Eventually Elder Zal returned.

By then I was able to jog a fair bit before having to rest, but it was still significant progress compared to when I first started. Elder Zal didn't seem to notice though, she simply went right into the next phase of training.

Which was actually quite simple.

She would guide me step by step in improving my arts with the spear, and like the training we once completed aboard her ship, I would be spending quite a bit of time fighting against a stick.

The difference here though was the amount of Qi I was allowed to use during the battle since I practically had to ration it if I didn't want to suffocate, and also the amount of detail and time Elder Zal can spend in correcting my form.

All of that training she had in mind though would only be after she made me run as fast as I could for as far as I could. Once I basically collapsed on the ground, I was allowed a few seconds of rest before I get up and practice against the stick.

Surprisingly in way, there were also a few moments when Elder Zal asked me to put my spear away and instead focused on nothing but real fist fighting. It was only surprising because of how obsessed with spears Infernals seem to be, but logically it was very practical.

The chances my spear was destroyed, taken, or simply lost for whatever reason was never 0. Getting better at fighting without it would always be a plus.

This became my life.

There was nothing else but running and fighting. Even the conversations was mostly kept to a minimum. If Elder Zal wasn't correcting something or giving a new instruction, then there was almost no words said at all.

To be expected of her I guess.

Anyway, this second phase of training went on for a while.

4 years to be exact.

Which meant I have now been on this moon for 5 whole years.

I didn't drink water or eat anything for that entire time either. Just fought Elder Zal and her stick every single day with little to no rest. I did nothing else.

By now I could move mostly unhindered on the moon, and Elder Zal made sure to take advantage of that as my training only grew in intensity the better my movement became. And it wasn't like the gravity went away, I could still very much feel it pressing down on my shoulders.

It was just far easier to ignore it now than before.

Now the only reason I even knew that four years had passed was because Elder Zal stopped the training to inform of something important.

My spear was ready for me.

Well it wasn't complete yet, but the part that I would participate in was here. Though apparently, I wouldn't get to just stop my training for this.

"I will be replicating the gravity you are feeling now, in the ship and around your body. The Grivs will only come off for you to apply your flames to the forging of the spear, then we will move on to the next phase of your training."

Hm.

If I was really unhappy about that decision I'm sure I could refuse, but training is training. I entered the ship and true to her word, the added gravity didn't go away. If anything it felt like it was more than what I experienced on the moon.

It was still manageable though.

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What felt like a few seconds later, we were back on Earth, and I quickly found myself in the forge where our local dwarven blacksmith was waiting for me. She didn't bother with greeting me at all though and was instead focused entirely on the thing in front of her.

It literally looked like a massive oven, but instead of having a door that opened outwards, the only entrance was a small cylindrical opening. Not taking her eyes off of that opening for even a second, she called out to me.

"Come quickly! On my word, pour everything you have into that hole! The hotter the better and don't stop till I tell you to!"

I walked over to the opening, and it was already hot inside of her forge, but the amount of heat coming out of this hole should be more than enough to melt this entire building. I could only guess that she had safe guards in place to avoid that.

"Now!"

The Grivs were already off my body and for the first time in a long time, I roused my flames from their state of suppression and a controlled hydro pump of flames roared out from my hands as I directed them into the hole.

I did my best to make it as hot as I possibly could. Part of me was a bit worried about them spilling out of the hole and into the forge, but it was almost like whatever was in the hole was drinking my flames as I could almost feel a literal pull on them.

Elder Zal's gravity was still pressing down on me even now, but I didn't allow that to hinder me as I continued to pour everything I was into that hole without holding anything back.

There wasn't much room to think about anything else. I simply continued to push and focus on the task at hand.

This process lasted far longer than I thought it would, and it wasn't a until a full day later that I was given the order to stop the flames and in the same breath I was kicked out of the forge so that the process could be finished.

I thought that I would then only have to wait a day or two for the final thing, but I was instead whisked away back to the moon by Elder Zal. Apparently I didn't need to be there to accept the spear when it was done. Whenever that was.

Which began the next phase of my training.

Cultivating.

Something I hadn't done for the past 5 years.

And It seems I was in for a surprise.

"You should recognize what this is yes?"

She held up a small vial that contained the same type of ethereal liquid I saw in the North Pole. Liquid from the Qi Spring. I then nodded at her.

"Good. You will drink one of these vials every 6 months for the next 5 years. It is the purest form of Qi. While there are much stronger and far more volatile forms of Qi, there is nothing purer than this.

"As someone who bathes in the Eternal Flame, your body is one that is constantly being nourished by Qi. In most cases taking external resources in an effort to gain strength will only do more harm than good for you. All you need is time and dedication and you will reach the upper levels of Cultivation.

"How far up is up you only. Now. You are a young Patriarch. There is nothing in this world who can give you an order you do not want to follow. That is your right as a Patriarch. But forgive me Patriarch Raizen, you are weak.

"That is no fault of your own, but the world does care about your circumstances. Nor does it care about giving you all the time you need to grow strong. In these past couple of years, per strict guidelines in place for new Patriarchs, you have been allowed to grow and make your own mistakes.

"It is required that any Elder sent to help with your growth, to allow plenty of room for said growth. We are to introduce to the Multiverse and what your place in it is as a Patriarch. Provide a few guiding hands, and most of all offer protection while you are in this position.

"The steps of Patriarch can never be forced down any one path to stringently. It will only bare consequences that we have learned our lessons from. I have taught you about balance before.

"Where there is order, there must first exist chaos, and where there is chaos, order must follow. Where there is death, it must come from life. Where there is life, death is soon to come.

"Balance.

"Infernals are the epitome of all of those values. We are not a warmongering people. Although many believe otherwise, we never seek out war.

"Of course, this does not mean there aren't Infernals who have started conflicts, but neither Clans nor Planet Infernal make moves to start wars with reason.

"That is order. That is life.

"Despite that though. As you have already learned, wars will find a way to find us. Always. And when they do find us, we respond with an unwavering lack of mercy. We do not and never will tolerate disrespect.

"That is chaos. That is death.

"That is the Primordial Law Of Balance."

The second she said that last part, I immediately felt like I heard something I shouldn't have. A weight unlike anything I've ever felt before began to press down on my shoulders. I began to struggle to breath and it started to feel like I was drowning.

Elder Zal then waved a hand, and the pressure disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

What the hell just happened.

"That is the weight of a Law. One of the oldest Laws in existence. It is not something you are ready to bare."

I listened to her calmy but my pupils were probably shaking right now as I watched a streak of blood fall from her nose.

"And not one that I am strong enough to bare as well. Never utter the words I did in that order with any form of Qi involved. You will die."

…I nodded.

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