Chapter 9 – Moving On

“It’s finally time to practice the first movement!” I was excited to the brim and I couldn’t help having a big grin on my face. [Just make sure to practice diligently in increasing your mana capacity.] The book reminded me as it kept nagging about my mana capacity.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure to practice a lot!” Also, according to the information, there are different materials that could help my mana capacity increase. But all of which seem to be very rare and sound very expensive, such as a “Crystal Mana Flower.”

Lucan was as excited as he can be because of the fact that he can actually practice the skills someone would receive from the Mana Vitality Technique. Technically, it’s not magic, but a skill that requires mana in order to execute it. The name and description of the skill are as follows:

[First Movement, Initial Stage: ‘Vitality State’]

[Description: Allows mana to circulate within the body in order for the body to temporarily become immune to the feeling of exhaustion, pain, physical strain, and mental strain by substituting mana as the energy source for the body. Also, it gives an invigorating feeling to the user.]

[Duration: As long as the user still has mana.]

“Alright! It’s time to test this out!” I closed my eyes and focused within myself… I began to sparingly circulate my mana to my entire body and suddenly, I felt energized as if I could run two whole marathons without drinking any water at all. “This feels amazing! But how is this going to help me?” I looked towards the book, since the book is already like my master teaching me how to become a great disciple.

[The Mana Vitality Technique is a triangle-cultivation technique. Meaning: It could help you greatly whether you’re on the Path of Scholar, Knight, or even Magus because not feeling any form of physical or mental exhaustion is a great way to train. Put simply, this technique allows you to train endlessly if you have enough mana.] Then I realized it, it seems that I still have to work very hard for the monstrous strength equivalent to that of the “Greatest King” or the “Deadliest Monster.”

“Well… that was anti-climactic… Training montage it is!” I changed to some comfortable clothes that I can exercise with and headed outside to do some physical activities. I still have to go back home before sundown, thus I have to be swift in this intense training session.

Lucan then began to train his body to the limit. After warming up, instead of simply jogging, he sprinted to the max for a solid hour. Even though he was drenched in sweat, he wasn’t tired. Even if his breath and heart rate were at the fastest pace it could normally be, he was fine. No room for pain and no room for weakness, he kept going. On a nearby field, he did the simplest of exercises, but in a very abnormally rate and amount. For the 2nd hour of exercising, he was able to do different exercises, such as push-ups, crunches, sit-ups, burpees and squats. The only difference from a normal person doing it is the amount and speed. He was able to do a lot of repetitions for each exercise with only 1 hour.

“That was amazing! I could never have done that on Earth! I was literally an average person on Earth. I mean… I didn’t even go to gyms on Earth.” I was happy with my productive results and I want to keep up this pace as my daily routine. I’ll only increase the amount of my exercise little by little so that my body can have a chance to adjust.

[It’s great that you’re happy about what you can do with that skill. But I hope that you wouldn’t regret it after you run out of mana. I for one, know that your body will suffer greatly from all the exercises that you have done today.] The book really made a point. As I browsed to Lucan’s past memories, he was apparently someone who didn’t exercise a lot and hated cultivating the body at the same time, so that he wouldn’t become a blacksmith. I wonder how much pain I’ll feel after the skill wears off.

“I’ll just have to endure the pain then. But for now, I have to get home.” I walked on the way home and I avoided as much people as possible because I smelled like someone who doesn’t even know what a “bath” is. People also avoided me while I was going home and some even covered their noses because of my stench.

As I reached my house, I noticed that no one was home yet and my mother was still preparing dinner for us. I freshened up and ate with the whole family. They had really interesting things to share during dinner time. My elder sister, Arisa V. Ernest, said that her benefactors, which provided with the funds for her quality education, were going to provide much more money for this month in order for her to make some sample dresses. As for my brother, Linton Decker V. Ernest, he was apparently going to be promoted to a Senior Knight in the army. Everyone was happy and felt comfortable talking to each other. I was silent the whole time, but I had a face that showed interest as my siblings talked about their good news. Then, my father, Aric R. Ernest, suddenly asked me, “Little Lucan, my mother told me that you were cultivating secretly… Does that mean you’re now willing to become my apprentice?”

Honestly, learning blacksmithing seems like a pretty good deal to me and my mentor will be family member too. This way, it’s much safer and I could learn a lot. “I’m sorry Lucan of the past, but I have to bend your former will in order to gain benefits. I’m sincerely thankful for this body you have left for me.” I thought to myself as I could no longer show what the past Lucan’s resolve and will was trying to show.

“I won’t become your apprentice father. I don’t want to have a certification on blacksmithing. But I will come along to your forge and learn as many thing as I can about blacksmithing after I graduate. I hope that this will be enough…” Even if they are not my family, I didn’t want to disappoint them and sooner or later, I’ll have to move out and explore the world!

My father stood up from his chair, went close to me, looked me in my eyes, and hugged me while saying, “Thanks for giving this old man a chance to pass his skills onto you my boy…”

*sob sob sob* Unexpectedly, I started to cry and thought to myself, “When was the last actual time that I felt the warmth of a father’s hug?”

~ End ~