Lassim stood before the neglected training dummy, the weight of his halberd resting comfortably in his hands. This part of the outdoor training arena was quiet. The only sounds being the occasional rustle of leaves that lined the nearby guard wall of the sect and the distant hum of lightning energy from the other sect disciples practicing on the far side from Lassim’s spot.
He took a deep breath, feeling the familiar sensation of his weapon in his grip, and began with his usual techniques, coating the blade with lightning and water mana and executing a series of [Slash]es and [Thrust]s to warm up. The bolts of lightning extended from the blade, striking the dummy with precision, but it was the same as he always did; nothing new yet for good reason.
He wanted to test the dummy first as he held back his power, targeting it with strikes that mimicked the strength of a Spirit Ascension stage cultivator instead of at his full strength. A strength which competed and could be within the first level of reaching the Spirit Transcendent stage when he went all out.
The dummy absorbed the blows, its worn surface holding up surprisingly well. Lassim noted the faint glow it emitted where it was damaged by his blade as apparently it had a slight regenerative array or enchantment attached to it—remarkable considering its dilapidated state.
He observed as the dummy slowly mended itself, noticing that it took roughly thirty seconds or so for the strongest peak Spirit Ascension blows to heal fully.
For a while, Lassim continued his warm-up, testing the limits of the dummy. He varied his strikes, mixing powerful thrusts with repeated slashes, always pulling back and waiting just enough to allow the dummy time to heal before striking once more.
The exercise helped him get a feel for the space around him in this corner of the arena and the durability of his practice target.
The air around him buzzed with building residual energy from his lightning-infused attacks, and the sound of splashing water mana attacks in combination drew a few eyes from across the arena. However, most of the disciples on the other end with their fancier target dummies immediately ignored Lassim once they saw the brown color of his sect robes.
Satisfied with the dummy’s resilience, Lassim shifted his focus to experimenting.
The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёwebnovel.com.
"Let’s try coating the blade with water first," he said out loud, focusing on his bond with Mari and her innate control and mastery of the water element channeling through him.
He began by channeling water mana into his halberd, the blade shimmering as it was coated in a liquid form. He adjusted the density and sharpness of the water, testing different configurations against the dummy.
First, he extended the blade beyond its normal length, swinging it in wide arcs that sliced through the air with a watery hiss.
The extended blade added reach to his attacks, but he found it lacked the precision or complexity he desired. It didn’t really inspire him at all either.
Next, he increased the weight of the halberd, with the amount of water and density.
The strikes were slightly more powerful with the extra weight but still lacked the complexity he sought. It was also too similar to his [Slam] ability where he’d infuse a dense amount of water behind it to empower an earth-shattering strike.
Lassim then experimented with the blade’s sharpness, molding the water into a razor-thin edge that could cut through solid objects with ease.
The strikes were swift and clean, but he felt they lacked the impact needed for a truly devastating technique. He even added additional edges creating a saw blade edge in hopes of doing additional damage, but that didn’t really increase the power too much.
He then tried making the water blunt, using it to deliver crushing blows that sent shockwaves through the dummy.
While powerful, these attacks were also just way too simplistic and lacked the finesse he sought.
After a while, Lassim grew frustrated with the limitations of his own imagination with the water-based augmentations. They were effective in their own right, but he felt they didn’t bring him any closer to developing a truly unique and powerful battle art.
Determined to explore all avenues, Lassim shifted his focus to lightning-based attacks. He channeled lightning mana into his halberd, the blade crackling with electric energy.
He began with straightforward strikes, adjusting the intensity and power of the lightning. Each strike sent sparks flying, the air around him humming with energy.
The experimentation continued with attempts at keeping the blade charged during the attack, maintaining a constant flow of lightning as he swung and even still keeping it charged while inside the dummy.
The sustained charge added a dangerous edge to his strikes, making them more lethal. However, the technique was more draining and difficult to maintain over long periods on his first attempt. The lightning wanted to disperse into the grounded target a bit too easily.
Next, Lassim attempted multiple rapid strikes in quick succession, trying to embody the speed and unpredictability of lightning. He moved with agility, his halberd flashing through the air as he struck the dummy repeatedly. Despite his efforts, he couldn’t quite capture the essence of lightning’s speed.
Zaphyrella’s suggestion still eluded him—he didn’t yet understand what made lightning so uniquely fast and how to replicate that in his attacks.
As the afternoon wore on, Lassim’s frustration grew.
He decided to finally combine both elements, hoping to find a breakthrough by merging water and lightning. He experimented with odd-shaped water forms, varying their density and infusing them with lightning in different ways.
He tried creating a water blade with a lightning core, a swirling vortex of energy where he swung his halberd around quickly, and even choosing to take a break in finding an offensive art out of frustration and played around with an upgrade to his [Aegis] technique by creating a barrier of water infused with electric currents.
Each attempt and different idea brought its own set of challenges and limitations. The combinations were powerful in some cases, but lacked the complexity and higher grade battle art that he desired. The techniques felt disjointed in their initial iterations, their true potential out of reach or not fully cohesive.
The sun began to set, casting long shadows across the arena as the day drew to a close.
Lassim knew he needed to return to the servant quarters. His official day of quota collection, today, was due to end, and he had to prepare to meet next week’s quota.
He felt a sense of urgency with his current inspiration and goal; which in turn spurred his determination to meet the Thunder Source Stone quota earlier than last week. He wanted to have a better balance of his time between training and fulfilling his sect duties.
He quickly returned to the servant quarters and slept to prepare for an earlier start in the morning.
~~~
The next day, Lassim woke up early, his mind set on collecting the necessary Thunder Source Stones. He had 1 left over from last week that he kept after collecting 51 stones. That left just 49 to go.
Passing the kitchen area, he informed the other servants of his plan to stay out in the Tempering Fields until he met his quota.
"I’ll be out for the next couple of days," Lassim said, tightening the straps of his magic pouch. "I don’t want to waste time going back and forth each night, and I’d like to complete this week’s quota all at once so that I can spend more time coming up with the technique I want to create. I’ll return when it’s completed."
Jiro nodded in understanding. "Good luck, Lassim. Stay safe out there."
Mirana offered a supportive smile. "Nice motivation! You’ve got this! Just be careful."
With their words of encouragement, Lassim set off towards the Tempering Fields, his determination fueling his [Tempest Steps].
The stormy landscape stretched out before him, its wild beauty a constant in the sky. The thought crossed his mind that there was probably some mystery that led it to be perpetually running wild with its lightning and thunder. He hoped that he could learn more about the dark clouds overhead crackling with energy when he advanced to the next disciple rank.
Lassim spent the next three days hunting without sleep in combination with Zaphy using their previous hunting strategy of her remembering locations of stones she found in the morning and him collecting it in the afternoon.
His cultivation level allowed him to go without rest, and he sustained himself with the food stored in his magic pouch. Each day continued to be a relentless search as he pushed himself and his spirit sense to attune to the fluctuations of lightning mana across the barren and tempered landscape.
He moved methodically, avoiding areas he visited the previous week, and digging up stones with his pickaxe and shovel. His hands were starting to become more calloused and dirty from the effort as the hours and days passed.
On the third day, Lassim finally found his 50th Thunder Source Stone. He felt a wave of relief and exhaustion wash over him. His robes were caked in dirt, and his body ached from the continuous labor. Despite his fatigue, he felt a sense of joy as he could finally go back to coming up with the idea or concept for his new technique.
He planned to do some more observation of the Spirit Ascension lecture class for more inspiration and technique examples before returning to the old target dummy.
He made his way back to the sect’s mission hall, his [Tempest Steps] carrying him faster than ever before as he felt more and more comfortable with the routes and pathing through the area around the sect.
Arriving at the hall, it was once again bustling with excessive activity, disciples and workers moving about with routine efficiency.
Lassim approached a different counter from the last time he visited with the other servants; still covered in dirt which was thankfully masked to an extent by his brown servant robes.
The worker behind the counter greeted him with a nod. "Here to submit your quota?"
"Yes," Lassim replied, placing the stones on the counter. "I’ve met the quota for this week."