After 4 days of reaching the military base.....
Astrick was sitting in the same position he was when he first started to consume the mana pill...
He already broke through the peak mortal rank since the beginning of the second day and since then he has been trying to break through to the demonic rank but was met by nothing but failure...
At this moment he had a frown on his face and he looked like he just got out of a pool after swimming in it with his clothes on.
In short terms, he was full of sweat and he stank and needed a path as quickly as possible...
After a few hours passed by and Astrick was still not feeling any progress, he began to question if he should just give up...
After all, he knows very well that his talent will not allow him to get any further than his demonic rank, in fact, it was already so hard to reach the demonic with his talent grade as the more he got closer to his limits the more painful the breakthrough process-which is supposed to be peaceful and spread a relaxing feeling through his body- became.
And to be clear even at this moment Astrick was feeling an unimaginable amount of pain for someone his age.
So it'd be understandable if he gave up now right..? he already suffered more than a lot of other people and worked much harder than any of them but yet they were still much stronger...
How could this possibly be fair...? if talent is the only thing that someone needs to become more powerful then what use is hard work? what use is risking your life? what use is having a goal you work for? and what does it mean for someone like him who has the lowest talent possible???
Maybe... Maybe he should just give up.... if he just stops fighting everything will be much easier, and he won't have to suffer anymore... all these problems can easily be solved if he just gave up...right...?
'No..!'
Astrick refused.... he refused to believe that he can't get somewhere he wants just because of some sort of chains put on him since he was a child... he refused to believe that he can't break these chains of limitations called talent, or maybe he simply couldn't accept it.
'I won't give up! fair..? heh... I already knew nothing was fair in this damned life since my awakening... easy? it was never supposed to be, if it was easy everyone would've already done it..'
Finding something to ignite and lighten up his spirit, Astrick grit on his teeth as he held on to it as much as he could determined on breaking through no matter what.
This wasn't a matter of just getting stronger anymore, it's now more about Astrick's pride as a man.
But even after three hours of training under this hellish pain, he was still unable to even feel any sign that he was getting closer to breaking through.
At this point, Astrick was starting to lose hope and his former determination started to fade away as he wasn't feeling like he was making any progress.
Just as he started to think seriously of giving up he heard a sudden sound of cracking as he felt his mana veins starting to shatter and then rebuild itself only to shatter once again in a very painful process.
But even though the pain was almost killing Astrick as it was worse than anything he had ever felt in his entire life, he kept a happy smile on his face as he had one thought in his head.
'I did it... !!! '
He was finally breaking through and gaining power many thought would be impossible for him to obtain as the highest rank someone with low talent like himself can achieve is supposed to be a peak mortal and breaking through to the Demonic rank was complete nonsense as this was simply him breaking his limits which in worst cases could've resulted in his death.
Thankfully he was able to make it through achieving something no human has ever done before.
But he can't stop yet... Because although he was breaking through his limits, it wasn't entirely a good thing as it meant he'll probably never be able to break through ever again.
So he needed to make the most use of this session and keep enduring as much pain as possible to get the highest rank he possibly can.
But it was easier said than done because as soon as he started to gather his mana and tried to thicken it he felt unimaginable pain worse than the one he just felt.
He was finally unable to hold it any longer as he held a pillow to his mouth to mute his voice then...
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh"
An inhuman cry got out of him threatening to injure his throat, he did not want to do anything more than pass out at this moment but he knew that if he does he'll probably regret it for the rest of his life.
Eventually after a little while the pain became something Astrick can not endure anymore and he passed out losing any chance of getting stronger and achieving a higher rank.
.....
After the mana in Astrick's body subsided his brows started to flinch indicating that he'll wake up soon.
And sure enough, it wasn't two minutes till he was conscious again, the blood in his head kept bumping making him think that his head is gonna explode.
But as he was about to complain about the pain he felt a wave of a relaxing feeling wash over him making him feel like he was sitting above the clouds.
But this heavenly feeling did not last for as long as Astrick was hoping it last, and as soon as it went away Astrick was able to feel how clear his mana veins have become as well as how fast his mana flow was...
But while trying to see the changes in his body with excitement his were suddenly opened widely like two big plates he could not believe what he was seeing through his mana vision.
Right beside his mana veins, there was another type of vein so similar yet so different, as those new veins had the same structure as the mana veins and seemed to have the same function.
The only difference being instead of mana flowing through, Astrick was able to see a weird but familiar blue energy running through his veins happily like some newborn babies.
He didn't quite understand why or what made this blue energy start running through his body all of a sudden but he didn't care anyways as he was so happy and excited right now...
Why wouldn't he be...? After all this new energy means he hasn't yet reached his limits.
It also means that he just got a big power boost.
....
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