Swoosh!
A loud wind blew Sol's clothes ruffling them immensely.
Sol looked down from where he was. At the moment, he was on the side of a cliff, clinging to its jagged rocks for dear life.
As he looked down, he estimated that the ground was several hundred meters away from him.
After spending the last couple of weeks training with his Master, Sol had been taught basic things like measurements and gravity. But in this situation, his nervousness only increased as he had a greater understanding of what the outcome would be if he fell from this height.
"Ma-Master! Why am I climbing this cliff?! How is this training supposed to help me?! W-What if I fall?! Won't I be severely injured?!!"
Sol suddenly cried out to a spec down below. That spec looked up and after snorting, it roared back for the entire forest to hear.
"Damn brat! Are you questioning my teachings?! You're rebelling against your Master now, are you?! It's only a little fall, how can you be so scared of getting slightly injured?!!"
Hearing this, Sol's expression became bitter. This was the only way his master would respond to him since training had begun.
Sol looked up towards the top of the cliff, and seeing that it was almost half the distance he already climbed, his heart began to pound rapidly.
He was far from happy that he was close to the top.
"Damn brat! Stop rebelling against your Master and start climbing!!"
Sol gritted his teeth, and after taking several deep breaths he began psyching himself up.
'I can do this, I can do this. It won't be like last time!'
After getting his blood pumping, Sol's eyes showed determination and he suddenly leaped upward.
He had timed the jump perfectly when there were no intense winds, but as Sol's hand grabbed the rock he thought was sturdy, he realized he had misjudged its stability.
With a horrifying crack, the jagged stone dislodged from the cliff.
Panicked and fear striking, Sol grabbed the nearest rock not caring if it was stable or not, luckily it was and he had managed to stop himself from falling.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Sol's heartbeat was loudly pounding in his ears and cold sweat dripped down his face.
However, he gritted his teeth once more and his face distorted into a vicious expression.
With a roar, Sol leaped up once again.
Like this, Sol nimbly climbed from one rock to the other. Similarly how a monkey would easily swing from tree branch to tree branch, or a fish would navigate their way through shallow waters.
There were a few close calls, but Sol continued nonetheless. He soon seemed to enter a flow state, where he began quickly climbing the rocky cliff.
However, the closer he got to the top, the more his heart thundered in his ears.
The reason why Sol was so nervous was that he would always, without a doubt…
Down below, the old man saw how close Sol was to the top and snorted. He then flicked his finger in Sol's direction.
...fall.
Sol who had just leaped up grabbed a jagged rock. The rock momentarily seemed fine, but as Sol got ready to leap once more, the rock suddenly released a snapping sound.
"Huh?"
As Sol slowly fell back, he looked at the stone in his hand with a blank expression.
It was so smooth from where it had detached from the cliff that Sol couldn't help but cry out as he fell.
"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLEEEE??!!!"
...
Ten Minutes Later…
The old man could be seen casually lying on a rock while he propped his head up with one of his hands.
However, something was strange about this giant rock. Ever so often it would move up and down.
Shockingly, this massive boulder that looked to weigh several hundred pounds was on Sol's back as he did push-ups.
At the one-hundred-and-fortieth push-up, Sol's hands began to shake.
"Ma-Master! I can't do any more than this! Why do I have to do two hundred push-ups today, wasn't it fifty yesterday?! And wasn't the boulder smaller as well?!"
Snort!
"Damn brat! Are you trying to rebel against your Master?!"
"N-No, Master!"
Hearing this, a relaxed smile appeared on the old man's face.
"Brat, then do as your Master says and do two hundred push-ups!"
"But-But what if the rock falls on top of me? Wouldn't I be crushed to death?!"
The old man hearing this rolled his eyes before saying.
"This little rock? Little brat, I can lift this with one finger! So why can't you do some simple push-ups with it on your back?"
The old man then picked his nose with a carefree expression on his face.
Meanwhile, Sol felt like he was going to go crazy.
What does his Master being able to lift this boulder with one finger have anything to do with him being able to do two hundred push-ups with it on his back?!
However, Sol gritted his teeth and tried to do a few more push-ups. But as he reached the one hundred and ninety-second push-up through sheer will, the old man suddenly frowned and tapped the boulder with his finger.
As a result, Sol's hand immediately gave out and the boulder fell on top of him with a loud bang. Even creating a few fissures on the ground as it did.
'This brat, he's improving way too fast. I thought I would need to train his body for a few months, but after breaking a few bones his body is rapidly improving. If his body isn't the perfect vessel to train in Martial Arts then what else could explain his fast improvements? At this point, I think it's time to teach him that.'
The old man thought this, while completely ignoring the fact that Sol might have been crushed to death.
...
Ten Minutes Later…
Gurgle.
Gurgle.
"Ma-Master! Why… do I… have to do this?!"
Sol who was covered in bandages, asked between his gasps for breath as he struggled to stay afloat in the semi-large pond. And once again a familiar scene played out.
"Damn brat! Are you rebelling against your Master?! You better not decrease the weight of those bracelets, then you're definitely rebelling against your Master!!"
The old man yelled from the side of the pond.
"B-But what if I drown?! Master are you trying to kill me?!"
The old man hearing this snorted before he suddenly slapped out with his palm towards the pond. Immediately, a large palm print flew out and crashed into the surface of the pond.
This palm was like throwing water into a pan full of hot oil, the pond immediately erupted into a frenzy with massive waves being created.
One of these waves crashed into Sol, and after exhausting himself just to stay afloat, this wave directly caused him to start sinking to the bottom.
However, instead of panicking, Sol allowed himself to sink to the bottom. After reaching the ground below, Sol sat cross-legged and started to calm his rapidly beating heart.
As the surface of the water continued thrashing around in turmoil, Sol was at the bottom calmly waiting for its disruption to subside.
Seeing what Sol was doing, the old man's eyes flickered and he slapped forward with his hand again.
This went on for several minutes to an hour.
The old man only stopped when Sol's expression turned to a struggling one and bubbles began coming from his mouth.
After feeling that the surface had calmed down, Sol hurriedly got up and pushed off the ground. He broke the surface of the pond and swam to the edge.
Cough.
Cough.
Sol coughed out the water he had swallowed. At the same time, the old man came up to him.
With a terrified expression, Sol looked at his Master and said.
"Ma-Master, you-"
However, the old man didn't allow him to finish as he said.
"Brat, hurry and get out. It's about time I tell you a few things about that energy in your body. I'll be teaching you our way of cultivating on the Eastern Continent as well."
After saying that, the old man turned and walked away.
Sol hearing this showed a curious expression as he hurriedly got out of the pond and ran after his Master.