Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 22: Back Flip

Upon reaching the structure, the instructor wasted no time. With a fluid motion, she leapt onto one of the poles, then began moving swiftly from one to the next, her strides precise and effortless, like a dancer gliding through choreography. Suddenly, a wooden arrow shot from within the structure.

Without hesitation, her shoulder twisted, her body flowing in a seamless motion as she stepped onto the next pole, evading the projectile with elegant precision.

More arrows rained down from the sides, but they posed no threat to her. She moved like a phantom, untethered by the chaos around her.

To her, the poles were no different from solid ground, each step executed with uncanny ease. Suddenly, as her foot touched one of the poles, it wobbled beneath her, destabilizing as though attempting to break her rhythm.

But she reacted instantly, springing off with practiced grace, landing lightly on the edge of another pole before leaping once more to the surface of the next. Arrows sliced through the air, each one missing her by mere inches, but never once touching her.

Massive wooden logs and beams followed in swift succession, but none found their mark. Within seconds, she emerged at the far end of the structure, untouched, unbothered.

She didn’t turn back to them. She simply vanished, disappearing from sight without a sound. No words were needed; the trainees, understanding the message with perfect clarity, immediately began their own movement training.

’This training focuses on movement and balance,’ Asher noted, his gaze fixed on a structure positioned off to the side as he began walking toward it.

His mind effortlessly replayed every motion the instructor had performed, as though each step, twist, and leap had been ingrained in his mind.

’The battle intuition granted by the Absolute Physique it’s absurdly overpowered.’ He mused inwardly.

Then, with a controlled motion, Asher leapt upward, landing firmly atop the first pole. He drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, steadying himself.

Not long ago, he had been just an ordinary person, but all of that had changed. And he had come to terms with it. Whatever trials lay ahead, he would face them head-on.

With that resolve, he stepped forward.

His mind and body moved in perfect harmony, instinctively mirroring the instructor’s earlier movements. Pole by pole, he advanced, each step more fluid than the last. His speed began to build, not from force, but from refinement, as his body adapted and adjusted with every motion.

His breathing remained calm and rhythmic as he moved, steady, focused. But then, without warning, a wooden arrow shot out from the side.

The moment shattered his composure.

A flicker of panic surged through him. Rationally, he knew the arrow wouldn’t harm him, not with his current physique.

But fear wasn’t always rational.

In truth, he had never been shot at before. In his past life, he had been just an ordinary person, someone who had never even been in a fight, let alone faced an arrow flying at him.

His mind swirled with instinct and memory, yet his body moved on its own, mirroring the motion he had seen from the instructor just moments before.

His shoulder twisted fluidly, his body following in perfect synchrony. With a seamless step onto the next pole, he evaded the arrow effortlessly, as though he had done it a hundred times before.

A smile tugged at his lips, he couldn’t deny it; he was enjoying this. The wind whipped against his skin, cool and alive, and every movement felt effortless. There was a liberating rhythm to it all. He had never felt so free. It was as if the world itself bent around his motion, responding to his intent.

Such grace, such speed, these movements had no place in his former world. Even if they existed, no one there could perform them with this level of precision.

More arrows flashed from the sides and above, but Asher remained unshaken. That first arrow had been a turning point, after dodging it, something within him had clicked.

Now, he simply moved. Each step flowed into the next, fluid and controlled, his balance perfect.

He heard the wind split behind him, a sharp whistle that only meant one thing; something was coming. Within seconds, a wooden beam entered his Omni Perception range: five meters.

Asher didn’t hesitate.

Without a moment’s pause, he back flipped, his body arcing through the air with practiced grace. His purple eyes tracked the beam as it swept beneath him, the world slowing for just a breath.

Then, as if the moment were made for him, he descended, landing lightly atop the moving beam. Using it as a foothold, he propelled himself forward, his movements swift and spectral.

A grin spread across his face.

He moved like a ghost, untouched, untraceable, and within moments, he was already at the far end of the structure.

Asher came to a halt, his expression blank, but beneath the stillness, a quiet awe stirred. He was savoring the sensation, the fluidity of his movements, and the startling ease with which he had accomplished it all.

”That was... fun,” he murmured under his breath, a trace of wonder in his voice. He had never experienced anything like that.

A sudden voice broke the moment.

”Have you done this before?” came the calm yet curious tone of the female instructor behind him.

Asher turned, his purple eyes meeting hers. ”I haven’t,” he replied simply.

The instructor already knew the answer.

No training facilities were ever allocated to the Suns and Moons before their awakening. Until then, they were left to strengthen their bodies alone, using whatever crude means they could find. No assistance. No resources. No guidance.

And yet, the ease with which Asher had moved had compelled her to ask. It wasn’t something someone who just awakened could, or should, be capable of. Not without prior experience. Not without training.

There was a calm certainty in his movements, a fluid confidence that spoke of something deeper, something unnatural.

But she could also tell that Asher had mirrored her own movement.

”It seems the Tenth Sun is indeed a genius,” the instructor said with a faint smile, a hint of intrigue in her eyes.

”It seems I am,” Asher replied, the smile returning to his face.

He had no intention of wearing a constant mask of indifference or acting distant, as if he were above everyone else. Accepting that he was Asher didn’t mean he had to become someone he wasn’t.

He was still himself, and he would live, speak, and move in a way that reflected exactly that.

’Seeing a Sun smile is indeed strange,’ the instructor mused silently. Among the children of the Primarch, only the First Sun had ever been known to smile. The rest carried expressions that ranged from cold to utterly unreadable, never warmth, never lightness.

”Let’s raise the tempo and the difficulty, then,” she said aloud, her voice calm, but laced with challenge. And in the next instant, she vanished.

Asher gave a small nod and stepped forward once more, reentering the structure without hesitation.

Each attempt grew more intense. The difficulty scaled rapidly, forcing him to adapt in real time. Poles destabilized in quick succession, sometimes more than two at once, while a barrage of arrows threatened to knock him down.

But Asher didn’t falter. He didn’t overthink, he simply moved.

With every stride, his body responded with instinctual precision, turning into a blur of motion as the instructor continued to escalate the trial.

Time slipped by unnoticed.

When the movement training finally came to an end, Asher stood tall. Though he had danced through the chaos with uncanny grace, sweat clung to his skin, proof of the physical toll.

At times, up to ten poles had collapsed beneath him simultaneously, forcing him to land sideways or rebound mid-air.

And yet, through it all, he hadn’t fallen once.