Tiers

After leaving the room, I was given a temporary pass card which was valid for 7 days, so I can go in and out of the Capital without much trouble as it was a card guaranteed by the Brigade.

Next, I spent about half an hour finding a place suitable for training, which was basically a large cave inside a lush green mountain. The sunlight was still partially accessible inside, and the rocky walls looked great for target practice, not to mention that the space was quite wide inside.

My first plan for this week was to try and see if I would be able to form some sort of a sword skill from the essence of 'Precise Throw' and up my sword mastery by one more level, officially entering the middle tiers and becoming a Tier-4 Sword Master.

Weapon cultivators were people who had secret skills that relies on breathing techniques and countless sword practice, using these methods to harness the energy hidden inside their weapons to develop their own weapon energy and strengthen it, the amount absorbed and the pace of absorption would usually rely on the rank of your weapon art and the quality of your weapon, unless you were blessed by a type of weapon affinity which would double your pace at the very least.

Though most people called them Weapon Masters, this was just a general acknowledgement from regular people, as just like elemental arts, weapon arts capable of harnessing weapon energy were also pretty scarce and normal people had no way of acquiring them, so to them even a Tier-1 Swordsman would also be called a master.

But in truth, there were classifications to these tiers, for example, sword users would be called Swordsmen when they are at Tiers 1~3, Sword Masters at Tiers 4~6, and Sword Manipulators at Tiers 7~9.

Similar to the elemental strengthening stage, Swordsmen only had better physiques, more advanced sword arts, but no actual power that reached the super natural level, only when they reached the Sword Master rank, would they be able to use their normal weapons to create devastating attacks as if they achieved their first elemental might.

As for Sword Manipulators, they were powerhouses that had the ability to manipulate swords from afar, imbuing them with even more outstanding powers and becoming a one-man army kind of powerhouses.

However, I on the other hand, used a different system overall, I relied on combining sword art concepts to achieve a one time infusion of weapon energy that allows me to reach the next tier at one go, it seemed a bit tyrannical, but in practical use, it was hard to advance this way without several complete sword arts, so I was still stuck at Tier-3.

After all, chancing on one sword art was already considered an opportunity, how could I gain more that easily?

Only thanks to my 'Harmony state' that I was able to achieve powers close to a Tier-4~5 Sword Master, my 'Telekinesis' which allows me to exhibit a limited state of sword manipulation, and most importantly my pure physical stats that I should be invincible as long as I didn't meet true Sword Manipulators. Not to mention my elemental practice which started to bear fruit, making it possible for me to escape if I ever met such a dreadful situation.

As such, I still had time to collect enough sword arts, and even think of a possible way to advance other than that, as my current power was still considered somewhat sufficient, and 'Precise Throw' was such art that may allow me to reach a true Tier -4 power.

"I guess it's not possible, huh?…"

Unfortunately though, it turned out to be an empty gift box, 'Precise Throw' was originally a throwing skill that relied on countless practice accumulation and it had a harsh condition of one losing his sight in order to perfect it, only to achieve a perfect throwing skill that manipulates the throwing knives to move like homing arrows, although it was of course incomparable to either my telekinesis nor the even more terrifying weapon manipulation ability of Tier-7~9 weapon users.

So, while I was able to get the hang of it quite quickly, it was only with the help of telekinesis that I could reach an ability on par with the assassin's, causing the skill to only be considered a hidden skill as it was similar to a natural ability, and in conclusion I couldn't act on my desire to rise to the ranks of true Sword Masters.

'Well, it should be easier to get advanced sword arts once I enter the Brigade, and if all fails there is still that method to try…'

I wasn't that anxious to advance anyway, even if my weapon energy path was somewhat blocked, I was still progressing in my elemental path every day!

By the time I finished a regular training set containing my five weapons, some fist training, and finally the finishing touches of footwork training, it was already past eight, so I headed back to rest and sleep, since there was no reason to sleep in caves and such since I had a comfortable bed waiting for me back at the guest room anyway.

...

Swiftly going back to the Capital once again, I took a quick bath before heading to bed, taking sometime to think about my training for tomorrow, I was able to find my target quite quickly.

After all, my weapon training was only limited to enhancing my ability of wielding the various concepts, while my elemental path training was progressing swiftly, there was only one thing that needed to be put as the main focus.

Tomorrow... it was time to practice a new footwork!