:::[Adam's POV]:::
I was feeling a little bit pressured by Liu's gaze, and there was also the fact that she attracted more attention than necessary.
Despite all of that, I needed to focus on my training, so I convinced myself that all this pressure was also a form of training in itself.
Cristal's instructions were clear, simple, and effective as always.
"I understand, I will try," I said but I didn't expect things to turn extremely irritating so fast.
The second step consisted of using my power as some kind of barrier.
According to Cristal, this will reduce the percentage of primordial particles consumed, so I wouldn't waste my strength needlessly in the future.
What I had to do was simple: I needed to make sure that the fire generated by the stone around me didn't get neutralized.
To do that, I had to control my power so that only a layer would appear around me.
Also, I had to make sure it flowed out from a single point, for example, my hand, and not the whole body.
Yes, in theory, it was extremely simple, but when I put it into practice, it became extremely hard.
However, this was something that I needed to master before I could do something else.
Honestly, it was very tedious and very tiring.
No matter how many times I tried, the fire got extinguished whenever I try to activate my power.
The fact that I couldn't see my power didn't help at all.
I tried to close my eyes and tried to focus all of my senses on my finger, just so that I could feel something coming out of it.
Yet, I couldn't feel anything at all, and instead, my power overflowed out of my body like always.
I repeated the same thing, one time two times, fifty times… and the result was the same.
It didn't even last fifteen minutes, and I was already out of strength.
I didn't even use my power that much, but it was clear that it was not an absolute authority for nothing.
My power consumed a lot of energy and primordial particles.
I knew that it was strange for a mere mortal like me to hold such a power, but still, this was extremely inconvenient.
I was panting heavily and I couldn't even stand straight.
My eyes felt heavy and my head ached as if I got amnesia.
"This is tough..."
I understood what I needed to do, it was simple, and it was not like this power was something that I acquired recently, but still had hard time.
There was nothing more frustrating that not being able to do something that you thought will be easy to do.
My mind was a bit hazy. I wanted to take a break already. I was even wondering if all of this was necessary. Maybe I should just go and learn some sword skills, or I could even go to the Empire and eliminate all of the threats one by one. Why did I even think about that? This was not the time to give up? Liu was watching.
I knew that I shouldn't think that way. However, it was hard to face the reality and go through the hardships, even though I already know that I will earn something from it.
As I was losing motivation, an emotionless yet charming voice brought me back to reality.
"Master, I will shoot you now."
Cristal pointed the mana gun at me even though I was on the verge of passing out.
"What? But I can not put up a barrier yet."
"Don't worry, it's part of the training. You might be able to understand the theory, but sometimes, other elements are needed. For example, this gun, and I increased the firepower so it will hurt," Cristal said.
Seriously, Cristal was a little bit freaky when she was in this form. I only saw the positive side of her transformation that I forgot that there were always drawbacks. Now, she could fire a gun at me with ease, and without having any once of emotion on her face.
"Wait, wait…. Let me take a little break."
Bam!
"Gah!"
Crustal shot my left shoulder without much of a warning, and she said that it will hurt, but it hurt like hell.
"Guaaaaa!" I screamed in pain.
This was no training, this was some kind of torture.
"Now, use your power, master. Otherwise, you'll get hurt."
"The hell? I am out of strength… I need a break, I tell you…"
"Really?"
Bam!
"Guaa! What the hell? I told you to stop that…" I screamed in pain.
Cristal shot my thigh and rolled around the ground in pain.
"It is so easy, so you are probably asking yourself why you can't do it. Then you think that it's not that important, so you will ask me to skip it. But we can't do that, master. Everything needs to begin from the basic."
Bam!
"Guaah! I got it! So stop this!" I shouted in anger.
"Are you angry? Look at you, helplessly screaming in pain. Weren't you going to save the world, master?"
"Why are you bringing that up now? Isn't this supposed to be training?"
"Every occurrence in life is a training, as long as survive long enough to learn something from it, master. Erase the idea that you will give it your all, only when you are in front of the real thing."
Bam!
"Guaah!"
It was extremely frustrating and I was pissed off by what was happening. Crustal didn't mince her words nor did she pull her punches.
"Don't you think that now is the time to give it everything you got? Because if you think that I will stop shooting you after a while then you are mistaking master." Cristal said, without showing any emotion on her face.
I looked at Cristal as she was looking down at me with these purple eyes. Then I understood that she was completely serious.
"Don't disappoint me, master."
Bam!
"Guahh!"
Cristal was serious about training me, and I thought that she would always use the most effective method.
So, I didn't understand why I needed to go through all of this pain.
'Was this even effective at all?'
I just needed time, and I would be able to do it sooner or later.
Bam!
"Just stop already!" I screamed, however, there was no pain.
"Congratulations, master. You did it. It was for a few seconds, but you managed to create a barrier even though you thought you depleted all of your strength."
Cristal put away the gun and looked at me while explaining what happened.
"If you used all of your power, then you would have passed out, master. However, you didn't. So that means that there is still a little bit left and you used that to block my shot." Cristal explained.
I didn't quite understand what she was trying to say.
"Sometimes, the most effective way to understand something is to do it first. Now, all you need is to remember that feeling, and then you will understand little by little."
"But I didn't feel anything."
"Maybe. But the fact that you blocked my shoot remains. All you need now is to try to remember everything through your body and not your mind. Don't fear the pain, but accept that this was unavoidable if you want to get stronger. You need to give it your everything, otherwise, this training will be worthless."
I finally understood what Cristal wanted to achieve. She wanted me to use all of my power first and then put me in a tricky situation where I needed to choose between getting hurt or passing out from exhaustion.
The fear of passing out kept me from trying to use my power again because I thought that it might be dangerous for my body.
Then when I couldn't bear the pain anymore, I subconsciously used the last bit of strength to create a thin barrier around my body.
Still, the process was very frustrating and painful.
"I understand. Sorry, I lost my composure."
I stood up and tidied my clothes. I was almost on the verge of reverting to the old me again.
Changing myself and my attitude was more challenging than I thought.
Now that my strength was extremely limited, I could only generate a thin barrier.
This was what Cristal wanted to show me.
All I need to was to remember this feeling even when I recover all of my strength later.
I learned two things from this training.
Firstly, I wasn't used to pain even though the battle ahead of me will be more powerful.
Secondly, learning the basics was harder than it seemed.
While thinking about these things, I closed my eyes and activated my power.
My entire body was in pain, but I tried with all my might to focus only on my hand, and after a while, I could feel a different sensation other than pain.
It was very faint, but something was leaking out of my hand. I could feel it wrapping around my hand and then I slowly manipulated it to form a sphere around me.
It was very faint but very easy to manipulate unlike how it overflowed out of my body before. No wonder I couldn't control it this way when I was at my full power.
After all, it was invisible and I was so familiar with it for being only a power that worked in a very basic way, so it was difficult for me to control it at a granular level.
"I finally did it!" I shouted happily and felt satisfied with what I had achieved.
I immediately slumped down to the ground, but there was a smile of satisfaction on my face.
I was so exhausted, but I felt like it was worth it.
When I look back at what I just achieved. It sounded extremely simple and easy.
"Now you just need more practice to perfect your control," Cristal said.
"Hahaha… It still hurts though. You don't know how to hold back." I complained.
"Gugugu!"
"Ah." I completely forgot about Cristal and Verte who were sitting nearby.