One-on-One Training—Zhen Xuan & Vi'Kia

Zhen Xuan was an ex-Shaolin monk, having fallen away from the Shaolin due to his becoming a Drexen-Corrupt. Though that was not a very well known specific within the people of Kalg'rai. For all they knew, he was just an ex-monk who liked to pick fights on occasion. He had made a name for himself in Sh'rutal a good time ago, and he had since then wandered out of the metropolis to see what else the continent had to offer. This is where he came upon the "floating city", more formally known as Hynleir. Hynleir was nicknamed "The Floating City" because it was placed on random chunks of land that were, to no great surprise, suspended within the air from the mana of the land itself. People had taken that opportunity to create a very good advantage for a city to have against the natural inhabitants of the continent.

What is a better defense for a city than forcing any hoard of monsters to "bottleneck" their way into the city? The only entrances to the city were the bridges the floating islands reached out to, at the summits of a couple of mountains. These bridges themselves were long enough to be a day or two's travel, depending on how fast one was traveling. To the especially lazy, it could easily take four days. But even these bridges were not lacking in an enigmatic beauty. These bridges seemed to not even exist, as if they blended in with the environment. They were reflecting the clouds that the floating islands and bridges were suspended over. Only if one looked close enough, or had a sense of mana usage, would they know that the bridges were indeed there. The biggest hint, other than the highly concentrated mana of the land itself, was the fact that there were four-pointed star plaques at the edge of the summits.

Zhen had discovered this mysterious city, to no great surprise, fortuitously. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that the plaques were the marks of the bridges of the city that he could see on the floating islands. So, with a high curiosity provoking him, he had brought himself to venture within the city.

Though he was currently crossing the bridge, only just starting the first day's journey.

---

If Vi'Kia were to be traversing the bridge that Zhen happened to be walking along, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. First off, because he was really the only sight other than the city itself to be seen; he was the only one crossing the bridge besides herself. Zhen was aware that that he wasn't alone, however, he kept that known fact to himself; he didn't want to attract more attention than he already would've. He hadn't the slightest idea of what this person's motives were, nor was he particularly interested at this moment. He didn't suspect her to be following him, so he didn't really mind.

Zhen kept forward at a fairly leisurely pace. He wasn't in any real hurry, so at this rate, he'd get there in two and a half days. He'd have to stop and rest at some point, but that wasn't on his mind at this very moment. Zhen was instead observing the beauty of the current environment. The sun was up, yet it wasn't extremely intense. Rather, it added to the mysterious allure of the environment itself. It was picturesque, to say the least. Zhen had a great appreciation for this, so he was more or less sauntering along to observe the scenery. It wasn't very often he got to view such wondrous sights, or endure endless adventures. This city could provide some interesting twists in his life, so he was content with this.

The weather was clear, and since they were above the clouds, they wouldn't have to worry about things such as rain or snow, however, that didn't mean that it wasn't cold. Because there wasn't much to capture the heat, since they were above even where planes would fly, the air would actually produce a frost every time Zhen took a breath. This didn't bother him much, however. Zhen had enough self-control to stop himself from complaining or even shivering, however he couldn't control the goosebumps that became of his skin. His loose clothing didn't do much to heat him, but he wasn't under threat of freezing to death. It was just a barely-uncomfortable sense of being cold.

Because he was currently alone, he was fairly silent on his little journey across the bridge. He wasn't very far out; he was maybe half an hour away from the plaque and edge of the summit of the mountain, and so he was still in sight, however he was just a small figure in the distance, of Vi'Kai had looked. Catching up would require a brisk pace, but not one to tire her out if she did try to catch up.

---

Zhen kept a small amount of attention to the fact that he was being followed, though possibly not intentionally. Perhaps she was just going back into the city? Whatever the reasoning was, she didn't seem interested in approaching him just yet, so he wouldn't spend too much time thinking about it. It didn't really concern him. He continued onward, though his attention did start to drift to thoughts of when he should take a breather. Perhaps he would continue until every hour or so. It would allow his legs to rest, to allow for efficient travel. He would probably do the same throughout the night, as well, just to keep his time fairly reduced in traveling the bridge. In such methods, it would take him maybe a day and a half; it would half his time efficiently.

Though sleep would have to be done at some point, so maybe not.

At about the hour mark, Zhen would indeed sit down. He crossed his legs and rested his hands on his lap. He sat with a disciplined posture; he was not slouching and his posture was, in essence, every bit a "perfect" one. He closed his eyes and let his mind start to drift to its inner depths. As his mind started to enter the deep-meditation level, he would begin to "disconnect" from the real world, retreating into his "core". Despite this, his breathing slowed and entered a sleep-like pattern. In doing this, it would almost be the equivalent of sleeping, which would provide more energy than just sitting down. However, it wouldn't be as rejuvenating as actual sleep. This would just allow him to better travel until he did need to sleep later in the night. It was still a long while before even being noon, so he didn't need to worry about that just yet.

He completely forgot all about the one that was nearing his position, while he retreated into his inner self.