Progress

POV Julian Kingscrown

It's been four and a half months since I arrived at Hearth to train, but inside the Ether egg it's been about ten months.

The first five were only dedicated to physical combat training, the result of that was that I definitely couldn't defeat Chul even once, I didn't know how to feel about it, I thought the body Silvia gave me would do more for me in this aspect, but it wasn't.

However, I couldn't complain, this body had given me many more things, only that it's not fully developed yet.

After those first five months, Mordain decided to adjust the training for endurance fights.

He told me that the main problem I had now that I had gotten used to hand-to-hand combat, was the amount of time I could be in effective combat.

The second core, could increase the amount of time I could do it if it was a normal battle, but when I faced someone above me the time was greatly shortened.

That's why this time the combat was group: Evascir, Chul and Sylvie cast various spells at different times when I moved and fought against them.

This taught me to take countermeasures and to learn to make decisions in practical combat situations.

When and what spell to use to achieve a greater effect on a battlefield, but for me the most important thing is that I learned to cancel spells.

With the influence of the legacy I was able to imitate what the Realmheart did and cancel spells with enough time, also with the ability of Laplace it could be said that it was a very useful skill.

I also improved the effectiveness and stability of several spells because my understanding increased over practice, also the advice of the people who trained with me were very helpful.

Above all, Sylvie showed great talent when it came to learning spells, in fact she even managed to somehow use some arts of decay type, which was amazing.

Using the soul fire was a huge surprise, I don't know how powerful it is compared to others, but being able to do it shows how much Sylvie was growing.

I was happy for her, it is important that she accepts her roots and can use them to defend herself in the future.

After that we continued to integrate new ways of training to improve our weak points, as well as giving us more variables, we even reached the point where my mana constructions were very stable.

I started to use mana threads attached to small blades, to give me some kind of flexibility and new ways to use my skills.

Mordain was quite surprised that I could do that kind of thing, so he asked me to try to create something bigger, when I tried it was possible, but its duration was extremely short and its durability even lower.

I also tried large-scale spells of different elements imitating things that were in my previous world, this caused a greater impact when Mordain saw a snake of several heads and tails composed only of water magic.

Because of that we focused on improving the control and the time I could keep them, when we achieved the result that the leader of the Asclepius clan wanted, both Chul, Evascir and Sylvie continued with their own training alone.

Mordain told me that he would start teaching me some of the arts of the Asclepius clan.

So here we were today listening to an explanation of the king's strength.

"This technique is a way of giving an intention to your mana, most of the Asura fighters can use it"

He explained to me that it was a kind of way of self-suggestion to the weaker people, that it was developed through battles and accumulated experience

It was very complicated, I didn't know how to do it correctly, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do it, it was like learning mana rotation.

Don't reason it, do it instinctively, even so it was a difficult task in the Ether egg

"By the way, Avier is here to give his report, do you want to hear it", Mordain asked me.

"Is he really here? I have some things to entrust him with", I said as I interrupted my training.

After that I went to my room and took out some things from my dimensional ring and started looking for the bond of director Cynthia.

When I found him he was coming out of the room where Mordain's throne was.

I waved my hands as a greeting, approached and then spoke, "How have you been Avier?"

"Boy how are you, I see you've grown a lot", he said moving his head in what I think is a nod or approval, he couldn't be sure.

"Thank you, I'm almost done with my time here at Hearth, I have a little more than two weeks left and then I plan to go back to Xyrus, how has everything been there?", I asked.

"Some things have happened, the spears were presented shortly before I came a week ago, they also asked Gideon to prepare a ship and although Cynthia agreed, Gideon stubbornly has been delaying everything, does that have anything to do with you?, Avier replied.

I activated a sound barrier and spoke,

"Yes, it is very dangerous to give them a form of transport to the other continent, it is better to keep it only as an idea, besides you know, yes, have the spears already started to mobilize?

"Yes, but on Cynthia's recommendation they are moving in pairs, at first they were reluctant, but with some persuasion, from Virion, they managed to convince the council, at least in the early stages, by the way Queen Priscilla has been looking for you insistently and also the boy Leywin went to look for you at the academy a few days ago for something about a birthday party, he looked like he could kill someone with his eyes".

Did Virion intervene? How curious, but it's a good thing, I guess, it might be much easier to talk to him if he's being cautious with the other continent.

As for Queen Priscilla, why is she looking for me? And Arthur? Party?

Damn Eli's party, I forgot it completely, Arthur couldn't be upset because I missed it, right? I nervously wiped the sweat from my forehead.

"Well, let's leave that aside, I need you to take this device to Virion in Elenoir and what's inside this book is for Gideon, I need him to make the weapon of the planes", I told Avier.

"No problem, by the way I heard from Cynthia that you were looking for lesser Leviathans, are you still interested?", the Wyvern asked.

After hearing those words, I nodded, "Yes, but I couldn't find their traces".

"There is a trench near the sea that borders the beast clearings, if you find it you should be able to find them, but be careful, the personality of those beasts is very annoying". The Wyvern spoke

I asked Avier to wait for me to go get a map, then he pointed out exactly where those trenches were.

After thinking about it I decided to ask the Wyvern to also tell Cynthia that I would arrive two weeks after the start of classes, I wanted to go to this place first and get the bonds that I thought were necessary.

"Cynthia is going to be upset that one of her prodigies will be late", Avier replied in a playful tone

"Try not to make her angry, I don't want to deal with annoying tasks later", I replied

He gave a settlement and left

----------------------------------------------------------Several weeks have passed inside the Ether egg and I finally managed to use the king's strength.

It was like a kind of bestial force using the innate will of the phoenix, I didn't think it would be used this way.

"You're doing exceptionally well, in your current state you can probably fight against the intermediate generals under Agrona", Mordain commented

Probably, I can fight against someone in the category of Uto, but this was not quite what I wanted to achieve, if it weren't for the improvements to the Ether egg, I wouldn't even have been able to reach the rank of a spear.

Unfortunately, I'm still very far from the scythes and let alone the specters, so I have to be very careful when facing the people from the other continent.

It's a positive result, so I can't complain, although it bothers me a bit that the level is barely enough for the future events.

This only means that I have a long way to go, I thought as I contemplated the results of my training here at Hearth.

My magical skills had taken great strides and Laplace's abilities with extinction had increased their mastery.

Even the third phase and the use of the second core were good, to the point that I can fly if I have enough mana, there was only a small drawback every time I enter that form the parasite behind me seems to strengthen and devours the seal faster, so I can use it limitedly.

During my time here we also came to the conclusion that the things I've seen in my dreams are a way of weakening my spirit and making it easier to take my body, so I've been working on my mental part.

I remember that Sylvie after waking up was very emphatic in taking care of me, to the point that Mordain thought she would never train again.

She also didn't detach from me for several weeks, it was common to wake up from my bed being hugged by her.

It must have been some effect of believing that I could lose her, so I didn't avoid too much her requests or actions.

Naturally, Sylvie also became more active in her quest for strength, hence the result of having managed to use the arts of decay type, although the Realmheart was still not possible.

I also received the periodic reports from Dryas and Frei who were watching Kai, the idiot still watches Claire and now added to his observations Tessia.

Probably, they were already thinking of some scheme, for the attack on Xyrus and despite wanting to be more active, I know better than anyone that changing things completely could lead to something worse.

It's better that the attack is in a place where I can intervene and not in one where I can't see it, that was the only thought I had.

Besides, it would be the basis for the Dicatheans to take Alacrya seriously as an enemy.

Outside the Ether orb some days must have passed since Avier left, I should be able to contact Virion.

I thought as I left the Ether egg and saw a fight of Sylvie with Chul who clearly was being kind to her.

She stopped her training, making Chul angry and then ignored him splendidly, I mentally applauded for Sylvie's incredible skills to annoy the Phoenix and do what I couldn't.

"Brother, how is your training going?", she asked giving me a hug

"It's going pretty well and yours, how has it been?", I asked while stroking her head.

It was a strange feeling to see such a fast growth, in fact I suspect that this is not only due to my presence.

I guess being close to the other Asuras has helped her grow more, for me it's positive that she can develop her mental state even more.

"It's going well, Chul teaches me some things, and Evascir is kind, by the way do you plan to cut your hair?, you look a lot like Arthur now, she said bringing her hand to the hair that now reached the height of my neck.

I guess I must look quite alike, I know that Chul and Mordain seemed to have their hair loose naturally, but I don't like it too much and that resulted in me tying it like Arthur's.

"Probably, I will, I might even try a change of look", I replied.

She nodded as her face showed that she was thinking of something, because there was something I wanted to do I parted from her and said goodbye.

I arrived at my room, took out the device that paired with the one I sent to Virion and headed to the Hearth forest.

Whenever I wanted to relax my mind I came here, it was a beautiful place to my eyes and it made me feel relaxed, several times I remember having some banal chats with Mordain in this place.

He appreciated the philosophy of my previous world very much, so he constantly discussed his ideas to compare them.

He was a cheerful person, but strangely sharp, he seemed to some extent a midpoint between what I think are the personalities of Kezess and Agrona

After arriving at an area that I thought was secluded enough, I sat on a rock and activated the mechanism to connect with the other side.

I saw a crystalline light tinkle, to hear a beep and then Virion's voice.

"Brat", Virion spoke with a friendly voice.

"What would you have done if I wasn't your beloved disciple", I replied in a cheeky tone.

"Who would be bold enough, to use the bond of the director of the Xyrus academy as a simple messenger", he retorted with a playful voice.

"That was totally consented, I didn't force him to anything", I replied as I laughed

"Where are you right now? There are people worried about you, the only one who is calm is Rinia", he said in a tired tone.

I suppose Tessia has been bothering him, but I'm not going to ask, there are things that are better not to know, I thought to myself.

"Deep in the beast clearings training", I replied without lengthening the answer too much.

"If that was the only thing you wanted to do, you could have told me and I would have prepared Alea or Aya to help you", Virion replied.

"I had other things to do and I'm very close to finishing them, I estimate that I'll be in Xyrus in a month at the latest", I said to clarify the misunderstanding.

"Will that make you late to the Xyrus academy?", he asked in a confused tone.

"Yes, I had some setbacks and that's why I asked Avier to let Cynthia know that I would be a little late in arriving", I replied

"She's not going to be happy", Virion said.

"I had my reasons and that's precisely why I looked for a way to contact you from the clearings", I said switching to a more serious tone

Virion didn't answer immediately, which caused several seconds of an awkward silence, after a few seconds I heard his voice again, "sorry, I was putting up some sound barriers, now tell me what you found out about the other continent".