Chapter 982 (2/2)
What happens to a person when they realize they can simply slip into a Dungeon and immediately have the time and space to train to their way into solving any problem resolvable with time…? Randidly wondered. It was a question he didn’t really know how to answer.
Randidly’s immediate instinct was to rush toward whatever secret lay in the direction indicated by those strange arrows he found in the mounds in order to introduce an element of danger to his existence here, but he restrained himself. Instead of returning to the constant state of near-panicked reaction that Randidly had existed in for almost three years, Randidly just observed himself for a week as his training continued. Before he understood the effects, he wouldn’t act hastily.
By this point, his constant production of Aether had finally dislodged the many remnant pieces of Aether left by that beings observation. Still, Randidly didn’t slack off his production of Aether. It was extremely likely that the other being possessed a fineness of observation of Aether that Randidly couldn’t duplicate. Therefore, he continued to throw out waves of Aether to dislodge even the smallest bit remaining.
Carefully making notes of his own progress, Randidly continued to train.
In the mornings, he would use his hands to carefully refine his personal forging process. He added more pressure and heat, straining the materials before empowering them with his Ghosthound’s Touch. Then, when he was satisfied with his progress, he would attempt to expand that method to his ten thousand root forging process. There were obviously issues, but Randidly found that so many perspectives on the process helped him further think of small adjustments to make for tomorrow.
Because of that, every day was a step forward.
After that, Randidly would practice spear Skills. He would perform each of his basic Skills one hundred times without any target, letting his high-Level Skills rip through the open air. During the performance, Randidly would force his body to relax and truly experience the Skills in their entirety.
Then he would perform each Skill one thousand times, this time by simply relying on the image of each Skill for the action. Slowly but surely, his understanding and potency of his attacks climbed upward.
Then Randidly would return to the room holding his increasingly impressive store of refined ingots and practice his World Tree image. Randidly had no real proof of this, but he believed that the constant submerging in the understanding and supportive image of Yggdrasil would slowly alter the metal for the better.
In the evening Randidly would take a small break and cook himself a sumptuous meal. His Cooking Skill had only improved to 97 over the past four months after constant use, but Randidly felt rather pleased with his ability to prepare food.
Looking at his Status screen, Randidly shook his head sorrowfully. A Skill Level under 100 is enough for me… maybe I really am losing my competitive edge. Shal would eat me alive.
Once the meal was done, Randidly checked on his area of influence within the jungle. He made sure that the Riders weren’t getting into trouble and the mollusks weren’t running amok. He also scanned with Aether, looking for any sign of whatever might have placed those carefully engraved arrows.
Yet Randidly found nothing unusual.
At nights, Randidly returned to his base and worked on Engravings. Most of it was dedicated to Levelable Engravings, but Randidly also worked on his basics. He returned to the animalistic inspired Engravings that would boost a single Stat and focused on improving his ability to produce each one. After careful practice, Randidly created Engravings of that type at the tier of VII, which granted almost one hundred stats with just the Engraving.
It was a time-consuming process, but Randidly’s understanding of Engravings slowly deepened. Through the night, he worked under the emerald light of Ignition Essence and continued to explore the ancient encyclopedias he had been given on Tellus. His second time reading through them was perhaps even more inspirational than the first.
As he proceeded to learn about the study the strange, perspective based meaning of Engravings, Randidly felt doors in his mind opening. Connections that Randidly hadn’t made in the past were slowly emerging. Just like with all the battles that Randidly fought, his haphazard and frantic Engraving left him with a lot of half-learned lessons. As he gradually solidified his understanding, those unrefined benefits naturally emerged.
A week had passed since Randidly had noticed his gradual relaxation. The entire while, a portion of Randidly’s focus was occupied by monitoring himself. His great fear was that without the constant presence of a threat moving closer, Randidly’s progress would stagnate. His internal ambition would dull and stall out.
If his body grew too used to peaceful training, he wouldn’t be prepared to return to the real world, where the threat of the System was very real and very dangerous. Even the smallest stumble before the System’s test would doom the Earth. He couldn’t afford to slacken at this point in the process.
What Randidly found ultimately made him shake his head wryly. I should have expected this. It’s the mental equivalent of exercise. Too much exercise, the body’s resources cannot be replenished in time which leads to stymied growth. The exercise loses most of its benefits.
Only after a long rest, after the body restocks its resources, can more muscle be efficiently created. But of course, too much rest leads to fat.
Right now, my growth for the forging and Engraving related Skills are exploding… because that restored mental resources finally has let me make connections I had been blinded to see previously. But without the constant threats spurring me forward… progress in combat-related Skills has somewhat slowed. And that will only get worse.
Scratching his head, Randidly stood and then stretched. Just another thing I need to balance. Most people can’t overindulge in Dungeons as I can, but… I’ll have to be aware of the possibility in the future.