Bottleneck

Hours passed, but he kept on swinging his sword with no end in sight. He was determined without a doubt.

Each slash was stronger than before. The strokes and slashes split the air in two. His movements were precise; there was no sloppiness in his movement, unlike before.

He thrust, slashed, and pierced with his sword continuously. He was only training his offensive skills; he had yet to train defensively.

With every slash, sweat dripped from his forehead.

He rigorously trained in offense relentlessly, with his aura. Though hours had passed, there were no signs of fatigue or exhaustion on his face or that anyone would say if they looked at his determined face.

In reality, he barely had any strength left in his body after hours of continuous training. He was trying to push his limits further because he wasn't making progress.

The progress was so little that it was barely noticeable. He couldn't understand why that was happening. His training wasn't the problem, he was doing everything perfectly from top to bottom.

If anyone thought he was slacking, they were being ridiculous. He was at his limit, trying his best to push beyond his current physical limits.

'Why aren't I making any progress?'

He felt uneasy and displeased by the rate of his progress. It was evident to feel frustrated after making such a negligible amount of progress even after rigorously training for hours.

He thought of many reasons that came to his mind, but some didn't fit his scenario or condition. After filtering through all those theories, only one was left: 'Bottleneck.' It met all of his requirements.

"Bottleneck. It looks like I have hit a bottleneck. There is no other word that can explain my current condition," he concluded after logically clearing up all of his reasons.

He stopped swinging his sword moments before completely depleting his energy and collapsing to the ground. He sat on the wet floor, knowing that understanding the reason for his condition didn't solve anything. The bottleneck was something that would trouble anyone, whether they were a novice swordsman or a supreme mage.

The more powerful you were, the more troublesome it was to deal with because you had to discover new ways to break through and reach new heights. Everyone had a different opinion about the bottleneck. Some would say it was troublesome, while others would say it was an opportunity, as making a breakthrough after the bottleneck meant an unimaginable boost in strength.

But if it gave an unimaginable boost in strength, then why do people think it was troublesome? The simple reason is that the stronger you are, the more difficult it is to make a breakthrough after hitting a bottleneck. A master would have to find the reason behind their bottleneck. If the reason was found, then the master could try to fix the error. However, a novice could get past a bottleneck by just doing rigorous training.

Although the process may sound simple, it wasn't as easy as it sounded. It could take from months to years to find the reason behind the bottleneck and fix weaknesses. Although it was troublesome, it wouldn't be as tough as a master's because he was only a novice.

"I need a sparring partner to make the breakthrough," he said, knowing that the problem wasn't with his techniques or the way he trained, but with his lack of actual battle experience. He had very little knowledge about the actual battle, and neither he nor the past Lloyd had much experience fighting to the death. In the name of fighting, they had only done light sparring.

"I need to fight a battle in which it seems like my life is on the line to make this breakthrough," he thought. Now that he knew what and how to break through, another question arose: who should he fight? There was truly no one who would spar with him, not because he would overpower them, but because no one was interested.

"But where will I find someone who would fight me?" he sighed with concern.

It troubled him because no one would agree to fight him. No matter how much he tried, it would be futile because currently, in everyone's eyes, he wasn't the son of the past patriarch Hatzok, but a useless and abandoned waste of Hatzok who was stripped of all his titles and kicked out of the main family.

He simply had no value in the public's eyes. He couldn't just provoke a stranger and fight them because he couldn't afford to offend anyone. There were already many people after his life, and he had no interest in adding a few more to that list.

All of this was troubling him because he couldn't think of any other way. "What should I do? I need someone to spar with me immediately, but..." As he rummaged through the thoughts in his brain, a large circular hole emerged right in front of him in the training ground. As soon as it opened, it alerted Lloyd. He picked up his sword and took a defensive stance, cautioning himself.

"What is happening? Why has this hole suddenly emerged out of nowhere?" Lloyd said, alarmed by this sudden event. He was anxious about what was going to happen, but he still firmly held his sword and waited for what was going to happen.

He slowly, step by step, tried to reach the hole and look at what was inside it. Just when he was a step away from the hole, he felt something coming from inside the ground, so he instantly took a few steps back and got close to the door.

"If I feel anything wrong, I will run. I am not stupid enough to fight a monster when I am only a star swordsman," he thought.

He knew that if it was something stronger than him then it would be beneficial for him to run than wait for his death. He would stay there only if he was brainless.