Chapter 309: Chapter 309 – Martial Meditation

Jason sighs, “Any advice on which yard to check out?”

Peter nods, “I actually do. Not all yards are made the same. You’ve seen one without realizing what it was already. Or at least you should have seen as you’ve been outside the walls. The one outside the gate closest to here is mostly what you’re going to find. A large empty field you likely mistook for fallow farmland.”

Jason frowns, “That does sound familiar, but I don’t remember seeing anyone training there?”

Peter shrugs, “While I did say they are in use most of the time that doesn’t mean all of the time. If I remember correctly, you ended up hunting scamps, right?”

With a nod from Jason, Peter smiles, “Well that explains it. You actually missed one of the best chances to use that field. When the time comes to cut back on the scamps, the guards will avoid training nearby for a couple days. Kind of hard to hunt something that is being extra careful to avoid a bunch of guards stomping around.”

“Anyway, right now, your best bet is the main gate to the left of that one. That yard is big enough that the usual training doesn’t take up hardly any of the space. The full thing only gets used every once in a while when it is safe enough to get most of the guards together in one place. While they aren’t the army, sometimes you want the city guard to be able to assist. And let me tell you, being a part of an army takes a different skill set than being a part of a small unit of guards.”

Jason stands up and stretches. “Makes sense. Well, since I know where to go I’m heading out. I should be back for dinner.”

Once out of the house Jason has an easy enough time getting to the correct gate and with his pass is allowed out. From there the practice yard is obvious enough. If the large area of packed dirt wasn’t enough of a clue, the group of ten guards and a leader doing combat drills gave it away.

Off to the side, Jason spots an official of some sort. Convenient for him as he didn’t really want to just go out on the field and start practicing without saying something. Sure, he could have asked the person in charge but they were in the middle of leading the drills and Jason didn’t want to interrupt.

Of course just standing there isn’t exactly stealthy so everyone already knows he is there but lets just ignore that as Jason walks over to the official. “Hello, I’m looking for somewhere to practice a couple forms. Is it alright if I use some of the empty field?”

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The official looks up from some paperwork on a clipboard. “No large-scale exercises are planned for today. Though if you cause any interruptions, the guards are right there to arrest you for interfering with their duties.”

Jason wasn’t planning to interrupt them and so agrees to the condition easily enough and heads over to the other side of the field from the guards.

For a moment Jason stood there collecting his thoughts, calming his breathing, and relaxing his muscles. Speed is both important and unimportant for what is to come. Fast when necessary, slow when needed, but most important is the flow and allowing his body to move so his mind can be still.

Arms at his side, hands making fists, with his feet shoulder width apart. Step forward with the left foot. Left hand coming up and into a forward punch while the right arm is brought tight to the side. Shift stance to reverse facing while left arm goes to the side and the right arm swings up in a block. Left leg comes up into a kick and is brought down next to the right leg. Right hand opens and is brought down to cup the left hand. Left leg steps back and the right hand assists the left arm to throw an elbow behind.

From one move to the next, Jason moves. At first his moves are stilted, his NeoRealm body not being used to these movements. But soon enough he has smoothed out the transition from one action to the next. Punches, kicks, elbows, blocks, and more are mixed in with one another until the flow takes over and the form becomes formless. His body moves on its own as one action follows another.

Freed his mind at first floats, unencumbered by the usual troubles, not more or less than his regular meditation. Just in a different way. But that was the easy part. Now he carefully tries to thread the needle that is paying attention to his body while not actually thinking about his body or else the flow would be broken.

Over and over he fails and is broken out of his meditative state. But eventually Jason manages to observe his body. Wrapped around him like a shell is what’s left of his original System provided body. Only the barest wisps of it remain and yet as he moves, power flows through it. Below that, though, Jason can detect a slight interchange between the old and the new. A few of the flows don’t just follow the surface. Those flows also sink into his body, past the shell of flesh and breaking into the void.

In the past he had observed his Energy and picked out what might have been his bones. Now though, there isn’t much of a question. A solidness suffuses most of these bits of power that aren’t satisfied with just the surface. 

This, of course, is only a start, but a good one. The solidness of Jason’s bones that supports his body would be a perfect mechanism to start a change. But first he plans to observe the entire body. Not that he has to, but rather to find out the structure behind his stats. He has no illusions of being able to figure out the language used to provide stats.

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