The next couple of days were a grind, interspersed with brief forays outside. He set-up regular meetings with the others so that he could speak with his team, getting updates and making sure they rotated through downtime too so that they could begin resting themselves. He couldn’t just work his people to the bone, taking over his job or working for the Clan without giving them time to train. Or else they might not even make it out, which would be a real tragedy.
Balancing training and how far everyone was coming was important, which was why he was grateful most of the team had alternates. Mel and Uswah, Jan and Yao Jing, Eric and Leia. Rick was about the only one who didn’t, but the man also had the easiest job it seemed once he was settled. Most days, he was found downstairs, chatting with the residents or in his room. Though, Arthur not a growing sense of impatience in the man, one that he knew he’d have to deal with eventually.
As for him and now, well…
Perhaps the most important was the Pocket Simpanan Tua that finally was complete. It was a minor shift, but one that was quite proud of. As expected, the process of splitting the flows and then holding them within him while doing other forms of training had been difficult, further improving his Dual Cultivation technique. He still had a lot of way to go, but he could feel the progress in the way it was easier to work things.
Now, carrying the Refined Energy Dart within him, he got to work on his next plan for improvement. Rather than purchasing a new skill cultivation technique, Arthur’s focus was on the Yin energy within him. And the kris.
After extracting the wavy dagger-sword weapon out of its sheath, he had begun the process of studying the energy within. At first, he’d intended on doing it the smart and patient and pay attention to the enchantments and the energy within he kris itself.
It took him all of about twenty minutes to realise that he was only inching forward on his progress and understanding. At that point, he chose to take a shortcut. One that he knew others would be annoyed with him, if they knew, which was why he was grateful for the locked door.
He took off his pants to start, then carefully pricked the side of his leg. He’d considered the inside, but knew that could get dangerous. Even if it was less likely to scar and chaff when he walked. The edge of the kris, sharpened with a whetstone beforehand cut through his flesh with only the lightest of pushes, blood welling within moments as he removed the blade.
Arthur cursed, realising he forgot to get a bandage and had to scramble in his bag to find one, even as blood seeped out from the deeper than expected wound. Not as though he had a lot of experience with self-harm. Training was tough, but it wasn’t that tough.
All this was hindered by his need to keep focus on the flow of poison entering him. It wasn’t a liquid, but an enchanted chi poison, a flow of energy that stained his own. Or tried to. As he’d learnt on the first floor, having a Yin body gave him a natural resistance, but the question was, why.
Now he found out.
Or tried to at least.
“I should turn off my healing…” Arthur muttered, ten minutes later as he finished wiping down his thigh with the damp and bloody cloth. Beneath the streaky bloody area was smooth skin, the healing of his path having finished the simple fix. Which was great, and probably did a little for his on-going use and improvement of the technique, especially as he was focused quite hard at that area but it did mean he had to cut himself.
Of course, even before the wound was healed, his body had shaken off the chi. So maybe keeping it running was the way to go, it wasn't as though he didn't need to introduce more of the seeping chi into his body.
Too bad leaving the kris, blade unbared on unblemished skin did absolutely nothing. Whatever enchantment there was that gave the kris its poisonous nature, it only activated - or could penetrate his natural defenses - when it breached his skin. Possibly, it just wasn't strong enough otherwise.
Magic theory had never been his strong suit.
Another breath, another prick. Bandage on the wound, as he focused on the strange and foreign chi coursing through him, the way it stilled the muscles, slowed the flow of chi. There was almost a seeking element to it, as it found yang energy within him - and yes, even in a yin body, there was yang - and attacked it. Neutralised the yang energy, causing his body and the elements of it to slow and freeze.
He teased at the energy, trying to understand the difference between his own and the kris's, tried to understand what it affected him in such a way and how his own energy neutralised the enchantment. It wasn't just that he had less yang energy and needed it less to function with a yin body, which had been his first guess upon closer inspection; but the way the two yin energies interacted.
His own was subsuming the foreign, transforming it to something similar, something more in line with his own chi. He couldn’t explain why it was different, just that it was and that the more he pushed and prodded at it, the more he could feel the differences.
If he had to describe it, Arthur would have likened it to feeling the shape of a lego block with his eyes closed. Everyone had the same pieces probably, or close enough; the building blocks themselves were all the same after all. The difference was how these pieces were structured and put together. There were parts that needed to be left open for future attachments, other parts that shifted or changed or came apart as different meridians and meridian points interacted with it.
His goal, as he studied the foreign yin energy was to work out how and why it was different and then, eventually, how to make his own yin energy similar to the invading energy, at least in part.
When the knock came, halfway through the afternoon, it startled Arthur. He blinked, sitting up, staring at his leg and then around, at the mess he had made. He’d washed and cleaned some bandages, over and over again to help with the work, but even then…
Bloody bandages, bloody blade, scattered clothing and stained bedding. Streaks of sweat and blood on his arms and legs, and of course, pantless.
A real stable kind of look.