Slow Progress

Usually, when Leus starts training, he completely indulges in it.

He enters a trance that makes him completely lose his sense of time and solely focus on his objective.

When he decides to exit, he can estimate that days have passed, but that's not because he actually felt them pass, he simply makes a guess based on how much he has progressed or how hungry/sleepy he feels.

To him, the time that passes during his training feels just like a long dream, but this time, things are different.

Leus was in agony, the environment he was in was simply too different from the usual, focusing on training was too difficult, and trying to unlock the Abstract became much more challenging than he expected.

He could feel the passage of time, and he didn't like that at all.

'Every minute here feels like an eternity of pain and boredom'

Many times he contemplated just leaving the barrier and finding another way but he decided against it

'There must be a reason behind this terrible situation'

Leus trusted Arno, A LOT, he knew that Arno wouldn't just put him in this situation for no reason.

Leus had two guesses

'Either this is the only way to unlock the Abstract, or there's something he wants me to experience here'

Leus tried everything he knew to reduce the pain, from healing spells to covering his body with Light Mana.

But nothing worked

'These are just temporary solutions'

'I must unlock the Abstract and leave this hell'

And that's when Leus finally shifted his mindset into training and only training.

He stopped thinking about ways to lessen the pain and discomfort, and just focused on learning the Abstract.

The Abstract itself was relatively simple

'Compared to the Abstract of Illusory, this one is simpler.'

'I don't have to focus on the details and the process is straightforward'

To Leus, Focusing on unlocking the Abstract was much more difficult than actually unlocking it, but he noticed something

'When I cover my body with Earth Mana it doesn't get injured'

The cover made of earth materials protected his body from the dust and the metal shards, sadly, since he couldn't cover his entire body, he still got injured in many places.

'But still ... This is better than nothing'

'The breathing problem is unsolvable though ....'

Regardless, Leus kept training.

First, He started by covering his fingers with Earth Mana, then his hand, then his arm.

The more he progressed the more he was able to cover his body, but after some time passed he started feeling dizzy and tired.

He could tell that his Life Force was decreasing by a lot.

He managed the feeling for a while, but eventually, it became so difficult that it started clouding his mind, making thinking and practicing almost impossible.

'I can't continue ...'

It was difficult for Leus to come to terms with that, but there was nothing he could do about it

'I don't want to leave so early ... I didn't progress much ... Only 30% or so'

But training was simply impossible, he had to rest, and there was no way for him to rest inside.

Leus placed his hand on the Magic Circle and added mana to it, and the barrier instantly deactivated.

As soon as the barrier was deactivated all the dust and shards fell on the floor with a loud sound, and Leus quickly removed his helmet and took a deep breath.

'I feel alive again'

Leus kept taking deep breathes like the air was about to run out, until he suddenly heard someone laughing behind him

"Ahahahaha, So how was your experience?"

Leus turned around to see Arno sitting at the desk and writing something

"Absolutely terrible"

Arno agreed

"It must've been, just look at yourself"

Leus looked at himself ...

His clothes were tattered, his body was injured, and whatever was left of his clothes was red.

Leus just sighed and used Healing on himself

"I need to shower and change"

Arno threw something in Leus' direction, and Leus caught it.

"Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better for a while"

Leus looked at what he caught and it was a potion, so he quickly gulped it

"Refreshing, but not much"

"It only recovered your mana and stamina, not your life force"

Leus had a lot he wanted to talk about with Arno, but he'd do that later

"Excuse me, I'll shower and come to you, Master"

Arno nodded and let him go

After Leus changed and showered he went and sat on the chair in front of the desk

"I feel much better, but I'm still tired, I'll need to sleep.

But first, can I ask you Why the heck was there a sandstorm inside?"

"Well, the Crystal wasn't filled with pure Earth Mana"

Leus tilted his head

"I didn't feel any other mana"

"It wasn't much, but some Wind Mana was added with it"

Leus thought about it for a couple of seconds

".... Yeah, that makes sense, but why?"

"To stop the Earth Mana from concentrating into a big boulder or something like that"

Leus sighed

"Why did you give me only a helmet, not an armor?"

"Your pain tolerance is too low, it's good to increase it"

Leus didn't like it, But he knew that Arno was right

"How many days have I stayed inside?"

"Six"

Leus' expression became sulky

" .... And I thought I'd unlock it in one session"

"It's alright, you don't even have an affinity for Earth, don't be too hard on yourself.

If you aren't done after using the third Crystal I'll get you another one or two, we'll decide after your next session."

"Thank you, Master"

Arno waved his hand

"No problem"

"By the way, what are you doing here?"

Arno pointed at the floor

"Collecting Data to use on my new subjects, I spend every night here."

Leus didn't understand Arno's gesture but he didn't pay it any mind

"It is night now?"

Arno nodded

"Yeah, a little after midnight"

Leus scratched his chin in thought

He was contemplating what should his next move be

'Hmm'

'Only six days passed .... I'll sleep here and enter again tomorrow'

"Master, I'll sleep now and tomorrow I'll enter again"

"You won't go home first?"

"No, it's just been six days, I'd rather unlock this Abstract first"

'I want to become more powerful'

"I see, as you like, you can sleep then"

But before Leus got up he had one last question