Days were like the pool beneath a waterfall: seemingly still, yet flowing away without pause. Half a month slipped quietly by amid the daily cycles of circulation, the clear whistle of a sword cutting through the wind, and the faint but persistent vibrations in his tailbone.
The last trace of sluggishness in his body finally vanished completely. The moment morning practice became part of his routine again, Loa felt every inch of his muscles and bones sing. His restricted movement over the past days had not made him neglect his training, but he had always felt stifled, as though his hands and feet were bound and he was about to rust. Now, with his longsword in hand, leaping and dodging, even the most basic sword forms brought an exhilarating sense of release. Blood surged, battle-qi followed, and comfort spread through his entire body.
His initial attempts at the Wind-Thunder Heavenly Pillar Method had given him tremendous confidence. The vibrational tempering of the coccygeal section of his spine had progressed from cautious probing to a steady, orderly process. Every day, right on schedule, came that tingling sensation with its faint prickling itch, as though something deeply buried was gradually awakening. Progress was a little smoother than he had expected. At this rate, he had every hope of completing the initial tempering of his tailbone before the end of this Yulan Calendar year. The first step was always the hardest. Once that step was secure, his experience and physical sensations would provide a reference for tempering upward, vertebra by vertebra, and the pace should increase considerably.
The movement technique he had recently devised had also begun to take shape-the Unpredictable Thunder Shadow Step. During his daily practice, he darted left and right, suddenly advancing and retreating, leaving afterimages and low sounds of