Sliding Moon Art
The Eight Phases:
- New Moon Art
- Waxing Crescent Art
- First Quarter Art
- Waxing Gibbous Art
- Full Moon Art
- Waning Gibbous Art
- Last Quarter Art
- Waning Crescent Art
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Eiran stood before empty space, relaxed with his eyes closed. Freed from the distraction of his blood's desire, he was able to focus completely.
Even the fatigue he once felt was gone, as if that were his reward for the promise he had made.
In ten days, he wished to master Steps 1 and 2 of the Art. That was his intention, and he had inscribed it in his blood—though his body could barely handle it.
"New Moon Art meaning; Patience, Stealth, Silent Intent!" he muttered.
His blood carried those feelings, and his demeanor shifted. His heartbeat slowed, and the very sound of his presence dimmed.
His heart beat with meaning, and his brain grasped the action. He stood motionless for one minute before speaking again.
"Waxing Crescent Art meaning; Sudden, precise, surprise—fast sword draw!"
He didn't move, but his demeanor shifted once more. His heart beat with new meaning, his blood rolled it through him, and his brain grasped the movement.
He then reverted to the New Moon. His demeanor changed, then shifted to Waxing Crescent.
The transitions between meanings and actions became so focused that the world fell silent around him. But one thing rose within:
Blood Art: Growth—Adaptation
Whatever he did would make his body adapt to it quickly, making each transition as easy as shifting his hand. Adaptation became the Brand Skill of Growth at Stage One of the Nameless Blood Art.
Eiran's shifts of meaning became seamless. One moment he was silent, just standing—even the wind didn't recognize him. The next, he was a blade about to be unleashed.
Then, suddenly, a tremor ran through his body. His concentration nearly broke. Sweat accumulated on his forehead.
He had used it. Even for him, it was the fatigue that confirmed he had succeeded. Going back to New Moon meaning after recovering sent another tremor through him.
Ten minutes later, he was back to normal and returned to New Moon. Then the tremor came again, and he sweated once more.
Eyes still closed, he wasn't using his strength glyph to accomplish this.
He recovered after 13 minutes and tried again. The recovery time increased to 20 minutes before he couldn't continue and hungry.
The moment he moved, his legs wouldn't hold him. He fell down panting, his body vibrating strangely.
"Bloom!"
A Power Subcategory called Bloom spreads training growth throughout the body, even when focusing on just one aspect.
Eiran appreciated this—it would make training the other arts easier.
He pulled out healthy food and filled his stomach. Then he closed his eyes and used a Blood Art Skill that wasn't yet a Brand Skill to facilitate digestion.
In under half an hour, he was ready to continue.
He stood and repeated the process. It was easier now—he recovered in under 9 minutes, and as he continued, the time didn't increase.
Blood Art: Growth—Adaptation has worked wonders. Eiran counted 20 skill repetitions, including the first session, before he stopped.
He had pushed himself hard, legs trembling, then ate and rested for 29 minutes. He was ready to go again.
It was still 9 minutes of rest after every transition, but he managed 20 more skill repetitions in that session alone before resting for 30 minutes.
Then he completed another 20 skill repetition with 8 minutes of rest before sitting to recover. But this time, his body had reached its limit for the day.
He couldn't even move properly. His brain also needed to reset. He only ate when hungry and went into hibernation—closer to sleep but not quite.
The room dimmed, indicating night, then after a long time brightened again. Throughout, he ate whenever he felt hungry.
"My body was vibrating faintly all night!" Eiran concluded. It was the frequency of that vibration that had prevented him from continuing. Now that the frequency was gone, he could proceed.
Blood Art: Growth—Adaptation had exhausted its talent energy numerous times and refilled during the duration. Now it was full and no longer being used, which meant whatever adaptation it had pushed forward was complete.
When Eiran reached for his sword, there was a difference in his actions. They were more refined and purposeful.
He held the sword firmly, unlike before when he had grasped it casually.
He strapped it to his belt, and the way he stood changed slightly. These were minute details that he grasped instinctively.
His body went silent, the world disappeared, and then a slight tremor passed through him. The skill is perfect.
Everything was seamless. He rested only for 3 minutes.
"This is the very limit of resting," Eiran said to himself.
"Bloom always has certain limits of growth. If they want to advance, they have to change the way they do something," Eiran added. "Maybe I'll improve with the other arts!"
He smiled. "I need to incorporate the other moves from the other arts!"
Eiran prepared, but this time, instead of just the fast horizontal blade slash, he wanted to practice the fast vertical draw—mimicking First Quarter's vertical strike.
With that intention, his movements changed. The way he held the scabbard, tilted down, then as he moved, he bent slightly and drew fast, slashing upwards.
Eiran perceived the initial movement before it blurred. He had to recover for 4 minutes afterward.
He smiled and repeated until he had completed five vertical slashes. He rested for 10 minutes to prepare for the next phase.
Waxing Gibbous involved more horizontal slashes but was meant for deflecting attacks. Mimicking it was easier—he even managed the vertical deflection part. Then he moved to the next phase.
Full Moon wasn't a single movement but multiple movements, including leg work. It seemed impossible, but he tried.
Fuu'
"Haha!" Eiran fell down, his head spinning. He hadn't executed exactly like Full Moon, but as his blade slashed horizontally faster, his body followed. He twirled around.
This forced him to rest for 20 minutes before trying again ten more times, after which his body couldn't continue for the day.
By daylight, Eiran was ready to go.
He tried the Full Moon variant ten more times with no lasting fatigue.
Last Quarter was a horizontal slash very much in line with Waxing Crescent—easy to execute.
Waning Gibbous was a sudden stop followed by a change of sword strike tactic.
Eiran went into New Moon meaning, then Waxing Crescent with the intention of mimicking Waning Gibbous.
The discovery was amazing—his blade was pulled fast into a horizontal slash but halted and switched to a vertical slash.
He sensed the halt and change, which sent tremors through him just like the Full Moon mimic. And he fell panting—the sudden change of movement was jarring to his body.
After resting, he only managed to do it 9 more times before he couldn't repeat it again.
On the fourth day of training, he executed it ten times with no issues.
Then he moved to Waning Crescent. It could be any move, but the effect was sudden withdrawal and changing position.
Upon doing it, Eiran's body flickered away from where he was after the sudden slash, returning to New Moon.
Waning Crescent always places you back to New Moon.
Eiran spent the day practicing, and at last, he completed the 100th extremely fast strike.
The talent energy inside Adaptation drained very fast, and the talent energy in his body was absorbed to form a new Brand Skill.
---
SSS Rank Potential
Talent: Celestial Blood
Borne Trait: Essence Vessels
Brand Bind: Forge Form
- Bind Link: Small Palace
- Bind Link: Royal Uniform
Brand Skill: Nameless Blood Art
Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art
- New Moon Art: Silent Edge
- Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang
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Silent Edge was a skill that prepared the body and mind for attack, but one could also use it for hiding intentions.
If surrounded by enemies or those he was wary of, he could enter Silent Edge. Everyone would perceive him as careless, not ready for action—but unbeknownst to them, Lunar Fang was at the edge, ready to spring.
Lunar Fang was the actual strike. It was fast and sudden, but when paired with Silent Edge, it became faster and silent.
Even the user wouldn't know when they moved.
Eiran smiled at the skills. His foundation for the Sliding Moon Art was almost perfect.
He celebrated by eating while resting before the next day.
---
"First Quarter Art meaning; Precise Vertical, Purposeful, Dissection" Eiran muttered
Eiran drew the blade and rested it by his side. He focused. The meaning flowed through his blood, and his mind concentrated on the action.
All other thoughts waved away. He stood calm and vertical, then moved.
Eiran almost saw an image before him. Then a snap came to his awareness. He looked around, but there was nothing that could have made the sound.
The blade was also fine. He wasn't tired either, but he waited a minute before entering the First Quarter again to repeat the vertical cut.
It was slower than Lunar Fang but far stronger.
Snap!'
The sound came again. Eiran ignored it and repeated the movement again and again. One hundred times straight, but his body vibrated with a higher frequency than Lunar Fang.
He fell down trembling, feeling a tingling sensation as the sound of the snap reverberated in his mind.
"Ha... ha... ha!" Eiran laughed. His body felt like it was stretching and molding, as if someone were trying to reshape him.
His shoulder also felt like it might break off.
Blood Art: Growth: Adaptation was working at full capacity, while talent energy was moulded into a Brand Skill.
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Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art
- New Moon Art: Silent Edge
- Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang
- First Quarter Art: Judging Blade
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Eiran frowned. Judging Blade wasn't just about dissection—it seemed vague.
After some thought, Eiran understood that Silent Edge, Lunar Fang, and Judging Blade represented other names of Moon Phases, and the day he reached Step Three, he would gain more skills under them.
"This Art has so many layers to it!" Eiran praised before beaming. "I like it!"
From Step 1 to Step 2, no Talent Energy was used at all. The speed and precision of Lunar Fang and the strength and purposefulness of Judging Blade were all pure movement skills.
Steps 1 and 2 were body and mind preparation for Step 3. Then he would be using talent energy.
"Ha! This is greater than my Nameless Blood Art. No doubt about it!"
Four hours later, he was back to normal and proceeded with the next phase.
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"Waxing Gibbous Art meaning; Deflection, Redirection!" Eiran muttered
As he immersed his mind in the meaning, his heart beat with it, his brain ready to express it. Then he moved.
There were multiple movements in this phase. It could be vertical, perpendicular, horizontal, circular, angled, and many more.
All movements carried one meaning: deflect incoming attacks or projectiles but Eiran could only focus on one at a time.
Due to his prior training that encompassed almost all movements, Eiran focused only on circling and angling, as they challenged his body while the rest didn't.
One hundred times, and he stood at attention. This was the easiest movement yet, but the meaning encompassed so many things.
He was soon drained of talent energy as a new Brand Skill formed.
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Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art
- New Moon Art: Silent Edge
- Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang
- First Quarter Art: Judging Blade
- Waxing Gibbous Art: Rebound Redirection
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Another four hours, and he was ready to continue.
"Full Moon Art meaning; Brilliant, Overwhelm, Theatrical Combat!" Eiran muttered, then burst into laughter. He liked it.
It was a dance—an eye-catching dance filled with style and deadly sword swings, with step movements, twirling, and shifting postures.
The sword by his side, held in his hand, Eiran dove into it. As the meaning of the Full Moon Art rolled through his blood, his body moved with it, his brain expressing it.
No drum, no music—Eiran danced around until he lost in it. He only stopped when his body slowed and he felt his talent energy draining due the establishment of a new Brand Skill.
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Brand Skill: Sliding Moon Art
- New Moon Art: Silent Edge
- Waxing Crescent Art: Lunar Fang
- First Quarter Art: Judging Blade
- Waxing Gibbous Art: Rebound Redirection
- Full Moon Art: Moonlight Waltz
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Eiran rested until the next day. Last Quarter Art, Waning Gibbous, and Waning Crescent Art awaited him.