Grey immediately tried circulating the energy, he noticed it became easier than the previous time he tried it, and the pain reduced significantly.
"Wow, guess I shouldn't have stopped my training" Grey was delighted. He immediately started feeling remorseful when he thought about all the days he had to go through pains just to make the energy move.
"Why didn't they make it known in the scroll, I wouldn't have passed through days of pain" Grey complained bitterly. Although he knew it wouldn't change anything, he didn't want to blame himself for not continuing his training, so he just shifted the blame.
(Humans are weird beings, if something happens to them, they always try to find someone to blame. Sometimes they clearly knew they were at fault, but only a few will admit it. Okay, now back to the story)
Grey was able to complete the second circulation before long. He was exhausted from the hard work and immediately fell asleep.
The Next day, Grey woke up late in the day. Although it wasn't midday yet, it wasn't far from it.
"Ah, what a great night" Grey woke up with a huge smile on his face, after having a breakthrough in the circulation, he felt fantastic with himself. Although it wasn't anything big, Grey felt like it was a major accomplishment.
He freshened up before going downstairs. He saw Martha just coming into the house.
When she saw Grey, she gave him a sweet smile. For some reason, when Grey saw the smile, he felt a chill run down his spine. 'I haven't done anything wrong lately, have I' Grey started thinking about everything he had done lately and couldn't remember upsetting his mother on any occasion.
"How are you doing?" Martha asked when Grey walked closer to her.
Grey paused instinctively and slowly retreated to a distance he deemed was safe enough. "I'm fine thanks. How are you doing today?" Grey asked with a smile.
"I must say, you look very beautiful this morning" Before Martha could reply to the question Grey asked, he heard him speak again.
'What a glib tongue he has. Just like his father' Martha sneered coldly in her heart. She knew why he was complementing her. Whenever he does something wrong, he always does this to get on her good side. Although she never falls for it, she does reduce the punishment she has in mind for him unknowingly.
"How was your training yesterday?" Martha asked with a smile.
"It was fine, I noticed my stamina has gone up a notch since I started cultivating the technique, although I have not started cultivation fully, I think it wouldn't take long anymore. Oh, and I made some progress in the second circulation, now all that's left to do is to continue till I reach the tenth one" Grey spat out everything he did yesterday. He forgot about what happened with Derek as he was too excited over the success of his cultivation breakthrough the previous night.
Martha looked at him closely, 'Why is he hiding it from me, or did he forget about it?. No need, I will just ask about it'.
"I was told you sneak attacked Derek yesterday when you were coming back from the forest" Martha studied Grey's reaction closely.
Grey was shocked when he heard that, then it all clicked, no wonder she is acting strange, so it was because of the small conflict I had with Derek.
"I didn't sneak attack him, he attacked me and I retaliated openly. I even warned him, but he wanted to bully me because he thought I was weak" Grey said proudly while sticking out his chest.
Martha looked at him not knowing if to laugh or cry, 'This kid'.
"Well, that was not what he said. He said he was on his own at the side of the pathway when you suddenly sneak attacked him while he was distracted. He said you attacked him possibly because you were mad at him when he jokingly called you a cripple" Martha recounted what she was told. She knew her son all too well, although he was mischievous, he wouldn't sneak attack anyone. Well, not for that particular reason though. 'With his character, he will definitely sneak attack his enemies'. Derek can't be counted as an enemy, he isn't even worth Grey's time.
"He's lying" Grey defended himself confidently. He knew his mother knew he was right, she was just trying to scare him. Even if he was wrong, he knew she would definitely protect him.
Martha looked at him for some time, "Tell me exactly what happened"
Grey recounted the whole event, from when he was heading out to when he was blocked by Derek.
Martha was similarly dumbfounded when she heard how Grey was able to defeat Derek effortlessly. Derek is someone at the 8th stage of the Collection Plane, just a bit away from the Fusion Plane. Yet Grey was faster than him, what was more shocking was the fact that Derek is a Wind Elementalist. She looked at her son, pride filled her heart, but she didn't show it out. If Grey were to know she was proud of him, she didn't know what he might do next.
"Okay, don't worry about this. I will take care of it. I don't want to hear something like this happened again. Focus fully on your cultivation and try to complete the circulations as soon as possible, so you can start the real cultivation" Martha told him seriously. She really didn't want him to waste his time with all these little things. So long as he can start cultivating for real, I will be happy.
"Yes mom, I will work extra hard" Grey proclaimed with determination.
Martha looked at him and nodded in approval when seeing how determined Grey was.
Grey continued his training that day, only now, his routine had changed. He would train in the day, and meditate at night.
Slowly, time passed and a month quickly went by. Grey didn't hear from Derek or anyone later. He was given a rare moment of peace. He was happy as now all his focus was on his training. During this month, he was able to get to the seventh circle. The more the circles, the harder it was for him. He was determined, so he didn't stop or give up halfway because he felt it was too hard. He kept on pushing himself to the brink and surpassing himself.
Whenever he wants to train, he will set himself as the target to beat. If could do more than what he usually does, then he had successfully surpassed his previous self.
Another month went by without any major event taking place. Grey continued his frenzied training and Martha even began worrying over him.
There was one time Grey came home looking like someone who had a foot on deaths' door. She had to make him stay at home for a week to take a rest before he was allowed to continue his training. Even when staying at home, Grey focused fully on meditating.
During these two months, Grey had been able to complete 9 circles. Now it was left with the last circle, once he completes it, he will officially step into the realm of Elementalists. Grey was so excited about it and couldn't wait to start manipulating each element.
Grey took a break, before going for the last circle. He noticed he should always take breaks sometimes, so his body doesn't breakdown. After the break, he immediately started training and he started moving the energy according to the instructions of the tenth circle.
Each circle had a different route, so he had to be careful when studying it to avoid making any mistakes. Although they were almost identical, there is always a different route for each circle.
Grey worked hard and after 2 weeks of rigorous training, one night, he finally completed the last circle.
