36 completely left out.”

“What? No way, 36 and leaving things in half-truths or lies… that sounds anything like him.” Sarey sarcastically added.

“Right. It is time

, Sarey. Have you forgotten about the time differences 36 sometimes talked about? This could be problematic If I am too long there.”

“Hmmm. That is true. I almost forgot about it. You could spend a day spent there, while you would only spend an hour or even less in the reality. Wait… isn't it… good? It's like… You can do a lot of things inside at that time, so… Ugh. My head hurts just thinking about it.” Sarey complained after understanding Allan's worry. “Isn't it better to ask tomorrow to be completely sure what it will be like? We can always postpone for the day after tomorrow.”

“No, Sarey, it will happen tomorrow. I don't want to get my mind to change.”

“If you say so, you stubborn boy. Alright! On your feet, you lunatic.” Sarey suddenly pinched his shoulders, getting up after sitting on the ground for half an hour.

“Are you that hungry to ease your mind on my shoulders?”

“Yes!” she answered honestly.

Allan couldn't help but agree. The amount of relief he felt after destroying the rock today was quite something. He felt the comfort and value of his own weapons rise in his mind.

He never felt the ease of getting stress out of his body in any other way, then forging. Now, he discovered the second thing, which wasn't that different. It was putting his creation to actual use.

Allan considered it as a primal desire for destruction, or to be more specific, how humans' emotions and their egos worked. Anger and frustration are normal in everyday life, and getting to vent was something a lot of people do.

Figuring out a way to vent and get out of that unkept worry was very pleasing to him, albeit in an aggressive manner.

His mind felt more accessible, and the next day would always come much easier. He could already imagine that tomorrow, he will feel wonderful.

But as all things are, too much of something was not a good thing.

As the pair walked through the forest, most things had their end, and there was the sight of the backyard and the door to the kitchen.

Although, just one of them could see the sight of their home.