The time needed to get control over the Particles and control over all 100 points of Soul, was within calculations, couple of weeks after the third year passed, Lucien had some confidence he could breakthrough whenever he wanted.
-Lucien BloodMoon-
-Age: 12 years-
-Race: Human-
-Paths:
Copper Ghoul(Rank 1)
Darkness(Rank 1)
Vampire Viscount(Rank 1)
10 Meter Soul (Soul Devour Rank 1)-
-Strength: 68.45-
-Agility: 50.75-
-Vitality: 68.05-
-Soul: 100.00-
-Control over internal body: 70%-
-Control over particles:
Inside the body: 100%
Outside the body: 0%-
-Control over Soul : 100 Points-
Over the time Lucien understood why the balanced build was beneficial, and also why others didn't go for it.
The first part was because, the body was the vessel of the Particles at Rank 1, which meant if the practitioner had a stronger strength, agility or vitality, it would bring an effect to the Particles.
If Strength was higher, the body was stronger, so the practitioner could draw larger amount of Particles without damaging the body, thus speeding up the breakthrough process.
If Agility was higher, the practitioner could move the Particles faster and with more accuracy, thus not damaging the body by increasing the speed.
If Vitality was stronger, even if the body was damaged during the movement of larger amounts of Particles, it would be mended faster, it brought some pain, but that was an acceptable price for breaking through faster.
If all of them were brought up together, the gates between the Ranks were almost not an obstacle.
The reason why nobody did that, was they didn't have enough of a lifespan do achieve it.
It was still OK to practice 2 paths to Rank 1 and using three of the stats at 100 to get to Rank 2, but it was at Rank 2 that didn't work so well anymore. The lifespan doubled, but the Stat requirements for Rank 3 are 10 times more, instead of 50, it was 500 to get to the peak of Rank 2.
Lucien was capable of getting 1 stat points per month in Strength as he had 1 kg of meat everyday and he spent the first half of the time doing that, the second half was with the accumulated blood which he kept saving so he could keep going at 1 liter per day as well. That was on the basis that he was not converting any part of the Rank 1 meat and Rank 1 blood. He could have taken the easy way and just converted everything and then increase the stats, but that would mean he would be a slave to All Existence, he would rely on All Existence for everything.
If he didn't have the resources, he would need at least 5 months to get 1 stat points in anything.
Just doing the math if there were no resources, to get 1 stat from 500 to a 1000 would take about 208 years, and the lifespan of a Rank 2 was 400 years max, nobody made it past that. Training anything more than 1 Path is a suicide, if you don't have a constant supply or resources that is.
If Lucien wanted to get Strength and Vitality to a 100 by himself, he would need another 3 years and that would translate to another half a ton of Rank 1 meat and Rank 1 blood. The efficiency, compared to All Existence was complete bullshit, half a ton of Rank 1 blood is 25 000 existence points, it would be 125 stat points, instead of 18.
'It doesn't matter, there are some things I have to do myself, even if it slows me down. It just feels the benefits of my actions over the long term would be much better, than taking the shortcut now.'
'After all resources are to be used, the blood is replenishable, and the meat is not even mine, I'm not losing anything. And Existence points are still amassing, with the 6400 left after buying the manuals for the Vampire and the Ghoul path, over the last second half of the 3 years the 1 kg of Rank 1 beast meat that I kept converting is about 12 500 existence points as it's not human.'
'In total I got give or take 19 000 existence points.'
'Elena kept doing the most important part, I get my blood, her business is thriving since she could ship her goods through the dangerous zones.'
'I'll continue improving the balanced build, if something happens I'll try to breakthrough then and leave seclusion. With the amount of Darkness Particles I used from that ball so far, I can definitely get Agility to 100.00 and still have enough to break through Rank 2.'
Lucien had turned 12, but was already considered a complete introvert, he just stayed inside. His father was all smiles thinking his strategy worked and Lucien was seeking power comparable to his own. The only ones that saw Lucien from time to time were his mother and Vlad who was 'sparring' with him every once in a while.
Lucien made sure they hit it off well and didn't trash him too hard, he helped him and pointed at his mistakes. He also realized his brother was hiding something, and he was doing a good job at it, he was holding back during the spars and that was the only thing that gave him away, but Lucien didn't say anything about it.
The only other person that was 'seeing' Lucien was Elena, but he was always in his disguise, it was to take over the 'books' he liked to read so much. She also kept him updated on how things were progressing and nothing seemed suspicious on her end.
...
Just like that another 3 years passed
...
The business of Elena was developing fast, it had already attracted attention of some Rank 2s, but with her backing and the new position in her family, they couldn't do anything. It was a surprise, but halfway through the time, she bought him another Rank 1 slave, to show her goodwill for the help.
Another thing that happened was, when Lucien turned 14, he felt some urges starting to develop, and they were distracting him in his cultivation, so one time when Elena was delivering the 'books', he just started walking towards a hotel while leaving a simple 'come with me', Elena curiously followed him and turned completely red when she saw the destination, even if she was 20 at this point, she was still untouched. She didn't attempt to resist, there was even a bit of expectation on her face. Checking in, he led her to a room, while she silently followed, after entering the room, Lucien turned into a beast, it was only half a day later when they were done, and both Lucien and Elena had satisfied looks on their faces. There was a slight look of pain on her face, as Lucien was a monster not only in cultivation but in other places as well.
"From now on make this the point were you give me the books. But we have to be faster next time, I don't have this much time to waste.'
"Okay."
Elena just showed she her agreement, and turned red again at the mention of 'next time'.
Lucien had already purified her bloodline when he was still 9, if she had enough resources, peak Rank 3 would be no problem. She was already mid Rank 1 at this point, and she was 22 this year. Peak of Rank 1 in 1 stat was possible, but she was focusing on business too much and that slowed her down.
They both continued to enjoy and relieve themselves during every blood drop off over the next 2 years, Elena was becoming more and more proactive and wild in that small hotel, her Vampire charm was making the whole thing much more enjoyable for Lucien.