This seemed like something that would have been nice to know from the beginning, but the System was very hands off about things like this, and it was prone to withholding large amounts of information.
Sam sighed, and instead focused on controlling the tiny nugget of power that he had in his hands. He could feel his Dao energy and elemental energy start to return, trying to infiltrate the tendril of power that he had extended out into the world. However, he was able to head off their advances, now that the mana had already reached the air.
The tendril extended into his core, drawing off a contest stream of pure mana, bolstering his little flame. He condensed it into a ball, like in the Interweb, and then knelt down, curious about what the ball could do. He lowered it towards the rock beneath himself and watched as it ate through it with no effort at all, leaving only dust in its wake. It seemed that it at last had some destructive capabilities, even in its most basic form.
Sam closed his fist, and snuffed out the ball of mana. He would be able to explore its other applications later. Heading back into the cave to find his mentor, he told him of his success. Gordanus reacted with little to no enthusiasm, but Sam could detect the glimmer of a smile on his face.
For the next day, Sam worked solely on improving his physical capacity, as Gordanus deemed him to be healed enough from his little escapade with the weights to be able to practice with them more. His new training allowed for him to gradually become more accustomed to using his full strength with his full body, which he found took him to new heights of power beyond what he had ever expected.
Right now, on paper, his stats were about twenty times that of a normal human, give or take, but if he extended that bonus throughout his entire body, he was able to achieve things that twenty humans working in sync wouldn't have been able to do. If he used all of his lower back and leg muscles, he could jump far higher than if he only used his calves for example, which is what he had been doing before, thinking that it was the easiest way to do so with his enhanced strength. However, this new knowledge came with a heavy price in pain, but it was one that Sam was willing to pay for the power that it granted him.
At the end of the day, covered in sweat, he let Gordanus look over him in silence, scrutinizing his gains. Sam’s muscles had all grown noticeably over the last day, and his enhanced healing had been the reason behind that. He had gotten in more exercise that day than most people would in a week, not even accounting for the difference in weight. In any case, he had certainly done well for himself.
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“You seem to have eked out every last bit of strength that you could out of your body, finally realizing the full extent of your stats. Well done. Now however it is time to test them.”
Sam nodded at his mentor, and the two men left the cave, heading towards a nearby set of mountains that Sam had not recognized on the way in, the result of his rapid speed at the hands of Gordanus. Now that he was there however, he was able to see the extent of the range fully. Well, it was more of a series of hills than a mountain range, but it was still imposing, and the largest of the hills extended upwards for over a thousand feet, made out of smooth glassy rock. Apparently this area had once been volcanic, and the volcano in question had been far larger than any back on earth. These hills were all that were left of its last eruption, which had bathed most of the planet in lava, the reason for its smooth surface.
In any case, Gordanus had told Sam that there were ample opportunities for growth within the tunnels that honeycombed through the obsidian, and that monsters abounded within them. The two men walked at a quick clip, which for their level, was about eighty miles per hour. Obviously, Gordanus could go much faster, but he was maintaining a speed that Sam could walk at.
As they quickly made their way across the plain between the cave and the small mountains, Gordanus remained silent, taking a few swigs from his flask every now and again. Sam could tell that the man was not in the mood for idle chatter, so he instead cultivated his Dao as he walked, trying to get as much out of this time as he could.
By the time they had reached the hills, Sam had made some progress with his Dao, using its interaction with his mana as a catalyst for further growth. He had found that his Dao was motivated to grow while he was teasing it with a tendril of his mana, as the Dao sought to incorporate the pure mana into itself. As long as Sam kept them separated, he was able to increase the power of his Dao quicker than usual, which was a profound discovery. In any case, they were now standing outside of the entrance to the cave, and Gordanus ushered Sam in, waiting at the door.
“Are you sure this is safe, Master?” Sam asked.
“Safe? No. It won’t kill you though. Probably.”
With this ominous declaration, Sam slowly walked down the tunnel. The sunlight behind him was gone, and he was all on his own. The tunnel was eerily silent, and the walls were cold to the touch, which made the atmosphere quite creepy indeed. Sam ignored this for the most part however, and kept moving, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible.
The tunnel started to slope downwards slightly as he progressed, and Sam noticed that the air was starting to get slightly warmer than before. He would be finding his target soon enough.