Chapter 45 (2/2)
Stats:
Str 61ss
Agi 56(41+15)s
Con 45s
Int 37a
Mag 33b
Potential (217+15/487)
Special Note:
Has inherited the Blessing of the Sage, Cry of the Vast Storm.
Has formed a powerful bond of trust with the user.
Has consumed an elixir.
His stats had increased overall, but there was a part that was subtly changed. It was the growth potential of magic power. Although it only ended at changing from C to B, but better than nothing. His potential had slightly increased as well. By 2.
'How extraordinary.'
But I was amazed. Etaqua's potential was already at 485, a tremendously high range. It virtually meant that there was no more room to grow. Even in this place, apart from 'Wolcheon' who was one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals, there was none who possessed higher potential than Etaqua. It went without saying that the higher the stat, the harder it was to increase. And yet at 485, almost near the peak, a whole 2 increased. None of the miracle elixirs I had consumed in the past had ever caused a change of that level. It meant that if an individual with low potential had eaten it, about 10~20 should have risen.
“First, eat.”
I pa.s.sed over a few large plates of food. They were already in the room thanks to having asked the white monkeys earlier. Of course, what could be called food here were mostly things like gra.s.s, fruits and extremely small amounts of meat. The food was cooked as little as possible thus retaining natural flavors, which was a plus, but it wasn't able to completely fill Etaqua's stomach.
Etaqua, having emptied the plates in moments, smacked his lips with regret. He was 2m tall when I first saw him, but now he almost reached 3m. He had grown 1m during this time. It would become impossible to hide him if he continued to grow at this rate.
“You need to eat a little less.”
Whine.
Etaqua's tail sagged. Well I admit it is a bit too much to chide him over food. After hiding Etaqua once again, I called for the white monkeys and asked for more food. The monkey whites were wide-eyed at my abnormal appet.i.te. Following that, it was only after the gnoll warriors had eaten as well that I could move on to the next stage.
'I have to release mana and then detonate it.'
I brought over a huge basin of water, and then a.s.sumed the horse stance. With my legs spread wide out, I thrusted a fist toward the water in the basin.
Splas.h.!.+
The water overflowed. The water mustn't overflow in order to make the Hundred-step Ghost Fist possible. Only when the water is still and the basin is punctured will the starting point of the Hundred-step Ghost Fist be a success.
'How to puncture the basin by striking the water?'
The instant I strike the water, it is inevitable that the repelling force causes the water to heavily rise. It was impossible to only puncture the basin's bottom part by quietly pouring in mana. No matter how I thrust my fist, over and over, the result was the same. In mere moments, the surrounding was drenched in water.
Knng?
Etaqua, who was playing with the gnoll warriors and pretending to eat them, stared at me attentively. No doubt he wondered, 'what is up with the guy', seeing as how I spent a quarter of the day striking at water.
“You want to try as well?”
Nod nod!
Etaqua nodded his head. When I handed over the basin full of water to him, Etaqua whipped down his tail.
Splas.h.!.+
Naturally, water overflowed.
“The water mustn't overflow. You have to compress mana and puncture the bottom of the basin.”
Splas.h.!.+ Splas.h.!.+
Truly, a watery disaster. Etaqua tilted his head in confusion. Looks like my troubles were conveyed to him. He then erected his tail in a straight line, pointed it toward the basin and plunged it in just like that, making a loud 'cras.h.!.+' noise and causing a vortex in the water. At the same time, the bottom of the basin was punctured.
“…Although that's not quite it, similar.”
Etaqua held his head high, as if asking for more praise. Holding up the punctured basin, I stared blankly.
'A single point. Moving the center of gravity and in that very instant before striking, like a loaded spring…the answer lay in rotation, not detonation.'
It was only for a moment, but the mana which Etaqua concentrated in his tail had rotated crazily. That's where the answer lay. Circulation. It turns out that the Hundred-step Ghost Fist was a product of circulation as well. Though it did bother me that the question which had been troubling me over the past few days was resolved in an instant by Etaqua, it wasn't a bad thing.
“Etaqua.”
Krrng?
The rascal tilted his head. I became convinced. There were plenty more times where teaching another and learning with certainty was helpful rather than learning and acting alone. What's more, together with Etaqua, I would be able to more easily grasp the parts which I overlooked or don't know about. Lightly smiling, I opened my mouth to say,
“Let's learn it together. Hundred-step Ghost Fist.”
For three days straight I went to the sparring hall.
“Here again.”
“No doubt he'll faint and be carried out again.”
“Doesn't he get sick of it?”
I had challenged three times, and fainted at three times so I had to be carried off to the treatment room. Rank 3 white monkey…a monkey with a slightly smaller size than me was cackling with mocking laughter. I quietly a.s.sumed a stance.
Gibber. Screech!
The white monkey then began moving. It leaped about 5m into the air, and hid its body using the sunlight. This was a method of attacking in the moment when the opponent closed or squinted their eyes. I had already experienced this numerous times. I altogether closed my eyes, and then gathering everything into a single point, I launched a fist. The white monkey flapped the wings on its back and dodged the fist, but the Hundred-step Ghost Fist wasn't a 'striking' technique in the first place. The Hundred-step Ghost Fist was a technique which pulverized an opponent a hundred steps distance away without even touching.
Thud!
A short and heavy sound. Simultaneously, the white monkey tumbled about the ground.
Gibber! Gibgib! Screech!
The rank 3 white monkey let out groans of pain. Seeing that, I calmly nodded my head.
'It worked.'
Only after a four long days did I learn the basics of the Hundred-step Ghost Fist.
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