Meditation techniques were sold throughout the kingdom, but the most efficient ones were kept locked up by powerful clans. In the kingdom of Hochland, the Standing Tortoise Manual was considered a low-tier mediation technique. It was only profound enough to last a martialist from the Human realm to the Apprentice realm. Nonetheless, Andric studied the manual as if it were a sacred text.

In his previous life, Andric had reached the apex of magical power, but he had still been killed by martialists. In order to surpass the martialists in his second life, he needed to first understand how their energy system worked.

Andric’s mage worked by utilizing mana and thought energy. Instead of developing meridians, magicians developed an arcane core, which generated mana. That mana would then be imbued with thought energy, which would turn the mana into spells.

Martialists were entirely different from magicians. Instead of using an artificial organ to store their spirit energy, martialists stored their spirit energy throughout their enter body. When a martialist wanted to use one of their abilities, they only needed to will their body into motion. Conversely, a magician needed to access their mana, imbue the mana with thought energy, and release the spell. When the two activation sequences were analyzed, martialists clearly had a much faster method!

Andric’s heart-lung meridian was open, and he could sense a faint amount of spirit energy moving through it. According to Instructor Hubert, the rate that someone could absorb spirit energy was set by heritage. If Andric’s parents had reached a high realm of the martial way before they had him, he would be able to absorb spirit energy faster than otherwise. According to Instructor Hubert, there was no way to change the rate of spirit energy absorption after birth.

Andric, however, took Instructor Hubert’s words with a grain of salt. He knew that there was nothing in the world that was impossible to change, and there was no person more suited for making discoveries about spirit energy and meridians than himself. For the first night, Andric practiced the Standing Tortoise Manual without trying to alter the technique.

The next day came, and Andric proceeded like he had done for the past few years. He woke up, bathed outside, and went to Instructor Hubert’s class. He no long needed to attend Instructor Hubert’s class after turning fifteen, but most town youths stayed for one additional year. Then, after sixteen, most town youths found work or left for greener pastures.

Instructor Hubert’s classes mostly taught general knowledge. He seldom talked about the martial way, but all of his insights were useful to Andric. The subjects of numbers and letters were unneeded by Andric, but there was no telling when Instructor Hubert might impart some of his martialist wisdom on the class, and so Andric needed to attend every lesson. This was, in fact, a technique used by Instructor Hubert to make sure more students attended his lessons.

In the town of Einburg, there were between ten and twenty babies born every year, but half of them died before their fifth birthday. Of the five-to-ten that survived, only one or two would have the capability to practice the Standing Tortoise Manual until its second rank. For many, they would struggle with comprehending the first rank, and their martial stage would remain unchanged inside the Human realm.

Andric, with the experiences from his previous life, had no issue comprehending the secrets of the Standing Tortoise Manual. He wondered why the meditation technique used obscure wording, but he guessed it was an anti-theft measure so that someone couldn’t copy the text after reading it a single time.

After Instructor Hubert’s class was over, Andric rushed home and resumed practicing the Standing Tortoise Manual. In less than twenty-four hours, he had deciphered the entire first rank of the meditation technique, and he chanted its mantra while sitting cross legged on his bed.

All humans started at the first stage of the Human realm. At that stage, their body could only absorb meager amounts of spirit energy, and the use of martial techniques was impossible. If Andric reached Human realm second stage, his strength would increase, but only by a small amount. In the whole Human realm, the strength increase that came from each stage increase was only equivalent to what someone could gain by working out. Only the Novice realm and above had benefits that exceeded the capabilities of normal humans.

Andric knew the limitations of the Human realm, so he set his sights on the knowledge he could learn from practicing the meditation technique. At his current level, his magical spells were far superior to whatever attacks he could muster with his physical body. Although it would out him as a magician, Andric would sooner use magic to save his life than martial techniques.

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In Andric’s previous life, there were no realms or stages in the martial way. Back then, martialists grew stronger at a steady pace, sometimes transcending the limits of the human body without even knowing it. With the creation of mediation techniques came the realms and stages, which helped martialists keep track of how strong they were.

Andric pulled in energy from the atmosphere by using the Standing Tortoise Manual, but he couldn’t discern how much stronger his body was getting. His body would suddenly become stronger once he reached the second stage of the Human realm, but he had no way to know how long that would take.

After meditating for the second day in a row, Andric no longer needed to refer to the Standing Tortoise Manual to ensure he had the correct form and breathing technique. He sat in a peaceful environment, separated his thoughts from the outside world, and focused on the vision of a sturdy tortoise standing against the winds of a vast plain. The winds blew unceasingly, but the tortoise refused to enter its shell and lay on the ground. It stood arrogantly, unwilling to withdraw.

At first, Andric analysed the scene described in the Standing Tortoise Manual for its probability. If a tortoise was standing in a harsh wind and didn’t have anywhere it go, it was stupid for it to not retreat into its shell. Over several hours, Andric practiced the Standing Tortoise Manual without appreciating with.

Once Andric looked past the absurdity of the tortoise standing in the wind, he began to understand what the Standing Tortoise Manual was really about. The Standing Tortoise Manual was an ode to all who stood against adversity using nothing but their strength, instead of the defenses they were gifted at birth. It represented humanity’s ability to grow stronger and overcome challenges that were easier to simply avoid.

Sitting in cross legged, taking deep breaths, chanting the mantra, and imagining the scene were all it took to circulate spirit energy, but it was an entirely different matter to absorb spirit energy! Only when Andric truly understood the Standing Tortoise Manual did his body being to absorb spirit energy! He had thought he was absorbing spirit energy the entire time, but the difference was quite clear.

Spirit energy rushed into Andric’s body and flowed along his heart-lung meridian. Instead of immediately flowing back out of his body, it then seeped into his flesh. With every second that Andric continued to practice the Standing Tortoise Manual, his body took in more spirit energy, and it flowed further along his heart-lung meridian.

Without him knowing, two days passed. On the third day, six days after having received the Standing Tortoise Manual from the town hall, Andric opened his eyes. He hopped off his bed, then punched toward his bedroom wall. His fist shot out with great speed, surprising himself.

“Human realm second stage?” he asked himself, not quite believing it. He felt a pulse of energy surged through his body, and he suspected it was his arrival at the second stage of the Human realm, but he couldn’t be sure. However, regardless, his strength had definitely increased! Just standing and punching once, he already felt noticeably stronger! His body felt lighter, and his limbs moved with more fluidity. If there was a similar increase of strength at every stage, it could become intoxicating!

When properly using the Standing Tortoise Manual, all the flesh in Andric’s body became stronger. Spirit energy could only absorb into his body from his heart-lung meridian, but, after being absorbed into his body, it diffused evenly around his body.

Andric changed his clothes and went downstairs. He looked outside, and it was already afternoon. His mother sat in the sitting room, snacking on a dried piece of root.

“Andric, did you make any progress?” she asked, feeling hopeful.

“I think so,” Andric nodded and replied.

“That’s good. You were in your room for three days, so you must be hungry. I’ll cook something for you,” Alda said, and she stood up.

The length of three days surprised Andric. In the past ten years, he hadn’t missed more than a single day in a row of Instructor Hubert’s lessons, but here he had missed three. Not only that, but he hadn’t eaten or drinken anything in that time. As soon as Alda mentioned it, Andric’s stomach felt weak, and his lips were parched.

“I’m going to get water,” he said, and he exited the house. A well wasn’t too far away, and Andric pulled up some water to drink. He swallowed a few mouthfuls, then looked down at the bucket and thought about the past.

Reaching the second stage of the Human realm had filled Andric with a sense of power. He could see while martialists would think their system of power was better than that of magicians. There was something primal about increasing the increase in strength that also increased his confidence. It felt good to punch with greater force than the day before, and magic couldn’t replicate that internal feeling.

The water from the bottom of the well was cold, and Andric splashed some of it on his face before returning inside.