Time flew by and two years passed since Nessa and Keith started their warrior cultivation.
In a forest, a body who looked to be around 14 years of age was chopping wood along with his friend. This boy was Keith, he now had a prominent jawline and although he didn't gain much weigth, his physique had become much sturdier.
"How strong!" The fat kid, Rey, exclaimed in awe. He couldn't underdtand how but his skinny friend had become much stronger in just two years.
'So slow.' He thought, ignoring his friend's remarks. It had been two years ever since he started his cultivation. At first, the progress was quite steady and he could feel his strength increasing day by day, but for the past year, he could barely feel any improvement.
'Father said that I've reached the bottleneck of the 1st layer, I hope I can break through soon.' He murmured, picked up the wood that he chopped and walked straight towards his home.
"Bye Rey, we will meet again tommorow." Keith said a little loudly and continued on his way.
The 'Crystal Bones' technique had 4 layers and there was always a bottleneck present at the end of these layers, one had to breakthrough these bottlenecks to reach the next layer. The completion of the first layer would grant the warrior increased strength, agility and vitality as well as harder bones and tendons. Once Keith broke through, he'd be known as a rank 1 warrior.
The effects of cultivating the second layer would be almost the same as the first layer, but the changes will be much more apparant and the warrior would start surpassing the limits of ordinary human body. Breaking through to this layer would make Keith a rank 2 warrior.
However, once a warrior had cultivated till the peak of the second layer, they'd encounter the second bottleneck in their cultivation journey. Once the third layer was broken through, the warrior would gain access to vital force and would be able to perform impossible feats such as shatterring boulders with a single punch. All warriors who could reach the realm of vital force were at rank 3. The biggest point was their lifespan of 150 years.
As for the fourth layer, Gerrad hadn't told them anything.
Thinking about all this, Keith reached his house before he knew it.
"I'm home." He said as he entered the house. Inside he saw his sister meditating eith her eyes closed infront of his father who had a serious expression on his face.
Soon, she opened her eyes, looked at both of them and smile on her face.
"I finally reached the peak of the 1st layer."
"Good."
"Congratulations."
They both congratulated her at the same time.
"So, did you make the dinner?" Keith asked casually. He knew that the most probably hadn't been cooked yet, but he was hungry, and so he felt the need to ask.
"No, I will go make some."
"No, wait, I'll make dinner today." Keith said and rushed towards the kitchen.
After an hour, they all sat together, eating their simple meal.
"Why is it that you only took one year to reach the peak of the 1st layer while I took one and a half?" Keith asked in the middle of the conversation with a slightly irritated tone.
Gerrad looked at him with a clam expression and said, "But she also had to build up her foundation for a year before she even started to cultivate, so it only makes sense if she could cultivate the 1st layer a little faster."
"Don't worry little brother, you're still a year younger than me, so you should feel proud pf yourself." Nessa said with a smug look on her face.
"Keith, don't feel jealous of other's progress, focus on yourself." Gerrad said in a stern tone.
"Father, I'm not jealous, it's just...*sigh*...its nothing like jealously. Seriously, I'm just surprised at her cultivation speed and nothing else." Keith didn't know how to put his feelings into words, and so, he simply stopped talking.
...
Months passed,
Keith and Nessa became more and more deligent in their cultivation, and started making immesne progress.
Now, Keith was sitting in a cross-legged position infornt of his father.
"Now is the time for the breakthrough." Gerrad said.