Chapter 397: The true training begins

Arthur who was swinging his dagger upwards against the waterfall was now slowly understanding how to release his mana outward. Yet despite feeling a tiny bit of joy about it, he couldn't celebrate as he was still being continuously flooded by the waterfall. It has been a few hours since the beginning of his training and he was finally feeling the accumulated fatigue.

His master Ren might've healed his wounds, but the energy that was drained wasn't returning and at this moment he was truly exhausted. He could feel his body creaking from the stress of his movements. He was losing steam and it was right when he was nearly able to cut the waterfall in half.

'Am I going to fail just like that?... No, I won't fail, never again!' Arthur started to think harder to find a solution to his current problem.

'What did master say I need to do? Oh right, he said that I needed to make my mana burst outward and cut the waterfall in half. He never did specify how I should cut the waterfall. I'm already able to make my mana burst outward so all I need to do now is cut the waterfall in half.'

Arthur's eyes were blazing with intense passion. Ren noticed the shift in Arthur's stance as he squatted deeper than normal. Arthur enveloped his daggers with a small amount of mana.

'That won't be enough to cut the waterfall, so what is this kid planning?' Ren curiously watched what his young disciple was about to do. After successfully enveloping his daggers with mana, Arthur concentrated the flow of his mana onto his legs. When Ren saw what Arthur did, he could finally guess what the kid was trying to do.

'Heh, this kid is always showing me something beyond what I thought he could manage. Still, if he only focused his mana onto his legs he's in for a world of hurt. Well, I guess experiencing it first hand is better than me just telling him about it.' Ren could already see the outcome of what Arthur was planning to do.

Once Arthur was done gathering enough mana into his legs he jumped up against the waterfall. As he was jumping upward he held his daggers and sliced the waterfall while his whole body was darting upward.

As he was going against the waterfall, Arthur could feel his body crying in pain. His arms were nearly breaking from the speed of his jump and the force of the waterfall, still, he held on and continued to slice the waterfall with a burst of his mana. At the end of it, he was able to successfully slice the waterfall in half. It was for a brief moment but he was sure that he had succeeded.

Arthur smiled as he completed his task, even though his whole body was aching and he was currently falling headfirst to the ground he was glad that he had succeeded. It was at that moment someone had caught him mid-air.

"That was reckless my young disciple, but nonetheless it was impressive. For now, I will allow you to sleep for an hour. So rest and get ready for the next part of the training."

"Thank you, master." After responding to Ren, Arthur closed his eyes and started sleeping. Ren was shocked to see the quick transition, Arthur didn't even hesitate as he suddenly slept.

'Truly what is with this kid? Even most adults don't have this kind of peace of mind, and his determination is abnormal. Is it possible that after that incident with the Primordial Demon, this kid gained the potential to be someone that breaks the shackles of fate? Could it be that he can really be like the original incarnation and break free? Now I'm really excited to see what this kid can do once he's properly trained.'

Ren couldn't stop grinning as he healed Arthur's wounds and laid him down. Ren then looked at the twenty and sighed. 'Even though their potential isn't anywhere near Arthur's, I at least thought that they had similar levels of determination, but these guys are lacking quite a bit.'

The twenty who were swinging their swords were already sweating heavily and panting. At around the count of two hundred, their arms were like bricks and were getting too heavy to carry.

Some of them were slowing down as they gritted their teeth to lift up their arms. The others were already on the floor trying to rest for a second. On the other hand, the first five who started earlier were swinging their swords at a faster pace as they were nearing the count of five hundred. It would seem that they were using the remaining energy they had to burst through and finish.

'So those five were a little bit above the rest... Still, the others seem to be sorely lacking, this might take longer than I thought.' Ren then stood in front of the twenty and made an announcement.

"Those who are resting now will need to restart their count from one. As for those that finish on their first try, they can have a twenty-minute break, as for the first ten that finish they can rest for half an hour."

When the twenty heard Ren's announcement they had different reactions. The first five felt even more motivated as they swung their swords even faster than before. Despite their shoulder and arms aching they continued to swing the sword frantically. Those that were near the first five felt as motivated and started to compete with the others as to who will be part of the top ten. On the other hand, those that were resting were regretting their decision to stop. Still, now that they were resting they decided to use this time to rest for a longer time. As if he was able to read their minds, Ren spoke.

"Oh, I forgot to mention those that stop swinging their swords for about three minutes will be punished. If you're a repeat offender then there is no longer any need for the three minutes rule, I will punish you immediately." Hearing what Ren said those that were planning to rest stood up and started swinging their swords.

...

Once most of them were down and only a few were left swinging their swords, Ren told them about the next phase of the training.

"Alright, now that warm-ups are over it's time for the real training."

'That was a warm-up!' The twenty nearly shouted that out loud. So running while fighting monsters, and swinging their swords for five hundred times was merely a warm-up.

"The real training will be a game of hide and seek." When the twenty heard what Ren said they dryly gulped. If it was Ren doing the seeking this would be truly a torturous game.

"This game of hide of seek won't be like a normal one. You guys will be indeed hiding, but once you're spotted you need to fight back. If you're able to subdue the seeker then it's your win. If you're able to avoid detection from the seeker until sunrise then it's also your win. I can already see in your faces that you're all thinking it's impossible. Do not worry I will not be the seeker, that kid over there will be the seeker." Ren pointed at Arthur who was still sleeping.

When the twenty heard that it was Arthur doing the seeking instead of Ren, they felt slightly relieved. Still, they did see the kid slice through the waterfall, he was also able to withstand Ren's bloodlust. That would mean he was not only physically superior he was also mentally superior to them.

"Since it won't be training for my disciple if you guys aren't somehow capable, I will teach you the basic form of Spirit Aura." Ren then started to explain to the twenty the basic principle of Spirit Aura. He didn't go too deep and only taught them how to envelop their body with Spirit Aura. Despite oversimplifying it for them only a few got it. Seeing that, Ren shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, that's good enough. My disciple will start looking for you guys once he wakes up so I advise you to head out as soon as possible. Oh right, I forgot to say, you're all allowed to go for the kill, the same goes for my disciple expect him to go at you with the intention of killing you. Well, that's all, I hope you guys survive this first part of the training."

The twenty couldn't believe their ears, Ren was allowing them to kill a nine-year-old child. Even though it was tempting to do it, so that they could become the direct disciple of Ren, the twenty shook those nasty thoughts away.

'What's the point of gaining strength if you throw away your humanity?' All of them had the same basic thought.

...

After a few minutes, those that were done resting looked at one another and nodded their heads. The first ten left as a group. The remaining ten left a bit later but they left one by one and scattered in different directions.

...

After Ren woke up Arthur, he explained the details to his disciple regarding the game that he was about to join. "You better go out and find them quickly or you'll lose. Also, just a tip if you're able to make your mana flow through even the surrounding area, you'll be able to sense the mana of the others."

Arthur nodded his head and responded. "I will do my best, master."