13 What about the hard training? (1/2)

”Every calamity can turn into a chance. In adversity, like in every single particle of the world, good and bad coexist. Absolute evil does not exist, as does not exists absolute good. Evil has always tempered the heart of the strong and shattered that of the weak. Heroes are born in troublesome times and from extreme evils, never from a comfortable life.”

Fragment from an ancient volume stored at the Library of Linendouce.

”What the fuck…” swore Helial. He had a very bad feeling. Since he had gotten that Longsword, things had gone for the worse. He was very worried. Was that going to be another disaster?

He looked carefully at the weapon. It really seemed it had sunk a couple of inches into the grass.

”What's happening?” wondered Helial. ”This Longsword must weight 4 or 5 pounds at most… why did it sunk so low? I hope it didn't…”

Helial shivered. A weapon could not gain weight of its own will! He sighed, getting ready to lift the sword from the ground. He could have tried to use Mana Scan on the weapon, but he was afraid about it backfiring. He had already witnessed how little the Longsword liked invasive scans. The only thing he could do was checking how heavy it had become.

He grasped the hilt tightly and pulled.

NGHHHHH

He barely managed to lift it before sprawling face down on the ground, Longsword and all.

SHIT, he thought. Now it must have weighed approximately a hundred pounds. It wouldn't be a problem if he could rely on his old Stats. But now his strength was twenty times less what it used to be and he could lift 20 pounds at most. Even lifting the boulder he had to move in front of the cave to hide himself and Lumia had been a great effort, and that thing must have weighed 30 pounds.

Unable to store Curse of the Demon in the Inventory.

Great.

Now he couldn't store it in the Inventory. He couldn't carry it. Now what? Should he leave it there? He couldn't. That damn Longsword had to be examined by an expert in Curses.

Helial had fallen flat on his ass again. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He tried to lift the Longsword again, but with little enthusiasm. Even so, it was a huge effort and his knuckles were all white. The weapon hadn't left the ground, only the hilt had been lifted by a couple of inches. That small movement was taking much more energy that it should have.

If we go on like this, this big pile of black shit will get me killed.

Helial was frustrated. He was already a couple of miles away from the cave where Lumia was waiting for him. How could he take the Longsword back? It was too heavy, he couldn't move as swiftly as before and, more importantly, he couldn't leave the weapon there, because the Goblin would have taken it for use and used it to their own advantage. After all, a hundred pounds were no big deal for a normal person, let alone for a Goblin.

Helial was now kneeling, his hands gripping the hilt of the sword even more tightly, so much that they had turned completely white. A large vein was pulsing visibly in Helial's neck, while his eyes shone with an insane glow. He stood up without letting go of the hilt. He couldn't let go. Most of it was still lying on the ground. Helial bent the knees, trying to stabilize himself. He had no intention of falling flat on his ass again.

He inhaled deeply. With his eyes closed, he started to absorb Mana from his surroundings, using his Breathing Technique. This helped him to relax.

As the Mana Energy entered his Meridians and flowed until his Seed, he started feeling part of the world surrounding him.

***

A couple of years earlier

”Please Master, hurry up. I must go back to the village, I have stuff to do”, grumbled Helial, complaining about the talkativeness of Vidio.

Since he had arrived there, the man found solace in the memories of his past life in the luxury of the capital. He used to associate with the nobilities and the most beautiful ladies in town. In his youth, he had been an exceptional student, despite his character. No one thought that a lustful womanizer like him could actually be a great warrior. In fact, Vidio had fought very rarely on a real battle ground and up until now, he had never took part in a full-scale war.

Aside from some conflicts against humanoid creatures, the Nation of Fiercelake had established a strong predominance on his territories and had never had problems in managing them. The warring period was a thing of the past and they hadn't seen a real war in centuries. Everyone was at peace.

Maybe that was what prevented Vidio from going beyond the Second Phase. Technically speaking, reaching the Second Phase at 20 years of age was a great achievement that only really talented practitioners could obtain. But after that, Vidio had not made any further progress. He had never felt the need to become stronger.

At 25 years old he had become Master of the Congregation. He was First Degree Master. It was not a very prestigious position, but becoming Master at such a young age was not that easy. Actually, he had been the youngest Master in the history of the Nation of Fiercelake. He had a bright future ahead. Second Phase at 20 and Master at 25, such a genius could only be expected to achieve great things. Nevertheless, Vidio had been stuck halfway through the Second Phase for more than 20 years. And for more than 10 years he had been stuckin Floralivory.

Talent without ambition is like a royal eagle with no wings.

Most of the First Degree Masters in the Nation of Fiercelake were around thirty years old.

Vidio had become friends with two very powerful Third Degree Masters. To become Third Degree Master one had to be at least in the Fourth Phase, so it could be easily understood how difficult it was to reach such a level. Practitioners in the Fourth Phase were all leading figures in society and even though they were not the most important people in the Nation, they were also not to be underestimated. Besides, two people in the Forth Phase, who also were Second Degree Masters, must be out of the ordinary.

In the course of many years, Vidio had gained a vast knowledge on Mana Skills.

”Alright, alright. Listen boy, let's finish this lesson quickly. I was explaining to you the various uses of Mana. Mana is mainly used to power the Skills that we're able to develop through our Meridians. As I've already explained last time, you can give Mana different characteristics by flowing it through specific Meridians: you can make it violent or mellow, you can create attraction or repulsion force fields. Once Mana acquires different characteristics inside your Meridians, you can use it in the outside world, through movements, gestures and hand seals. You can even use it to create Spells and Magic, but the Mana Congregation is more interested in Skills that directly exploit Mana Energy, without any need for spells”, explained Vidio, with plenty of details.