Being blind was much harder than Rocky initially thought it would be.


    As per his usual habit, he had woken up before the bed-time was over when he heard the clock strike 6, however, was forced to stay on the bed till 8am, since bedtime was a must.


    Upon waking, there was a brief moment of panic when he couldn''t see anything, momentarily forgetting about his blindness. But as the reality of his situation settled in, he was able to regain hisposure.


    ''That''s right, I''m blind now-'' Rocky thought, as he felt the edges of his bed''s boundaries and sat straight face up, staring at the ceiling he could not see.


    Being idle with one''s mind was also a form of torture if one could not be true to themselves and that was precisely the situation Rocky found himself in as memories of the previous day shed in his mind.


    "Riva…." Rocky murmured as he clutched his fists tight.


    Yesterday he had seen a projection of her sister, but he now knew it wasn''t real. Instead of the real Riva, it was the Riva that Rocky feared the most, the Riva that would me him for not saving her in time.


    Just as the chamber administrator had determined Rocky''s biggest fault was indeed his narcissism and personality as he took everything way too personally.


    It was one thing for him to have the strength to save Riva but do nothing, but another to not have the strength and still keep thinking that he should be doing more as at that point he was in delusional.


    He liked to think of himself as an almighty God, someone that could right all wrongs, however, he wasn''t one, and the first step to improving his personality was epting the fact that there were going to be things in life that may be out of his control.


    That maybe he tried his best to get stronger, maybe he fought with several enemies to save Riva, but maybe by the time he got there his sister was not the same.


    The thing he could control was trying his best, however, if he did not focus on the things he could control and keep worrying about things he could not, then Rocky was only inting his delusion bubble which would pop big time on him someday.


    Life was tough, and hard work was not the solution to everything.


    Rocky needed to ept this fact and realize that he wasn''t god.


    That even after trying his hardest, he could fail, but learn to try regardless.


    *Dong*


    *Dong*


    .


    .


    .


    .


    *Dong*


    "8 dongs…. It''s 8 am" Rocky murmured to himself, as he got up and got out of his bed.


    After quickly freshening up, he carefully made his way along the walls to the swordsmanship training hall that he hadmitted to memory.


    Walking as a blind man had its challenges for sure as Rocky bumped his elbow against unnecessary objects all the time on his way to the swordsmanship hall.


    *Slursh*


    He knew he had made it to the swordsmanship training hall when the marble tiles ended and the soft grainy texture of sand began as it was a tricky 10 steps to the front and 4 steps to the left after it to reach the rack where the swords were kept.


    One….Two…


    Rocky slowly made his way to the swords rack as practiced when he tripped and fell on his shoulders because the ground under his feet was uneven.


    *BANG*


    "Motherf-"


    Rocky cursed as he rolled down on the ground below before slowly getting back up on his feet.


    Because of his slip, he wasn''t sure anymore on how many steps he had yet to traverse as he slowly made his way towards the direction he thought was right, however, he knew he fucked up bad when he took 12 steps towards it but still found no sword rack.


    ''I''m facing the wrong direction'' is what Rocky thought, as he carefully took 12 steps back,ing back to the position where he started as he tried to figure out which was the right direction to go.


    Never in his life had Rocky faced such a difficulty as only after losing vision did he appreciate just how important vision was for survival.


    It took him 15 minutes to recalibrate himself and find the sword rack as without his vision he was a lost cat.


    Once he grabbed both his swords, he knew that the training dummy was 20 side-steps to the right and then 10 more steps to the right.


    Putting every foot cautiously he slowly reached the training dummy, where he confirmed its presence by feeling it with his sword.


    "Alright let''s do this-" Rocky said, as despite losing vision he tried to envision the dummy before him and after taking an appropriate distance from the dummy, he began slowly hacking away at it, like he would have been should he be at the university.


    As Rocky''s des met the air and the dummy with precise, controlled movements, he experienced swordsmanship in a manner entirely new to him.


    Deprived of his vision, his other senses heightened, allowing him to perceive his environment and actions with an acute sensitivity he had never known. Each movement of his sword through the air, every shift in his stance, was felt more deeply, more intimately by him than ever before.


    Without the distraction of sight, Rocky''s awareness of his body in space—his distance perception—was amplified. He could sense the alignment of his body, the cement of his feet, and the angle of his arms with a rity that sight had never afforded him.


    This heightened sense brought with it a revtion: he could now detect the subtleties and ws in his sword flow that had previously eluded him.


    The rhythm of his swings, the bnce between his strikes, and the distribution of his weight wereid bare to him in this state of heightened awareness. Where his eyes might have missed a slight overreach or a momentary imbnce, his body now registered these imperfections vividly.


    It was as though he had been granted a new lens through which to critique and refine his technique, one that prioritized feeling and instinct over visual assessment.


    This newfound perception allowed Rocky to correct these ws in real-time, adjusting his posture and swings with a mindfulness that transformed his practice.


    Each correction made his movements smoother, more efficient, and his strikes more potent. The dummy, a silent witness to his evolution, bore the marks of his improving skill—a testament to his growing connection with his craft.


    Moreover, Rocky discovered a deeper connection with his swords, feeling their weight, their bnce, and the air resistance against their des as if they were extensions of his own body. This connection was not merely physical but something that could just be experienced and not exined.


    This experience was revtory for Rocky.


    He realized that while blindness had taken away one mode of perception, it had opened the door to another….. allowing him to gain a deeper understanding of his swordsmanship art, as soon he became so engrossed in his training that hepletely forgot about having gone blind.


    Swordsmanship, for Rocky, had always been a gift from the system, something that he had not inherently developed an understanding towards but rather something that was taught to him, but now it became a dance of intuition and something that Rocky could understand himself.


    In this darkness of sight, he found not limitation but liberation, a way to transcend the boundaries of his previous self and step into a realm where every movement, every breath, and every strike was a note in a symphony of unseen beauty.


    *Dong*


    *Dong*


    .


    .


    .


    .


    *Dong*


    Soon, it was 10am, and regretfully Rocky was forced to cut his training short. However, he knew that should he keep training like this over the next 3 months, he would soon gain an understanding of swordsmanship that couldpletely transcend his previous self.


    ---------


    /// A/N - Chapter 6/8 ///