Second and Third Solar Sacraments

The wind in the surroundings produced a cool breeze as the trees swayed along with it.

The dark sky lit up as the first rays of light streaked through the darkness, a sign that the sun had begun to rise.

[Second Solar Sacrament: Sunlight Resonance]

A soft chant sounded in the surroundings.

The chant came from a boy with white hair and resplendent golden irises.

As the light of the sun hit him, he breathed in calm and rhythmic patterns. He made sure to fill up his lungs to brim with air and held it for as long as possible before exhaling.

If one observed carefully, they could see that the sunlight around him seemed a bit brighter than that of the surroundings.

'I really love this feeling!' Jin thought as he felt energized by the sunlight.

It had been more than a month since he and Tanya started attending the Training Center and so far, their life had been peaceful.

He had also uncovered the technique of the second sacrament recorded in the Book of the Sun.

Jin looked at his body in wonder as he felt the energy circulating within. It wasn't mana or any worldly energy, but pure stamina.

However, he could feel that the technique wasn't as exaggerated as the book described it to be.

Still, he was satisfied by this. He had long expected it since he was only able to use the incomplete Sunlight Resonance.

The Second Solar Sacrament was divided into two parts; Sunlight Breathing and Sunlight Circulation.

Jin was only able to use the Sunlight Breathing part of the Sunlight Resonance since his lack of energy organs restricted him from practicing Sunlight Circulation.

Although this made him feel bitter at first, he soon came to accept it.

It was because this technique was the reason why he was able to train longer and in turn, become stronger.

'Now, next is…' As he maintained his breathing pattern, he stood up and calmly faced the rising sun.

Then, he took a step as he swayed his body.

With the light of the sun shining onto him, he began dancing.

Each step and sway of his body was filled with so much elegance that anyone who had seen him would think that he was part of royalty.

As he was in the midst of his performance, he chanted softly.

[Third Solar Sacrament: Dawn's Grace]

It was the next solar sacrament that he had begun to study shortly after he comprehended the second sacrament.

'...It's inspired by the silhouette of a woman dancing around under the light of dawn… believers had used this ceremony to welcome the rising sun…' Jin carefully remembered the words recorded under the Third Solar Sacrament.

He noticed that it was a dance mainly composed of footsteps and body sways.

As he was close to uncovering the technique within Dawn's Grace, he could feel that it wasn't an ordinary dance routine.

'It really is a movement technique…' He thought as he widened his eyes in exhilaration.

A movement technique used for battle was the technique hidden within the Third Solar Sacrament.

'In the book, the Dawn's Grace is described to be assimilating one's body with the sunlight as they move… and that they would be able to move like sunlight…'

'But sunlight is light, and moving like sunlight could mean that one could reach speeds comparable to light… but the speed at which light travels is too ridiculous… to achieve it with the human body is nigh impossible…'

'Just what is the Book of the Sun? And who wrote it?'

Thoughts filled his heart as he calmly danced under the light of dawn.

After a few minutes, he stopped and wiped the sweat on his forehead, 'That's enough for today…'

He went back to their house to wake up Tanya and prepare to leave for the Training Center.

* * *

"What hellish exercise do you think that woman will make us do?"

"I don't know, I just hope that we'll be able to eat lunch this time."

"Right, I really hate this subject…"

…

It was the first day of the week and therefore, it was the day for their Physical Training subject.

The children were all whispering to themselves with nervous expressions on their faces.

Throughout the month, their experience in their Physical Training class could only be described with one word; hellish.

Their Instructor not only forced them to continuously exercise for hours, but she also made them skip their lunch breaks.

Every time they complained that it was abuse, she only looked at them in disdain and said, "Will you complain like that when you're on the battlefield? Do you think the demon beasts would be so kind as to give you time to rest!? Pathetic!"

The children all started to get traumatized with her means.

"Brother, what do you think Instructor Agnes will make us do today?" Tanya, on the other hand, had a bright expression on her face.

Jin looked at his sister bitterly, 'Even with the enhancement of the incomplete Sunlight Resonance, my stamina still couldn't match up to her… what a monster…'

This made him wonder how stronger she would be if she were to learn the solar sacraments.

After he made sure that it was safe, he was planning to teach it both to his sister and father. He had immortality, so he could confidently use himself as a guinea pig.

He shook his head and replied, "I don't know, maybe she'll just make us do a thousand push ups in under 3 hours, or make us do a plank for 5 hours, I really don't know…"

The exercises he stated were only some of the hellish exercises their instructor made them do.

It was to the point that he described it as downright abuse.

'Still, no matter how hellish it was, no one can deny that it's effective.' Jin thought silently as they approached their fellow trainees.

The effectiveness of Agnes's training was a fact that no one could deny.

No matter how hellish it was, the improvement of each trainee could be seen with the naked eye.

Most of them could feel the improvement in their physical body while some even increased their physical attributes by a minor tier.