CHAPTER 43: LAST YEAR

The final year in Green Hollow became one of Joe's most productive.

It was also confirmed that the second Skin Tempering was not going to be easy.

The first complete tempering had transformed ordinary tissue.

The second demanded improvement from tissue that had already been strengthened once.

Comparable gains seemed to require close to twice the effort.

Joe still refused to treat that as a universal rule. Two observations did not create a law.

But the trend was difficult to ignore.

Progress continued.

Just more slowly.

His first tempering had made his skin unusually durable and sensitive. The second seemed to refine what was already there, improving uniformity and reducing the remaining differences between well-tempered and troublesome regions.

Perfect Body remained one of his greatest advantages.

His skin stayed smooth and outwardly normal. It did not become thick or coarse even as its resistance improved. The tissue around joints remained flexible, while naturally thinner regions seemed to become unusually resilient without attempting to imitate the thicker skin elsewhere.

Joe continued enjoying the process.

There was satisfaction in feeling his own body become more precise.

A sleeve brushing his arm carried more information than before. Air movement across exposed skin became easier to distinguish from changes in temperature. During Dynamic practice, even small shifts of clothing sometimes revealed mistakes in posture before Joe consciously identified them.

The medicated diet Hall had arranged remained valuable.

So did Joe's medicine.

His nourishing preparations improved throughout the year.

The early versions had been weak.

Now they have become consistently useful.

One packet could not compare with a proper medicinal meal from the Hall, but it noticeably shortened recovery after blood-energy expenditure.

Merek tested the newest version carefully.

He tasted a tiny amount, waited and then examined the remaining powder.

"You finally made something worth selling."

Joe smiled.

"That good?"

"I didn't say good."

"You said it was worth selling."

"Those are different things."

Joe had worked with Merek long enough to understand that this was praise.

Merek looked at the packet again.

"In Blackwood, someone might buy the recipe."

"Not here?"

Merek shook his head.

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Green Hollow was too small.

Merek already used the simpler healing preparation Joe had developed earlier, and there was not enough local demand to justify paying Joe properly for another independent recipe.

"Town is different," Merek said. "More martial trainees. More guards. More people with money and sore bodies."

Joe noted that thought immediately.

He had planned to reach Blackwood with martial ability.

Arriving with something he could sell made the move even better.

His foundations changed during the year as well.

Dynamic finally crossed the threshold.

Joe recognized it during an ordinary practice session.

There was no dramatic surge.

Movement, breath and resonance simply stopped feeling like three things he was coordinating.

They became one process.

Joe repeated the sequence several times.

The result remained.

Dynamic Foundation — Complete Success.

Static remained Complete.

That bothered him slightly.

It had once been his faster foundation, yet advancement beyond Complete became increasingly slow. Every improvement exposed smaller problems beneath it, and those problems required more precision to even perceive.

Joe did not encounter a true bottleneck.

That distinction mattered.

He was still moving.

Just slowly.

Hall had taught him that those were not the same thing.

By the time Joe's fourteenth birthday passed and the selection approached, his panel looked very different from the one he had opened years earlier.

[Skills]

Medicine — Lv.3 92/100

Static Foundation — Lv.4 49/100

Dynamic Foundation — Lv.4 8/100

Skin Tempering II — Lv.2 44/100

Breath Concealment — Lv.2 19/100

Joe studied the numbers.

His first Skin Tempering no longer appeared because he had removed it from the active display after completion.

The second had crossed into Lv.2, though interpreting that line required care. It represented the progress of the second tempering itself, not his overall Skin Tempering realm.

His actual body was already far beyond what ordinary Late Skin Tempering meant.

The concealment method has also become usable.

Not perfect.

Useful.

That was enough for what Joe intended.

The selection of the local guard took place shortly before Starlight.

Four trainees attended it that year.

Joe noticed immediately that Hall was missing.

That had become increasingly common, but Joe had expected him to appear for something as important as early placement.

Theodere handled the assessment himself.

Joe waited until they were alone between tests.

"Hall isn't coming?"

"He's in Blackwood."

Joe nodded, then noticed something in Theodere's expression.

"He tried again?"

Theodere looked at him.

"He succeeded."

Joe understood immediately.

"Internal Organs?"

"Yes."

That stopped him for a moment.

Hall had become a true martial artist.

"His foundations reached Perfection?"

"Complete."

Joe frowned slightly.

He knew the breakthrough could theoretically be attempted there.

Hall had now proved it.

"How is his progress?"

"Almost nonexistent."

Theodere said it without drama.

"The breakthrough held. He's a true martial artist. But his foundations didn't become better simply because he crossed the realm."

Joe understood.

Complete success could be sufficient.

Sufficient did not mean ideal.

That lesson settled deeply.

"Is that why he's in Blackwood?"

"Partly. He's more useful there now."

Hall had begun handling more of Theodere's town business—merchant arrangements, escort matters and dealings where the presence of a true martial artist changed how seriously people listened.

Joe could see the logic.

A martial artist standing behind a negotiation was worth more than one correcting children's stances every morning.

"Good for him."

Theodere gave a small nod.

Then the assessment continued.

Joe deliberately suppressed himself.

To Theodere, he showed Middle Skin Tempering.

Even that produced a reaction.

Theodere examined him twice.

"Fourteen."

"Yes."

"Middle Skin Tempering."

"Yes."

Theodere looked unimpressed by Joe's attempt to make that sound ordinary.

"Stay another year."

Joe had expected the recommendation.

"I've already made plans."

"Plans can change."

"Simon is in Blackwood. I've saved money, I have work I can do with medicine, and I want access to things Green Hollow doesn't have."

Theodere watched him.

Joe continued only enough to make the point.

"I'm not leaving because I think I'm invincible."

That seemed to matter.

Theodere finally sighed.

"Another year would still be safer."

"I know."

"Your family agreed?"

"Eventually."

That earned the faintest hint of amusement.

Theodere allowed it.

Joe would still owe the additional early release compensation for leaving before the normal supported period ended. His savings were nowhere near enough to settle the full amount upfront, so the remainder would be deducted from his future guard earnings under the same kind of arrangement used by other poorer trainees leaving early.

Joe accepted without complaint.

Martial knowledge had value.

He had benefited from it for years.

Paying for the privilege of leaving early was reasonable.

Theodere added his name to the group going to Blackwood.

Joe was finally going.