Chapter 8: Very Unusual Weather
Astonished by Nox’s elegant improvisation, Ain was almost struck by the lone puppet still on the platform. He dodged the punch aimed at his face hastily and called out, “Nox, lead this puppet away!”
“Wooo…!”
Nox, cheerful of its performance, floated over with a swagger. Soon, Ain was freed from his tail. He paused for a moment and deliberately praised, “That was a great move! Good job!”
“Wooo…!” Nox continued moving straight, but its eyes shifted to its back and nodded energetically. Its joy was clearly transmitted through their link, lightening his own mood.
“It’s like those Lavish Dogs running around the slums,” Ain thought. Simple praise was sufficient to cheer them up.
With the puppets out of the way, he turned his attention back to Temporal Blitz and began training with the supplementary stances in his memory. Upon practicing the stances in succession, he realized that they integrated into an attack, or a punch to be more specific.
During this period of training, a couple of waves of puppets had spawned, and most of them were thrown into the sea of darkness. Contradicting his speculation about the increments, only four puppets had appeared each time, to which he didn’t voice any complaints. It was precisely due to this realization that he relaxed and finally gained some insights into Temporal Blitz.
Ain straightened his posture and breathed in deeply. Aether flowed through his body intently, guided by his solemn will. Like a bow drawing, his clenched right fist arrived beside his waist as his elbow stretched back. Then, he stomped his right foot forward, lowered his hips, and shot out his fist like a deadly arrow.
This was Ain’s gain after integrating all the stances.
His fist tore through the air forcefully and manifested a small shockwave. A faint gust arose in the surroundings, rustling his hair and shabby clothes. His eyes gleamed with surprise, “So powerful!”
He’d just been practicing the motions, and the effects were already so extraordinary. Ain’s heart palpitated for Temporal Blitz’s true form.
In this brief period of practice, he’d gotten the hang of the stances and aether circulation. Visualizing the spell rune and gaining a conceptual understanding were the subsequent steps.
To visualize the spell rune, Ain needed to construct a magical pattern using his aether, which required high precision. And the location of visualization was his fist.
“Although I’ve already memorized the spell rune, it’s still challenging to control my aether accordingly. If I falter partway, the half-finished spell rune will collapse. I’ll have to take this slowly,” Ain recalled while staring straight ahead. With a faint flash of light, a wave of four puppets appeared.
“Nox, just keep them busy and don’t destroy them!”
“Wooo…!” Nox understood his intention and refrained from destroying the puppets targeting it. With three puppets trailing behind Nox, the remaining two approached Ain, who was at a distance.
“Let’s test out what I’ve learned so far.” With that in mind, Ain prepared to use the incomplete Temporal Blitz.
With swift footsteps, the two puppets were soon within reach and attacked him. Instead of colliding head-on, Ain strained to dodge the punches and countered with a kick, aiming for one of their chests.
Due to the puppet's running momentum, the kick missed its intended target and connected with the puppet’s hip instead. Nevertheless, this was enough to achieve his purpose as the puppet was pushed back, toppling onto the floor.
While recovering his posture, Ain awkwardly blocked another punch by the second puppet before shoving it back two steps. These actions served to arrange the battlefield while also providing a brief respite, allowing him to straighten his posture.
In his sight, the first puppet still recovered on the floor as the second one stabilized itself and punched out again.
Ignoring the incoming attack, Ain’s fist arrived beside his waist. With his right foot, he stepped out heavily as his hips lowered. Then, he punched out.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Boom!
A blunt explosion resounded in the air, sending white shockwaves tearing through the air with a garnish of dark wooden chunks of various proportions. The puppet’s wooden remains streaked through the air, scattering all around him. Under his pleased gaze, only its limbs remained relatively intact, tossed about the floor.
The puppet was utterly destroyed.
Ain subconsciously clenched his fist to savor the empowering sensation flooding his body and soul. This was his own power!
He smiled widely while turning to face the first puppet that’d already recovered by now. With a devious glint in his eyes, Ain straightened his posture again.
A few seconds later.
Boom!
Another rain of dark wooden chunks drizzled.
Sensing an unstoppable momentum, Ain didn’t hesitate and faced the puppet that’d left Nox earlier to target him.
Boom!
Another puppet rushed over.
Boom!
Dark wooden chunks continued pouring down, contradicting the local weather forecast.
Nox watched its spirit master demolish all the puppets before glancing at the lone puppet chasing behind it. It pondered silently before reminding, “Wooo…”
Hearing Nox’s voice, Ain was stunned momentarily before replying with a laugh, “I know. I wasn’t going to destroy it.”
“Wooo…” Nox reminded again.
This left him speechless and amused at the same time.
It’s imitating me…
He recalled that he’d reminded Nox not to destroy the last puppet numerous times already.
Ain laughed while shaking his head, “Alright, you know the drill.”
“Wooo…”
Nox revealed its slight fatigue before continuing its duty. It could recover its aether, and even stamina to some extent, however the fatigue would only accumulate over time.
Ain was already aware of the issue. Hence, he didn’t waste more time and began practicing the spell rune. Aether swept past the aethercore and flowed into his right hand. He controlled it into a snake-like strand, outlining the spell rune in his memory.
When he reached the quarter point, Ain’s control wavered and the structure he’d visualized collapsed. It was like a painter whose hand trembled involuntarily, smearing paint across his artwork.
“Although finer control is necessary, part of the difficulty stems from my unfamiliarity with spell runes and visualization in general. With enough practice, I’ll definitely succeed.”
Ain’s control had wavered, but not his spirit. He’d once lived a dull life, with no expectations for the future. The events these past few days had changed his fate dramatically, and he was determined to walk this path further.
Like grains of sand trickling through glass, time also elapsed moment by moment.
Waves of puppets spawned at set intervals, serving as prime targets for Ain’s practice, affording him significant progress with each attempt. As he neared his goal, Wisdom Root’s assistance in the process was prominently displayed.
Upon visualizing a particular segment of the spell rune, it was virtually effortless during his next attempt to visualize it.
“It was the same for the Chronarch Precept,” Ain recollected. Otherwise, It would’ve been impossible to reach Rank-1 so quickly.
His practice continued.
Ain was like a snake charmer, manipulating the aether like dancing snakes. His concentration was sharp like a needle, pointing straight at the spell rune. With a final twist, the last thread of aether condensed, perfecting the spell rune.
“It’s done!” Ain stared at his fist, where the spell rune was visualized, with excitement in his eyes.
The spell rune was relatively stable but depleted his aether with each passing moment. If it continued for a bit longer, he’d be sucked completely dry. “I have to hurry!”
Without hesitation, Ain executed the motions for Temporal Blitz.
With a boom, the familiar shockwave swept the immediate surroundings as the spell rune he’d visualized in his fist dissipated, taking along the aether he’d injected.
Nothing outstanding occurred.
Although Ain wasn’t confused, he was still slightly disappointed.
“I’ve grasped the stances, aether circulation method, and spell rune. What remains is gaining a conceptual understanding, but I have no idea where to begin.”
Wisdom Root drastically improved his cognitive abilities but understanding and comprehension couldn’t be forced. There were loads of concepts in the Chronarch Precept and Temporal Blitz that he still didn’t understand. They required extensive amounts of time to study.
After contemplating for a while, Ain thought of his findings so far.
“Using time to bridge the spatial gap. This seems to be the core concept behind Temporal Blitz. But this means nothing to me right now.”
Ain was just a regular human living in the slums not long ago. Sixty seconds were a minute, and sixty minutes made an hour, and so on. This was his understanding of time. Space was also just that, space. It could be occupied or empty. Everything around him was space.
“In the end, I have to study more than just the circulation methods to gain a better understanding.” Ain sighed internally.
The Chronarch Precept contained much more than just the circulation method. He had ignored everything else in a hurry to reach Rank-1 so as to quickly leave this unknown secret realm. The Temporal Blitz was no different.
“Wooo…” As Ain pondered, Nox’s voice suddenly brought him back, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced over and asked, “The puppet vanished as it was chasing you? When did it happen?”
“Wooo…” Nox replied while floating over. It’d occurred just a few seconds ago.
After a brief comparison, Ain realized it was right when he’d used the incomplete Temporal Blitz with the spell rune.
“Judging by the timing, is this intentional? Allowing me time to study? Or am I thinking too much?” Ain formed a conjecture, which alerted him further.
Was someone observing him?
This thought couldn’t help but manifest, making his hair stand on their ends.
With their guards raised, the two glanced around warily. The silver platform was still void of any puppets, with a sea of darkness surrounding the platform. However, as he turned his neck, he finally spotted something that’d changed.
The silver bridge and altar that’d disappeared earlier had reappeared once again. And contrary to before, the altar now supported a familiar gray vortex.