The pain of Nolding his toe overwhelmed Ackster, and he curled up into a ball on the floor while smashing his head against the ground in a futile attempt to vent and alleviate his pain. He clamped his jaws shut and ground his teeth together to prevent any screams from leaking out. It was less to disturb the ant queen and more not to get disturbed by the ants who would come to check on him if he started causing a ruckus, as if he had just seen all of his loved ones die.
But eventually, as he remained frozen stiff in pain, the initial bonfire of pain cooled down. And it remained that way until he moved.
"Hmm."
Ackster held his foot up and gently moved around to sit more comfortably. The pain was at least as bad as he had expected. But, just like last time, it grew bearable after a short while. He looked at his toe, which was a little red but otherwise didn't look that strange, maybe a little softer. As he thought about it, Ackster remembered how Nold had written that the secret technique wouldn't affect ligaments and tendons and whatnot.
But he hadn't explained how.
So far, Ackster had only touched two toe bones, so he hadn't had the chance to see what would happen if he did it to a joint or something. But without knowing what would happen or why his non-skeletal body parts remained intact, Ackster was a little hesitant. Others had done this before him, and Wilma hadn't said anything about it permanently ruining his joints or anything, so Ackster wasn't worried there would be anything harmful.
But he was still curious about how it worked.
'Might as well.'
It wasn't like Ackster hadn anything better to do, so he might as well satiate that curiosity. It was that or continue with the secret technique. And Ackster wanted to wait until he could look at his toe without the pain flaring up again. Not that what he was going to do now would be any gentler.
Ackster grabbed his sword and put the tip to his toe, which confirmed that it didn't only look softer. With the bone turned to dust-like fragments, it lacked structure, and it felt like touching a flabby belly but with a toenail.
That mental image helped Ackster stop stalling, and he gently pushed the sword tip into his toe.
The easiest way to figure out why and how Nold's secret technique worked was to look at it. It was just that someone had put a layer of skin and some flesh, mostly skin since it was the toe, in the way. Doing this might risk the secret technique's efficiency, but if it did, Ackster would simply have to redo it.
Ackster carefully used the sword to cut up his toe so that he could inspect what it was like on the inside. It was a little too dull to use as a scalpel, especially against Ackster's body. But it seemed like Leather Skin, Strong Body, and Resilience didn't take full effect when he didn't want them to or when he was operating on himself.
"Hmm?"
Ackster had expected to see a white mess mixed with his veins and flesh inside his toe, drenched in blood now that he had cut up his toe. But instead of the fragmented mess he thought he would see, Ackster only saw a white, glistening knob. He hadn't looked much at bones, especially not when they were still attached and inside the body, but to him, it looked like his toe was intact.
Nervously and curiously, Ackster set down the sword and poked the bone that should have been in pieces.
It took him less than a millisecond after doing that to realize it was NOT a good idea. And a millisecond after that, the pain shooting into his brain like a wave of wildfire confirmed it to the point where even doubting his realization would be an insult to the world.
But it wasn't for naught.
After enduring the pain for what felt like longer than reasonable, Ackster wasn't only left with an aching toe. He also retained the sensation of when he had touched his toe. It was soft.
He couldn't confirm it with certainty without further research. But it felt like there was a thin membrane or bubble inside which his bone existed as dust. The secret technique left the outermost layer of the bone intact so that it wouldn't interfere with the skeleton's overall structure.
'Neat.'
Although he already knew there shouldn't be anything to worry about in regard to his body's health if he continued with the secret technique, Ackster could now rest at ease. And if he had to guess, the remaining membrane would either grow stronger as the bone within grew stronger, or it would be handled in a later stage of the secret technique. In any case, Ackster would find out as long as he didn't give up on the secret technique.
Ackster had yet to see what the technique could do for his strength, but until now, the pain hadn't been quite enough to give up. And while he knew it would take some time for the secret technique to reveal its value, he didn't know the specifics. If it took longer than ten years for it to be worth it, the secret technique's only use would be to train his Pain Tolerance.
'Maybe I should increase the pace?'
The thought of the technique taking more than a decade to finish learning gave Ackster a sense of urgency. He hadn't gotten the opportunity to continue after his first toe since Karandiel fell, and when he had healed enough to consider doing the next toe, he was busy with that and the ants.
But now, it wasn't like he had any prior arrangements that would distract him from the secret technique. Giving the ant queen pieces of himself wouldn't detract from his practice since it would give him time to heal.
However, the more he practiced the secret technique, the more he would have to eat. Thankfully, the ant queen had prepared a fine selection for him to pick and choose from when she rested and digested pieces of him. Well, the selection consisted of identical ants.
Ackster sighed before picking up the hammer and chisel again.
The sooner he started, the sooner he would finish.