Viswa and Mr. Guide went on with the practice.
Even though Viswa wasn't able to catch him, he could still sense some improvement. He is able to predict the other party's movements more accurately.
He could also sense the increase in his agility. He is not even growing by days at this point. This is growing by hours and with this practice, he also saw Mr. Guide using the spiritual energy to make his movements.
This gave him an insight on how to use his pitiful amount of spiritual energy along with the movement and attacks.
Soon it is afternoon and Viswa went to fight another person.
Once again, Viswa went easy on this guy. Even if these people are trying to use him as their stepping stones, some healthy competition is still fine. His main beef is with the instructors trying to suck up to the headmaster.
The fight was over quickly and once again there are no karma points.
"I wonder, what the stats of these people are. Is there a way to know about it?"
He asked Mr. Guide in their afternoon training session.
[Of course, you can just open the shop and check. With your current ability you should be able to unlock that thing there.]
Viswa nodded and when he was about to check it right away…
[*SNAP*]
*BUZZ*
[Why the hell would you do that now? Check it out on your own time. It is not like its an emergency.]
Viswa sighed and got back to the training. The day went on just like that, until evening. There is another combat class held. This time it is the usage of fist techniques.
And this time, the instructor is the guy who followed Kai around.
"You guys can call me Instructor Fist."
That is how he introduced himself. Viswa didn't even need to guess before he was called out. He became a punching bag. But at least this time, the senior is much more professional than the one before.
After the classes are over, Viswa went on to fight the remaining fights. He was getting more and more surprised by the lack of Karma points. He thought this might be an easy way to get them.
But it seems like unless he did some really life-altering damage, he wouldn't be able to gain or lose any Karma points.
Before he went back to his room, Viswa collected the resources he was owed.
He won all eight fights and all of them had varying amounts of resources. He wondered what they would be, but it turned out to be just pills and they are supplied for the entire week. The pills assist in their cultivation as they consist high level of spiritual energy.
They don't have any other effects.
He gleefully collected the pills he was owed and cultivated. His spiritual energy improved rapidly at a visible pace. After he was done consuming all the pills, he looked at the attributes panel.
[ ATTRIBUTES
STRENGTH: 50
AGILITY: 34
STAMINA: 51
COMPREHENSION: 38
WILL: 49
SPIRITUAL ENERGY: 10/100]
He just started on his cultivation journey, but he already gained 10 spiritual energy points.
Some observations he made are that his strength and stamina are improving along with the spiritual energy and along with the constant exercise he is doing, the increase is much more rapid.
The hundred units of spiritual energy that it is showing might be the maximum amount he could physically bear at this stage.
And even to gain the 100 units, he has to cultivate.
Another small observation he made is, acquiring new units of spiritual energy is much harder than recovering the energy he expended.
For example, his current capacity is 10 points, if he spent all these points, he would be able to increase the energy very quickly. Particularly when compared to him increasing his points from 10 to 20. It is almost like his body is faintly resisting the increase in this spiritual energy level.
After checking that, Viswa opened the Shop. There are only two functions.
[SHOP
TICKET OF ANALYSIS (BASIC)
DESCRIPTION: OBSERVE AND ANALYSE A SELECTED TARGET AND GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR ATTRIBUTES AND SPECIFIC STATUS.
COST: 5 KARMA POINTS
REFINE SPIRITUAL ENERGY
COST: 1 UNIT=> 1 KARMA POINT]
The second option to refine spiritual energy has been greyed out. He also noticed that after starting cultivation he didn't need Mr. Guide's help to refine the chaotic spiritual energy obtained from the meat of beasts.
His body adapted to it naturally.
The Ticket of Analysis of course caught his attention.
But the cost is a bit too high in his opinion. The Karma points are hard to come by in his current situation.
After thinking for a while, he decided not to buy it. His instinct is still functioning and the kids are far from posing any threat to him.
He doesn't need to worry.
The next morning, he just woke up and went on with his day.
Train, cultivate, fight, cultivate, fight, cultivate, fight, train, class, fight, cultivate, fight, cultivate, train, fight, cultivate, train, fight, train.
He had seven fights. He shouldn't have that many, but since he is finishing fights much faster, the student union adjusted his schedule.
Nothing notable happened. Maybe it is because of his cruelty, but no one spoke smack and just tried to fight him properly. Viswa didn't make things difficult for them and just let it be.
The training for movement technique went on and he attended a couple of combat classes.
On the third day.
Viswa jumped out of his bed excitedly and ran into the forest.
The snob and the square both appeared at the same time.
[What's with that stupid smirk on your face? I don't like it.]
"Please, let's begin. I am going to win this time."
As soon as he spoke, Mr. Guide made his move.
He lunged forward and covered the distance between them in an instant.
His right hand extended towards Viswa, and he dodged it smoothly by moving to the side. Mr. Guide smirked because his left hand is already near the position Viswa was moving to.
The right was a very simple feint.
At that moment, Viswa's legs looked like they lost all their strength as his body slipped down. He used the motion to duck and move forward, moving in a completely different direction. He took a spin and is now standing behind Mr. Guide.
The suit-wearing snob sneered and extended his leg backward. But it turned out that Viswa maintained the exact distance to make sure that this leg won't reach him.
Mr. Guide used the rear leg as a pivot and made a wide swinging moment. Viswa simply slid back, just a few steps. Just enough to let the fingertips of Mr. Guide's hand go past his face.
There is barely a gap for air between his nose and his fingers.
Viswa is calm, even though it looked like every exchange is very close, he felt like this is the best form he had until now. He never had such a good start in any of the previous rounds.
The night before, Viswa constantly replayed every single movement Mr. Guide displayed and the movements he himself made whenever he was caught. After a bout of brainstorming, he felt like he understood the trick to it and he decided to test it out.
So, far things are going great.
Mr. Guide looked at Viswa with a raised eyebrow.
Viswa didn't show any expression. He just slowly moved backward. One step after another. He is not fast. And only when Mr. Guide suddenly lunged forward, did he react. He halted in his tracks and pivoted as he barely missed the arm.
He further increased the distance between him and Mr. Guide and stopped once again.
He slowly started moving sideways increasing distance one foot at a time.
Mr. Guide made his move and the same process continued on again and again.
Viswa didn't make any unnecessary movements. He did use the square to its full extent, but he never tried to be on the opposite end of the square while Mr. Guide is on one side.
Whenever he tried to do that in his previous attempts, he was easily caught. His actions were predicted and he lost. But this time, he eliminated all of that.
When he wanted to increase the distance, he did it slowly without any hurry. He never turned his back to Mr. Guide and always kept his eyes on him.
He carefully moved and didn't move more than it was necessary. He made sure that his body is in complete control at all times. He didn't let himself be swayed by the momentum.
As the time passed, the speed of their game increased.
Mr. Guide moved fast and Viswa moved faster. But he still kept his movements as precise as possible. He didn't move when it wasn't needed and he made sure that he is not falling for a feint. Time passed and slowly, it is thirty minutes.
Viswa stood at a corner of the square and took a deep breath.
"Finally. I passed."
He said with a clenched fist.
Mr. Guide looked at him and all of a sudden, he made a move.
His palm slammed into Viswa's nose and he then got slammed into the ground. Then only Mr. Guide's expression loosened up a bit.
"What the hell? Why did you hit me?"
[I just felt like it when I saw your face. Do you have a problem with that?]
Mr. Guide said as if it is a matter of fact.
Viswa didn't know what to say to such shameless behavior.
All he could do is grit his teeth and get up.
[Now, let's start with round two. You have to catch me.]
Mr. Guide said and Viswa made his move.
Thirty minutes later.
*pant* *pant*
Viswa lay down on the ground as he panted heavily. Never in his life did he expend this much energy in such a short time?
In thirty minutes, his strength has run out. His spiritual energy is also empty. He looked at Mr. Guide, whose suit didn't even have a wrinkle.
[You thought this shit is going to be easy, didn't you? Get up, you cocky dumbass. I will show you hell and bring you back.]
"You are talking out loud."
Mr. Guide just grinned while Viswa stood up.
The rest of the training session went on just like that.
In the next few days, this is the daily routine. The rest of the duels were won just as smoothly and Viswa barely earned any Karma points. Of course, the candidates started using the techniques they are learning back in the class.
But even then, they are unable to do anything.
On day six, one of the opponents even used spiritual energy in his attacks.
But Viswa still easily dodged him and defeated him with one clean hit.
Soon, it was the seventh day.
Viswa didn't have many duels left today. Only two. And these candidates are the lowest ranked on the list.
The Student Union arranged them right after dawn, giving the rest of the day completely off for Viswa.
Since it is the last day of the week, there are no classes, and students were left to do their own discussions.
When Viswa arrived at the arena after finishing his morning training, he had a very sad look on his face. This is the fourth day and he still has yet to complete the second round of the movement technique training.
He thought he would definitely be able to do it today, but he failed.
When he fought the students started using spiritual energy in their attacks to increase their speed and attack power. Viswa overpowered them with his precise movements and the hits that landed on their weak points.
But there is no trace of joy or relief in his eyes.
And this raised a discussion among the crowd.
"Hey, why is that guy becoming gloomier every day? He successfully finished thirty-five duels. That will go into his academy battle records. Why is he like that?"
"Well, I don't know the exact reason. But I heard some rumors."
"Oh? What is it?
"Apparently, he cannot use any spiritual energy. And he tries a weird meditation method, but he couldn't circulate his energy no matter how much he tried."
"Now that you mention it, he really didn't use any spiritual energy in the past few days even when his opponents did. Rumors might be true."
"Yeah, I heard…"
"Yeah, I saw…."
"No wonder, he can't…"
Nobody knows who started the rumors, but they spread like wildfire.
By now, Viswa is very popular in all of Circle 1 and even a lot of Circle 2 disciples are paying a lot of attention to him.
Everyone heard these rumors and they all felt like they touched up on some hidden secret.
But Viswa, who also heard these rumors, didn't have time for such things. He has to deal with a few things on his own.