To Walk The Mist

Ed made his way towards the restaurant at the middle of the plains. As he moved, the air, leaves, grass, seemed to avoid him. If one looked closer, they would notice they were moving in sync with him, allowing him to move past without causing a change to anything in his way. If one looked in his direction, they would not even see him or sense him. He was so much one with the environment, he was almost not there. Even though the plain was flat and the plants were no taller than his knees, one would still miss him passing.

He opened the rickety restaurant door to see a woman looking at him as though he had defied the heavens. He looked to the side to meet the grinning face of Tie Nse.

"I see you have reached the perfect foundation state. It is time you try breaking through to the heaven picking stage." the grinning Tie Nse said.

"Wait... he has not yet done his heaven picking and you put him in..." she could not even continue. This mad man, did this boy offend him in a past life?

"Give it to me." Ed said. Seeing the old pervert, he had thought he would be angry, but he was not. He wanted to get the training technique he had been promised.

"What? Oh, the technique? Worry not. I have a perfect place for you to break through." Tie Nse seemed completely happy as he talked.

"Where? Boy, I think you should have chosen another master. Can you trust this old thing after that?" Madam Ge said.

"What do you mean? If he cannot trust me, his master, who can he trust?!" Tie Nse fumed.

"Special or not, no one would put their disciple in that valley. Say, boy. You should not go any where with him till he has told you where he is taking you. Baju valley is only one of many scary places. This old fool can pick any one." Madam Ge advised.

"It seems I have stayed here too long. Humph! What do you know about raising a special disciple?" Tie Nse said and started walking out, "Come, dear disciple."

He had gotten to the door when he noticed Ed just watching him pass, only then did he pause. Madam Ge broke into a fit of laughter when she saw the situation.

"The boy is not stupid enough to follow you again." she said, completely happy at Tie Nse's misfortune.

"Boy, what are you standing there for?" Tie Nse asked Ed.

"Are you going to give me the technique or not?" Ed asked.

"Of course I will. I need to take you to a place that will help you break through." Tie Nse said righteously.

"Is there a possibility I will die there?"

"No... but, who can truly say." Tie Nse said cryptically.

"Boy, I am Hila Ge, but you can call me Madam Ge. What is your name?" this woman no older than him calling him boy was weird. But he understood that appearance was not everything. She could be much older than him.

"His name is...." Tie Nse drew a blank, "Boy, what is your name?" Madam Ge paused and stared at Tie Nse incredulously.

"Boy, don't bother anymore about this old fool. I can introduce you to a bunch of masters much better than he could ever be." Madam Ge said encouragingly, then her tone sank dangerously, "In fact, if you stay a little longer, you will be able to pick the one you like the most." her eyes darkened further.

"Exactly why we should leave. I know you a little more than she, you don't want to meet everybody right?" Tie Nse said. Ed understood that powerful people were coming. He did not want to meet anyone or be involved in what ever drama might occur. He nodded and Tie Nse appeared by his side, grabbed his shoulder and they vanished. This caused Madam Ge to sigh as, immediately they left, nine people appeared in the restaurant.

Ed and Tie Nse appeared on top a mountain. Tie Nse turned and led Ed into a cave. When inside, he flicked his wrist and the torches in the cave lit up. When he and Ed sat comfortably, he used one large rock to close the cave with the wave of his hand.

He looked at ed with a rarely seen serious expression. "You must wonder what was the purpose of letting you come out of the Baju Valley." he said.

"It's a training ground." Ed answered and Tie Nse's eyes lit up.

"I suspected so. I was not quite sure until I met you. Do you know why people die there?"

"They experience all the energies at once." Ed answered and Tie Nse nodded.

"When I first went there, I could feel all the energies at once. Well, at my level of power, this is normal. We can at least sense all of it, but can only truly feel those natural to us. That place forced you to feel all the energies at once, even absorb it. At first I had thought, well, it's because I can not feel all the energies, so this place will surely kill me. If someone could, it would be the perfect training ground for a perfect foundation. In a way, it made me excited. But at the same time, it reminded me why it is such a dangerous place and a natural execution ground. Because, no one could feel and train in all the energies."

"Until me." Ed said.

"Yes. You want to level up safely, but that is impossible as you are absorbing the energies at different rates. This is caused by the environment. Some places have more of one energy than the other. Not only would it take longer for you to reach the spirit picking, the unequal energies swirling within you could be catastrophic. Even though I could feel them in complete sync within you, it is best to be safe. That place may be the most dangerous place for everyone, but it is the safest place for you." Tie Nse explained and Ed nodded at his logic. He could feel that he was truly ready to do his spirit picking now. That place was created for him.

"You walked out of it, how do you feel?" Tie Nse asked.

"I'm not truly sure I have walked out of it." Ed said and Tie Nse frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I am not quite sure, either I am not out of the Baju Valley or it came out with me." his words caused Tie Nse to fall into deep thought. There was silence fore a while before Tie Nse finally looked up at Ed.

"The Baju Valley is special, but not the only of it's kind. There are many things that call emit all the energies at once. But only a hand full can make people who come across it feel all the energies. Never have they been really understood or used like you have. Is it possible it is not only a training ground? Tell me all that happened inside." Tie Nse said and Ed took in a breath and explained what happened in the Baju Valley. When he finished, silence enveloped the cave again.

Tie Nse retreated back into his thoughts as he analyzed all Ed told him. Suddenly, his eyes shun as he looked up at Ed.

"Something only you can use, can also be seen as an inheritance. Is it possible you inherited the Baju Valley?" Tie Nse said in awe.