If one didn't look close enough, the third course would've looked empty, but on closer inspection, one could see dozens of tiny insects flying around. The collective flapping of their wings made a buzzing sound permeate through the air.
As usual, a floating sphere marked the start of the course.
Chaus had a faint idea of what this course's purpose was. As he placed his hand on the floating sphere, marks appeared on the insects. These marks were similar to the marks on the dummies, but they were exponentially smaller.
If the second course focused on killing speed, then the third course was centered around precision.
A spear with black flames dancing on it manifested in Chaus's hands. Chaus prepared himself to strike the marked insects. Suddenly, the spear shattered in pieces.
Confusion was evident on Chaus's face. Was he not supposed to use a spear? This theory was tested when two thin needles a foot long manifested in front of Chaus. Each needle held traces of hellfire on it and exuded a slight pressure of death.
Unlike the spear, the needles stayed manifested. Chaus was supposed to use the needles to destroy the insects.
Rather than rushing things and using both needles, Chaus only sent one needle out. Everytime the needle penetrated an insect, the insect burst into black flames. Chaus was watching closely for any changes to the course, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred.
As Chaus grew more comfortable with the course, he began using his second needle. Anyone watching from afar would see bursts of black flames igniting the sky, almost like a fireworks show.
Eventually, when the last insect burst in black flames, a number appeared in front of Chaus. 23.
23? What did that mean?
A buzzing sound filled the air. The insects had respawned. Chaus frowned. He had clearly killed all the insects, so why did the course reset? It had to be because of the number.
Chaus began experimenting. He attempted the course again and proceeded to wipe out all the insects. This time he focused on destroying the insects as fast as he could. When the last of the insects died, a new number appeared. 17. The course reset once more.
At this point Chaus had a vague idea what on the number meant. The number was a score. Since this course was focused on precision, the score graded how accurate Chaus was while killing the insects.
The insects were constantly flying so more often than not, Chaus's needles missed them. It took Chaus about 6 tries before hitting an insect, hence the low scores. Now that he knew what he was supposed to do, he started the course for the third time with a plan in mind. This time, rather than killing the insects as fast as he could, Chaus would focus more on accuracy.
A while later
A needle moved slowly towards an insect. When the insect was a foot away from the needle, the needle shot forward like a bullet and the insect burst into black flames. A number appeared. 27.
The score was higher than the previous score, but not as high as Chaus would've expected. Chaus had struck an insect once every 4 strikes with the needle, but his score was only 27. He now realized that the score didn't grade accuracy alone; it also graded speed. With that in mind, he started the course again.
Every Time he finished the course, his score increased, albeit slowly.
Penetrating an insect with a needle was immensely difficult. Penetrating an insect in less than 5 tries while showing considerable speed with the needle was more so. Like all skills, it wasn't something one could learn overnight. Dedication, hard work, and practice had to be put in if one wanted to be successful at doing something.
4 months later
Two thin needles enveloped in hellfire flew around the air. Before, they were as fast as an arrow, but now their speed surpassed that of an arrow. Everywhere the needles flew, an ignition of black flames followed. There were no wasted movements and the needles hit their mark every time. Eventually, the buzzing of the insects could no longer be heard. Silence filled the air, and accompanying the silence was a number. 100. Chaus had passed the third course.
His flying needles reached a new level of power. It was fast, precise, and powerful. Anyone who faced it would have a hard time. Additionally, Chaus felt more comfortable with soul manifestation and using his soul. It was time to move on to the fourth course.
The fourth course consisted of 11 pillars. The pillars ranged from different heights, with the shortest one being 2 meters tall and the tallest one 100 meters. On top of the pillars were eggs.
When Chaus started the course, the eggs began falling from the shortest pillar. Chaus didn't know what to do so he watched the egg fall to the ground. When the egg broke, the course reset. He now understood the goal of this course was to stop the eggs from breaking.
Chaus knew better than to assume this was going to be easy. He started the course again, and when the egg fell off the first pillar, Chaus manifested a bowl to catch the egg. The egg cracked the moment it fell on the bowl. The course reset again.
The bowl that Chaus manifested was too hard. He needed to create a softer material to catch the egg. The problem was that Chaus didn't know how to do that. Everytime he used his soul to manifest something, it was incredibly hard.
Chaus began trying to manifest something soft. He let his soul flow out his body and circulated it slowly. A tiny plate began to form. Chaus believed that by circulating his soul slowly, the manifested object would become softer. When the plate manifested, it was still hard like usual. Circulating his soul slower wouldn't change the hardness or softness of the manifested object.
If the speed of circulation didn't change the hardness, then maybe the amount of soul circulated would. Whenever Chaus circulated his soul to manifest an object, he would move large portions of his soul for circulation. This time he circulated tiny portions of his soul to manifest a plate. Soon, it was completely manifested. Surprisingly, when Chaus used his finger to touch the plate, he felt his finger push down on the plate. Even though the plate was softer than the previous plate, it wasn't soft enough to stop the egg from breaking, but progress was being made.
A few hours later
Chaus had manifested a rectangular box 1 meter tall and a foot wide. If one punched it, they would feel their hand sink into the box.
One meter was the highest the course allowed the box to reach. Any higher and it would shatter.
Chaus moved the box underneath the first pillar. As the egg began falling, Chaus held his breath in anticipation. The egg reached the box and sank in it without breaking. Chaus let out a breath of relief. 10 more pillars to go.
The second pillar was 10 meters tall. Chaus moved the box underneath the second pillar. This time, when the egg began falling, Chaus had a premonition that the egg would break. His premonition came true when the egg splattered the moment it touched the box.
As the height of the pillars increased, the delicacy of the eggs increased as well. The boxes Chaus manifested had to become softer. Not only that, when the egg landed on the box, Chaus had to control the softness of the box while the egg was inside it. If the box was too soft, the egg would fall straight to the ground, so Chaus needed to increase the viscosity of the box when the egg was inside the box, while maintaining the box's softness at the same time.
Chaus knew how to change the hardness of the box, but he didn't know how to increase the viscosity of the box. If the speed of circulation and amount of soul circulated didn't increase the viscosity, then maybe the density of the soul circulated would be able to change the viscosity of the box.
Chaus tried this theory. When Chaus circulated his soul, he increased the density of his soul that he circulated. He placed his hand on the box and pushed. A surprised expression appeared on Chaus's face. The box was still soft, but it was difficult for his hand to go through the box. He had successfully learned how to change the hardness and viscosity of his soul.
Chaus started the course again. He easily passed the first pillar. When he reached the second pillar, he made the manifested box softer by decreasing the amount of soul that he circulated. He then waited for the egg to fall from the pillar. As the egg reached the box, it didn't break, but instead, it went inside the box. Once it was inside, Chaus began increasing the viscosity of the box. The egg slowed down and eventually stopped. Chaus had successfully passed the second pillar.
Next came the third pillar. It was 20 meters tall and the egg was even more delicate than the egg on the second pillar. The egg fell from the pillar, reached the box, and went inside it. Chaus began increasing the viscosity of the box, but the moment he did, the egg broke.
It was as he suspected. Everytime the pillar increased in height, Chaus needed to make the box softer and assert more control over the viscosity of the box. Currently, the amount of soul Chaus circulated was around two liters. Chaus needed to circulate less soul if he wanted to make the box softer. Additionally, his control over viscosity had to improve. He needed to be able to change the viscosity of the box faster and more accurately.
Like usual, it was time to train.
5 months later, Chaus successfully passed the fourth course. His control over the properties of his soul increased exponentially. He could make his soul softer than a feather, more viscous than mercury, and silky like water.
It was time for the fifth course. The fifth course consisted of four tiny spheres in addition to the floating sphere that marked the start of the course. The four tiny spheres made a square around the floating sphere. Chaus pressed his hand on the floating sphere. A hissing sound was heard from the four tiny spheres. It was the sound of hot, red fire being spewed from the spheres.
Chaus could feel the heat emitted from the fire. He quickly used his soul to manifest a barrier with hellfire dancing on it. Fire continuously bombarded the barrier on all four sides.
An hour later, the fire was still eating away at the barrier. Chaus's soul was strained and he didn't know if he could maintain the barrier any longer. Eventually his barrier broke, and when the fire was about to burn Chaus, it stopped and the course was reset. Chaus put his hands on his knees and stood there panting.
This course tested the endurance of his soul. Increasing the endurance of the soul was similar to increasing the endurance of anything else. The only viable way to increase endurance was to do the activity you wanted to increase endurance for over and over again.
As such, when Chaus recovered, he started the course again.
Every day for the next 6 months, Chaus endured the onslaught of fire.
The last day of the sixth month
Sweat dripped down Chaus's body. His clothing was soaked. The barrier had been maintained for 76 hours. It wasn't until the 77th hour that the tiny spheres stopped spewing fire. Chaus let out a large breath of relief. He only had two more courses to complete before he could advance to the next platform.