Contrary to Kremeth's prediction, Max learnt physical block skill 10 days faster than expected.
Blocking was very simple, in theory to stop an object in motion one only needed to apply an equal and opposite force to the object to nullify its motion.
It was basically a matter of pure strength, had Max been tier3 or stronger, he could have blocked the boulder with his eyes closed, but this is exactly where skills came into play.
Max figured out that when instead of stopping the rock with rigidity he used a fluid motion of pulling his hands back along with the force of the rock, the load on his bones became considerably lower.
Initially Max was trying to stop the rock with brute force, this made it so that all the pressure was being channelled through the bones in his arms which were as a result crumpling under the strength of the boulder.
But when instead, Max engaged with the rock in a semi extended state, the pressure began transmitting through the muscles instead and was distributed throughout his body which made it easier to block the boulder.
When Max arrived at this conclusion the rest was very easy for him to grasp as he realised that by prolonging the time needed to stop the boulder and by putting his full body strength behind the boulder to stop it instead of only relying on upper body strength, Max realised that he could multiply his current strength to a level where he was able to stop the boulder without having to take a single step back.
Through repeated attempts and failures he had grasped the concepts of centre of mass, force distribution and impact distribution which were the fundamentals behind any blocking skill.
Although Kremeth was internally impressed by Max's progress, externally he just threw a pile of sticks chopped up by Sebastian onto Max asking him to continue with the next stage of his training.
Max was a bit disappointed at this, he had been excited to show Kremeth his progress and wished to hear a few words of encouragement from the old turtle but unfortunately he got none.
This was Kremeth's way of teaching, he was never going to praise his students for anything they achieved no matter how significant it may be.
Kremeth wanted his disciples to understand that small achievements in this universe meant nothing, even if they one day mastered a tier9 skill capable of destroying entire solar systems, it was still only a minor ripple when compared to the vast universe.
Picking up the sticks chopped by Sebastian, Max could see how much Sebastian had struggled to make them uniform.
Many sticks had been recut and although he had tried his best to make them uniform, 5/10 sticks were not of the same dimensions in any batch that Max picked up.
Regardless, the size of the sticks was an issue he did not need to worry about as the only thing he had to do was to learn how to stop the boulder with one.
As Max made his first attempt, the stick broke even before he was able to put any force into the blocking attempt as the brittle stick broke from the pressure of his grip alone.
Max picked up 3 sticks at once and tried to grip them tightly at once, but all of the sticks broke with his hand grip alone as Max helplessly looked at Kremeth wondering how was he going to stop a boulder that took every fibre of muscle in his body to stop with a stick as brittle as the one in his hand.
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( Meanwhile Jhonny )
Jhonny entered planet Radiance and was pleasantly surprised to see the new residence of Earthlings.
The planet was not only much cleaner and greener, but the rivers were not polluted, the soil was not littered with plastic and the rain was not acidic.
It was like humanity was given a chance to start with a clean slate and Jhonny was very happy with this change.
If the times were better, Jhonny would have liked nothing more than to go on an exploration trip inside Radiance, just for fun but since times were as they were he walked straight for the Elite headquarters on the planet.
For the first time in a long time, Jhonny wore his guild robes and put on the Grey Wolf insignia as he blended amongst the sea of elite players like he was one of them, walking through them unnoticed.
The elite headquarters on planet Radiance was built exactly like the one that they had back in ' Omega ' inside Purple Haze city, as the place refreshed many old memories for Jhonny.
Seeing old faces like, Medivh, Cola, Rhino and Tank Jhonny felt both proud and joyous until he walked into the guild hall and saw the casket in which Karna was being kept before his burial.
Jhonny saw Rudra on stage beside the casket while Skyla, Amelia, Yua, Naomi and Neatwit accompanied him.
One after other, the elites were walking up to the dead body to pay their respects as Jhonny too waited patiently for his turn in line to see his old friend.
When Jhonny finally saw Karna's serene resting face, a stream of tears rolled down his face as a tsunami of rage and emotions boiled up in his heart.
He felt a hand over his shoulder, and upon turning he saw a mildly smiling Rudra looking at him.
" We have missed you, Sir Jhonny " Rudra said as he bowed respectfully to the elder, who bowed back in respect.
A commotion erupted inside the guild when news of Jhonny's return spread, as Jhonny dutifully paid his respects to the dead and their family.
After Jhonny's return, Rudra called for an emergency elder meeting of the guild as Fatty Kalash, Neatwit, Amelia, Jhonny, Medivh and Rudra met in the guilds conference room to discuss future plans.
The atmosphere in the room was heavy, it was after a long time that an elder meeting had been called and the first one where Karna was not an attendee.
Rage and vengeance were plastered over everyone's faces, yet it was Jhonny who broke the silence first
" The thunder nation has to become an elite nation... there is no other way". Jhonny said with sadness and conviction as the eyes of others sparkled at the idea.
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/// A/N - New year bonus 6/10 , Enjoy! ///