A book appeared from the ball.
[Sky Movement (SR) Acquired]
"Super Rare!" Alex was excited when he saw the announcement. Although the system said that these five times draw guaranteed at least one rare item, he never thought that he could get an SR item on the first try because back on Earth he never got lucky using this kind of gacha. Poor him.
He took out the book from the inventory.
'Sky Movement' was written on the cover. He then proceeded to open the book on the first page.
"There are 5 types of steps for this sky movement, they are Immovable Step, Fleeting Step, Flash Step, Heavy Step, and Sky Step.
Immovable Step and Fleeting Step focus on two opposite purposes. The Immovable Step is used to channel the power in your step to give you more power or bind you to the ground. In conclusion, as the name implies, the Immovable Step is a kind of step that makes you immovable. In contrast to the Immovable Step, the Fleeting Step focuses on unpredictable movement to dodge the opponent.
Similar to the two, Flash Step and Heavy Step are the opposite of each other. The Flash Step makes the user move like a feather, without weight. This will make the user's speed faster up to four times if mastered completely. As for the Heavy Step, it makes the user gain the weight of a mountain if mastered at the highest stage.
The last technique is the Sky Step. After mastering the four steps mentioned previously, the user will be able to move in the sky or on the water as if they are moving on the ground. The user might be able to fly in the sky or swim in the sea, however, with this Sky Step the user will be able to move in the sky or on the sea just like how they usually move on the ground, thus making a better maneuver and movement. Every step has 5 stages."
"..." Alex was a little confused with this roundabout explanation.
"Well then, in short, Immovable Step makes you stand still, Fleeting Step makes you unpredictable, Flash Step makes you lighter, Heavy Step makes you heavier, and Sky Step makes you feel like you are on the ground in every terrain..." Alex contemplated. "Where exactly is the 'Sky' in this all five-step?"
"Maybe... the one who wrote this just wanted a cool name..."
Alex shook his head, "Whatever. Let's try this Sky Movement tomorrow. I will borrow the Teacher's courtyard to train this movement techniques."
Alex went back to cultivate.
The next day after the class, Alex borrowed the dean's courtyard. The dean was surprised. He thought Alex would like to do some alchemy or forging again. Turned out Alex wanted to practice his movement techniques. Of course, he gave his permission to use the courtyard without hesitation.
But before he went to the courtyard, he passed a rank 2 pill recipe, the Quenching Fire Pill.
"I can somehow buy all the ingredients using my connection except this Fire Miletonia Herb. I don't know if any of my connections have this herb. Don't worry, I will inform you if I get all of the ingredients."
"Thank you, Teacher," Alex thanked him and left.
Alex then decided to practice the first step of the Sky Movement, which was the Immovable Step.
"Converting the step to power. It boosts the user defense or offense depending on how you use it. The first stage is to use the Mana to power the body to hold the step power..."
Every time he recalled this instruction, he always got confused. He just couldn't understand the meaning. Currently, he only understood that this Immovable Step was like his Boost Step except he could use it without his Fire Magic. He could only follow the instructions from the book.
Since this Immovable Step was similar to his Boost Step, he mastered the first stage of the Immovable Step just in one day. He also noticed that the power of this Immovable Step only used one time of his power, unlike his Boost Step that could amplify his power a few times with momentum. But in the long run, his Boost Step would be more useless.
The reason was simple, he could use an explosion to boost his momentum. But if he got stronger and stronger, it meant he would need a bigger and bigger explosion to get the speed. What would happen if his pure speed alone reached the speed of sound? Although it sounded absurd, he still thought about this. Maybe he needed an explosion as big as a nuclear missile?
This Immovable Step would evolve along with his increasing power. That meant that this technique was related to his foundation, not an external force like his Boost Step.
He continued to practice this Immovable Step for a week and finally moved to the second stage, which granted him 1,5 times of his pure power. He decided to stop practicing the Immovable Step for a while and moved on to the second step, which was the Fleeting Step.
Alex looked at the footwork drawn in the book. At first, Alicia and Firia sometimes laughed at him. The reason was that when he practiced this step, he often tripped or bumped into the wall. This was a rare sight for them. They had never seen the powerful and cool-headed Alex tripped or bumped like this before. But soon enough, they stopped laughing even when Alex tripped, etc.
They suddenly became ashamed. They realized that they were not bringing their best effort into practicing. After looking at Alex training himself over and over, they only saw the gallant Alex who was powerful in their eyes and other people's eyes. They never saw how much Alex practiced to become like that. They only saw the result, not the process itself.
They soon became hard-working just like him. Even after Alex advised them to take a break or went back to their room. They still practiced until late at night and went back home together with Alex. Of course, sometimes Alex also needed to carry them back to their room if the practice they did was especially tough.
After another week, Alex succeeded in reaching the first stage of the Fleeting Step. Alex's movement became smoother. His movement became nimbler and more agile. But there was one significant difference. When Alicia and Firia sparred with him, they couldn't hit him, or rather they were confused by Alex's movement. With their speed differences alone, they already couldn't hit him. Added with this complicated and unpredictable movement, they couldn't even touch him. And before they realized it, they were already on the ground.
Alex decided to reach the first stage first for all his steps before continuing to the second stage. But since the Immovable Step was something that he was familiar with, it was already advanced to the second stage.
"The third step, Flash Step makes the user lighter, thus resulting in a faster movement. It is the same principle when you run while carrying 100kg weight and 200kg weight, then obviously it will be faster for you running with 100kg weight than the 200kg weight. A very simple explanation," Alex nodded then started to practice this movement and it took him another week to reach the first stage.
When he used this technique, his body felt lighter. Alex's movement became light as a feather which was easily dodging a hit because of the wind pressure. Every time he used this technique, he felt his body become twice lighter.
"According to the book, If I reach the first stage, it will make me twice lighter, thus boosting my speed. If I reach the second stage, it will make me four times lighter. Then in the final stage, my body will be as light as a feather."
"The fourth step is Heavy Step. This step is the opposite of the third step, the Flash Step. This step makes the user heavier. While restricting the movement, it will give the power as strong as a mountain if mastered up to the five stages."
Alex reached the first stage in just a week. The average speed for him to reach the first stage was one week. However, the problem was when he practiced this Heavy Step, he broke many floors and there were still a few cracks on the ground in his teacher's courtyard. His teacher could only sigh as he called someone to repair it, so Alex could break, cough, use it again.
And finally, he reached the last step of all. The requirement of this step was mastering the first four steps. That meant, if Alex wanted to reach the first stage of this step, he needed to at least reach the first stage of the other four steps first.
This time Alex took two weeks to reach the first stage. Alex then could step in the air like he was on the ground. Although he could only use it briefly, it was really useful. Alex tried to stand in the air, he tried it a half meter above the ground. Alicia and Firia were shocked by this, they thought Alex could fly. But not long after, he fell to the ground, exhausted. Holding himself in the air took a toll on his Mana. If he only needed to step for maneuver, it might not take him that much Mana. But this time, he used it to float.
Alicia and Firia thought Alex was already so powerful because the basic requirements to fly were at least rank 7 and adept in Mana. Alex explained to them, all of this was achieved by his movement technique. They wanted to learn this movement technique which Alex gave them. Alicia and Firia started to practice this particular movement technique.
Alex sometimes instructed them with his own limited experiences, but it was still useful than nothing. After Alex reached the first stage of this Sky Step. He wanted to continue to the second stage. But this time, the dean called him to his office.
"Teacher," Alex was in a joyful mood since he reached the first stage of his Sky Step.
"I have gathered all the ingredients for your Quenching Fire Pill. Except for the Fire Miletonia Herb that I previously said."
"I see," Alex was a bit disappointed that the last herb was still not found. But he was already thankful enough for his teacher who could gather all these herbs for him.
"But..."
Alex looked at his teacher who still hadn't finished his sentences.
"I found the Fire Miletonia Herb's whereabouts."
"Really?! Tell me!" Alex was hopeful for this herb now, his previous disappointment vanished to thin air.
"I wanted to collect the herb myself, but I decided not to. I will give a test for you. Go collect this herb yourself. This herb is spotted beside a waterfall in the Celestial Forest. This forest doesn't possess that much danger. The king of this forest is only a rank 6 monster. Similar to our night forest. The one guarding this herb is only a rank 5 fox according to the report.
Oh, I almost forgot. There are fifty rank 2 restoration pills that I made these past months in this bag. Bring this with you. And be careful," the dean handed him a small pouch.
"Teacher, thank you so much," Alex was moved by this.
"Now go back to prepare, you will go tomorrow and also don't take too long outside. In one month, there will be a test for grade promotion. Although the test will only check your rank, the passing grade is only rank 2. Since you already reached that long time ago, you won't have any issue with that. You only need to go along with the formalities.
After the test, there will be a ranking competition with your fellow students. The purpose is to rank the new second-grade student and I know you won't care about that... sigh"
"I will go back in one month," Alex nodded and left.
But there was one miscalculation the dean made this time.