Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series by Dan Sugralinov (best free e reader .txt) 📗

the tree and landed easily on his feet. The copy of the master disappeared. I immediately took advantage of the unexpected pause, dropped my knees and bent forward, struggling to get my breath back.

“Apprentice, prove to young Bakhiro that you can fight better than a dummy,” Oyama instructed lazily.

The boy stood before me and bowed.

“Fight!”

The master’s command and Bakhiro’s attack took me by surprise as I bowed in response. The boy moved so fast that his figure seemed to blur. The painful strikes rained down as if from nowhere — I couldn’t even see them, let alone fight them off. Reflection didn’t work here either — it seemed the game had activated some special training mode. Bakhiro moved like a shadow, always behind my back, and I couldn’t keep up. You can’t dodge what you can’t see. The short and embarrassing duel, similar to my fight with invisible Hiros, lasted less than a minute. Battered and bruised by the small and thin boy, by the end I couldn’t stay on my feet.

“Enough!” Oyama ordered. “Bakhiro, take back the jug and give my gratitude to your mother.”

“I will, grandpa.” The boy’s grubby face lit up with a smile. He bowed to me, his hands together at his chest. “Forgive me, traveler, I was wrong about you. You fight even worse than I thought, heh-heh…”

Oyama made a light sweeping motion with his foot from where he stood at least ten yards away. The earth disappeared from beneath the boy’s feet and he fell on his ass on the stone.

“Twenty-thousand paces around the village, young Bakhiro, who has forgotten how easily pride and overconfidence turn into defeat.”

“With a log?” the boy asked, rubbing his sore behind.

“With two. Hop to it!”

Bakhiro raced back to the village, leaving a trail of rising dust behind. A couple of seconds later he came back, bowed to Oyama, picked up the forgotten jug and ran off again.

The master beckoned me over with a finger. I approached and lowered my eyes. As it turned out, only those equal in status to the master could look him in the eye, and there weren’t many of those in the world. None within a thousand miles or so.

“Today, you have confirmed your status as Master of Unarmed Combat,” Oyama said.

Master was rank one. I’d wasted half a day just on that? Holding back my frustration, I said nothing.

“To gain the status of Great Master, you must fight with another Great Master and remain standing…”

Oyama paused, but I already knew the rules of this game: stay quiet unless asked a direct question.

“…You have done so. Bakhiro is a Great Master.”

“Bakhiro?” I asked, unable to hold back my surprise. “That ten-year-old kid is a Great Master?”

Now it was finally clear why the other inhabitants of the desert paled at the mere mention of Jiri — this was a village of great warriors for whom fighting was a lifestyle.

Bam! The old man twitched a finger and I was thrown from my feet, launched back-first into a tree. Nether! Master Sagda’s teaching methods had been far more merciful than sadist Oyama’s lessons!

I rose, gritting my teeth and resisting the urge to rub my bruised back, then silently returned to my place. Head low, breath even, accepting. Oyama waited, but heard no comments from me.

“I, Supreme Grand Master Oyama, confirm your Unarmed Combat status, apprentice Scyth. From now on, you are a Great Master.”

Bowing low, I froze, studying the pop-up notification:

Unarmed Combat rank II reached!

 

Select a progression path. Keep in mind that your choice is final and cannot be changed. You can select an additional development path after you reach your next skill rank.

 

Path of Elements

 

Depending on your chosen element, your unarmed combat moves will hit at range, freeze enemies, deal bonus damage or ignore armor. In addition, you will be able to instantly move across short distances, slow time in battle and summon a Star Ally.

 

Path of Trickery

 

Your unarmed combat moves have a chance of maiming, immobilizing, blinding or even instantly killing the enemy.

 

Path of Solitude

 

One who travels the Path of Solitude may resist hordes of enemies, hitting all enemies nearby with every strike.

 

Path of Defense

 

You can block and reflect enemy attacks, returning damage in part or even in full depending on your skill level and luck.

 

26 training points available. Talk to Supreme Grand Master Oyama to learn new moves!

 

The first thing I noticed was that there was no new path to replace Path of Justice, as happened with Resilience. Remembering Sagda’s lessons, I didn’t rush to make my final choice, taking a chance that Oyama would offer something else. It paid off.

My teacher, seeing that I was in no hurry to choose, spoke himself:

“Your first teacher Sagda was here yesterday. He and I talked. You’re lucky. Replace him with another and you would have known ten effective moves by now, but none would have become Crushing. In addition, few active or retired masters learn continuous strike combos before becoming a Great Master. Sagda is one of them. By learning Combo, you have unlocked a new Path that doesn’t depend solely on brute force or agility, or on the elements or luck. A Path that closes off your chance to master the other schools, but one with limitless opportunity for progress. I need your agreement, apprentice, before I can even tell you this Path’s name.”

How could I translate Oyama’s words into something clear? I was expected to buy a mystery, not knowing even the name of the skill, but conscious that the decision would cut off all my other options. The advantages were clear: my skill wouldn’t stop at level one hundred, and the same went for my moves. If Oyama was willing to teach me this