Chapter 565: A True Talent
(Leo’s POV, Planet Saraf, Training Grounds)
After explaining what [Enhance] did, the Fourth Elder moved on to explaining how one could master it.
"The reason I told you that you need absolutely smooth mana circuits," he began without preamble, "is because this technique is not like anything else you have learned.
When you use a normal skill, you are guiding mana along a predetermined course in a steady uninterrupted flow, like a river that has always moved in a set way, while you just guide it slightly."
He paced in front of Leo as he spoke, his hands clasped behind his back, as he shifted into the tone of a teacher who was absolutely certain of his own genius.
"But [Enhance] requires you to destroy that natural rhythm.
It requires you to go against that flow of the river and create a whirlpool!
[Enhance] forces you to suck in every last drop of mana in your body towards one single point all at once, and that too in the timespan of less than a heartbeat.
The strain this puts on your circuits is not merely high, it is catastrophic for anyone who has not conditioned their bodies for it"
The Fourth Elder explained as Leo gave a small nod, his face calm.
"You see, when unprepared circuits are forced to channel this much mana in one place, the pressure creates microtears.
And when those microtears form, they disrupt your entire cycle, meaning you cannot even gather mana properly until they heal.
Which is why we train in stages.....
As only fools try to skip ahead to the more advanced stages without forming the proper foundation first, only to then find themselves bedridden for weeks when their bodies give out."
He gestured for Leo to follow him onto the large central platform, its stone surface glinting faintly in the sunlight.
"Stage one," he said, "is simple in theory but exhausting in practice. You will focus every pathway in your body on delivering mana to a single fingertip. Not a hand, not an arm, a fingertip.
And you will do it without leakage.
You will pull mana from your toes, from your spine, from your scalp, and it will all arrive in that one fingertip without losing a single thread along the way. Until you can do that, there is no point moving forward."
He smiled faintly, as if remembering something. "When I first trained it, it took me seven months before I could sustain it for more than five seconds without pain."
Leo inclined his head slightly. "Seven months?"
"Yes," the Elder said, missing the faint note of sarcasm in Leo’s voice entirely.
"Stage two, once you have mastered this, is learning how to shift that gathered mana instantly between limbs.
Arm to leg, leg to arm, arm to arm, leg to leg.
The transition must be seamless, because in battle you will never have the luxury of holding power in one limb forever.
This is where most people start to cry out in pain, because your channels are being pulled in multiple directions in rapid succession.
I was a prodigy.
I only took a year to perfect it."
He waited, perhaps expecting Leo to be impressed.
But Leo gave him nothing but a polite, "I see."
"Stage three is where the real strain begins," the Elder continued, his tone swelling with pride.
"You will take the entire capacity of your mana circuit and drive it into a single limb, not for a split second, but for as long as possible.
If your channels are not smooth enough, they will swell, rupture, and you will spend weeks healing.
But if you endure it, your pathways begin to adapt, widening and smoothing themselves in response to the strain."
Leo’s mind ticked over the implications.
With his mana heart constantly repairing and refining his circuits, he could probably jump directly to this stage and beyond.
Still, he said nothing, letting the Elder talk.
"Stage four," the Elder said, lifting his chin slightly, "is maintaining this output while moving. Footwork drills, weapon swings, evasive jumps, all while keeping that limb fully charged. Most people fail here because they cannot split their focus between motion and mana flow without losing efficiency. And then, finally..."
He paused, clearly savoring the moment.
"Stage five is the pinnacle. You will fully reinforce your entire body, flooding every pathway with mana, and then in a single instant, collapse all of it into one point.
That is the true form of [Enhance], and it is this compression that allows you to produce feats like the jump you saw me perform earlier."
The Elder clasped his hands behind his back again, looking rather pleased with himself.
"It will probably take you six months before you can attempt this without injury.
I, for example, only reached the final stage after nearly five years of constant training, and I was considered one of the fastest learners the Council had ever seen. But I know you and Veyr are more talented than me, and can probably both master this in about a year."
Leo tilted his head slightly. "A year, you say?"
"Yes. Or a couple? Do not—"
But the Elder’s words cut off as Leo closed his eyes, and directly jumped to phase five.
Mana rushed inward from every channel in his body, compressing into his legs in perfect harmony without the slightest trace of leakage or strain.
The air around him hummed faintly before his body blurred and shot upward like a cannon shot.
*WOOSH*
He cleared the fifty-foot mark easily, hung in the air for a moment, and then landed in a crouch, the stone beneath his boots barely cracking under the impact.
*Thud*
The Elder stared at him, lips parting slightly before pressing into a thin line.
"What the fuck? You skipped straight to the last step... your mana circuits must be shredded beyond repair—"
"They’re fine," Leo cut in, brushing some dust from his shoulder. "The balance on my first attempt was off, but twenty seconds and I can try again."
The Fourth Elder actually laughed, a short, incredulous sound. "Twenty seconds? Boy, I’ve seen arrogance before, but this—"
*WOOSH*
Leo was already gone, shooting upward again. This time he reached seventy feet, landed without so much as a stumble, and gave the Elder a look that was almost bored.
The Elder’s jaw twitched. "Lucky. Your channels are fraying as we speak, you’ll see."
But then came the third jump.
And the fourth.
And the fifth.
By the seventh jump, a bead of sweat slid down the Elder’s temple — though whether it was from the sun or something far more unsettling, even he wasn’t sure.
By the tenth jump, he stopped pretending to look anywhere else.
By the fifteenth, his arms had slowly crossed over his chest, the same way one braces against a sudden chill.
By the twentieth, he’d stopped speaking entirely, watching in silence as Leo landed, adjusted his footing, and prepared for yet another go without the slightest pause.
Two hours later, as Leo came down from a jump that easily cleared a hundred feet, the elder just looked at him as if his whole worldview had just been shattered to bits.
His jaw now hung open, as drool slid down his chin and dripped on the floor below.
"I think I’ve got the hang of the jump. It’s easy to do when it’s the only thing I have to focus on, but I think I need about a week’s more practice to make it an instinct in battle and learn how to do it with every part of my body." Leo said casually, as the Fourth Elder did not respond.
He just stared with a dull disoriented look on his face, which was the kind of look that was worn by a man who had just realized that the universe was not as he understood it.
’Veyr took four months to even touch stage three... and I already thought he was a freak.
Compared to him.... this boy is just... No. No, I refuse to believe it. He’s not human. That’s it. He’s some kind of... freak.’
And yet, no matter how he tried to frame it, the truth gnawed at him: Leo Skyshard was a monster.
A monster who had just taken his life’s proudest technique... and mastered its final step before lunch.
’No wonder he won against Veyr even with a tier disadvantage..... this boy, he’s a talent like no other.
A true Dragon Candidate if I’ve ever seen one.’ He realized, as he finally understood why the Twelfth Elder backed him to become Dragon.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!