211 Progress (1/2)

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*Splash*

”Oooh! That hurts, you stupid waterfall!”

Raven spat some water as he stood up from his fall. His body ached, specially on his shoulders. He walked towards the shore to lay down for a bit, calming his breath and his feeling the throbbing of his muscles.

”It's been two weeks.” He sighed while his eyes were closed, ”Forget about stopping the waterfall, I can't stand beneath the damn thing for too long.”

It had been a torturous and ridiculous two weeks for Raven. Because of his stubbornness, not a day passed in this two weeks that his body didn't ache. His only breaks are eating, sleeping, or short breaks. Aside from that, he was always on the move, trying to endure the ruthless cascades of the Bloody Mary Falls.

Despite his painful task, he still endured and continued since he himself could feel the immediate benefits he received under the painful tempering of the waterfall.

Raven's body is already durable, in fact youths at his age couldn't possibly compare to him, the only one who comes close were of course, Paul or Mark. Nevertheless, Raven knew that there are still room for improvements, and this is precisely what he was looking for.

Everyday, he could feel his body getting tougher. His 1st Metamorphosis didn't dissolve the sheer amount of energy he used, some of it were still trapped on the corners of his body and through this task, the remaining energies were dissolved and converted into his Chaos Force, which eventually then used to properly nourish his body.

Raven also found out the meaning behind the task he was given.

When he fought the Wood Turtle Golem to assess his potential, he hadn't have the time to properly get adjusted to his new found strength. This resulted on his application of force to be extremely messy. His control over his own strength went awry after the transformation.

The Archaic Thousand Arms Hammer became extremely light for him to handle, he remembered wielding it like a stick. In normal cases, this should be a boon but once again, his control went awry so he couldn't properly use it to his liking. This made him extremely gloomy inside, but the task that was given to him came at just the right moment. He decided to take this opportunity to familiarize himself to his own strength once again.

Raven rested for five minutes before flipping up and raring to again.

He took a deep breath in and hopped to the rocks once again, slowly approaching the roaring waterfall. He already stopped forming a barrier around him, he found out that no matter how much he tried, it will only shatter nonetheless. What's more is that it uses up his Chaos Force which tires him faster so he stopped even trying and decided to face the full pressure of the waterfall using his body alone.

He eventually reached the flat stone platform that was erected directly underneath the waterfall. The ruthless water pressure fell on his body which felt incredibly painful. He gnashed his teeth, forcing himself to remain steady and calm. He chanted the profound mnemonics of the Book of Chaos which agitated the Chaos Force inside of him into action.

His muscles relaxed, it fell into a rhythmic pulsation to resist the pressure of the waterfall. Slowly but surely, his back straightened as he passively endured the ruthless volume of water falling on him. His breathing gradually turned deeper and relaxed while he remained aware of the situation around him.

His body radiated a dark golden glow under the waterfall. If one looked closely, his muscles rose and fell into rhythm, similar to how one breathes. The pressure of the waterfall flowed through his body evenly in waves, they tempered each corners of his body, making him tougher and stronger.

Raven stood like this for an hour before adjusting his position. From standing up, he sat down in a meditative position and continued circulating the Book of Chaos. This way, he managed to last for at least two hours before metal fatigue caught up to him, causing him to lose concentration and be expelled from the stone platform once again.

Just like before, he went ashore and rested for a while before coming back.

***

This boring and repetitive training continued for another two weeks until one day, Raven became strong enough to withstand the pressure of the bloody red waterfall. He had been able stand beneath the waterfall for a whole day, treating it like it was just a drizzle of water.

Even he himself was surprised by his progress. Initially, he thought that he would be able to reach this state after a month and half or two, but unexpectedly it only took him a month.

Raven wasted no time and took out his hammer to officially begin his assault under the waterfall. Upon doing this though, he nearly stumbled from his place. After regaining his balance, he frowned and looked at the hammer on his hands.