16 Chapter 16- Body Cultivation

"Hey Oliver"

"Hey Oliver, are you even listening to me?" asked Olson

"Yes master, I just got lost in thought after listening to you."

Olson nodded in satisfaction, "It's good that you are pondering over it but there is much more for you to learn."

"From today onwards, every afternoon you will have your lessons on history, geography, cultures and on many more topics that you have to study. If you even want to have any hope to reach the levels of your peers who are of the same age as you, then you have to give your all to even barely match their level of knowledge that they have been gathering since their childhood. After all, if your goal is to become a mage, then all this knowledge will come in handy, especially if your competitors are sons and daughters of the proud nobles. Even if we ignore the possibility of a chance that is required to have the talent to become a mage, there is a big difference between a mage and a good mage."

"Moving on, in the evening you will have your weapon practice. You will start your practice of other weapons too. A warrior must know how to use any weapon to his advantage because you won't have the freedom to always have your preferred weapon with you whenever you are in a fight. Just that will make you survive for longer."

"I understand master, but what will we be doing in the mornings?" asked Oliver, full of curiosity.

"Hahaha, In the morning we will start your training to become a body cultivator."

Hearing this, Oliver got stunned for a second and asked, "But master is it possible to walk both ways of mana manipulations at the same time. Well, I understand that since monsters can do it, it should also be possible for humans to do it too. But in the end, monsters and humans, you know, are just built different."

"You sure are quick on the uptake. But you are right, both humans and monsters are different. There are things that monsters can do that humans can't but the opposite is also true"

"Monsters are just mindless beasts. How could they compare to the intelligence of humans." said Olson while pointing towards his brain.

"But this is also true that most don't have the requirements to either follow both paths or they just won't. After all, who would be idiotic enough the tread two routes when you can travel much further in much less time if you travel on a single path."

Seeing the confused look on Oliver's face, Olson explained, "The first thing when treading both paths is that you should have required body cultivation manual. A manual that is good enough to not only not inter-fear the flow of mana that mages use, but also strong enough to show results and cultivate the body to an equal strength as any other body cultivation technique."

"There are not even 1000 body cultivation techniques that are strong enough to fulfill these criteria in existence. You should feel elated that your master is one of the people who has one of these methods, aren't you glad that you have such a magnanimous master?"

Oliver just rolled his eyes in response

"So what is the second criteria?"

"The second criteria is to be able to give your hundred percent. And I don't mean it as a way of saying to give your best shot, no you have to cultivate both paths like a madman to reach the similar achievements of others. After all, you are cultivating two different paths. How can it be so easy? But the result…. overwhelming power. You get the advantages of both worlds, you get an invincible body of body cultivator and destructive mana magic of the way of mages."

"And what are the disadvantages?" Oliver asked.

"Hahaha yes, you are right. There are some major disadvantages present too. First, the mana you need to cultivate and reach a higher tier is much more in comparison. Second, you need a much bigger mana pool to use the attacks, but in return, the attacks are much stronger. Overall, the biggest drawback is the consumption of mana and storage of mana."

"I see, but master, what are 'tiers' of body cultivation and mage magic? And what is mana pool?"

"Both body cultivation and mage magic have different levels, which we call 'tiers'. Mage magic follows from tier 0 to all the way to tier 10. This is based on how strong the spells that a mage can cast are. Corresponding to mage tiers spells also follow from tier 0 to tier 10. Tier 0 the weakest spells, or also called tier 0 spells, are pure mana-based spells. But after that, from tier 1 to tier 10 spell uses mana and change their property to elemental mana that is used to cast spells."

"While mage tiers are bases on how strong the spells they can cast are, body cultivator tiers are more obscure to determine. So after a lot of deliberation, it was worldwide opted to use the arm strength of a cultivator to determine their tiers. But even that had some variation as some, body techniques give prefer to give an extra boost to arm strength while some prefer to keep the entire body in balance."

"Ok, that is enough information for now. The rest you will study in the afternoon sessions. Right now we have much to focus on."

Seeing Olson stand from the pile of metal, did Oliver notice the weird amount of stuff that was beneath Olson. He saw different circular mental molds scattered in a pile. While a big clean slab of metal upon the pile which must be the 'seat' on which Olson was sitting on.

"What do I have to do now, master?"

"First thing first. STRIP."

…

"Huh?"

"I said Strip. Remove your tunic."

Oliver took a step back while covering his body with his two hands while staring at Olson with his narrowed eyes.

"You fool, you think I have an interest in your body. Fuck off."

Sigh

"You still have too much to learn. How can you call yourself a MAN acting like this? Looks like I need to teach you how to be a MAN too."

.....

"Listen here, Oliver, a MAN should never be too shameful nor too shameless. You should be proud of the body you have."

" Now come forwards and stand in front of me bare-chested, showing the glory with pride. And do it fast if you don't want to get your ass beat up."

Oliver still hesitated, but then took off his upper and stood in front of Olson.

"Hmm good, now you see that metal slab over there. Use the metal molds to attach the slab to your back using them."

Oliver swiftly took the metal molds, and then first attached them to the metal slab. They easily got attached to it like a hook. But when he tried to pick up the metal slab to attach it to his back, did he come to know just how heavy the slab was.

"Master, isn't this too heavy to be attached to my back? Just how heavy is it?

"Nothing much, it's just about 350 kgs. Either way, attach it fast. We don't have enough time. And from now on… you don't need to detach the metal slab. Keep this on you the whole day. While studying, sleeping, or shitting, you need to have this slab on you the whole time."

Listening to this, Oliver's face turned into horror.

'Just what does this old man want. Does he want to kill me or something?"'

{I think you should follow his instructions. After all, he knows much more than both of us and he doesn't have any ill intention towards you.}

Oliver slowly lifted the metal slab and carefully connected it to his back. He could barely stand. While the entire weight of the slab was pushing Oliver towards the ground. He ground his teeth and stood perfectly still with his back straight. You could see veins protruding and sweat already beginning to form over his skin.

A creepy smile emerged from Olson's mouth while seeing Oliver struggle in the first minute of the weight training. "Good, now close your eyes and focus on my voice."

Oliver closed his eyes and tried to focus, but the weight on his body made his muscles tremble every second that he stood for.

"You need to understand that the mantra that I am going to teach you is from the body cultivation tomb that is a heritage in my family. Only the elder sons of the family may be allowed to practice it. But before you get stumped, allow me to explain. The reason I am teaching you this is that first that you are my successor. Not a disciple but a successor, and second because there is no one in my family left to continue the heritage. Anyway, all you need to know is that this body cultivation technique is one of the best and I am not just saying this because it's my family's. No, I am saying this because this was not originally made by someone in my family but found by my great-great-grandfather in an ancient ruin. And that is all you need to know right now."

'Just who is this guy, Not only is he so knowledgeable but also has such a deep background?"

{Oliver now is not the time to think about all this random stuff.}

'Yeah, I know, but still. Just how many secrets is this guy hiding? But you are right, this is neither the place nor the time to think about all these things.'

"Now listen to what I am about to say carefully and remember it by heart."

Although Olson said Oliver to listen, but what he 'heard' came directly into his mind. It was a kind of ancient mantra which seemed to be simple and extremely complicated at the same time. Oliver heard, "OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

"Did you remember what I said?"

Oliver just nodded in response while trying to focus on the mantra as well as not following over with all this weight on his back.

"Good, this is the mantra from SUPREME PATH OF SHIV. Now that you have memorized the mantra, try to calm your mind and standstill."

"Now take a deep breath and hold it in as long as you can. Then slowly release it out. Tell me when you have gotten a rhyme for it."

After a couple of minutes, Oliver nodded while still having his eyes closed and concentrating on his breathing.

"Now take another deep breath and hold it in. While you are holding the breath in, repeat the mantra as many times as you can before slowly releasing the breath. But remember not to hurry and follow the rhythm you have already set."

Oliver took a deep breath in and then held it in. Then he repeated the mantra in the same rhythm.

"OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

Then he breathed out slowly.

At first, he didn't feel anything change. But slowly and steadily he felt it. His muscles weren't trembling as much as they were before. Although there wasn't much difference, but there was something. He started to slowly feel relaxed or it was more appropriate to say that he went into a world of his own, forgetting everything around him slowly and slowly. The only thing on his mind was...

"OM NAMAH SHIVAY"

...…

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