The Plan Ahead (2)

"Haa..."

I inhaled, while focusing on the red and yellow threads of mana floating through the space. I had decided to do meditating in order to increase my control over mana as well as my mana capacity. Though I was improving, it was taking too long to increase my mana stat.

'I will need mana cores to speed up the process.'

Then suddenly the the mana threads began vibrating and started to accelerate. As the amount of threads around me increased, the mana in the air intensified. I felt the threads rushing towards me, my heart to be exact. After a while, I was filled with mana to the brim. The excess mana flowed through my veins.

'I see... So this is what it's like to increase one's mana capabilities.'

The movement of the mana gradually became calmer. It felt relieving.

Yet my tranquility was disrupted by the the alarm on my smartwatch, which I had set up in case I would doze off during meditation. I got up from my bed and yawned.

'Status'

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Name: Theodore Miller

Rank: F

Strength: F

Agility: F

Stamina: F

Perception: F-

Mana: F

Charm: A+

Attribute (Element): Fire, Lighting

Profession Type: Assassin [Level 1]

Martial Arts: Shadow Blade [(S)-rank]

Skills: Eyes of Providence

====================

"I thought I wouldn't be able to increase my mana stat without the aid of mana cores. I guess meditating really does make a difference. It will be very beneficial that my mana increased by a sub-rank."

"Though I am not sure if I can further increase my mana stat in a reasonable time period without the aid of mana cores."

My goal for this weekend is getting some cores on my hand. I planned to visit another dungeon. The reason I was so obsessed with my mana stat was because I knew the importance of the mana in the long run.

How long it takes for me to run out of mana is what will determine whether I win or lose in many battles in the future. This is because as the number of skills and spells I will have acquired become greater, my mana usage will grow bigger as well.

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After getting a quick rest, I got up, seeing it was already dark outside. Although I hadn't been laying down on my ned for a long time, because I was an awakener, my physical fatigue was already washed away. My recovery speed was considerably high compared to a normal human.

Since there was nothing else to do, I did what I had been constantly doing recently: Training. I quickly prepared my stuff and shoved them into a bag. Then I departed for the training hall, following the corridors of the academy which had become somewhat familiar to me.

When I arrived at the hall, there were some students who were training their skills. Yet, I noticed that the number of people was exceptionally higher than what normally it had been since the beginning of the academy.

'Some are aware of the upcoming exam. They must have learnt it from the sophomores in return of some money.'

I smiled with signs of pity on my face. Though it was great that they were training, the exam would be nothing like they would expect it to be. The sophomores probably mentioned the exam of the last year to some of the freshmen. But this year, the exam would be different. It was very unfortunate for them.

Nevertheless, I turned around and started to walk towards a room filled with training dummies. I got into stance in the middle of the arena and started to concentrate.

"Start!"

Upon my shouting, mana began lingering around the room, finding its way into five wooden dummies, which suddenly came to alive, attacking me from all sides. The auras that the dummies were emitting were all (G-)-rank. I didn't really trust myself to win against five (G+)-rank or even (G)-rank wooden dummies. I couldn't deal with all of them at once, at least not yet.

Although I had survived through the goblin dungeon, my passive ability, <Might of The Werewolf>, had a big part in my victory.

My thoughts were cut as the wooden dummies were closing up the distance rapidly. However, I was unexpectedly calm. Either because I had grown accustomed to this training method or because they were just dummies.

A dummy swung its wooden sword aiming my chest. I regained my focus and started to chant spell.

'Body enhancement'

Cracking sound of lightings could be heard as I coated my legs with mana, fused with lighting attribute, in a matter of seconds in order to increase my speed. Without waiting any more, I dodged the sword strike as I passed under it.

*Whoosh...*

I didn't give the dummy a chance to defend itself and drew my daggers swiftly from their sheaths.

'Weapon Enhancement'

Halfway through the air, the steel blade of the daggers started to shine as flames covered the edge of the blade. Without any resistance as if cutting a butter, the blade dug deep into the chest of the dummy. At first nothing happened but the next second the dummy was engulfed in flames from toe to head. Soon the flames diminished, revealing a burnt dummy that had turned black.

Sensing another dummy from behind, I pulled out my dagger from the brunt dummy and retreated a few steps. Bu it seemed like they had no intentions to give me a break as they attacked relentlessly.

Anther one tried to kick my face. But I had anticipated the kick and blocked it with my hand just before it connected with my face. I grasped its leg and pulled the dummy towards me.

'Body Enhancement'

My fist, enveloped with high voltage, pierced through the dummy's wooden abdomen. Seeing their two comrades fell down, they stalled for a while. But they soon began taking action again. This time, however, the three dummies all rushed towards me at once. Seeing this I knew I had to use my skill.

"Eyes of Providence..."

My vision turned black and white once again as the world lost its colors and time slowed down. I could feel my pupils gradually turning into slit from circles. I examined the dummies to see the red spots which indicated the weak spots.

The entire torso of the first dummy was glowing red. The throat of the second dummy was red as well. Yet the last dummy had no red spots because it was protected by other two. Analyzing the situation, I quickly came up with a risky plan.

The flow of the time turned to normal again. The second dummy was the first to strike me. I paired its sword with my dagger. With my other dagger, I sliced its throat, chopping off its head.

Meanwhile, the first dummy jumped at me with its fist up in the air, preparing to hit me in the head. I was able to narrowly dodge it with a side step. The dummy fell face down in front of me. I took advantage of its mistake and crushed its head with my foot.

All of a sudden, my instinct screamed danger as I turned back only to see the last dummy striking down at my ribs with its wooden sword. I knew I wasn't going to be able to dodge or block it using my daggers.

This meant I could only try to reduce the damage of the impact.

'Body Enhancement'

With the last remains of my mana reserve, I constructed a mana barrier around my ribs to reduce the intensity of the impact.

"Ugh!!"

As the sword hit my ribs, I was thrown onto ground due to the impact but my ribs were still intact. I stood up and got into stance, waiting for the last dummy to dash towards me, which it soon did.

The red spot vividly appeared on the ankle of the dummy. I waited till the dummy came closer, standing still on my ground. The dummy got closer and closer. After what felt like an eternity, the dummy finally thrusted the tip of the sword towards my abdomen.

I deflected the attack with my daggers. Then I hit the ankle of the dummy as hard as I can, causing it to fall on its back. While the dummy was struggling on the ground, I quickly reverse gripped my dagger and stabbed the place where there was supposed to be a heart if the dummy was an alive being.

As soon as the fight was over, my pupils turned back to normal circular shape, giving back the colorful view. I fell onto the ground, panting heavily. I had used up all of my mana reserves as well as my stamina. It was a long fight which exhausted me to death.

"Haha..."

I couldn't help but rejoice at how things turned out. I was satisfied with the results of this training session, I really did. Although I could have used my martial art, Shadow Blade to make the battle much easier for me, I refused to use it. I didn't want to rely on my martial art all the time as it would eventually hinder my progress in the long run.

Also whenever I used <Shadow Slash>, the scars inflicted on the dummies wouldn't get repaired completely. The anti-healing effect of <Shadow Slash> was also applied onto dummies. Therefore I didn't use the martial art as drawing attention towards me and my martial art wasn't on my to-do list.

As I was lost deep in my thoughts, the wooden dummies that I had defeated started to fly around the room with the help of mana. They were being replaced with new ones.

After 15 minutes of resting, I got up and left the room to return to my room for a well-deserved sleep.