Mixed Blessing System

After the soul fragment's words, Lothur immediately took his ax and looked at that fellow. "How am I going to hit you? Is that even possible?"

"Don't worry. Even if you don't hit me due to my condition, I can measure the power of your attacks and determine your combat proficiency."

"All right then. Can we get started?"

"Whenever you like."

When the soul fragment gave his order, Lothur activated his movement technique and ran at his opponent.

At the same time, he threw one of his daggers at his opponent and then started dancing with his ax, almost as if he was doing a training session, not battling someone.

But while receiving Lothur's attacks, the soul fragment would now and then attack this young man with pulses of energy.

'Hmmm? Is he not feeling the effects of this?' The old figure was interested that Lothur continued to fight as if he was not feeling anything. 'A positive point for you...'

He then continued to receive Lothur's blows for a few more moments until he used his soul power to create energy fists and use them to strike that young man.

Pow!

Lothur felt the weight of his enemy's attack slamming against his back and knocking him off balance downward.

"Ouch!"

'Is he finally attacking?' He felt his defensive technique being stimulated for the first time in this fight.

Soon, the time began to pass, and of the promised 10 minutes of combat, 8 passed in the blink of an eye, with Elke watching everything. She watched Lothur skillfully move his feet while manipulating the ax in his hands to make increasingly creative attacks against his opponent.

At the same time, when he was attacked, Lothur's previously slow reactions were slowly becoming more precise, with him managing to avoid the worst and defend himself more easily. In addition, his surprise attacks with daggers considerably evolved, and he could now attack so naturally that sometimes it did not even seem like he was just fighting.

'That... This feeling...' Lothur gradually felt something strange as he used his techniques to fight the soul fragment.

It was as if, once again, he realized how wrong he was using his techniques.

[Mastery advancement detected...]

...

[Cross Walk] [Rank: Iron]

[Mastery level: Adept]

...

[Art of Tearing Down Trees] [Rank: Iron]

[Mastery level: Adept]

...

[Steel Body] [Rank: Iron]

[Mastery level: Adept]

Seeing these messages appearing in front of him, Lothur opened his mouth in shock, barely able to believe that he had done something that most cultivators in this world could not!

He had advanced the mastery of his techniques in just a few minutes by training with the soul fragment!

'What's going on? Why does it seem so much easier to train with this person?' He wondered as the excitement in his body overcame his demons.

[+0.4 in all physical attributes.]

[+0.1 in AGI.]

[+0.3 in WIL.]

[+0.5 in CON.]

[+0.1 in DEX.]

[+0.2 in STR.]

At the end of the first 9 minutes, another system warning appeared in front of Lothur, showing him how much he had gained in such a short time.

"What's going on? Why do I seem to improve my understanding of my techniques so quickly?" He asked.

The soul fragment already knew several of his secrets, so there was no reason to hide that he was advancing his mastery. Not least because it made no sense to think such a being would not realize how much better he was performing in this training.

With that, Lothur had decided to ask the only one there who could remove the doubts from his heart.

The soul fragment smiled as he looked at Lothur, pleased that such a young man was far more talented than he had thought. "Well, I can only exist within this secret chamber, so naturally, this place is not normal."

"For a soul fragment to exist, there is a need for a large amount of spiritual energy and some unique resources. Because of this, anyone who trains within this place will have much better results than if they did it in an ordinary place."

"After all, the Laws present here are more refined and easier to understand."

"Then it is not strange that you have advanced to the adept level of mastery in your three main techniques." He finished, smiling as he prepared to stop.

"So, is there any way to build such a place? Are there other places with similar capabilities?" Lothur asked.

If there were other places like that in the world, he could find ways to advance his powers and understanding more quickly!

"Haha, sure, kid. I was just someone at the Divine Soul, and I managed to develop this place. Why wouldn't there be more?" The soul fragment laughed. "So, yes, there are many such places, some that are artificially constructed, but others that are natural."

"The problem is just you finding or managing to develop one of those... But anyway, all the cultivators in the world value this kind of space, so sooner or later, you'll have to look for that too."

"Only then will you be able to improve the mastery of your techniques."

"Oh? How hard is it to improve technique mastery without one of those?"

The soul fragment then said. "It depends. If you're talking about techniques of the same quality as yours, as long as you have talent, it's possible to do it independently. But Gold-grade techniques, for example, are impossible to get to Master level of mastery with talent alone."

"Even a person with the highest talent wouldn't be able to do it."

"That..." Lothur and Elke opened their mouths in surprise.

Most cultivators in this world could not even get past the Beginner level in their Iron-grade techniques, but this figure spoke such a thing of Gold-grade ones...

Higher-ranked techniques were more difficult to learn!

Because of this, the two could not help but be surprised that it was possible to advance understanding on their own in higher grade techniques just with talent.

"Looks like you live in a fragile era or place, huh?" The soul fragment realized the problem. "But that shouldn't be strange. The most talented hardly show themselves in ordinary places, so, naturally, the masses think that the world's limits are theirs..."

"But make no mistake, there are countless cultivators capable of mastering Gold-grade techniques up to the second level of mastery, Adept, without using places like this."

"However, even those Red-grade talented individuals need to use external means to go beyond that... So, look for special places like that in the future, kid. That will help you."

Lothur clenched his fists and felt he could not miss this opportunity. "Senior, can you train with me longer? I think it will help me get stronger."

"Is that so?" He looked with his narrowed eyes at Lothur. "I can train with you for an hour. But after that time, I won't be able to talk to you about some details that can help you in the future."

"There will only be time for us to make our agreement witnessed by the heavens before I disappear." He said seriously. "Will you still want that?"

"Information is important, but as long as it's nothing crucial, I think this opportunity will be more relevant to completing this mission, senior." Lothur said after a few moments of serious thought.

"Hmm, I think you'll be able to manage without it." He agreed and prepared to get back to fighting. "Come on. I want to see how far you can go, kid!"

"Yeah, I'm ready!"

...

With that, time passed, and soon Lothur was drenched with sweat, finishing his hour-long training in that special place.

When he reached that point, he saw that figure stop attacking as he fell to his knees on the ground, exhausted.

However, upon seeing his status, Lothur could not help but grin from ear to ear, satisfied with his progress.

[Name: Lothur Ritter]

[Physique: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger]

[Bloodline: Life Devourer]

[Cultivation: level 5]

[STR: 13.2] [CON: 19.5] [DEX: 13.1] [AGI: 14.9]

[INT: 52.9] [PER: 52.9] [WIL: 51.4]

[EVF: 2.9]

'Perfect! My strength has significantly increased after I got to this place!' He vibrated in excitement and then looked at his girl and smiled at her. 'Probably our chances will increase because of this!'

Seeing the look on her man's face, Elke felt more secure as she began to think about what to do after they finished this business. 'Could we possibly...'

As she thought about the possibilities in front of her, the soul fragment said in a grave tone. "Boy, girl, my time is not much."

"Senior, what should I do now?" Lothur stood up and asked.

"Not much. Just try to touch my hand and repeat everything I say." He said as his appearance became more and more transparent.

At the same time, the surroundings were beginning to lose their clouds and illumination.

Lothur ignored the strange effects of that room and did what he should.

"I..." The soul fragment said.

"I..." Lothur repeated it.

"I promise in the name..." Then it did not take long for him to say the whole oath to the heavens and Lothur to repeat it without hesitation.

At the end of this process, Lothur felt something strange in his body, as if he was suddenly being watched. But there was nothing in the surroundings besides them.

"Boy, everything is finished. Now it is my time to go and leave my Soul Bones behind..." The soul fragment commented as it floated in the air and began to shine like a star before its death.

...