Chapter 420 - Intial Progress
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Shin spent the next two days training the same task that was given to him.
He was going to wake up before the sun rose. Then he immediately did some foundation training before climbing down the mountain to take some water at the river. And given that he already went on the same path on the first day, he immediately became familiar with the road. Due to that, filling the wooden barrel became too easy for him.
With that, he got a lot of free time before the sun could even rise. But he didn't take that time to rest. Instead, he immediately proceeded at the next training plan without wasting much of his time.
During the span of two days, Shin was now able to hold himself for more than an hour when he was doing his training with the wooden blocks. He failed to last more than that only because he kept on challenging himself. Every time he reached the ten-minute mark, he was always going to speed up the pace of his training; and the speed would always be twice of the previous pace.
For the record, the longest time that he achieved was 1 hour and 48 minutes. This achievement could already be considered as an amazing feat, but Shin was quite greedy and not satisfied with it. What he wanted was to reach the level where he could stop whenever he wanted to.
Regardless, Shin was able to get a lot of benefits already. He already got rid of his battle habits with just two days of doing this training routine. At the same time, he also became conscious with every move that he was making.
He was not relying on his instincts anymore. And even if he was still using it to respond with every movement of the wooden blocks, he was still using his mind to find the most optimal course of action. Meaning, he was able to use both of his 'mind' and 'body' at the same time. Though, maintaining this state was putting quite a tool on him which was one of the reasons why he couldn't hold himself at doing this special training for long.
Meanwhile, his Mentalism Training was not lagging behind either. In fact, his achievements in this discipline were much greater compared to his Martial-Arts Training, which also surprised even himself.
When noon arrived, Shin was going to take his lunch briefly before immediately going down the mountain for another time. And after arriving at the usual spot, he immediately went to proceed at breaking the Mentalism Formation that had been set up on the rock boulder.
On the first day, he was able to break almost half of the runes set up on the surface rock boulder. At the same time, he was also able to memorize each rune – and alongside it, he also managed to draw each of them in the air just like what he did with the first rune.
As more time passed, Shin became more familiar with this method; and the more runes he understood, the easier for him to break down the preceding runes.
But that was not the only thing that Shin got. Because he also started to see the purpose and usage of each rune every time he successfully deciphers them.
During this time, Shin also understood the other purpose of this training. Not only it taught him about the Mentalism Runes, but it also helped him to further understand each of the Mentalism Techniques that he learned so far.
Given that each rune needed a particular technique to break them, Shin attained a whole new understanding with each of his Mentalism Techniques. And due to that, using them became much easier for him.
At the same time, Shin also discovered that doing this kind of training also benefited his control over his Mental Energy. The more Mentalism Runes he learned, the easier for him to manipulate his Mental Energy while preparing for his Mentalism Techniques.
It was like learning a new rune gave him more options at using them. And the more options he had, the easier for him to see the most practical way to use each of his Mentalism Techniques.
Shin managed to complete all of the runes at the latter part of the second day. And that news gave quite a blow on David's confidence. He was quite proud about his own accomplishments regarding the Mentalism Discipline – and his achievement of learning all of the Mentalism Runes within a single day could already be considered as the best record so far. But Shin just surpassed him on that.
Shin did his Mentalism Training during noon until dusk at most, which was practically a quarter of the day. And since he completed the task given to him on the second day, which meant that he only spent half a day learning all of the Mentalism Runes.
So, technically, Shin actually broke David's record. And as if rubbing some salt on his wound, Shin was also able to perfectly draw each of the runes in the air at the same time.
David only did the same feat on the next day after he memorized all of the Mentalism Runes, but it only took Shin half a day to do both.
And to further hit him with an even harder blow, the little girl beside him was even doing a similar feat.
Laura still didn't have any Mental Energy since she still hadn't undergone her 'meditation awakening'.
But her 'achievements' were not way less than Shin – she also memorized all of the runes just like Shin and she did it on the same day when Grandmaster Benn told her about it. Meaning, she also completed the course within a day.
What's more, she was also able to perfectly draw them on paper. So, she also surpassed David's record technically.
"What's with these two? Especially with this girl. Is she a reincarnation of an expert from the old era, just like those novel books? Her growth rate makes no sense.
" muttered David to himself while looking at Laura who seemed to be enjoying what she was doing.
She was currently in the middle of drawing something on her paper. And with a closer look, David could tell that she was now starting to learn how to draw a real 'Rune Sequence' without her knowing.
Seeing that, David could only sigh helplessly while shaking his head with a bitter smile on his face.
Bang!
Then he heard a loud sound coming from a distance. Looking at it, he saw Shin 'place' the huge rock boulder on the ground.
"He really did it this time,
" muttered David before walking towards Shin.
Meanwhile, Shin was currently wearing a satisfied smile on his face. Breaking the formation on set up on the rock boulder was one thing, but bringing it on top of the mountain was another matter.
Given the size of the boulder, it was pretty much impossible for Shin to push it up with his Mental Energy alone. No matter how hard he was going to try, that boulder would not move even if he exhausted all of the Mental Energy that he had.
Fortunately, he already learned about Mentalism Runes.
What he did was to draw some runes on the surface of the rock boulder which could make it a little lighter. At the same time, he also drew some strengthening runes on his body, activating some basic Mentalism Enhancement Techniques.
Then Shin pushed the rock boulder using his Mental Energy. He refused to touch it since he wanted to finish this task without the help of his physical strength. He also refused to use any attacking method since he was thinking it was another form of 'physical strength'. Instead, he used his utility techniques to push that boulder slowly but surely.
He first casted a barrier around him, using a particular technique under the 'Heavenly Turtle Techniques'. Then he reinforced the barrier using an enhancement technique of the 'Immortal Phoenix Method'.
After that, he casted a strengthening technique from the 'Holy Dragon Method' on his body before using a movement technique of the 'Saint Tiger Method'.
With all of those, Shin pushed the rock boulder by colliding it with the barrier that he had set up. The process might be slow and hard but Shin made sure that me was moving steadily. And when he reached the mountaintop, the accumulated stress on his body finally kicked in and made him fall on the ground, exhausted.
Regardless, Shin was still wearing his satisfied smile on his face while looking at the sky.
"D*mn! That sure is exhausting, but I still can't help myself but smile.
"
Then David finally arrived and stood on the side while looking at him.
"That is because you can clearly see the rate of your growth.
"
Hearing that, Shin nodded his head slightly and continued to stare at the sky.
David shook his head when he saw that. But after a moment of silence, he suddenly said.
"Look for me once you are done resting, there is something I want to tell you.
"
Then he shook his head for another time when he saw Shin starting closing his eyes. After that, he lifted Shin from the ground using his Metal Energy before bringing him into the cottage.
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