Zack’s Perspective

In a similar fashion, the next three days passed by one after another.

I kept on losing one match after another without any hope of a victory in sight.

On asking Samuel for advice, he said, “From what I see, you need to increase your stamina first. You get tired too easily. For that, I’d go with stuff like running and pushups. It’s rather easy to do, I’d say. Although you can try swimming in the lake as well, I wouldn’t really recommend it in case you end up drowning, you see. On that note, you can also meditate to realise Ki Arts and get a passive boost from it, maybe? Never mind that. I don’t think there’s enough time for that.”

Next would be your reaction time. You aren’t able to react in time and thus are easy to catch off-guard. Hehe. For that hmm, you can try throwing things up in the air and catching them. Or make one of those wooden contraptions with flying logs attached to thread and dodge them. Well, that’s about it I can help with. Rest, you’d have to figure out on your own about that.”

Lastly, your fighting style is… rather bland.”

“Bland?” I asked.

He replied, “It’s just that your moves are easy to see through and take measures against. Spice them up with stuff like feints and follow-ups to make them more… complicated? hard-to-read? I don’t know the word for it but I hope you get what I mean, haha. Honestly, giving advice is hard. I wonder how Mom does it so easily… Yeah! I can ask Mom to come and advise you.”

He did mention something about Aunt being good at battle and her being a part of the army and stuff. So yeah, maybe she can help me. Though, would it be too troublesome?

I hesitated for a moment before nodding resolutely.

There is no time for consideration. Time is running out fast. And if she can train Samuel to be this strong, I don’t doubt that she can help me out as well,

While thinking that to myself, I inwardly felt guilty for disturbing her.

However, my rational side made me push it aside for now because of the more ‘pressing’ matter at hand.

Thus, following Samuel’s advice, I added running, pushups, and squats to my daily routine.

After a set of squats and two of those for pushups, we spent a good part of half-an-hour running without a single break.

After the run, with a stable breath, Samuel said, “So, how does it feel? Refreshed?”

I nodded in agreement, “Mhmm.”

“See, told you running is good. It feels even better than shouting.”

Finishing his words, Samuel began laughing, causing me to break out into a laugh as well. Along with the sweat sliding down my skin, I felt the stress over the past few days melting away as I felt light on my feet.

However, in the next moment, my feet gave out as my behind made an intimate contact with the ground.

A groan escaped my mouth. Samuel’s laughter began echoing even louder, rubbing salt into the wound.

So it wasn’t my legs feeling lighter, it was that they were numb. Well, I suppose that’s what happens when you’re running this hard for the first time. Still, I’m amazed I could keep up for this long.

“So, you sure are feeling better after a run, huh? How about it, up for a race back?”

“A race? It will be a lot like me crawling after you and you slowing down occasionally to let me catch up.”

Finishing, I couldn’t help but chuckle wryly inwardly.

After a while, I stood back up, walking back to the cottage.

Back at the cottage, I sat down in the study, my eyes looking around at the relatively empty bookshelf.

Okay, so there’s ‘Fundamentals of Magic’, ‘Basic Magic Theory’ and ‘Basic Ki Utilisation’. Also, ‘Grimoire that Even a Goblin Can Understand’ what a good name. ‘Basic Magic Spells’, ‘Basics of Ki Channelling’ , ‘Methods of Aura Utilisation’ as well as > are also there, hmm.

My hand reached out before pulling the Book by the name of ‘Basics of Ki Channelling’.

‘Ki — one of the energies which originates from the body, and for the body. Unlike Arcana, Ki inherently is unattributed, and inherently repels Arcana to a degree. Because of the nature of the energy, almost everyone can acquire the ability to use it by the time they reach the age of coming, if not earlier.’

‘For Mages, Ki is a necessary ingredient to progress further as Ki allows the Mage to better bind the Arcana into a core because of the inherent repulsive properties, forcing Arcana together within the body while also reducing the effect of burden placed by the Cores.'

‘According to the various real-life experiences of various practitioners, Ki is even speculated to affect one’s lifespan, allowing them to live longer than usual.’

‘Use of Ki for enhancing the various aspects of the body as well as to reinforce the objects in contact is known as Ki Arts. It is said that after a certain point of progress in Ki Arts, one can even regrow severed limbs and gain immunity from various common and uncommon illnesses and poisons.’

‘In order to utilise Ki, it is first sensed within the body, similar to how arcana is sensed in surroundings, and is then guided to flow along the various pathways present within the body known as Ki Channels. Afterwards, Ki is expended through the various Ki Nuclei scattered across the body.’

‘Ki channels are the specified paths within the body through which Ki flows. The regular flow of Ki along the pathways can create and expand them, akin to excavating a mine.’

‘A Ki Nuclei is a region with a relatively high Ki density inside the various Ki Channels throughout the body. Through the use of these Ki Nuclei, Ki is expended to produce the various effects. They usually number anywhere between a hundred to a few thousands, the more usually being the better.’

‘Ki is utilised by dispensing it through the Ki Nuclei in a particular manner to generate the associated effect. The more Ki we utilise, the denser the Ki becomes. Thus, as one proceeds further in Ki Arts, the more the attraction between Ki present within the body increases, resulting in Ki becomes denser, ultimately collapsing at a single point termed as a solitary Ki Nucleus or Ki Core, showing an uncanny resemblance to an Arcana core, with a distinct lack of the rings.’

‘The judge for one’s attainment in Ki Arts is the Ki’s density as well as associated inherent properties. Further one proceeds, the harder it becomes to achieve the next level.’

Flipping through the pages, I reached the exact location where the way to meditate for quickening the awakening of Ki was mentioned.

After finishing reading through, I closed my eyes, focusing according to the information provided.