The air smelled of death as the three guys walked toward where their friend's body was lying lifeless.

"…he should've listened."

"…I don't even know what to say to his family after we're done serving as disciples."

"…now what should we do to his corpse?"

"…let's just… I don't even know."

Footsteps echoed, casting chills down the spines of the three Shadow Cult disciples.

"Take him to the cremation chamber," Yung Mai's voice echoed from behind the men.

All three men turned with saddened expressions toward Yung Mai and bowed.

Dust swelled in the air as both the black pillar and the corpse were raised from the floor.

The skin of the corpse got stretched like a tire when they tried separating the body from the pillar.

Yung Mai turned when he heard the men arguing with themselves.

"…Stop, you're destroying his skin!"

"…He's already dead, his skin is of no use now."

"…but at least let's give him a last respect by making sure his remaining body is intact."

A saddened smile tore on Yung Mai's lips as he turned from the guys' direction, leaving them to deal with the corpse in their own pleasing way.

…

Leaves spun around the building Kai was in, drifting across his window and landing on the floor closer to his bed.

The silver-colored sword shimmered as the rays of the moon fell on it, casting sparks on the walls and Kai's body.

Kai's body twitched, moving sideways and slamming his arms on the hinges of the bamboo bed.

Sweat dripped from his body like beads, some landing on the bed while the remaining tilted toward the dirty white cloth covering his left side.

Underneath the cloth, his skin moved, rising and falling like a snake, moving up and down from his shoulder to the side of his stomach.

A cold breeze erupted from his mouth as his mouth flipped open, then closed like a fish in the sea.

His eye rolled countless times as he turned his head toward the window at his left-hand side.

…

In his mind, Kai saw himself standing in a vast, collapsed land.

Black liquid welled up in his eyes, traced down his cheeks, and fell from his chin like tears.

Crow cries filled the vast space, his eyes were locked onto, as black birds moved in circles.

He hesitated, tilted his gaze back, then moved after not finding anything behind him.

The more he moved forward, the more the cries intensified. And as he closed in with the crows, his body rejected him when he tried to take another step forward.

There, four of the seven crows burst upward, flapping their wings hastily as they bounced some of their feathers on the boy.

One of the three crows left behind turned toward the boy and blinked.

Beneath the crows, a seven-foot grave appeared, its sides breaking everything. Kai tilted his gaze from one to another.

Each grave had a carving of a name written boldly that even a blind person could see.

The black tears tilting down Kai's face paused when he moved closer to the first grave with the name Ayra written boldly on it.

He knelt down, placed his right palm on the name. Kai's bones shivered as he traced his fingers across the letters one after another.

The crow standing on the grave burst high and hovered above the grave when the boy moved to the next.

Each crow repeated the same action as the boy moved to the last grave.

There, he paused and squeezed his eyes on the name written boldly.

"Yung Chin (G)?" A breeze erupted from his mouth as he spoke the name loudly.

Surprisingly, as he traced his fingers across the letters, two faces flickered past his vision.

With an immense effort, Kai tried pulling his fingers back, but the more he forced, the more he felt his soul leaving his dream body.

At the verge of touching the last letter, another grave reappeared, sending the ground into a quake and more black feathers floating upward.

Kai's face tensed as he noticed there was not a single letter carved on it like the three he had seen earlier.

Kai stumbled two steps backward and fell when a dragon-like figure erupted from the grave and shoved itself into Kai's body.

…

Meanwhile, outside the dream, the dirty white cloth stretched and tore as the black liquid snaking around Kai's left shoulder popped.

He jolted awake and began panting heavily. His breath came in gasps as he pressed his right arm tightly on the mark stretched long from his shoulder to his back.

"Whose grave was that?" his face tensed as the grave he saw in the dream reappeared in his vision.

The tension in him increased as the heavy wind flew his door open, enabling him to see the distant road that stretched in front of his door.

Focusing on the speed of the wind and the leaves drifting in it, Kai saw a figure of a man walking toward him.

A crackling sound erupted from his knuckles as he fixed his gaze on the movement of the figure.

His clenched knuckles loosened when the person stopped by Kai's open door and folded his arms.

"Master," Kai jolted from the bed, stepped onto the ground at the right side of the bed, and moved toward the person.

Gazing at the straight face and the white hair that didn't flicker even in the heavy wind, Kai swallowed hard.

"Follow me," a booming voice echoed from Yung Mai, letting the wind calm in an instant.

When Yung Mai turned and took two steps forward, he tilted his gaze at the boy and blinked.

"Leave the sword, for now." He continued without waiting for the boy.

…

Drowsiness filled Kai's face as he continuously followed Yung Mai.

He rubbed his arms on his eyes, once, twice, then thrice after they stopped by the bridge that led to the meditation chamber.

Wind flickered past Kai's face as Yung Mai turned a sharp gaze at him.

"The first training is endurance." He pointed toward the stream of water beneath the bridge. Yung Mai's jaw tightened every time his eye blinked.

"You should be able to survive like the fish in this water for half a day without breathing."

Yung Mai's facial skin tightened as more words erupted from his mouth.

But as he lifted his gaze from the boy, he paused, seeing the boy's lips moving, almost as if he were an epileptic patient.

"You have any questions?" he asked, loosening the tensed expression.

"Yes," Kai's voice came in cracks.

"I'm new to holding breath for longer periods. How am I going to hold it for half a day?"

"…It will be easy after you finish the preliminary training I will take you through myself."

Kai smiled after he was clarified.

Immediately, Yung Mai noticed the sky changing, and he continued moving.

The two neared the meditation chamber and walked to the left side, where another bridge was.

For minutes, all that Kai could do was humbly move on, even when he felt his legs giving out.

His expression kept on changing as clanging sounds erupted from the tall grass, the jagged stone, and finally at the front of a building without a door.

For the first time, Kai saw his master closing his eyes and inhaling deeply as they neared the door.

"This is where the training will first begin," Yung Mai's voice echoed in a whisper.

Cracking his eyes open, he moved closer to the pillars holding the building, pressed his palms on it, and exhaled.

…

As the sky cleared, the early morning air pressed against the skin of Yung Mai and Kai, slipping into their lungs as they inhaled.

Yung Mai moved to the front of the building, planted his feet wide, letting his heels bite into the short grass-filled earth.

Tiny leaves and dust stirred faintly around his ankles.

With a deliberate glance, he bent his knees, letting the ground he stood on rise as he sank his body.

Yung Mai lowered himself until his legs formed a solid line that seemed parallel to the earth beneath him, almost as if he was seated on an invisible chair.

He shifted his gaze to Kai, and in an instant, Kai followed the same posture as Yung Mai.

Yung Mai clenched his fists and drew them to his waist, letting his knuckles face the sky, while his elbows remained in a tight position.

Soft wind brushed around his arms, carrying the scent of dust, leaves, and something that seemed unknown to humans.

With every breath he inhaled through his nose, his abdomen swelled, while his chest stayed still.

Sweat gathered along his brow and traced down his temple.

He shook his legs, which quivered like an overworked steel cable, yet he didn't rise.

He held the horse stance in a still and grounded nature, letting it pass through him without resisting.

Slowly, Kai managed to follow as if he were a master of the horse stance in disguise.

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