Path to Transcendence

The following week passed quickly. With how much of Julius’s time was focused on the new exercises, he barely found the time to enjoy the time off. Almost every walking moment of his day was spent either practicing these exercises or training with Cain.
Considering how the training with Cain was going, he might have preferred the self-mutilation exercises.
Cain was being extra brutal than usual. Apparently, he had been upset at how weak Julius’s blows were when he was just using kinetic energy. To Cain’s credit, Julius was well aware that his output in kinetic energy was lagging behind his other skills, especially considering how much kinetic energy he was able to use at once.
For example, he often relied on [Void Strike] when his kinetic energy couldn’t cut it. He didn’t really have many other options other than shoving a shit load of kinetic energy into his fist. That was Cain’s first objective for Julius to learn.
Cain forced Julius to attack him for hours upon hours without any breaks, constantly. Thankfully, Julius didn’t have to worry about hurting the big man. Cain was sturdier than a steel mountain, and Julius broke his fist more than a few times trying to punch a hole through his master’s sternum.
Cain wouldn’t even give Julius that much advice. According to him, Julius needed to learn on his own because of how many other abilities he had at his disposal. While Cain had a kinetic affinity as well, it didn’t mean his techniques were the most suited to Julius.
Julius was trying a lot of things, and he wouldn’t admit it, but having someone that sturdy and not having to worry about hurting them was nice. He could feel free to go all out against Cain.
The more he continued this training, the more he began to realize that his Force Concept wasn’t as powerful or suited to him as he thought it was. It was indeed powerful. There was no doubt about that. However, the way it interacted with Julius’s kinetic energy wasn’t what he wanted or really needed.
If he needed to penetrate someone’s defenses, [Void Strike] was a better option on all fronts. Resonating Force was like a more watered-down version of [Void Strike]. The main difference was that when he hit an opponent with [Void Strike], it went straight through their defenses like they weren't even there.
As for Resonating Force, there would be an echo effect that would deliver several more weak blows. It would resonate his blows so that they would add up to a stronger overall strike. However, he realized that wasn’t what he needed.
Cain did the same and was trying to have Julius shift the focus to his Concept. Much like he had done with his Sharpness Concept, he needed to evolve his Force Concept. Of course, this was much easier said than done.
Despite Cain poking fun at Julius’s use of [Void Strike], he didn’t want Julius to stop using it. But he didn’t like how much Julius relied on it instead of a simple, but powerful strike with pure kinetic energy.
He wanted Julius to have a powerful strike with kinetic energy so that when he used [Void Strike], it would fuse into an exponentially stronger attack. No more adding smaller stacks of weaker resonating blows, but an overwhelming strike that destroyed anything in front of him.
However, when they weren’t working on this, Cain was helping Julius prepare for his [Kinetic Energy Refinement] evolution. Julius had already gotten the notification that he had leveled up to level 20. But Cain didn’t want him to open it. He was very insistent on that part.
He wanted Julius to acquire a particular skill, or at least a variant of it.
He wasn’t going to tell him what the skill was either. Apparently, Cain didn’t want Julius to know and somehow influence the process. Julius pestered Cain, but the man stayed stubborn and didn’t tell Julius what kind of skill he wanted him to get.
That was how Julius spent his week.
However, his friends weren’t idle either. They all earned something from the realm. All of them got something out of it. They had been in isolation for the past week.
Edgar had gotten some kind of volcanic natural treasure. From what Julius had learned, the treasure would likely help Edgar prepare his body for Tier 4. With his dual affinities for fire and earth, the treasure would hopefully help him build a body that took advantage of these affinities.
Derek got a lightning-based treasure, which was supposed to help him earn another Concept or a unique skill. Julius didn’t really know the details, but he trusted that Derek and his family would make sure the treasure would be put to good use.
Aubrey got several nice things. First, she got that willpower treasure from the Challenge Rift. She also got a lovely little gem-like stone from the final trial. Apparently, it was quite good for her. She certainly seemed happy with it.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
All of his friends also got massive jugs of the body purifying water. He was pretty surprised by Derek’s family's reaction upon seeing it. They told him that the water was of really high quality and perfect for people preparing for Tier 4.
Lily also got a jug of water. He knew she was trying her best to improve her physique, and the water should help with that, as well as remove any impurities in her body.
“Are you ready to go again?” Cain asked him, rolling his shoulders and preparing to give Julius another “lesson”.
“Yeah, let’s go again,” Julius said with a sigh. He stood up and felt some of the life mana try to surge out of his control, but he gave it a good smack and gathered it back into his channels.
He was constantly using the exercises that the book had shown him as much as he could. He didn’t even know the exact purpose of these techniques. He knew that they had something to do with the body modifications and mana heart he was going to create when he was Tier 4.
However, they only gave him a little bit of strength. It was definitely not worth the trade-off. Firstly, it required a lot of effort to keep it under control. Secondly, it hurt like a son of a bitch.
Regardless, he still kept it up. He hated to admit it, but his control over life mana and over mana in general was already seeing massive improvements. Something about constantly trying to prevent his body from imploding from life mana helped his ability to manipulate mana. Who would have thought?
Julius walked over to their little arena, where they had been sparring. However, it was hard to call it much of an arena at this point. The entire section of the training hall was thrashed. It had more Julius-sized craters than flat ground.
Julius stood in the least destroyed area he could find. Then, before he could barely react, Cain was already in his face. A humongous fist the size of Julius’s head was already closing in.
Julius used some kinetic energy to send himself backward. He was forced to use a lot to compensate for his lack of speed, which resulted in him tearing some muscles in his legs and back. He felt some life mana flare out of control for a brief moment.
However, that was enough to destabilize, and he felt pressure building. Before it could explode, he forcibly sent it outward, trying to direct most of the force at Cain. The man raised a hand and smacked this excess energy to the side. Julius, on the other hand, lost three of his fingers because of this.
He flattened his lips. At least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. There had been more than enough times when he had done that, and instead of losing a finger or three, he lost an entire arm.
He was learning. Yipee.
He would have been happier if not for a leg slamming into his arms. He did his best to block it, but Cain was way too strong, even if he was holding back a lot. His kinetic energy siphoned the force of the blow, but it wasn’t enough, and Julius flew through the air and shattered his shoulder when it slammed into the edge of one of the craters.
His healing skill took care of the wound immediately and sent a little burst at Cain. He had learned that direct confrontation would never work on Cain. Thus, he had to fight a little more dirty.
He aimed at Cain’s feet, trying to destabilize him. The kinetic energy wasn’t enough; it never was. But Cain was forced to react to it. This gave Julius enough time to prepare his next attack. He had already gathered enough kinetic energy, but the skill required to accomplish what he was going for took time.
He had certainly gotten better at controlling kinetic energy. He wasn’t at Cain’s or Arthur’s level yet, but the time spent in the Northern Region showed results. He surrounded his hands with kinetic energy.
His hands shimmered with dense swirls of blue. Kinetic energy didn’t work like mana, but there were ways to manipulate it into a technique. Cain was kind enough to show Julius up close. It was just too bad that Cain’s idea of showing was to use it against Julius personally.
It took several broken spines and gaping holes in his chest, but he had slowly figured out how to replicate Cain’s demonstration. Or at least a cheap imitation of it.
The kinetic energy had multiple layers, each with a different purpose that fed into the other.
Cain passively observed Julius; he could have likely stopped the attack, but he wanted to see the result. And so instead of dodging Julius’s fist, he took it straight to the chest. Julius was quite proud of the strike. He felt like he managed to pull it off relatively well.
Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough, and Cain didn’t even stagger an inch. He looked at his chest, where he had been hit, and nodded at Julius.
“Not bad. You need to circulate the inner layers more rapidly, but pretty good progress.”
“Thanks!” Julius said with a smile.
“Now let’s see how your defensive abilities have been coming along,” Cain said with a grin.
Julius sagged his shoulders. Shit, he knew where this was going.
“Kinetic energy isn’t that great for defense,” Julius pointed out.
“Eh, that’s because you lack the skill,” Cain said bluntly. “And do you know how you will improve that skill?” He asked Julius.
“By getting hit again?”
“Correct! You are finally understanding.”
“Fine, let’s get this over with at least,” Julius murmured.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“I thought so. Now prepare. I’m going to go a little harder this time around,” Cain warned him.
Julius widened his eyes because all he saw was a flash of blue light. He tried to create the strongest defense he could out of kinetic energy, but it was all in vain. He could only absorb so much force.
However, he realized this, and before the influx of force broke him, he tried to throw it away from him, dispersing it in all directions.
That only helped a little bit. He still felt every rib in his chest get smashed into small pieces, and his body soared across the training hall, slamming into the far wall.
The enchantments on the room flickered from the impact, and Julius could only moan as he lay underneath five feet of stone.
However, he felt a small chuckle rise out from him. It was because he got a notification.