Chapter 24: Enviable Training (2)
Early in the morning, after sleeping only the bare minimum, Priam returned to the entrance of the Windstorm Tunnel.
Seeing the same soldier, he said, "Sir, could you please reduce the difficulty by one level and unlock the fourth difficulty level?"
At the fifth difficulty level, the wind speed was simply too high. The time Priam stayed in the air was too short. The moment he tried to sense the origin of the wind, he would crash into the wall.
Besides, being weaker didn’t mean worse. Analyzing a less powerful version of the element had its own benefits.
"You want to lower the difficulty?" The soldier looked at Priam even more strangely, wondering what the hell that young man was doing.
Priam smiled and nodded without saying anything else.
He entered the wind tunnel once again, repeating the same process as before.
But this time, since the wind was much weaker and he already had a minimal level of understanding, the few healing pills he kept in his spatial ring were enough to handle his injuries.
...
After countless attempts, he began to feel that he was actually starting to perceive and understand the wind element.
...
Hours later, after his 8 hours of training, Priam felt like he had slammed into walls at least ten thousand times.
At this point, there wasn’t a single part of his body that hadn’t been injured. But... Priam had a bright light in his eyes.
The 16 hours he spent using this barbaric method were unbelievably efficient.
He left in almost the same state as last time, practically running back to the dorm in the annex.
When he arrived at the entrance, he saw Flora waiting for him with a calm smile. This time, without a tired expression.
He nodded and was taken to dinner.
After eating, he once again had to talk with Flora to complete his daily mission, since Flaris was busy with her training and Priam didn’t want to disturb her.
...
In the middle of the night. Inside his room.
Suddenly, Priam opened his eyes.
A pale green light pulsed like a beacon from his pupils.
[Achievement Unlocked: Wind Bending Mage]
[+500 GP]
Reading the windows, he was certain: the bloodline of the Eyes of the Wind had finally been fully activated!
Tiny luminous sparks in a pale world condensed around Priam, as if they were small stars orbiting a massive sun.
Priam clenched his fists tightly, with a euphoric expression. He had succeeded; now he could fully activate the bloodline and slightly manipulate the wind element.
He had reached sufficient control and understanding, and could now use this power in the environment. Now, he had some confidence in creating the runes.
---
The last day of training began. Priam returned to the same training field and saw the same soldier from before in the same spot.
"Sir, I want level 9. I feel confident now," Priam said with an energetic gaze, leaving the soldier completely stunned.
The ninth level was only for ninth-level Acolyte Mages, and even they would struggle to stay inside for many hours.
A young man at the fourth level? He wouldn’t last even an hour in there.
But this wasn’t a death sentence. The inscription sealing the place had an emergency mechanism. It could sense someone’s life energy flow inside.
When someone suffers a very serious injury and is on the verge of death, everyone’s life energy automatically becomes chaotic. The inscription detects that and can expel the person from inside.
In two-thirds of cases, this saves the person’s life. But of course, sometimes it fails, so it wasn’t advisable to rely on it completely.
"Is there any rule forbidding me?" Seeing the soldier’s expression, Priam asked.
The soldier sighed. "No. If you heard the full explanation of the levels and still want to go in, that’s your choice. But I advise you not to go too far and stay close to the entrance. That way, your chances of surviving and being expelled in time during an emergency are higher."
Priam nodded, and the soldier, seeing that he wouldn’t back down, agreed and adjusted the level as requested.
When the entrance opened, Priam stepped in without hesitation or any sign of nervousness.
After taking the first steps inside, the entrance behind him closed, and Priam felt his body sway and nearly fall.
The wind there was, at the very least... terrifying and oppressive.
He had barely walked in and already felt crushed. But... it was definitely perfect.
Priam wasn’t crazy; he really wouldn’t try to go more than a few steps forward. He stayed right at the beginning, activating all his control over the wind to stand firm like a mountain.
He closed his eyes and focused.
First, he moved the absurdly dense and powerful elemental force into his Nexus Seed.
Then, he moved his own life energy.
With both ready, he took a deep breath and concentrated.
"Let’s go!"
...
Time passed, and Priam tried hundreds of times.
He had to create a set of at least 12 runes that, together, would fit in sync with his body and vital energy.
Since he had the third stage of the technique, and within it there was a method to activate that initial set, Priam could keep trying until he got something that at least seemed to work.
For any ordinary person, a failure means death. But he wouldn’t have that problem, since he could control all the energy and disperse it. He had a completely perfect cheat to do that.
...
4 hours passed in an instant.
With each attempt, Priam kept shaping the wind element inside the Nexus Seed. He didn’t want a new power rune. Because of that, he didn’t use the synthesis power.
He simply moved the vital energy and the wind element into the core and, using his control over the element, slowly began condensing it into a single point until he created a rune.
Elemental runes that Mages developed to use Magical Arts were just the pure concentration of one or several powers. Together they formed an exact energy pattern, where any wrong interference would create something different.
It was like cooking something extremely delicate. After adding the ingredients, temperature, humidity, time, the pot used, etc. Any tiny difference would make the food come out slightly different. And that tiny difference was already enough to cause a disaster when the Magical Art was activated.
Because of that, every Magical Art necessarily had a verification method. But... this incomplete one of Priam’s had nothing like that. He only had five of the 8 stages, and nothing more.
That was the reason no Mage was crazy enough to try to complete it. Of course, many Mages of the Clan had already read that Magical Art and understood it was something incredible. But there was simply no way they would put their lives on the line doing experiments.
Until today...
...
Minutes later.
"I actually did it!" Priam said, euphoric.
On his body, on his skin, at twelve different points, small wind runes glowed like tattoos.
He created a set of twelve runes that, when he tried to activate the third stage of the technique, worked as it should.
They certainly weren’t the same as the original technique’s runes. This could make the technique weaker or completely different in the future; plus, he would be in danger every time he used it. But at least for now, it was more than what he had, and it would help him.
Priam was radiant, but he had no time to celebrate. Quickly, he began making the new set, equivalent to the second stage of the technique, which he didn’t have.
Based on the wind element studies Priam received from the system, and what he already had of this technique, he deduced a simple logic: the first stage was to create runes directed toward wind in its Yin aspect — fluid, agile, constant. The second stage needed to be closer to Yang — explosive, rigid, devastating.
All five natural elements were different combinations of Yin and Yang. That’s why wind existed more tilted toward one side.
Alone, they were incomplete. Together, they would form perfect balance.
...
5 hours passed.
6 hours.
7 hours.
Sweat ran down his face, but he didn’t blink. Every failed attempt was a blow to his mind, but he persisted. The clock in his head was screaming.
50 minutes left...
30 minutes.
10 minutes.
5 minutes.
*HUMMMMMM!*
A sharp humming sound from the depths of his soul reverberated throughout the Storm Tunnel. Suddenly, the violent flow of wind in the area stopped for a microsecond... and reversed direction.
It was as if nature itself was paying reverence.
In the eye of the hurricane, Priam opened his eyes.
His pupils glowed with a clear green light.
*Vupt!*
The air didn’t even have time to move. It simply stopped existing at one point and appeared two meters away beside him, without leaving a trace.
He moved together with the air, becoming one with it.
"SUCCESS, DAMN IT!"
