After returning home, Edward immediately went to the dream space to conduct tests and finally understand its limitations. As the day came to an end, he finally had an understanding of the possibilities of the dream space.
To enter the dream space, a living being only needed to be in close proximity to the cherry trees and fall asleep or meditate. It was also possible to bring the equipment inside the dream space.
Any injuries suffered inside the dream space would not affect the physical body outside the dream space. This meant that Edward could train and experiment without worrying about the risks of physical harm. However, dying or being severely injured there would cause a lethargic state in the real world.
After returning home, Edward immediately went to the dream space to conduct tests and finally understand its limitations. As the day came to an end, he finally had an understanding of the possibilities of the dream space.
To enter the dream space, a living being only needed to be in close proximity to the cherry trees and fall asleep or meditate. It was also possible to bring the equipment inside the dream space.
Any injuries suffered inside the dream space would not affect the physical body outside the dream space. This meant that Edward could train and experiment without worrying about the risks of physical harm. However, dying there would cause a lethargic state.
After conducting his tests, he went to bed. There would be a four-day break between tournament rounds, so he planned to use those two days to fight against Whitey in the dream space.
He got up early in the morning and after breakfast, started a long cultivation session that lasted until noon. After eating, he went to train in the dream space.
"Let's begin. Try to hold back this time," Edward grinned as he remembered the feeling of having his neck cut off during the last night's test.
Edward tightened his grip on the spear and raised his shield. His whole body was tense, yet he felt extremely excited to face Whitey.
Whitey, on the other hand, had an unpleasant expression. He hated fighting against Edward, but there was nothing he could do other than comply.
"You don't have to worry, it isn't like I can get hurt," Edward reassured the hesitant rabbit.
Whitey finally gave up and dashed towards Edward with a swift jump. Even when only using a small portion of his power, Whitey's speed was still too much for Edward to handle.
With its black fur and glowing white eyes, Whitey looked menacing as it swiped at Edward's legs. However, Edward was prepared and quickly jumped back, thrusting his spear at the same time.
Whitey's eyes shone as it became surprised that Edward was able to dodge its first attack and dodged the counterattack with two quick hops, landing directly by Edward's side.
Edward gritted his teeth as he tried to twist his body toward Whitey's direction. But, before he could complete the movement, Whitey was already finishing his second attack.
A small ball of black spiritual energy formed in front of Whitey's mouth. With a loud squeak, it was sent flying toward Edward, hitting him directly on his ribs.
Pain flared as Edward was sent flying by the impact of the Shadow Ball. He felt as if his body was being torn apart. His spear slipped from his grasp as he hit the ground hard, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Master...," Whitey stood there frozen, his eyes filled with pity as he tried to communicate with Edward.
Whitey's voice jolted Edward awake. Gritting his teeth, he cleaned the blood on his face and got up. "I can keep going, don't worry," he said, grabbing his spear and readying himself for another bout.
Edward's body still hurt, but he knew that he needed to endure it. After all, getting used to pain was one of the first steps in becoming a better fighter.
"Master...hurt..." Whitey was worried about Edward, but after seeing how determined he was, he decided to take this more seriously.
As the two of them got ready, another spar commenced. Whitey took the same approach, dashing towards Edward with lightning-fast speed.
But Edward had learned from his past mistakes. This time, he didn't jump back immediately. Instead, he did a low sweep with his spear, trying to force Whitey to change path.
Just as Edward had predicted, Whitey jumped to dodge the sweep and was instantly met by a shield bash.
Edward grinned as he thought he had finally got Whitey, but the rabbit's claws shone with a dark hue as it clawed at the shield, tearing it to scraps.
Edward's eyes widened as he saw what was left of his shield. Even before he could recover from the shock, Whitey had vanished once again, reappearing on his back.
Spiritual energy gathered once again in Whitey's mouth as it formed another Shadow Ball. Edward frowned, remembering the pain that the spell caused, and threw himself to the ground, trying his best to dodge it.
Edward sighed in relief as the shadow ball flew past him, missing his left shoulder by a hair's breadth. He swiftly threw what was left of his shield towards Whitey, who had already prowled in Edward's direction once again.
Whitey's eyes flashed as its body spun around the air and kicked the shield back towards Edward with incredible force. Edward barely had time to react, but he managed to raise his arms just in time to shield himself from the impact. The force of the blow almost shattered his arms.
Edward gnashed his teeth as he tried to regain consciousness. It felt like his mind was being ripped apart. This state continued for a few more seconds before his vision suddenly turned black, and he woke up in the real world.
His back was drenched in sweat, and his hands were trembling. "Dammit!" He smashed his fist into the ground. This was just his first spar with Whitey, but the feeling of being completely overpowered was frustrating.
He immediately woke up Whitey and went to rest for the next round. As he had only passed out in the Dream Space, the lethargic feeling only lasted about an hour and a half. After he was fully recovered, he and Whitey entered the dream space once again.
The two of them continued to spar for the rest of the day, only stopping as night fell. Edward had passed out four times in the dream space, but he was already progressing in large steps.
At first, he could barely handle three moves from Whitey, always getting injured in less than twenty seconds of a spar, but he slowly began to improve.
He was now able to react faster, and his choices were slightly better, always thinking two steps ahead in any situation. However, his biggest improvement was in his resilience. Previously, every time he got hurt, he would need a few minutes of rest to recover and be able to spar once again. But now, he was able to shrug off blows that would have knocked him out earlier and keep fighting with determination.
As they exited the dream space for the final time that day, Edward felt that his mind was sharper and more conditioned to the stress of combat. "Training that way is incredible," he thought to himself, clenching his fists as he remembered all the battles that he had just fought.
With an incredible sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, Edward went to his house to begin his daily reading session.
...
Edward's grueling training schedule made time fly by, and before he knew it, the day of the second round had arrived. He took the day off happily and went to the city.
Unfortunately, he didn't run into Julius this time, so he ended up watching the battles. Only fifty out of the initial one hundred competitors were left, and since the second round was still a single-round elimination, all the battles ended quickly. However, Edward wasn't disappointed by this, as each fight in the second round was even more exciting than the first.
Every competitor put forth their best effort, not only for their guild but also for their own personal glory. Being in the top twenty-five of the Guild tournament was a confirmation that you were one of the city's powerhouses, a dream for many tamers.
Today's battles were especially useful for Edward, now that he had gained some battle experience, he saw each fight in a different light, absorbing even the smallest details of each competitor's combat style.
Since Spellslingers and Enhancers relied mostly on spells, Edward had to pay special attention to the Armsbearers, focusing mostly on their techniques. Each of them showed a great level of mastery with their chosen weapon, something that Edward lacked.
But, the most important thing that he had learned in the round was that even in the tournament, only a select few talented individuals were able to face monsters of a similar level head-on, and unfortunately he didn't have this much talent.
As the battles raged on, he tried to memorize some of the moves he had seen, wanting to replicate them during his sparring sessions with Whitey. He learned the most from two people. One of them was Lucien, Saurus' son, whose mastery of daggers was a beautiful sight to watch. The speed at which he could chain attacks was so impressive that Edward couldn't even follow it. Nevertheless, he absorbed some important knowledge, especially the way Lucien changed the grip over his dagger, allowing him to easily alter the angles of his attacks.
The second person Edward studied was a young woman from the Lighting Guild, who also wielded a one-handed spear and a shield. Her lightning-imbued spear seemed almost alive, glowing brightly with each strike she made. Edward was captivated by her swift and fluid movements, always catching her opponents and their pets off guard with her unpredictable attacks.
After the battles had ended and the top twenty-five competitors had been determined, Edward made his way back home with newfound determination to train harder. He knew he had a lot to learn, and today's battles had helped him to see a clearer path.