First Training in the Dreamland

[… As expected, your combat techniques are crap as well. Although your foundation is not too bad.] The demon said indifferently.

I was dazed. I was defeated in less than one second!

I did not even see how he defeated me.

"How…" I murmured, making the demon snort.

[I used your own strength against you, using it to throw you to the ground. The fact that you did not notice it shows how low your level is.]

I fell silent with a dismayed look.

I was unable to awaken mana for many years, so I trained very hard in an attempt to increase my chances to awaken even a slight bit. I trained so hard that I fell unconscious more than once, and the result of it is my combat techniques.

I did not show it, but I was very proud of my combat techniques. I always thought that in terms of combat techniques, I was at a very high level among my peers.

But now, the demon is telling me that the result of that hard training was crap.

[… It's simply that you don't have a talent for that. It looks like combat is not your forte.]

A bitter smile appeared on my face.

Why does it look like I'm completely talentless...?

[Talent is something very subjective, boy.] The demon said. [Plus, I told you before, didn't I? I don't think that talent is that important.]

I smiled wryly. Yeah, that sounds nice.

But the only people that think that talent is not important are those without it.

The demon sneered at my thoughts.

[You are mistaken. Although talent can help you to reach far, it's not that important. Personally, I think that there are two things that are more much more important than talent.]

"… Let me guess. Hard work? Determination?"

[You are not completely wrong. Hard work is one of them.] The demon nodded calmly. [However, it's not as important as the last remaining factor. Luck.]

... Luck?

I was stunned. I was not expecting that answer.

[Talent can help someone to develop quickly. But without hard work, talent is useless.] The demon explained. [Hard work, on the other hand, gives results even if you are talentless. Even if the results are inferior to those with talent, they still are the fruits of hard work.

[Luck, on the other hand, is much more amazing. Someone with great luck can reach very far even with mediocre talent. Luck to be born in a good family, luck to catch the attention of someone important. Luck to discover something that nobody else discovered just by watching mold.]

I fell deep in thought.

"Luck, huh…"

[Yeah. And you are very lucky, boy. After all, you met me, one of the greatest beings in the universe. With such luck, it's just a question of time before you become one of the strongest people in this world.]

I smiled wryly and nodded.

"Yeah, I think you are right. Anyway, I already knew I was not very talented."

I then stood up and took a deep breath.

"Let's continue. What do I need to do next?"

[I already got a rough idea of your capabilities, so I already know how to train you. We will divide your training into four parts. The first will be spear arts, then we will train your usage of the Lightning Seed, followed by your mana manipulation, and finally, we will train your martial arts.]

"… That is a lot. We will spend my eight hours of sleep training these four things, right? Are we going to use two hours for each topic?"

[Eight hours?] The demon laughed. [Who told you that we only have eight hours every night?]

Huh? Is it not so?

[This is a dream, boy. Time here doesn't need to be the same as time outside.]

I was stunned.

Do you mean you will manipulate the time in my dreams!?

[Didn't I tell you? The fact that you met me is a great stroke of luck. This is just a part of it. Now grab a spear. Let's start training.]

Dazed, I nodded and grabbed a spear. The demon then materialized a spear in his hand.

[You know nothing about spears, so first, I need to teach you the basics. But before that, I will show you how great spear arts are. Now, get ready.]

"Huh?"

In the next second, the demon attacked.

Then, I felt a tremendous pain in my chest before being sent flying away.

… It was going to be a long night.

…

When I woke up, I instinctively curled up.

I shivered, and my face turned ashen. For an instant, my face was twisted in pain.

Soon, though, the pain disappeared.

Actually, it did not exist in the first place.

It was something like an instinctive reaction to the horrendous pain I felt in my dreams.

"… Damn it." I cursed softly and grabbed my chest. That fucking demon. He tortured me for days!

Every time we started a new topic, he would show me how 'good at it' he was. And his way to show me was beating me once and again.

Only after being beaten by hours without being able to resist, the demon would stop and explain to me what I should do.

Then, after he explained it to me, a new round of beating would start.

Followed by another round of explanations where he would tell me what I was doing wrong, and then, another beating.

That lasted for the entirety of my dreams.

I even lost my perception of time due to the pain. I don't know how long the training lasted, but it should have been days. Perhaps weeks.

"… Fuck. Does it need to be so hard?"

[This is the quickest way to teach you.] The demon's voice sounded in my mind. [Didn't you notice it? You progressed a little bit after each beating.]

My face scrunched up in displeasure, but I could not deny the demon's words.

No matter how much I hate that training, it's a fact that I progressed a lot just after a night. Even now I can feel it.

Right now, my control over my mana and the Lightning Seed was much smoother than yesterday. And although I had not tried it yet, I'm sure my martial arts are much stronger as well.

Even my spear arts are progressed from being non-existent to being elementary. That is an extreme level of progress considering it was only a night.

… Although I still think that it was unnecessarily painful.

[Stop whining like a baby. Instead, hurry up and use the Lightning Body Refinement Art and Confidence. They will help you bring the effects of the training in your dreams to the real world.]

I nodded and started to use both techniques. And just like the demon said, I felt that I was digesting what I learned in my dreams.

This time, I lasted two minutes enduring the pain of the Lightning Body Refinement Art. It was twice as much as yesterday. Moreover, I managed to keep Confidence running on for an hour.

In fact, I was not tired even after using it for so long. I felt as though I could keep using it for the whole day.

When I opened my eyes, I let out a deep breath and moaned in comfort.

"It feels amazing."

[Becoming stronger is like a drug. You will like this feeling more and more every time you become stronger. Now, go and take a bath. You are dirty.]

As the demon said, my body was filled with blackish blood again. Fortunately, I already knew this was going to happen, so I had taken off my clothes and practiced the two techniques on the ground.

With a wry smile, I grabbed my towel and went to the bathroom. Fortunately, I did not meet Mrs. Kim in the way, or it would have been very awkward.

But when I left the bathroom, I meet Mrs. Kim in the living room.

And she was not alone.

"Son, it's good that you are alright. Did you miss your mother?"

My mother was with her.