While pondering the idea of using this new technique against those Berserkers on floor 19, I make my way back to the Inn.
Opening up the front door with a creak, I walk inside to see the usual crowd. Just under a dozen hunters split up into a few parties, all sitting around circular tables enjoying food and drink.
I spot the blue and red-haired duo on the exact same table we ate breakfast at this morning.
As I begin to walk over, Rylan spots me at the door.
"Back so soon? What happened? You gave up already? It's been less than 4 hours, you couldn't have finished your training already... That's impposib-"
I wave and give him a tired smile.
"Not done yet. Just taking a break."
My footsteps are heavy, making awkward clunking sounds as I walk over to the table of two. Mr. Conway spots me on the way over and shouts out from the back.
"Hey, the new Elite just returned from his first day of training! How'd it go?"
A few heads turn from the various hunters I pass by on my way to the back of the room, but I'm too third to pay them any mind.
"Good, fine. Food would be great."
He smirks giving me a firm nod.
"Take a seat, it'll be out before you know it."
I nod, giving the kind old man another thin smile, then take a seat.
Fisher waves to the Innkeeper motioning for him to add 2 more people to that food order, then turns to me. Finally, he speaks up with a stern look on his face.
"You're back too early. What happened?"
I reply.
"Way too much mana... I used too much mana. That's all, I'll be back out there tomorrow."
It's true. I thought I could handle more than this, I've burned through hundreds of thousands of MP per day in the past. That was in a much different environment though, it seems I do have limits...
Fisher nods.
"Yeah. It's better to take it slow and concentrate on as much as you can on each attack. I'm sure you've learned at least that much so far."
I reply.
"Blowing a hole through this mountain isn't the goal. It's letting the cut fly through the mountain itself that I'm really after."
A wide grin shows on Fisher's face as he gets up, pointing at Rylan.
"Haha! 10 silver, hand it over. I knew he'd figure it out!"
The redhead's face starts to match his hair color as he replies.
"H-Hey no way! It was like 3 hours or maybe 4 tops, that's impossible! You must have told him when I wasn't looking!"
He looks at me with a flustered expression.
I shrug, not knowing exactly what all the fuss is about.
Fisher eyes Rylan up and down, then the redhead reaches into his item box to place a handful of silver on the table.
"Fine, here you go. You won fair and square. I guess Jay did figure out the purpose of this training on day 1. Now we'll just see if he can pull it all together.
I throw my hands up in the air.
"Hey, hey. I still need another day or so. I'm still getting used to all of this!"
As both C-Classes begin to respond, Mr. Conway comes over with plates of food and drinks in both hands.
I dig in boys.
Using self regeneration after every bite, I recover a lot more. All my aches and pains begin to fade slightly once most of my plates are cleaned. I feel nearly 50% healed. Any more food or mana usage would just have diminishing retunes. A good night of sleep is the only thing I know of that can help me now.
Fisher, taking his meal much slower, watches me with amusement. After 10 minutes or so, he speaks up.
"So, was it a lucky guess? Or are you actually able to sense the frequency of mana on that rock wall?"
I gulp down a bite of food and respond.
"A bit of both. I've never thought about a technique like this before, it's like I was slicing through the area between mana particles..."
Fisher grins.
"You're right. Don't get too cocky though, dungeon mass like this is one of the most simple forms mana can take. Facing a real enemy with honed mana control is a whole different story."
I nod.
"It's a good start..."
He takes a gulp of his drink.
"It is."
We finish up our meal without much more conversation. I'm deep in thought, thinking about how I'll improve this new skill tomorrow. Rylan is busy talking fishers ear off, and the blue-haired swordsman is replying in simple responses. Since this morning his mood has definitely shifted, something new is on his mind.
I'm not one to pry, so I decide not to bring it up.
The blue-haired Elite stands up to address both of us once our meals are finished.
"Well, Jay. Great first day of training, it seems you're on the right track. Rylan, you're an excellent time waster."
He cracks a smile as the redhead tries to reply, but he's cut off Immediately.
"I'll be off to my room for the rest of the day, Jay I assume you'll need your rest as well. First thing tomorrow we'll meet for training. I'd like to see an update on your progress once you're fully healed. I'll see you in 10 hours, that work?"
I nod as he immediately turns to leave up the wooden stairs behind us. His math is definitely off, and it's messing with my sleep schedule... 10 hours from now is not morning, but I'll manage. In fact, it may just be perfect.
"Sounds good."
Rylan turns to me.
"Well, I better be off too! I just got word a new party from the C-Class exams is coming up soon. It's their first time in the Labyrinth. Wouldn't hurt to greet them!"
He hops up from his chair and skips to the door, leaving me alone at my table.
I let out a sigh, sit around for a few minutes, then make my way back to my room.
A nap wouldn't hurt... I'm pretty exhausted. Hopefully, I'll be healed up enough for some more training in a few hours. The faster I manage to learn this new skill, the faster I'll have the chance to face off against those Berserkers.
I walk upstairs to my small dusty room and fall asleep almost instantly once I hit the soft bedding.
A few hours go by, and my dreams are filled with ideas on how to improve my attack. That last slash I threw was a breakthrough, I need to keep improving on that...
Nearly 5 hours pass. My restless sleep has hit its limit. My body is healed enough, and my mind won't quit coming up with theory after theory that needs to be tested.
"That's it. I'm going back out there..."
After my night of sleep, which felt more like a long nap to me, I crawl out of bed and make my way to my door.
I make sure it's locked, then teleport out of the Inn.
In the blink of an eye, I'm back, staring at the large stone wall...
It seems as though this portion of the dungeon has already regenerated. It's been over 8 hours since my training session began, so I guess Fisher's estimation was right.
I stretch out my arms and legs. I'm mostly healed up, but still a bit stiff. I won't be releasing any large-scale attacks, so this session will be much easier on my body.
I take a fresh potion out of my storage and get to work.
Today, I'll be upping the ante.
I begin to glow gold and red while activating my All-Seeing Eye, peering into the flat stone cliff in front of me. To my surprise, the insides of the mountain are still hollowed and smashed to bits in the deeper areas. It's still healing up from my assaults.
I focus harder while imbuing my sword with under 100MP. Aligning the low humming frequency of the wall before me with my blade is near-impossible to do perfectly. I got close once, so I can do it again.
I let the first thin black blade of flames fly at the wall, and my new training session begins.
It pierces through without a sound, gliding in just like intended... Less than a second later, chunks of stone fly off in all directions.
I grit my teeth, but a smirk creeps through as I charge up my blade again.
Over the next 2 hours, I continuously throw attacks at the wall, improving my concentration, and becoming more and more in tune with the low hum resonating from the cliff face.
I burn through 50k MP. It's mostly just from my perception skill. Having it activated for long periods of time is costly, but it's worth it in this case...
I'm able to let out just over 40 attacks, improving slowly and steadily each time.
The thin black blades released from my sword glide through the rock face with no resistance whatsoever. Not even a trace of an entrance hole is visible.
At first, they would glide in, and explode within the first few meters of entry.
Now, I'm able to stabilize the mana enough to penetrate the rock face over 30 meters on my last attempt. Each time, it still detonates deep within the mountain.
Satisfied with my improvement so far, I turn to one of the small excess boulders lying around from my earlier less practiced run-throughs. I focus, then let out an attack.
It flies through the rock, then disappears into the side of the mountain behind it as well. As I hear the explosion deep within the rockface, the boulder before splits in two simultaneously. I grin ear to ear in the reflection of the sliced stone.
Excitedly, I whisper under my breath.
"Now... I need to try this out on a moving target."
I have more than enough time before Fisher wakes up, and all this fine-tuned technical training is making me antsy. Sure, it's cool to see some progress, but what's progress good for If I can't use it in a fight?
The glossy surface of this boulder I just sliced through is nearly identical to the texture of the strike the Elite made on that cliff's overhang.
I decide it's time for me to put this new skill to some good use. It'd be a shame to put all this free mana to waste... Just slashing away at a mountain...
I smirk, gripping my sword and igniting it into flames.
It's time to go back to Floor 19.
"Dungeon Walker."