In the room with the Painting of Monsters and Things, Dante stood before a huge canvas that contained a very moving and dynamic drawing of a sea of various animals, monsters, and strange objects at every segment in an artistic and beautiful way.
Dante was not an art buff, and he could not stand art displays, but he had to admit that this was the best piece of renaissance-looking art he had ever seen in his life. The more Dante looked at it, the closer he felt to it and the more realistic it became.
From static images, Dante felt like he could hear the roars of various beasts as they coexisted, saw various monsters brawling as they hunted or expanded, as well as the chime of various items as well as the sound of clinking from special baubles.
However, as this occurred, many of the things in his vision weakened greatly, being suppressed into a void of darkness, while many others began to enlarge. However, they too reached a point and were suppressed into nothingness, leaving a few things still growing in size and vivacity.
Eventually, one thing surpassed everything else and took up the entirety of Dante's vision. It was a gigantic silverback ape that was roaring while pounding its thick chest like a drum, its massive strength seemingly suppressing the world.
The vision shattered, and Dante shook his head. He felt his entire body was pulsing, and his already surging and superior blood energy was moving crazily. However, the blood energy was only moved subconsciously by his body; it was not the main focus.
Rather, it was a strange energy that existed in his body, which Dante guessed should be his life energy since that was what the knight system mobilized. He glanced at the smiling Master Elandor who nodded.
"The Silver-Back Ape? How specific yet surprising. We have very few ape-related knights in this world, because ape-related techniques rank in the top 10 of all types," Master Elandor explained as he began to lead Dante away.
"What are the top ten?" Dante asked curiously.
"First, Dragon. Second, Phoenix. Third, Behemoth. Fourth, Demon. Fifth, Ape. Sixth, Lion/Tiger. Seventh, Bear. Eighth, Serpent. Ninth, Ox/Horse. Tenth, Ghost/Wraith," Master Elandor answered simply.
Fifth place was not bad. Even among Internal arts in the True Martial World, the Inferno Ascension Technique was definitely top tier, but not number 1, so Dante was more than satisfied with this.
Master Elandor took Dante back to the library, and they entered the section for breathing techniques, then came to the ape section. Here, Dante perused for a bit before choosing a technique that he felt suited him.
He finally found himself drawn to a particular tome titled 'Primal Ape Technique.'
Dante's fingers traced the ornate and silvery cover, his heart deeply moved. This technique promised a fusion of the silverback ape's dominance and his own lifeforce condensation.
"Interesting choice, Apprentice Dante." Master Elandor's voice held a note of encouragement.
He continued. "The Primal Ape's Resonance is a technique that aligns your life energy with the essence of the silverback ape. This resonance will imbue your movements with the raw power and primal instincts of the ape, allowing you to unleash its might in combat."
Dante nodded, his path clear. The prospect of incorporating the silverback ape's strength into his combat techniques intrigued him somewhat. Dante opened the technique and read through it, condensing the various points within into a structure that his AI Chip displayed.
[Primal Ape Technique - Stages for the Technique
1. Apprentice Knight Realm: Feral Stride
To initiate one's journey, one must first attune oneself to the energy of the silverback ape. In this realm, one will learn to channel one's life energy to mimic the primal gait of the ape, enhancing one's speed and agility. This is the foundation upon which the higher realms are built.
2. Beginner Knight: Dominant Roar
As one progresses, one will delve deeper into the essence of dominance that the silverback represents. Through controlled breathing and focused intention, one will unleash a resounding roar that resonates with the opponent's psyche, momentarily destabilizing them and providing openings for one's attacks.
3. Advanced Knight: Mighty Grasp
In this realm, one will hone the ape's gripping strength. By attuning one's life energy to the silverback's prowess, one's hands and arms will possess an almost supernatural grip. One will be able to disarm opponents, crush their weapons, and even immobilize them with a vice-like hold.
4. Peak Knight: Resilient Endurance
As one reaches the peak of the technique, one's body will become a fortress of resilience. One's life energy will enhance one's physical endurance and vitality, allowing one to endure attacks that would cripple lesser knights. This realm also enables one to absorb and redirect a portion of incoming force, turning an opponent's strength against them.
5. Great Knight: Savage Onslaught
At the Great Knight level, one's attacks will mirror the silverback's primal ferocity. By tapping into the ape's instinctual aggression, one's strikes will become more unpredictable, unrelenting, and overwhelming. This realm also grants one an innate sense of one's opponent's weaknesses, allowing one to exploit openings with precision.
6. Grand Knight: Ape King's Ascension
Finally, as one ascends to the realm of Grand Knight, one will unlock the true potential of the Primal Ape's power. Your life energy and one's knightly techniques will blend seamlessly with the essence of the silverback. In this state, one's dominance will be unmatched, their attacks infused with primal power, and their aura radiating an undeniable authority.]
Dante nodded with satisfaction and checked his SDI for the Magus World.
Player Name: Dante
Player Race: Human
Tower: Celestial Arcanists
Meditation Technique: Void Speaker Chant (Initial Stage Apprentice, 1%)
Knight Breathing: Primal Ape Technique (Uninitiated)
Strength: 500
Agility: 500
Dexterity: 500
Intelligence: 500
Constitution: 500
Vitality: 500
Spells: None.?
Dante smiled and followed Master Elandor to complete the rest of the introductory practices. Since he had time, Dante decided to stay in the Magus World for a bit, at least until his two techniques reached the same level as the other ones.
The cycle was surprisingly the same. Dante would wake up in the morning and then practice the Primal Ape Technique for 6 hours. Like the Raging Blood Halberd Technique, the knight system required resources to replenish the consumed life energy that had been used to fortify the body.
One could use normal food to replenish such energy, but obviously, this would slow down progress and not be enough as one climbed the higher ranks of Knighthood. So the same problem existed in every power system, where to get enough energy for growth.
Luckily, the wizards had long created a concoction called the Tonic of Knighthood, which had various potencies depending on the level of one's practice. As Dante was currently blazing through the Apprentice Knight stage, he should
ideally take a basic Tonic of Knighthood.
However, like with the blood energy soup, that would not be enough given his physical stats. As such, Dante was supplied with a Master-level Tonic of Knighthood, which was meant for Peak Knights.
He was lucky that the resources for it were not that expensive and were completely within the range of tolerance of Master Elandor's power. Unlike the Supreme Martial Hall, which gave core disciples unlimited resources, the Celestial Arcanists gave based on your value and talent, as well as the power of your teacher.
In the afternoon, Dante would naturally practice the Void Speaker Chant and fish out the endless space element in the world then absorb it. Usually, this would take other apprentices a long time as their weak and now growing spiritual power could not separate the clumps easily enough to get what they wanted.
However, Dante was like a military force invading a defenseless city. When his spiritual power came over, all the unwanted elements were forcibly chased to the side, while the needed space element was dragged over.
Due to his affinity with his practices and his lessons from spending 27 days working on the Raging Blood Halberd Art as well as the Inferno Technique, Dante only spent a week to reach the peak of both disciplines' first level.
Since he would need to use special resources and means to breakthrough to become a wizard, Dante decided to focus on his breakthrough to become a knight first.
To become a knight, one must condense their exuberant life energy into a life seed, which would form a sort of core in their hearts and allow great control over their body. For Dante, he didn't even need the supplementary resources that other knights used to increase the success rate.
He simply let Master Elandor know and used the special training room for such purposes to breakthrough. Condensing his life seed with his high intelligence was easy as breathing. If one added his spirit sense, slight psychic abilities, or spiritual core, one could say it was practically overkill.
If there was one thing to note, it was the fact that Dante's life energy was far higher than a normal knight. After all, his Vitality stat was 500 points, so his life seed was practically the size of a new heart, rather than a tiny marble-sized bead that should have been expected.
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