''Mmm...'' A black-haired girl started making sounds as her eyes slowly opened to only see a dimly lit room with little light coming from the curtains.
Her vision started getting clearer and finally saw an empty bed with a small letter on a pillow.
''Hmm... Letter?'' Azura rubbed her eyes one more time and moved her body towards the pillow as she grabbed the latter and started reading it.
At first, she couldn't make sense of any of the words, but soon it started getting clearer, and she could finally read the test.
''Dear Azura...'' Azura moved her body to lie down on her back, with her head on Ichiro's pillow, ''Your father has kidnapped me, so we won't be able to see for who knows how long, but love you.'' She blinked at first, until her face became enraged, ''DADDY!''
Her screams echoed in the empty and large mansion.
...
''Hmm?'' Abyss looked around him warily. He felt goosebumps going over his spine; it usually happens when his life is in danger.
''Have I really gotten old?'' He shrugged after making sure that he wasn't in danger.
He was currently standing on the sidelines while watching young men and women training on the courtyard, with a man with golden robes closely instructing everyone.
Aether was also training, and he was already sweating buckets. He could barely follow the training routine, which is performed by everyone else.
Abyss frowned as he looked towards the direction of Ichiro's temporary room with the door tightly closed. They hadn't seen him leaving the room, and Abyss had a hunch that he might be sleeping.
'You better not be sleeping... Thief!' He stomped angrily towards the door and opened it with a slam.
''WAKE U—'' His shout was cut down as he saw Ichiro sitting on a chair with a wooden desk in front of him. He was writing in a notebook with absolute concentration.
Abyss frowned, but soon, his face was morphed into shock as he knew what state Ichiro was in.
His shout didn't even make Ichiro flinch, which would make any ordinary Martial Commander scared shitless.
There is only one reason for Ichiro not having any reaction.
'Enlightenment...' Abyss thought with a shock and closed the door; he didn't leave; instead, he stayed in front of the door as a guard.
Inside the room.
Ichiro's face was almost emotionless as he kept writing on the notebook everything that came to his mind.
He didn't hear any noises and only saw the notebook and the pencil, while images just kept popping in his mind.
Hour later.
''Eh?'' Ichiro's body twitched as his emotionless face started having a sign of getting out of the state of enlightenment.
''What happened?'' He looked around the room and then looked back towards the notebook and was shocked to see 50 pages being filled!
He only remembered that he reached the 20th page in the book Mind-Body Realm and suddenly, he felt something clicking in his mind like something was unlocked.
*Knock* *Knock*
Ichiro looked towards the door and said, ''Come in.''
The door was opened, and Abyss entered with a surprised look as he glanced at the notebook, 'Insane...' He thought to himself and closed the door tightly so that no one would eavesdrop on them.
''Abyss, what is it?'' Ichiro closed the notebook and asked.
''Do you understand what happened to you?'' Abyss asked with his arms behind his back.
Ichiro frowned and shook his head.
''Ever heard of enlightenment?'' Abyss asked and saw Ichiro's face turning into confusion.
'Enlightenment... ' He felt like the word was familiar but couldn't understand why Abyss asked about it.
''You entered a state of enlightenment.'' Abyss suddenly said and continued, ''It is a state where your every thought becomes hyper-focused, and usually, no one remembers of their time in enlightenment, but subconsciously, they still remember it. Like, if you enter that state when you are Half-Step Martial General, it would be easy as snapping your fingers to reach Martial King.''
Ichiro widened his eyes in shock, but Abyss wasn't done.
''You wouldn't remember that you reached Martial King, but you would still be Martial King, but even stronger than ordinary one, because for some reason, enlightenment removes the Power Limit perfectly.''
Ichiro looked at his hand and didn't feel any different.
''You didn't become stronger.'' Abyss suddenly said and glanced at the notebook, ''But... That notebook must have something that will make you much stronger.''
Ichiro looked at the notebook in his hands and indeed felt some strange energy coming from it.
''To enter the state of enlightenment...'' Abyss took a deep breath and continued, ''Is to unlock your Power Limit for a certain period of time.''
Ichiro's eyes widened as he knew what he was trying to say.
''Usually, Power Limit would stay unlocked for around 1 minute for Martial General's, and that already gives them great benefits, but you... Martial Commander had it unlocked over an hour.'' Abyss scratched his head; he was filled with disbelief.
''Keep that notebook safe... It is a result of 1 hour of enlightenment, and many would kill to get their hands on it.'' Abyss glanced at the door and said, ''Grandmaster Fang wouldn't touch it, but I don't know anyone else here... Keep it hidden.''
Ichiro nodded and opened the sixth page, where the enlightenment started, and widened his eyes in shock.
Abyss saw his look and quickly looked away so that he won't become tempted to look at the texts as well. Texts made by enlightenment has a terrifying effect, which makes everyone greedy to read more if they even saw one letter.
He opened the door and said one last time, ''Keep it safe, don't show it to anyone else.''
Ichiro nodded and saw Abyss leaving.
He turned his head back towards the notebook and saw the title.
[True Iron Style's Four Directions]
[First Direction - Attack]
[Second Direction - Defend]
[Third Direction - Redirection]
[Fourth Direction - Movement]
Ichiro, at first, didn't know what those meant, but after he started reading, something clicked inside his mind, and he felt like he understood everything.
The first Direction is attack-based techniques.
The second Direction is defense-based techniques.
The third Direction is redirection-based techniques.
The fourth Direction is movement-based techniques.
These four directions will be cornerstones of Iron Style!
