Chapter 5 - Learning To Dance

Book 4 – chapter 5

Authors Notes=================== Not pr'd yet, please comment if you see any mistakes. Thank you. Whew! Halloween is finnnnnally over. Man this has been such a crazy weekend. ;-; Anyways, looks like were back on to a normal schedule. See you tomorrow with another chapter. Also, HUGE THANKS to our NEWEST PATREON Thanks a million for helping support my writing hobby You da real mvp. <3 ThaSoraRyuu =======================================

Theldon Continent, The Under Cave, One of The Taron Academy Mess Halls

Dale slammed the book shut angrily. It had been two weeks since he had started researching people famed in history for being Mighty. So far, he had learned a great deal of the Theldon continent’s history.

The Theldon continent did not used to be an underground haven with beasts roaming the overland. Theldon used to contain several powerful thriving kingdoms, each boasting strong armies. The strongest of these kingdoms was known as the Kingdom of Parsia.

Parsia was ruled by a powerful Gem Core General named Garth Ayara. Garth was a legendary cultivator, records stating that he had surpassed the Gem Core stage and moved to the next level of immortal cultivation. In his arrogance, Garth had declared his kingdom supreme and attacked the others, gaining the nickname Mad King. Because of his advanced level of power, none of the opposing kingdoms were able to stand. Their experts could not compete with his strength.

Years went by and Garth eventually conquered the entirety of the Theldon Continent. The only remaining force on the continent that could oppose him was the Infested Mountains. The Infested Mountains was a stronghold of monsters, ruled by a council of mystical beasts. Little is known about what took place, history only shows that Garth decided to eradicate the monster population on the continent, intent on committing mass genocide.

At first, Garth went on a terrible slaughter, destroying entire mountains in his hunt for anything inhuman. His army numbered a hundred thousand, with hundreds of powerful Black Gold and Gold cultivators serving. He had a small circle of 8 Gem Core Generals that led his army with him, dominating everything in sight. Hundreds of thousands of monstrous beasts died that year, blood to slate the murderous thirst of the Mad King.

Unfortunately for the Mad King, the monstrous beasts did not fold easily. Battle after battle occurred, with the strongest of the beasts, the Mystic Council, repelling his army time after time. Each beast on the council was equal to any of Garth’s Gem Core Generals, and at the start of the war, 13 of them sat on the council. The war between the Infested Mountains and the empire of Parsia lasted for several tens of years, millions of people and beasts dying in the process.

Towards the end of the war, it was apparent that Garth would be victorious. The previously powerful Mystic Council had fallen, the majority of its members dead. Everything seemed clear for Garth and his army, as he marched forward to seize the last stronghold of monstrous beasts.

In that last battle, however, something unexpected happened. Garth and his army were defeated, sent into a fast retreat from the stronghold. All of the Mad King’s Gem Core Generals died, fallen in battle. Garth himself was badly injured and fled back to his home castle to recuperate. His army fell into disarray without upper level leadership and chaos broke out. Bandits and brigands sprung up like weeds, looting and pillaging everything in sight.

While humanity was in disarray, hundreds of thousands of monstrous beasts appeared, and attacking, slaughtering everywhere. At first, humans fought back, dying to protect their home. However, the numbers of the monstrous beasts were simply too high. They poured over walls and broke through castles. Millions of humans died.

Garth had been known as the Mad King for several reasons. The first reason was because of how he conquered every other nation on the continent. The other, however, was because of his research into the earth. Garth had left detailed records explaining his experiments and research on studying the planet. Through his research, Garth had discovered the single cave entrance that opened to the massive cave known now as the Under Cave.

In a desperate gamble to save the remaining humans in his dying country, Garth formed an evacuation team, protecting a quarter-million humans as they retreated through the massive cave system. Hundreds of thousands of humans escaped under the earth, hiding in the nether.

However, the monstrous beasts did not lose track of what was happening. Powerful groups of monstrous beings had taken over the overland, conquering what was left of the Theldon continent. Several of these groups gave chase, entering into the single winding cave that led to the Under Cave.

Because of how the cave was made, Garth had found a suitable choke point to hold off the enemy, an area now known as the Red Gate. The Red Gate is the largest part of the cavern, a large cave room hundreds of meters long. However, the cavern shortened greatly at the entrance of the Red Gate, forcing the swarming beasts to attack Garth and his forces with a fraction of their forces at a time. Though Garth had lost all of his Gem Core Generals, he still had several Black Gold Commanders at his side, helping him defend the human remnants of the Theldon continent.

Garth’s newly formed Evac Army held off the beasts for a bloody and violent sixty days. The corpses of monstrous beasts stacked high as Garth and his men fought onward. As time went on, however, more and more of Garth’s soldiers dropped down, dead. Some died from pure exhaustion, some died from wounds or blood loss. However, without fail, all of them save Garth began to die. Garth’s last army started to fall as he ran out of soldiers to fight back.

Soon it was just Garth himself and a few other powerful warriors, fighting against an army of hundreds of thousands. And it was here that the legend of Garth the Mighty was born.

Hundreds of monstrous beasts charged at Garth as the last of his fellow soldiers died.

Garth stood alone, a lonely mountain of power in a sea of attacking flames. He was grievously wounded from his mysterious battle on the overland, tired from fighting for days without end, barely standing on his feet.

A hundred Chaos tigers had rushed Garth, beings that had profound knowledge in the Elements of Ice and Fire, each equal to a Gold or Black Gold Commander on their own.

They overwhelmed the Mad King, shattering through his defenses and throwing his body backwards. Records state that Garth had climbed to his feet, his body burnt and bleeding, by force of will alone. And in that exact moment, the air around Garth seemed to change. The air around him had warped as he got to his feet, an overwhelming aura bursting forth out of him.

A hundred Chaos Tigers charged and attacked him yet again, launching ferocious assaults of ice and fire, swirling and crashing about in a chaotic explosion.

And yet, when the smoke cleared, Garth still stood. The tigers died, a hundred corpses exploding backwards away from the Red Gate.

Ten thousand monstrous beasts released powerful Soul attacks, aimed at piercing and shredding Garth’s Soul, destroying his will and mind. The cave trembled at the might of the combined attack, vibrating through the ground.

And yet, he stood, unaffected by the assault.

Thousands of beasts charged, ranging from the Gold to the Black Gold level. A few Gem Core beasts attacked as well, hidden among the multitude of monsters. The air itself trembled as powerful attack after powerful attack slammed into the rocky cave floor that Garth was located at, ripping small cracks in the air.

And yet. He stood.

A council of Gem Core monstrous beasts, beings so mighty they could kill regular humans by their mere force of will, these monsters grouped together and attacked Garth, a veritable wall of death itself. A mighty drake, an awe inspiring phoenix, chaotic Death Lions, and more all launched themselves at Garth, ripping holes in the fabric of existence so powerful was the attacks they used.

And yet.

He stood.

Wave after wave of monstrous beasts, attack after attack, he repelled everything for twelve years. For twelve long years, he defended the gate, killing hundreds of thousands of monstrous beasts to protect the only thing he had left to save, the citizens of his now dead kingdom. Garth guarded the Red Gate alone, as well, a force so powerful death itself could not conquer him.

On the thirteenth year of his defense, the attack by monstrous beasts ceased in intensity, reducing to occasional small-scale invasions. Records give no reason as to why this occurred, but the incessant attacks ceased. It is not known who gave him the name, but from then on Garth was known as Garth the Mighty, the Mad King and Protector of humanity.

All of this information was recorded in the books Dale had read, observations by the few civilians and historians that had remained to determine whether or not the end had come.

Dale put the books down, frustrated. Of the several large historical volumes he had checked out from the Taron Academy Library, none of them contained any information on the Arts or techniques of the powerful historical figures Dale was researching. In particular, the legends of Garth the Mighty intrigued Dale a great deal. He desperately wanted to learn more about what happened, and figure out how a single person could be so powerful. Dale’s mind flashed back to Instructor Guile, remembering the overwhelming power that he held. Dale swore that he would be mighty one day as well.

However, as of now, Dale decided that he needed access to the more detailed levels of the Library. Unfortunately for Dale, the only way to gain access to the other levels in the Library, he had to move up in rank from being an Outer Student. Only the higher ranked students were given full access to the Library.

In order to quickly raise his rank, Dale needed to pass all of his classes with near full marks. Dale had been working hard to achieve this goal, slaving through the homework he was assigned in his various Leaders School courses.

Dale was doing especially well in his class called “A History of Leaders” mainly because of the intense research he was doing. Though he would never admit it, Instructor Guile had deeply motivated him, imprinting an urge to learn that he had never felt before. Dale devoured new knowledge like candy, quickly learning about the world. His second class, “Leadership Ethics”, was also easy for him to work with. Many of the core concepts of this class could be found in his first class, and Dale was confident that he would have near full marks in both classes by the end of the semester several months from now.

His third and final class in the Leaders School was called Social Training. It was a class that has so far only taught Dale etiquette and manners. He learned how to properly walk, how to sit patiently, how to eat properly. Dale hated the class. All these small different rules, many of them almost completely pointless in his opinion, seemed destined to make a student make a mistake. Dale had tried hard, but had yet to make it through a class without making a mistake. It didn’t comfort him that many of the other students made many more mistakes then he did.

Dale was currently on his way to this class right now. He had this class just after dinner, after his cultivation training. Dale walked from the mess hall he was in directly towards the connecting room that held the class, carrying his books with him. The mess hall that Dale used most commonly and the Social Training classroom were in the same building.

Dale walked in to the large room, looking around in surprise. Every time he had come to class, there had always been several desks or tables set up in the room, the objects they would be taught about. However, when he walked in now, there was a large circle of empty space. Several chairs lined the side of the room, creating a perimeter.

Several of Dale’s fellow students stood around the floor, all standing in front of the chairs. Dale had made acquaintances with a few of them, though he rarely had time to interact with his classmates due to how strict their etiquette teacher, Instructor Dem, was. The Instructor would yell out at any student that behaved disruptively.

Today, however, looked like it would be an interesting lesson, Dale thought. Dale went and stood next to one of the students he knew, making small talk and setting his books down.

A few minutes later, the Instructor came in. Instructor Dem was a strict looking middle-aged woman, with hair that was greying and a slightly wrinkled face. If you ignored her always-present scowl, she actually looked somewhat motherly, Dale thought.

Behind the Instructor, several prettily dressed girls filed in. They all wore small dresses and looked to be a few years older than Dale, perhaps 13 or 14. Dale looked at them, stupefied. The dresses were so wide and varied, vibrant bright greens clashing with deep, dark violet and mellow blues. He blinked a few times, clearing his eyes.

Instructor Dem looked at the various boy students, a rather severe look on her face, and spoke,

“Today, and for the next several week, your lesson will be on the various types of dancing, in preparation for the Tourney Ball in 2 months. Our Leaders School cultures intelligence and thoughtfulness, not brute strength like the Fighters School. As such, our school is renowned for our graceful and well-mannered students. Dancing is one of the key graces and a skill that will help you far in life.” The stern looking cultivator looked out at the quiet students, nodding at them. She then gestured at the various girls behind her.

“As is obvious, this class is entirely composed of males. I have taken the initiative of gathering several girls from one of the dance clubs in the City-State of Lev.” The girls behind Instructor Dem all bowed and smiled prettily.

It isn’t considered unusual to be a member of a dancing club in the Under Cave. Dancing was one of the most popular hobbies, a favorite past time of nobles and commoners alike. Many powerful cultivators danced as well, instructors saying it helped one grow in grace and strength. In fact, people that were good dancers were highly respected in society. Thus, for the Leaders School to offer lessons in dancing was completely natural.

Girls coming to the school solely to help the Instructor teach dancing was also completely natural. Anyone that was in the Taron Academy obviously was extremely talented and had a large future ahead of them. The girls dancing would have a chance at snaring several of the boys here, thereby gaining an important or powerful husband. Also, all of them loved to dance, so it wasn’t like they were going through any hardship.

“Oh, dancing is it?” said a smug voice, “Ladies, I’m afraid you need look no farther for your perfect partner.” A muscular looking teenager replied. Dale recognized him, remembering him from several of his classes. His name was Boril Nern, of the Merchant House of Nern. He was the son one of the wealthiest merchants in the City-State of Loial, a powerful City-State in the south. He was also quite vocal about his future power and wealth, proclaiming that his friends would receive great benefits. Dale had found him rather obnoxious and overbearing, annoying the class with his loud outbursts. He had been reprimanded several times by the Instructors, though he had yet to change his behavior.

The girls behind Instructor Dem broke out into giggling, a few of them blushing. The Instructor glared at Boril for a moment before turning away, motioning off to the side. Immediately, a small band walked in, three people carrying various musical instruments.

The Instructor turned to face the class,

“Please pair up everyone. We have an equal number of girls and boys. Today we are going to practice the basics and move on from there.” She waved at them to move encouragingly.

Dale looked over at the group of girls picking one at random. He walked up as the other students did, saying,

“Hi! I’m Dale! Care to be my partner?” He gave her a winning smile. The girl looked at his clothes for a moment with a slight sniff. Dale was wearing one of the training outfits that Jerah’s family had supplied him with back in Delica. While it wasn’t an ugly or poor looking outfit, it certainly didn’t scream wealth like some of the other kids outfits.

She gave him a fake smile and said,

“Sure! I would love to.”

She latched on to his arm, staring longingly at some of the other girls with their richer partners.

Instructor Dem had everyone line up, walking the students through some of the basic steps of what she called, “Polka dancing.”

From what Dale could tell, it was very similar to a movement technique. He stepped forward once with his right foot, then kicked off quickly with his left foot, and stepped forward again with his right foot. Then, he did the same thing but starting with his left foot. And then again, but with the right. It was an easy enough pattern, in his opinion.

While he danced, however, he had to hold the girl at precisely the right angle, keeping his arms stiff as he stepped quickly. Dale decided to stay out of his Perfect Balance mode at first, trying to see what it was like to dance without using his abilities.

He quickly found that it was much harder than it looked. While the steps were easy to make, staying in rhythm and not moving too quickly took a precise sense of timing that only experience, or his Perfect Balance, could provide. He stumbled a few times, trying to maintain a smooth dance.

Most of the students were in a similar boat with Dale, stumbling and trying to get the dance technique down. A few, however, danced with relative ease, gliding around the floor. Boril happened to be one of them, smirking and shaking his head at the students that tripped or stumbled.

Boril suddenly spun the girl he was dancing with, spinning her around smoothly and catching her before whipping her out and spinning her again. Several of the surrounding boys watched and applauded, giving up on their practice for the moment. Instructor Dem gave Boril an approving nod.

Dale watched him spin her around with a piercing eye, and looked around in confusion when everyone applauded him.

“Why is this worthy of applause?” he mumbled, shaking his head. Dale decided to take a few more steps before entering his Perfect Balance, determined to master dancing without the use of aids.

The girl he was dancing with overheard what he said and said loudly,

“Oh? You think you can dance better?” She shook her head in disdain, already bored of Dale’s tripping and practice.

However, many of the surrounding students overheard what she said and turned, including Boril. Several of the students shook their heads, not believing Dale. A few of the girls even turned and whispered to their partners giggling. Boril looked at Dale in consternation for a moment, still spinning the girl he was dancing with.

Boril smiled suddenly, a glint appearing in his eyes, and said,

“Haha, dancing isn’t a competition! Some people dance better than others, some don’t.” His eyes locked on to Dale.

“Please, show me your dancing, maybe I can learn something from it.” He declared, spreading his arms. His face had a genuine smile on it, while his eyes stared daggers at Dale. Boril had observed all the students dance before he went out and knew he was the best dancer of the lot here. Boril was confident that Dale could barely keep step and would just embarrass himself by trying to sound cocky. His eyes sparkled in anticipation as he waited for Dale to either decline and look a coward or accept and look bad. It was a win-win situation in his eyes.

Dale looked at Boril for a moment. He smiled,

“If you insist.”

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