The Tenth Awakening

The next morning, Arya got ready for practice to perfect his weapon skills and become more familiar with it. Since he had chosen to follow both paths—cultivation and weapon mastery—he needed to balance his attention between them. For his weapon practice, he chose a small wild area behind the village. There were no dangerous animals there, making it a safe place to train daily for the next six months. Meanwhile, he planned to cultivate his elemental energy at home.

Arya was also curious about the Four Village Competition for the younger generation. The competition had an age limit of 15 years, and although his father hadn't mentioned it, Arya could tell from his serious expression that it was important. He wasn't too concerned about the clan competition—not because he wasn't interested, but because he had already decided to secure a spot in the top seven. Winning would not only earn him the prize money but also qualify him for the Four Village Competition.

He understood that rejecting opportunities meant blocking one's own path toward success. In this life, Arya was willing to take any risk and accept any challenge that could bring him power. Even though this competition wasn't the biggest opportunity, he knew that every journey started from the bottom. With this mindset, he had already decided to represent his village in the Four Village Competition.

Despite being the village chief's son, he didn't receive much money. The rewards for placing in the top seven were tempting, and he was eager to win. The currency in this world was in the form of colored coins, divided similarly to the rarity of elemental seeds. Each coin had two halves: one black and the other in various colors—white, pink, red, black, and the rarest, black and gold. In his small village, Arya had only ever seen black-and-white coins, never the higher denominations. Because of this, he also had a strong desire for wealth.

After walking for half an hour, he arrived at the wild area. As he searched for a suitable place to train, he suddenly heard movement. Instinctively, he hid and moved toward the sound to investigate. Climbing a tree was an easy task, even for cultivators at levels 6 or 7. Arya, at level 14, scaled it effortlessly.

Peering through the branches, he spotted two small arrows—more like needles—flying through the air, targeting falling leaves. A figure was moving, throwing the needles periodically and aiming at the leaves with precision.

When Arya focused on the person, he was surprised—it was none other than one of his batchmates. This boy had a level 6 innate elemental energy with wind affinity and was the first among them to complete training, reaching level 10 within just a year.

"Who's there?" a voice suddenly called out. Arya realized he had been discovered.

"Don't worry, it's me, Arya. I came here to train and heard you practicing," he replied.

"So, you've completed your training and reached the first Seed Ring Master level?" the boy asked. Arya simply nodded in response.

"You're also here to practice your skills, right?" the boy continued.

Arya nodded again. The boy was a year older than him, around 8 and a half years old.

"I thought practicing here could improve my skills," Arya said. "And that's your seed weapon, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Even though I didn't choose to become a weapon master because my weapon isn't suited for it, I still summon it to see how I can use it. But I can't control it properly, so I usually leave it aside. After practicing my ring skill, I got bored of training alone. If you're here to practice too, why don't we spar? It'll help us identify our weaknesses and improve. Training alone won't help me progress much."

"A sparring match?" Arya considered. "That's actually a good idea. We'll gain real combat experience too. I have no problem with it. But how should we spar?"

"It's simple. My cultivation is stronger than yours, so I'll only use my elemental energy, not my ring skill. You, on the other hand, can use everything you have."

"Your level should be around 15 or 16, right?" Arya asked.

"Yes, I'm at level 15 peak," the boy confirmed. His name was Kane, and his cultivation was nearly at level 16. If Arya hadn't obtained the Blood Seed, he would likely still be at level 11. A high innate elemental energy level was indeed useful in the early stages, but its advantage diminished after level 20. Because of this, Arya wasn't too concerned about only having level 3 innate energy.

Arya then summoned his red-colored Fire Ring. Seeing his elemental energy, Kane, who had felt confident about his cultivation, was shocked.

"You're at level 14?! How is that possible?"

"I just got lucky," Arya replied vaguely, not wanting to explain the details of his cultivation.

"Alright, shall we start the sparring match?" Kane asked.

Without hesitation, Arya transformed his Seed Ring into his Seed Weapon, as he was here primarily to train with it. A five-foot-long metal staff materialized, its color mostly red with hints of sky blue.

Seeing Arya summon his weapon, Kane did the same. His Seed Ring was white, indicating that its rank was the same as Arya's.

"So, you've chosen to become a weapon master?" Kane asked, noticing Arya's choice.

"Yes… and no. I'm still undecided, so I'm training in both. Once I make up my mind, I'll drop the other path," Arya said, keeping his true intentions vague.

"Alright then. It's your choice. Since you have level 14 elemental energy and a decent Seed Weapon, I won't hold back—I'll use my ring skill as well," Kane said.

"No problem. Go ahead," Arya replied, gripping one end of his metal staff.

As soon as he spoke, he rushed toward Kane, who did the same. Kane's Seed Ring glowed on his right hand as their sparring match began.

Arya had the advantage in physical combat, as he was in weapon master form. He focused on staying close to Kane, using his staff to pressure him. Meanwhile, Kane used his agility to evade Arya's attacks, trying to find an opening to counterattack while maintaining his distance. He knew that giving Arya room to strike would put him at a disadvantage.

Their intense battle had begun.