Chapter 23: Enviable Training
Priam took a deep breath. In short, to understand the wind element, he didn’t need to resist it, but rather harmonize and conform himself to it, feeling its power on his own skin.
"It’s time to use this thing."
Priam nodded, and his first Power Rune appeared in his hand. It was a small, brilliant white dot, about the size of a coin.
He couldn’t create a second Power Rune because he already had this one. Its power was focused on healing, or Yang poisoning. It had been created using the power of mediocre herbs from some ordinary healing pill. Why would he want to keep that for long?
He had kept it until now because its healing power was like a lifeline in emergencies. Now, it would be more useful for another purpose, and later he could obtain a better one.
Priam took a deep breath, focused, and clenched his fists, the Power Rune ready in his hand.
He had chosen the fifth difficulty level precisely because he didn’t want to risk dying instantly before having time to heal himself.
People always stayed on the ground inside this tunnel because the elemental power of the wind was more stable and predictable there. Once you chose a difficulty level, if you could withstand the power on the ground, you would be able to remain until the end without surprises.
But about ten meters above the ground, the power became completely turbulent and unpredictable. Unstable masses of wind could strike from blind spots, while the wind itself could suddenly change direction and slam someone into the ground or against a rock wall. In other words, it was pure chaos, making stable training and study impossible.
Of course, the chosen difficulty level still greatly reduced the power up there, but it was still dangerous, and no one would take such a risk for no reason. If the level on the ground wasn’t enough, they could simply choose a higher difficulty next time and train safely.
A few seconds later, Priam stopped resisting the force of the wind and allowed his body to completely relax.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he let the violent winds carry him into the air.
He continuously adjusted his body midair, adapting to the wind and making use of its force.
Focused, he tried his best to feel the flow of the element while being tossed from side to side by the wind. The force was so intense that it felt like countless blades striking him nonstop.
A few minutes later...
*BANG!*
Priam slammed violently into the rocks.
Even with his physically powerful body and the protection of his Ether, he felt dizzy as blood boiled through his veins. Sharp pain struck him as several ribs shattered at once.
After coughing up some blood, he felt the healing power of the Power Rune repairing the broken bones.
He took a deep breath and saw that only 1% of the rune’s power had been consumed. He could easily keep this up for the full 8 hours.
Priam stood up, merged himself with the wind once more, and was launched upward again.
...
Not long afterward, he crashed thunderously into a stone wall. But...
For him, feeling pain was actually a joy. After all, Priam had grown accustomed to pains far worse while being tortured for millennia. Now, he simply felt alive and excited.
Anyone seeing the ecstatic smile on his face right now would have been horrified by how maniacal he looked.
...
He continued this training over and over, smashing into the rocky walls countless times.
Priam had long since lost track of how many times he had collided, broken bones, and nearly blacked out.
This was a truly masochistic training method. If Flaris heard about it, she would probably call it fascinating and enviable, and would definitely want to try it herself someday.
To conserve healing power, he only healed severe internal injuries that prevented him from continuing. Because of that, he was covered in bruises and shallow bloody cuts all over his body. His face had multiple scrapes, and his clothes had been reduced to rags.
"!"
Just when he least expected it, and the Power Rune had less than 2% of its capacity remaining, all the power within the tunnel suddenly ceased.
His 8 hours were over.
He "landed" heavily on the ground and nearly dropped to his knees. But without hesitation, he burned through all the remaining healing power and recovered from every lingering internal injury.
He then slowly made his way toward the exit.
The moment he emerged, the soldier guarding the entrance widened his eyes in shock.
Priam was practically naked, and his appearance was horrific. How the hell had he ended up in that condition from just the fifth level?
...
Three hours later, it was already night when Priam arrived near the annex where he was staying.
This was a residential area, and there was an entrance where all the servants were supposed to be waiting for the young masters to return.
But at that moment, Flora was alone.
When she saw Priam approaching, she jumped in shock and quickly ran over to him, covering him with a white cloth. Surprisingly, though, she realized he was perfectly fine, even with his clothes in tatters.
"Were you waiting here for me?" Priam asked lightly.
She nodded, as if it were obvious.
"All the servants were waiting. The Young Master was the last one to arrive, but I’m glad you’re doing so well."
Priam snorted. Everyone had eight hours, but obviously, because they were young and full of determination, they chose extremely high difficulty levels.
Because of that, everyone had to leave before the eight hours were up since they couldn’t withstand the pressure, and thus returned early. So Priam ended up being the last of the side branches to come back.
"Tomorrow, don’t just stand here doing nothing under the sun all day. Your face and skin are burned, and that’s not good for your health. You can rest or do other things; just come here at the same time I arrived today," he murmured.
"B-but..."
"That’s an order." He cut her off, indifferent.
She sighed, but nodded, feeling strangely good about it. She had never heard of a master who cared about a servant’s health.
The two returned to the annex. Priam changed his clothes and then ate until he was satisfied.
In the end, Flora thought he would return to his room, but Priam called her over to a corner and started asking about what she had done during the day.
She was clearly confused, but answered everything. In a short time, with a few prompts and his curious questions, she lost her shyness and even began talking about personal things.
She was only a 16-year-old girl after all, with no malice or defenses against him.
Priam discovered that she was an only child from a race without much combat power. However, they possessed an Ancestral Art that, once mastered, allowed them to easily sense anyone approaching who did not possess a specific bloodline.
Even if it was a Mage at the level of the Clan Leader, Flora would still be able to sense them from a great distance. But of course, the cost was consuming enormous amounts of Ether Crystals. She herself received hundreds per day just to keep her Ancestral Art active at all times.
All the servants belonged to the same race.
But none of them were simple servants. In truth, they were permanent watchers of the clan.
The Ylisse Clan had made an agreement with that entire race, protecting them and offering good employment, while also covering all related costs. No spy or outsider from that race had any chance of entering there without being detected.
Priam fell into thought.
’Why the hell is this clan so meticulous about security? They’re the most powerful, with a massive gap over anyone else on this planet. No one should have any chance of doing anything against them, yet they still spare no effort.’
After a little over an hour, Priam said his goodbyes.
Flora still had a faint smile on her face. She didn’t have many friends and almost never talked to anyone, so she opened up much faster than expected.
Priam went to his room.
After closing the door, he let out a faint sigh. After all, he still had daily missions to complete, and the system forced him to interact positively with people.
Priam didn’t fully understand the reason, but he had learned from his mother and from Flaris how to speak and interact positively with women. It didn’t work with everyone, but simply being a good listener and letting them talk comfortably was already enough to build a positive connection.
By doing that, he could easily complete the daily mission. So all he needed was to have some trusted woman around to talk to.
’I need to try doing the same with men... I need friends, or people are going to think I’m trying to build a fucking harem!’ Priam muttered thoughtfully as he sat on the bed.
’But I have no idea how to do that...’
If he were on Earth, he could talk about games, movies, or some popular sport. Any man liked something like that, so he would just need to figure it out and start a conversation. But in this world, he was completely lost.
Luckily, he had a good mother and a good cousin who taught him a bit about women. Of course, it wouldn’t work with everyone, but it was already a solid foundation.
’Well, eventually I’ll figure it out... I hope.’
He turned his attention back to the present.
Unfortunately, the day only had twenty-four hours, and he still needed to sleep.
Yes, strangely enough, even on another planet, in another universe, and in another world, time was still standardized into twenty-four hours, even in places where day and night cycles were completely different lengths. The year also had three hundred and sixty-five days.
His time was short, and Priam still needed to study as much as possible.
His entire Nexus Seed was now filled with the wind element he had collected inside that tunnel.
Closing his eyes, Priam shifted all his senses into that core, analyzing it and even releasing small portions of that power to study it.
That was definitely an enviable method, as Priam could attract and absorb into the core the element present in the environment in its purest form.
Perhaps only Mages from the most powerful sects in the world possessed such an efficient method of study.
