Chapter 47 Life Manipulation

Arvell's eyes went wide as he was processing Lykos's words.

'Are you sure?'

Lykos grimly nodded his head.

Pulling the egg close to his ear, Arvell tried to hear for any signs of life.

*badump badump*

'Phew, It's still alive, but the heartbeat felt quite weak.'

They both breathed out sighs of relief.

Perhaps they could somehow fix this?

Arvell started brainstorming ways to deal with their current scenario.

'Eggs need to be incubated by a parent, namely the mother… But, we don't know where either of them even are… If they are even still alive that is. We need to find a heat source, but I can't manipulate heat… Should I ask the duke? Perhaps he knows some people who can help.''

Lykos suddenly interrupted Arvell's train of thought

'You know there is a much simpler way right?'

Arvell looked at Lykos questioningly.

'A simpler way? What would that be?'

'You quite literally have the ability to manipulate life, surely someone like you can figure it out?'

In a moment of realization, Arvell eye's widened before he nodded.

'I see. You're proposing that I inject my Nether into the egg, and give its lifeforce a kickstart.'

Lykos gave a small smile.

Arvell immediately started injecting his nether reserves into the egg, filling it with as much life energy as he could use.

He could slowly begin to feel a hint of warmth emanating from the egg, showing that his plan was working.

After about 10 minutes of consistently filling the egg with Nether, Arvell collapsed onto his back.

He was desperately gasping for air while drenched in his overflowing sweat.

Slowly bringing the egg near him, Arvell put it next to his ear.

*BADUMP BADUMP*

'It worked!'

The egg felt considerably warmer than before, and its heartbeat was also many times louder and stronger than before.

Lykos nodded his head.

'Why go about using roundabout methods such as incubation, when you can just inject the egg with life? This method is far more simpler and effective.'

Arvell let out a small chuckle.

'You forget that I'm the only one who can do that. At least to my knowledge.'

Lykos had a conflicted look on his face, but it only lasted for a fraction of a second.

Not even Arvell, who was too busy looking at the egg in his hand noticed it.

After lying down for a while, Arvell got up and placed the egg back into his bag.

'I'll check on it again in the morning.'

He walked over to the full-length mirror.

[Inventory]

Arvell reached into his inventory and pulled out the Hasty Iron sword.

Taking a few steps away from the mirror, he slashed down.

*WOOSH*

Arvell pulled his sword and assumed another striking posture.

This time he thrust directly forwards.

*WOOSH*

Following that he swung his sword again, however, it was a horizontal slash.

The widest space in the room was directly in front of the mirror.

Something Arvell used to his advantage when practising his swordsmanship.

He didn't have a proper mirror before, so he couldn't quite see the minute details he was making.

While Lykos was able to give him helpful pointers, being unable to even see his flaws for himself was definitely a problem for Arvell.

Arvell had travelled the full day and even exhausted his nether supply to stabilize the egg's condition.

He was simply in no condition to train.

That didn't stop Arvell though.

'The best way to get stronger is to push my limits!'

'While that is true, normally it would do you more harm than good if you overexert yourself. Fortunately, you can just heal yourself if it gets too bad.'

Arvell smirked.

Nether manipulation was quite a handy power.

Especially for training junkies like him.

He could train to his heart's content, heal, and then train some more.

That kind of power would be a dream come true for training addicts.

Especially considering that he could save so much time waiting for his body to recover energy on its own.

Pushing one's limits to get stronger was a proven fact, but there was a thin line between help and harm.

The option to heal himself completely negated the potential harm that could be done to his body, if he chose to push himself too far.

'My posture is a bit off. My Legs are a little bit crooked. My arm is bending too far.'

Arvell began noting down every single mistake he saw himself making, and was able to correct his swordsmanship in real-time.

While it wasn't easy to fix most of his bad habits, he was able to work towards eliminating as many as possible.

There was a qualitative difference between hearing about what you needed to work on and seeing it for yourself.

Lykos taught Arvell what he considered to be the 'basics' of swordsmanship.

He wanted Arvell to develop his own unique swordsmanship.

One that was unique to him, and him alone.

A swordsmanship that would be perfect for him.

Arvell after all was not Lykos, so their fighting styles were not the same.

Arvell relied on using his brain, while Lykos's swordsmanship was designed to overwhelm enemies with superior technique and raw power.

In short, it wasn't suited for Arvell's fighting style.

Hence Lykos decided to take a more hands-off approach with Arvell's training, letting his successor follow his own unique path.

This was only for the basics, however.

Lykos still wanted to pass on the entirety of his god-slaying swordsmanship techniques to Arvell.

Being a thirteen-year-old child with only a 1st circle Aether Core, and 1st Refinement Nether Body, there was only so much he could accomplish.

Dimension Slash was only the first stance, and using it just once is enough for Arvell to almost completely run out of energy.

If he couldn't even properly use the first stance, using the others in his current state was a pipe dream.

Continuing to swing his sword for another hour, Arvell finally decided to call it a night.

He was beyond exhausted at this point, so instead of properly tucking himself in, he just simply crashed onto the bed.

Not too long after Arvell fell asleep, his bag shook ever so slightly.

*Crack*