Chapter 81- Master Rook’s Discoveries
Leo jolted awake to a sudden pain on his cheek.
"Ouch."
He found a fluffy thing sitting on his face, and his view only showed a swinging fluffy tail.
Leo figured the little thing must have scratched him.
He grabbed the cub from his face with one hand and stood up, rubbing the stinging spot with the other hand.
Leo looked at the cub with resentful eyes as he pulled its cheek.
But the cub kept looking at him with watery puppy eyes, and he could no longer be angry with it.
He could only sigh as he set it down on the ground and checked the surroundings.
He remembered watching Hugh sketch different sword designs for a long time. Hugh had kept changing lines, erasing, redrawing, and comparing proportions until Leo’s eyes grew heavy and he finally drifted off. Now he checked on the older man again. Hugh had finally settled on one design and was staring at the parchment with a focused expression.
Leo looked around for Master Rook.
The old man sat cross-legged near the forge-heart, a wooden practice sword resting across his knees, eyes closed. His breathing was so slow Leo could not tell whether he inhaled or exhaled. Anyone glancing at him would have mistaken him for a statue carved from the same stone as the forge.
Rook’s voice came without opening his eyes. "Good morning, brat."
Leo rubbed the sleep from his face. "How long have you been sitting there like that?"
Leo looked at Master Rook, checking if he was just squinting his eyes or if they were really closed. He answered as he rubbed the scratched spot on his face. "How long have you been sitting like that? I almost mistook you for a statue."
Master Rook grunted. "Tsk. I have been thinking since dawn. Sitting here.
Master Rook opened his eyes and gestured for Leo to join him. When Leo sat, the old man jerked his chin toward Hugh. "You too, old man. Listen to this."
Hugh looked over, caught Leo’s shrug, and sighed. He walked across and dropped into a cross-legged seat, muttering, "It better not be another six-hour stance drill."
Rook’s gaze sharpened. "You said something?"
Hugh waved both hands quickly. "Nothing. Didn’t say a word. Right, Leo?"
Leo ignored Hugh as he rolled his eyes.
As they were sitting cross-legged on the floor, the two little cubs walked beside them.
Ash started to rub his head against Leo’s knees for a while, then climbed clumsily onto his lap and curled into shape as if he had found a comfortable sleeping place.
Seeing that Ash had found a spot, Amber also jumped into Hugh’s lap and curled into a ball.
For some reason, Master Rook felt as though two more little things had joined his lecture. His lip twitched at the thought.
He ignored the little fellows and started his explanation. "Yesterday I taught you to feel qi," he said. "I believe I’ve found a cleaner way to move you forward. There are three stages I mastered over sixty years. The game calls it qi. I still call it ki. Same thing."
He raised one finger. "Stage one is sensing. Both of you have already reached it—feeling the energy inside your own body. Most people never get that far. I have students who spent a decade and never touched it. You two are already above average."
A second finger. "Stage two: circulation."
Master Rook rose smoothly into a fencing stance and began moving through the most basic forms—nothing flashy, nothing hurried.
With his qi sense open, Leo felt the old man’s energy flow like water through every channel, smooth and deliberate.
"Circulation has many uses," Rook continued as he moved.
"Healing. Strengthening. Speed. Reflexes. Durability. I suspect it’s the reason my stats sit higher than they should for someone at my level."
He glanced at Leo, who was nodding so furiously that he had to slip brief Hmphs between his explanations.
He raised a third finger. "Stage three: projection. Qi leaves the blade. The game calls these qi attacks or qi slashes."
Master Rook stopped and looked at Leo. "Your Qi pool is a vast reservoir drained down to a trickle. Circulation will refill it—but slowly. Do not force it. A frozen river cracked by force becomes a flood. A frozen river melted by spring becomes life."
The words from the previous night settled deeper now that Leo understood the mechanics behind them.
Rook turned to Hugh. "And you. You’ve been circling the second stage without knowing its name. Your forge work is circulation—you move energy through flame the way I move it through a blade. You’re closer than you think."
Hugh blinked and looked down at his hands.
Rook’s voice stayed even. "In the real world this takes years of breathing and tempering. Here the system quantifies everything. Progress is faster."
As if to prove the point, a soft chime sounded and a notification appeared in front of Master rook which he shared with them.
[Qi Circulation detected. Qi +3. Experience +15.]
Leo stared. "That’s it?"
"That is not the point, brat." Rook’s tone dropped, quiet and sharp.
"In the real world I practiced ki circulation for sixty years—breathing, stances, meditation—to reach the depth I have now. Here..." He tapped the floating text. "One form. One circulation. And the system handed me progress. Not from a kill. Not from a quest. Progress toward the next stage of cultivation."
He met Leo’s eyes. "This game is not simple. I thought qi projection was the peak. The system is telling me there are levels beyond it."
Leo frowned. "What do you mean?"
Rook exhaled slowly. "What took me sixty years outside, this system can shorten the duration. It quantifies qi and accelerates refining. The road I thought ended at projection stage was only the beginning. There are tiers beyond what I’ve achieved."
"So cultivation is faster inside Myth Online?"
Master Rook nodded and then again shook his head "Not just faster. Measured. It measures the entire process and gives clear stages. The muscle tempering we gain from stances is labeled Tier 1. The heart tempering I reached after decades of hard practice is labeled Tier 2, organ refinement. The system shows that many organs can be refined one by one. After the organs comes bone refinement, which is Tier 4.
Then at tier 5, there is Meridian refining, which I have little to no idea about for now, and finally at tier 6 there is Spirit refining. I think it’s mostly related to the soul, but it’s too far from us for now."
Leo’s thoughts were already starting to go into overdrive. "So if it is like that, then anyone who is already familiar with qi will...."
Before Leo could finish, Master Rook completed his words, nodding: "Will make faster improvement. Decades of work will be completed in a few days. Heck, even a person with no experience will have an easier time learning than in the real world."
With that said, Master Rook stood, moved behind Hugh, and placed both hands on the blacksmith’s back. "Stay still. Don’t resist. Breathe slowly and relax. I’ll guide the first circulations."
Rook drew a long breath. A faint moonlight glow shimmered across his chest, traveled down his arm, and passed through his palm into Hugh’s back. Leo watched the energy complete a slow, deliberate loop through Hugh’s body.
Hugh tensed. The first pass was uncomfortable—pressure along unfamiliar pathways, a deep ache in the muscles.
A notification appeared.
[Master-guided circulation detected. ]
[Qi Refining EXP +25. Qi +5.]
Hugh’s eyes snapped open. "What was that?"
"Again," Rook said.
The glow moved a second time.
[Master-guided circulation detected. Qi Refining EXP +25. Qi +5.]
And a third.
[Master-guided circulation detected. Qi Refining EXP +25. Qi +5.]
Hugh’s breathing steadied. After several more guided loops he spoke, voice low with surprise. "I can feel it. The energy is moving on its own path now. It’s gathering... concentrating."
Rook released his shoulders. "That is your qi. The system has quantified it. Your pool is small, but it will grow."
A cascade of notifications bloomed in front of Hugh. He stared at them, flexing his hands as if testing new strength in the tendons.
Rook turned to Leo. "Your turn, brat."
The old man’s hands settled on Leo’s back. The same moonlight warmth entered, slower this time, patient. Leo felt the qi finding its channels—heat spreading through muscle, a faint pressure behind the sternum, a tingling sensation that reached the tips of his fingers.
After a few guided circuits the sensation no longer needed Rook’s push. Leo could keep it moving himself.
[Qi Refining detected. Qi Refining EXP +1. Qi +0.1.]
[Qi Refining detected. Qi Refining EXP +1. Qi +0.1.]
Then the system spoke louder.
[Ding!]
[A new energy system has been opened.]
[Source detected: Body Cultivation.]
[Body Cultivation]
[Muscle refinement: partially completed.]
[Qi pool has been opened.]
[Qi pool capacity: 3/100]
[Qi regeneration: +1/hr]
[Ding~]
[Qi Refining forced breakthrough!]
[Qi Sensing → Qi Circulation]
[Qi Pool: 100 → 500]
[New Ability: Qi Infusion — qi-imbued attacks]
[Your body has learned to move qi on deliberate paths.]
[The energy is no longer a current you sense. It is a weapon you wield.]
[Current stage: Qi Circulation 1/10]
Leo sat still, reading the panels while the new current settled into a steady rhythm under his skin. Across from him, Hugh was already on his feet, rolling his shoulders as if the forge heat itself now answered him more readily.
Hugh looked at the finished sword design, then at Leo, eyes clear and sharp.
"I think," he said, "I’m ready to forge the Epic-rank sword."