Martial Arts

His arms crossed, Felix asked Drakon, "The thrill of life and death? What makes you think following me will make you feel that?"

Shrugging, Drakon replied, "Instincts. I can feel you are not someone who would settle for mediocrity. Besides, we are only talking about a short while, Blue Light shouldn't take too long to attack. So, what do you say?"

Taking a moment to answer, Felix ended up shrugging, "Well, I don't really mind. I don't need any payment to form a team with you. But I can't promise our time together will be very fruitful, or even interesting. Until the attack, that is."

Drakon replied, "It's fine, the attack should be enough anyway."

Felix nodded, while Zara grabbed the staff. She looked a bit wobbly as she grabbed it, but she still managed to put it in her bag, the effects disappearing the moment she let go of it.

As for her taking it, Felix had no problem. Putting it on the table was him hinting at her she could take it. Besides, he had next to no use for it. Sure, the skill on it was interesting, but not enough for Felix to really treasure it.

After a moment of silence, Drakon seemed to remember something as he exclaimed, "Right, you wanted to speak about the Integration Realm, right? We didn't get the time to speak about it, since you had to study that Dark Gate."

Felix shook his head and replied, "It's fine, someone already explained the Integration and Infusion Realms to me."

Drakon smiled and asked, "But did they say anything about the Control and Inner Realm?"

"No… but I do know about the Inner World. Does it have anything to do with it?"

Drakon shook his head and said, "It is not Realm as in Realm of existence, but rather as a certain level of skill. Actually, these two are closely connected to the Integration and Infusion Realms, being their mirrors."

"Mirrors? That's an interesting term to use."

Drakon pointed at Felix, then at himself as he explained, "One is about controlling Mana, the other about controlling the Body. To be considered within the Integration Realm, one needs to have perfected their magic well enough to integrate it within their fighting style. As for the Control Realm, it is about perfectly controlling one's body."

Felix remarked, "That does not sound very impressive, for either of those."

Drakon scoffed scornfully, "I assure you, it is plenty strong already. Either of these allows you to fight with a Chieftain Rank NPC or Monster of the same level. For the Integration Realm, while it may sound simple, you need to master your magic well enough for it to actually be able to follow your body's movements, or be so good as to form your entire fighting style around it."

Felix nodded, "I'm no stranger to it, having reached it myself apparently. But what about the Control Realm? I'm pretty sure I can control my body, does it mean I have reached that level too?"

Drakon scratched his beard as he replied, "Well, about that… to be honest, I wondered myself. You show signs of having reached that level, yet you don't look like you did reach it."

"Please elaborate."

It was Zara who butted in, "Someone in the Control Realm is capable of breaching the limits on their bodies, moving it as they wish, and more importantly, draw all the potential in their body. As you may know, most people typically only are able to use 60% of their strength, the brain naturally restraining the rest of their strength so as to stop them from hurting themselves."

Felix nodded, adding, "Yes, I heard top athletes are capable of bringing that number close to 80%. Are you telling me a Control Realm expert can use 100% of their strength?"

Drakon replied, "Experts who have reached the Control Realm are quite rare, but yes, they are able to use 100% of their body's strength. But that's not all. When a normal person, even one trained, swings a sword, they would use their arm's muscles to 60% efficiency. As for a Control Realm Expert, they would be able to not only use their arm's muscles with 100% efficiency, but they would also be able to use the rest of their body."

Titling his head, Felix said, "I can do that. Is that why you were wondering about me?"

Through his training with Caleb, Felix had indeed learned to use his entire body while fighting, for every action. A strong slash not only required strong arms, but also a strong back.

Remembering what he had been told about his mastery of Mana, he queried, "Doesn't that make me a Half-Step Control Realm Expert then? That's quite the mouthful, but I was called a Half-Step Infusion Realm Expert before."

Zara shook her head and replied, "There is no such thing as Half-Step for the Control Realm, because to do what you do, one normally needs to be in the Control Realm. That is because the limiters on your body are not the only ones, as your brain is also limited."

"I thought that was a myth?"

"You do use the entire surface of your brain every day, but you don't use 100% of its efficiency."

Still feeling doubtful, Felix argued, "Isn't it normal for athletes to use all their body's muscles? Javelin throwers in the Olympics certainly use their back muscles to throw their javelins, and they certainly aren't all in the Control Realm."

Drakon snorted and got up, "That may take longer than expected. I'll get another beer. Want one?"

Felix shook his head, and as Drakon walked away, Zara explained, "This is not the same. Ignoring the fact that most of them are only capable of doing so for a single movement, the way they use their muscles is very different from the Control Realm. While an athlete will use more muscles, the actions will be separate. Moreover, they mostly are only capable of doing so for a limited number of movements."

She pointed at Drakon, who was at the bar, and said, "As for those in the Control Realm, not only are they able to use the majority of their body's muscles in everyone of their moves, they also are capable of manipulating the entirety of the energy created by all their muscles to the intended area. For an athlete, there will always be a waste in the energy gathered from muscles not directly related to their movement."

Felix responded, "What about me then? I'm not capable of conserving energy as it moves around my body."

Zara sighed and nodded, "That's why your case is confusing. To make things simpler, those not in the Control Realm have two limitations. One on the body, and the other on the brain. The one on the body is mainly in charge of stopping you from freely moving the energy from your muscles. As for the one on your brain, its limit is on the width of your movements, as it limits your processing speed and should make it impossible for you to move so freely. And together, they rule over the amount of strength you can use from your muscles."

"So does that mean I have broken the brain's limit and not the body's?"

Zara shook her head, "Although I made a distinction between the two limits, it was only to explain it to you. In reality, there is only one limiter that is either broken or not. For your case… it is almost like you have the brain power necessary to control your body, while being limited. But that shouldn't be possible, so it's all a little confusing."

Resting his cheek against his fist, Felix asked, "Any advice for me then?"

Zara looked toward the bar's counter, from which Drakon was walking, a mug in hand, and said, "Most people either unlock their potential by years of training, or by facing a life and death crisis."

"This game is quite the opportunity for martial artists then. You can face death without worrying about actually dying."

Zara shrugged and replied, "I guess so. But that also dulls the fear of death, which is exactly what allows you to break your limits. Besides, I'm not sure this would work very well for you, your case is too weird. Still, my best advice to you is to seek a stressful situation. You looked like you weren't far when you fought against that Chieftain Ocumini, actually."

This made Felix pause for a moment as he remembered the instance. He hadn't exactly been in much danger, the monster was strong but not that much.

However, Felix had tested himself by forcing himself not to use his magic to fight it, and instead only used his skills to fight against the monster's strength, its dozens of arms.

Back then, he had truly reached his limit, and managed to break it. However, it wasn't the barrier to the Control Realm, but a revelation on Mana Manipulation. It had allowed him to permanently improve his Mana Manipulation, and not long after that increase his Meditation Skill to Rank S.

Only now did Felix realize that it was then that he had actually managed to break through to the Integration Realm. Then, being in the Integration Realm had helped him develop his unique magic.

This was quite the important realization, as Felix figured that if it had worked once, then it might very well work a second time.

However, now that he had been reminded, Felix also remembered that not only had he reached the Integration Realm with that fight, but for a small moment, barely a few seconds, he had reached a state beyond that.

It wasn't the Infusion Realm, as he hadn't infused his body with Mana, but something else entirely. He still wasn't exactly sure on the details because his mind had practically shut down at the time, but he had used Mana in an unprecedented way that pushed his performance far ahead of anything he should be able to do.

At least, that's what he thought until now. But what if that state was not really simple Mana Manipulation, but a glimpse of him breaking through his body's limits?

Unfortunately, his case was much too complicated for there to simply be a straight answer to his queries, and the only way to answer them would be to experiment.

Felix did have questions left though, so he did.

"You said the Control Realm was the peak for a long time. Does that mean there are people on Earth in the… Inner Realm, was it?"

Zara nodded, replying, "They are rare, very much so, but they do exist. They stand at the top of the world, and currently, at the top of the game. However, Epoch is proving itself to be an incredible opportunity for martial artists to evolve, as more of them are appearing every day. Who knows, maybe someone even managed to reach the next realm by now."

"The Inner Realm, what is it about? And the realm after that?"

Zara sighed, "I don't know about the next Realm, since supposedly no one reached it. As for the Inner Realm, I told you about Inner Energy earlier, right? About the misconception martial artists of old made?"

Felix nodded, and Zara continued, "Well, Inner Energy is actually a thing. And it is not the latent energy within your muscles, or 'drawing' power from the earth. Inner Energy is actually a standalone energy that supposedly resides in all of us, but only a few are capable of harnessing. The change brought by it however, some went as far as to say it was the next step in evolution."

This poked at Felix's curiosity as he asked, "What's the big deal? Here, people don't seem to make that much of a fuss about the Infusion Realm."

"It is because they are different. They have lived their whole life with Mana, which has strengthened their bodies, not to mention the System that provides continuous strengthening and vital energy. But on Earth, things are different. You could say we have been starving since our birth, and our Inner Energy remains dormant within us. But when one reaches the Inner Realm, they not only gain control over their Inner Energy, it also awakens, giving rise to large changes.

"To start off, your lifespan would be increased, an Inner Realm expert can live past 100 and still be in shape to fight. The main use of the energy, however, isn't to strengthen you per se, but instead to allow you to better use your strength. If the Control Realm allows you to draw 100% of your Strength, then the Inner Realm allows you to use 200%."