8 Chapter 8: Progress

About a month later in a hidden cavern in the Wild Stone Mountain Range. The inside of the cavern was a complete opposite of the surrounding mountain range. While the mountain range was a desolate dusty place, the inside cavern was brimming with life. Small aquatic biomes and vital springs nurtured the vegetation, plants useful to magi grew haphazardly, small lifeforms scurrying along its shadows.

In the center of this paradisiacal land was a hemispherical building. It was about 100 meters in diameter and it held all the facilities one could possibly desire. The flora and fauna could provide sustenance and the sunstone stuck to the roof provided the much desired warmth and light.

This secret location had the same capabilities as that of a magus tower. It had been passed down for hundreds of years and so its available resources and capabilities reflected it.

In the southern quarter of the facility, a library with an abundance of texts stood. Runic arrays controlled the humidity and temperature of the library, maintaining the texts in good condition.

Michael sat on a large leather couch, his eyes closed and stuck in a peaceful dream. He was peacefully silent, the snores that plagued his previous life nowhere to be found as this body wasn't corrupted by the products of the modern era.

"Son. Son! Augustus! I'm going to go out for a bit, alright. There's food in the kitchen."

Michael woke up groggily and was only able to nod to his father's words. Rubbing his eyes he got up and walked around to wear off his fatigue. His eyes were a bit red and despite his peaceful and uneventful month he looked more fatigued than ever.

He had been using the Mother Box to implant the knowledge from both libraries. Now a copious amount of knowledge was uploaded and branded into his soul, never to be forgotten and easy to recall. Now he was not ignorant and could go toe to toe with his father in the theoretical department.

The situation was a bit odd, although he could recall it with photographic nature, he still had to deal with the difficulty of comprehension. That was the issue he was having right now, due to his low grade of soul he was having difficulties with the wealth of knowledge in his mind, specifically the runes. It was similar to a sensation of regurgitation, just this was a more profound and ethereal feeling.

'Mother Box, show me the end result.'

[Rising Sun Cold Autumn Meditation Technique]

A synthesized meditation technique from all the ones Michael had collected. A technique in the pinnacle of everything available in this world. Its main purpose was to produce the purest spirit force and as a by-product it was able to raise the grade of the soul, increasing the user's talent. It was a gentle attributeless art so although it didn't have strong innate abilities and other accessory benefits, it was easy to change at a later time.

Michael had just commanded the Mother Box to synthesize the technique before he fell asleep. The results were wonderful to say the least. A technique like this that had no requirements and had such good results was truly a one of a kind.

This technique was just the thing he needed right now. Thanks to the Mother Box's ingenuity it was also catered towards the Runic Blood Pattern and would replace the Green Heart Meditation Technique as its form of control.

'That'll have to wait until later, I have to get a bite to eat.'

Michael walked through the vast halls of this Dragon Ball-esque like building, occasionally passing by rooms and labs. At the end of a hall he saw his father's new lab. This is where he had been cooped up recently, analyzing and understanding the runes and steps associated with the Runic Blood Warrior's inheritance. Going off his father's recent news, it would not be long before the experimentation phase would begin.

At the end of the hall a split appeared, walking to the right he finally arrived at the kitchen slash dining room area. Three plates sat on the dining room table, a piece of bird-meat and some greens and veggies.

Michael sighed deeply. This cuisine was beginning to get old. Through the month, both his father and he took turns cooking, each meal blander than the next.The only thing that was missing from this beautiful underground place was seasonings and a variety in food items. He had thought that the previous assortment was bad, the things available in the cavern were even more limited. Optimistic with the idea of traveling to the surface kept him sane, and made the bland food more palatable.

"Hahaha."

A muffled laughter was heard in the kitchen. A holographic screen, only visible to Michael, was playing an episode of The Mick, a comedic tv series from his past life. The vulgar language and crazy antics of the characters played perfectly to Michael's type of comedy. This episode in particular was not anything he had seen in his previous life, but a generated episode formed by the Mother Box. It seemed as if it was being misused, but only things like these would amaze an Earthling like Michael.

An hour and three generated episodes later, Michael walked into an empty room. Two towels hung on a wooden cart. The room was replete with cushioned flooring and large empty space, save for the seat cushion and melon sized stones Michael had placed at a corner.

As soon as Michael arrived, he undressed and changed into loose clothing and began to morph into yoga positions. Incorporating muscular tension into the constrictive positions, Michael was able to build a decent mind muscle connection. It would take a long time, but he thought of getting a head start as control was something he would need when his strength suddenly increased in the near future.

A classical playlist for villains was playing in his ears. The musical vibrations stemming from the bionic implant in his chest area. Although it could play it directly into his brain, it wasn't the same.

Michael had asked the Mother Box to merge into himself as he felt more and more paranoid throughout his time in this world. Possible situations would play in his mind and he could only feel safer with it close, very close to his body. Taking inspiration from Iron Man, he merged the Mother Box into his flesh, and even though it absorbed elemental particles from the environment, the radiation didn't seem to affect him in the slightest. Arthur was giving Michael potions to resist the radiation every week, though he didn't really need them.

The Mother Box had many uses, forming a shield from free floating elemental particles and healing his body were features that were originally built in.

About three hours in, Michael switched to a more physically demanding workout. Calisthenics and weight training using the stones was useful to build muscle and increase that mind muscle connection. The gentle energy that healed his body drove Michael to overwork his body many times over. Thanks to the Mother Box it was mostly painless, as it helped block his pain receptors. Michael only had to focus on form as he wasn't trying to get severely injured, he hadn't tested the extent of what the Mother Box could heal.

"Hoooo."

'Mother Box, display my stats.'

Michael had built a habit of only using his mind to communicate with the Mother Box, he could never be too safe.

Name: Michael Mayor (Augustus Fent)

Strength: 1.4

Agility: 1.3

Vitality: 1.3

Spiritual Force: 1.3

Bloodline/Race: Human

Talent (Soul/Body): 1/3

Michael wished it were more. Throughout this time he had not only exercised without care, but he had also eaten some nurturing spiritual fruits that his father had given him. His father, seeing his efforts, gave him some supplementary fruits that were beneficial to knights and weaker lifeforms.

Even with all that Michael felt that he had hit a plateau of sorts. This had to do with the potential in his body, unlike higher level lifeforms that were born with strong superhuman bodies, humans generally had a much poorer and limited potential to grow and strengthen their bodies.