Chapter 5 - Intense practice

Chapter 5 - Intense practice

Many moments later...

After being congratulated on his breakthrough by his uncle, Hilgamech said with a smile on his face, "Uncle, I want to use the forested land behind us to practice. Please!"

"Of course! Why not? I actually bought that place with you in mind. When it comes to you, no cost will be spared. Come with me." Thellgarr said and grinned, laughing off in great, stupendous wealth. Then he led Hilgamech to the large land—which could be likened for a rainforest that was located directly behind the mansion and was enormous in size.

Towering trees with massive, lush green canopies were abundant here. Also, different kinds of small to large animals that moved around, searching for what to eat, could be seen in this place.

Hilgamech who had a naturally powerful memory and was personally taught a lot of things by his uncle, would be amazed by the great number of species of animals that could be found here. It would appear to him as if the animals or creatures that were abundant in this forest, were absolutely from another realm or dimension.

As for the solid, really fertile earth in this place, it was covered entirely by tall grasses and countless exotic flowers—from which nice fragrances exuded from and permeated the entire atmosphere of the large forest.

Emanating constantly from the flowers that added to the scenic beauty of the forest, the myriad fragrant scents given off would make anyone happy and relaxed. Even a provoked, exceedingly wrathful god might cool off if he unwittingly enters this dimension ruled by body, mind, and soul-relaxing fragrances.

As soon as Thellgarr and Hilgamech arrived at the forest, Thellgarr said with a smile on his face, "Boy, practice as you like." Then he immediately turned around and walked back to the mansion, leaving Hilgamech behind so he could train to his heart's content or desire.

Taking a rather deep breath with a serious look setting on his face, Hilgamech looked within him and seamlessly summoned the cyan-colored AeroFlux energy in his glowing Receptacle of Essence to his left palm.

The moment this energy rushed out through his palm, it caused the air—several feet around him to become turbulent, such that it raged like a beast, kicking up numerous dried leaves that littered the soil, as well large clouds of dust into the air.

Abruptly gathering an inch before his palm, Hilgamech immediately followed the steps for the 'Wind Ball' technique. This caused the mass of AeroFlux energy that had gathered right in front of his palm to rapidly shape into a smooth ball.

Feeling the ball that felt tangible and solid in his hand, like it was a ball made of true matter, Hilgamech smiled and subtly shook his head in amazement. Then making use of his willpower, he compressed the glowing ball of AeroFlux energy, making it smaller and smaller. And as he did so, he added more energy to make it solid and heavier.

Quickly, he aimed the palm grasping the cyan ball at a large tree in the distance and caused the ball to shoot out with great force towards it.

The instant the ball shot out, air was immediately pulled over in all directions. It speedily gathered around the glowing energy ball, forming a frightening solid mass.

The process was so fast that in a few seconds, a great volume of air had swiftly compacted into a huge, astonishingly weighty ball that enclosed the luminous cyan ball within.

BANG!!

Once the ball impacted the tree, the tree instantly exploded apart, shattering into countless smithereens that scattered everywhere on the forest floor. Also, upon collision with the tree, gales—that could be likened for uncanny wind currents moving at a tremendous velocity of over six hundred kilometers per hour, instantly rushed out with seemingly destructive intent from the point at which the ball struck the tree.

These gales, seeming as if they had all the wrath and resentment in the world, furiously swept up bunches of tall grasses, flowers, then massive heaps of leaves which it shoved to far distances—dozens of meters away.

Hilgamech who witnessed this, had both his mind and body shake in utter astonishment.

"Is it right for my attack to have such level of power at my present cultivation stage just in my first practice?" He asked with a perplexed expression written all over his face.

The blast power of the Wind Ball seemed to possess more destructive capacity than normal.

After thinking about it for a while, he exhaled and resumed his practice, training for a long time like he were a machine that knew nothing about exhaustion.

Tirelessly practicing till dusk—where he rested a bit during each training session and resumed once he had regained a bit of vigor, he suddenly felt he had exercised enough and decided to go back into the mansion.

Once he arrived in his room, he immediately resumed his cultivation.

A moment later, air gathered around him and began to revolve. While cyan-colored energy began to flow in packets into his body through his pores, where they uninterruptedly moved within his Energy Circuit to his glowing Receptacle of Essence, gradually accumulating there into a significant amount.

Not long, he forgot himself in this refreshing, cultivating state till morning came.

Once the sun rays shone on his eyelids, they immediately snapped open. Then he immediately stood to his feet and went to take his bath, after realizing that he had unknowingly cultivated till morning.

Feeling refreshed and energetic, he dressed up in another set of tight-fitting clothes and went to the forest to practice again.

...

- In the forest -

Spreading a palm wide open, AeroFlux energy gushed out from it and quickly molded into a tangible, cyan-colored ball under Hilgamech's powerful mental influence.

When this energy first discharged from Hilgamech's palm, it immediately caused the air around him to become winds that were seemingly infused with unbound wrath. A testament to this were the leaves, stones, and sand that were shoved dozens of feet into the air.

As for the ball that Hilgamech molded from his AeroFlux energy, it felt more powerful than the ones he produced yesterday. This was because it had more quantity, which made it heavy. Also, it was denser, having being compacted to the maximum by Hilgamech's powerful will.

At the moment, he was getting adept at using the 'Wind Ball' attack technique.

Then aiming the palm at a tree in the distance, the ball floating right before it suddenly shot out at great speed, seeming like it were a fired cannonball. And it as did so, travelling at a great velocity towards the target, it pulled large amounts of air towards it from all conceivable directions.

The volume of air that was drawn towards the glowing energy ball, quickly wrapped around it—in only a few seconds, before rapidly condensing into a solid and heavy, uncanny ball or orb of air that enclosed the dazzling, cyan-colored ball within.

BANG!!

A few surrounding trees instantly shattered into splinters once the ball impacted a tree and exploded, releasing destructive waves of condensed AeroFlux energy and devastating, seemingly unearthly gales.

"Great." Hilgamech exclaimed and smiled.

Then he looked away and fixed his gaze on another tree—his new target.

Seamlessly moving AeroFlux energy to the space before his right palm, it abruptly condensed and shaped into a luminous, cyan-colored blade. Then he abruptly sent this palm forward and caused the shining cyan blade—which gave off a palpable, terrifying feeling of sharpness to instantly blast off at an extreme speed towards the tree.

SHRRRRRR...!!

The blade pierced through the tree and several other trees that stood behind it and were dozens of feet away from one another.

"This is really cool." Hilgamech said, smiling. His little success in the techniques filled his heart with ecstasy.

"I have gotten only two moves down. The other moves need a lot of energy to sustain them. I need to break through into the next cultivation stage to be able to execute them. Or, I could use the Wind Elixir technique. But that would only result in future problems for me, as stated in the manual." He said with a thoughtful look etched on his face.

Then he closed his eyes for sometime. Once he opened them, they shone with intense cyan light, making them seem like eyes that belonged to a domineering being of great, unquestionable power.

The instant Hilgamech opened his eyes, the air became violent, seeming like they were injected with the unseen spirits of rampaging, primordial wild beasts.

This was a technique called the Air Control Vision. With just his eyes—after activating the skill, he could influence winds to the point they become exceedingly tempestuous. And they could possess so much power that they could ravage through entire towns and cities, including whole, numerous-continent-sized regions.

So, by practicing this methodology, he had gained an ability called 'Conjuring Wind Sense,' which was currently at the lowest level.

Through this Conjuring Wind Sense, if he was spatially locked in a place or spot transformed into a vacuum by some mystical means, he could summon large volumes of air from distant locations—like hundreds to millions of miles away. Then he could use his Air Control Vision to manipulate them to his taste or desire.

So, under his will or influence, they could become otherworldly cyclones that could be tens to hundreds of thousands of meters tall, devastating storms capable of tearing entire cities or continents off the surface of the earth, unnatural gales that could rapidly eat through thousand-kilometer-long rows of hills and mountains, or simply become compact and tremendously wide, uncanny blades of solidified air that could inflict great-degree, slicing or laceration-based damages on people and things.

Not very long, Hilgamech's eyes returned to normal, thereby restoring great calm to the space around him. Then he resumed his relentless practice of the Wind Ball and Wind Blade technique.

He practiced till late night before he went back into the mansion, readying his mind for another day of intense practice.