"Hey, have you heard?" Harold nudged Cedric's shoulders.
"Heard about what?" Cedric asked back, facing his friend.
"They said that there will be visitors," Harold revealed. "It's been the hot topic these past few days. Apparently, someone heard the wardens talking about it."
"Huh...weird. Why would anyone go here willingly? Are you sure that's what you heard?"
"Yeah, man! My ears are sharp you know!" Harold exclaimed.
'Not as sharp as mine but go on.' Cedric inwardly thought.
"But yeah. I also personally heard it from the wardens so it should be true." Harold added, "I don't know who's coming through, but whoever they are, I'm certain that they won't be here for vacation."
"...it's official business then. Don't get too curious about it. Nothing good will come out of it." Cedric advised.
"Yeah, I know." Harold nodded, "I don't want any trouble either. The same couldn't be said for others though."
Cedric sighed and said: "It's better to just stay on the sidelines. Let's just mind our own business."
"Right. That's for the best." Harold agreed.
Cedric didn't reveal that he too had heard about rumors. It's hard not to with how sharp his senses were. He just didn't concern himself with it since it's none of his business.
It's rare for people to come here, willingly that is. The common people this place receives are convicts like him, not visitors. And because of this environment, it's hard to believe that people would want to go here at all.
This wasn't the first time it happened though. There had been a couple of times when the Risk Management Centers entertained visitors in the past, and each time it happened, Cedric made himself scarce. The reason is that people from the other side of these walls don't look at them in a favorable light.
It's one of the factors that vexed Cedric in the past, now though he couldn't care less about it. Still, he doesn't have any plans on making contact with anyone from the outside now.
He talked with Harold for some more before they went on their separate ways. Cedric had no clue when the visit would happen and frankly, he didn't care. He had other matters to attend to and he didn't have the time to cater to people who didn't care about his well-being.
The same couldn't be said for others though, but that's their problem, not his.
Cedric was walking slowly towards the place he claimed for himself as his training grounds. He could've arrived here faster but right now, he couldn't. Not with the Lv.3 Restriction Seal he placed on himself that is.
His face showed no reaction to it but in reality, he's having a challenging time even making a simple movement. The restriction seeps all the way to his bones, making it difficult for him to move.
Still, Cedric pressed on and endured it. This punishing training hurts him, yes. But it won't kill him, so it would only make him stronger.
Even picking up his sword turns into a challenge with this level of restriction. Even so, Cedric went ahead and did it anyway. He didn't allow the pain to discourage him.
With this, he began swinging his sword as if his life depended on it. Looking closely, one could see a faint light shrouding the entirety of his sword.
This is the trace of the 『Sword Breath』 skill, which just turned Lv.2 recently. He can pour his Inner Breath into his sword, making it sharper and tougher.
Each swing he made sliced the air. At first, they were clumsy but through his persistent practice, his form gradually corrected itself, making it perfect.
After practicing the basics, Cedric would then incorporate his 『Footwork』 with it. Once again, he would start clumsily but after practicing diligently, his strikes would return to its perfection.
This has been the cycle that Cedric was on during the past few days. Each time his body perfectly adjusted to the current level of restriction he put on himself, he would raise it by 0.5 and train until he once again grew used to it.
Through this, Cedric's body was being sculptured to tolerate and adjust to immense levels of stress. Anyone would agree that this was a masochistic kind of training, some would even go as far as to call it a barbaric way of training, but did Cedric care? Obviously, no.
They're not him. They're not facing a seriously growing and constant threat to their lives at each step of the way. They're not the ones facing the Endless Undead Horde on their lonesome. So how would they understand?
Cedric wasn't disillusioned. He knows that his Mandatory Service will only get more difficult as time goes on. He had been ruthlessly slapped by that reality multiple times now, so how could he forget?
The previous victory he claimed for himself made him comfortable, yes, but not relaxed. He earned himself some capital to continue surviving but that's that. If he doesn't do anything to that capital, then his situation will turn for the worse again in the blink of an eye, and that's something he doesn't want to happen again.
Cedric has learned his lesson the hard way before, and that's enough for him.
During his practice, Cedric could tell that the evolved skills he got were growing slower than before, even with the buffs he received from his titles and items.
He wasn't too concerned about it though. He understands that it's more difficult to level them up since the benefits he receives from them are greater compared to the previous ones.
For example; his 『Inner Breath Mastery』 only reached Lv.3 after a couple of days while he mastered 『Breathing』 within the same amount of time. That being said, the benefits he received from the former almost matched what he got from the latter, even though it's only Lv.3. The same could be said for the 『Sword Breath』 skill as well.
Due to his extensive training, the level of his 『Tolerance』 skill experienced an explosive rise.
This is what his Profile now looks like after a couple of days after clearing his Mandatory Service:
*
[Profile]
Name: Cedric Stormrider
Age: 21
Race: Human
Class: Tier 1 - Swordsman
Level: 2
Titles: Jr.Undead Slayer, Scholar, Sword Child
Aptitude:
Body: A+
Energy: A+
Spirit: (S) - Locked. Tier 2 req.
Final rating: S-
Skills:
Actives: Sword Breath Lv.2, Kickboxing (M)
Passives: Vision (M), Learning (M), Internal Breath Mastery Lv.3, Smell (M), Multitasking (M), Taste (M), Touch (M), Listening (M), Intuition Lv.5, Footwork (M), Recovery (M), Tolerance Lv.9, Tactics Lv.5
Mandatory Task:
Hell Dive: Survive the Endless Undead Horde for 3 Hours.
Rewards: 100% Demon Soul gain.
Failure: +1 Strike. Current Strike Counter: 0/3
*
Almost all of his passive skills had been mastered, filling him with glee each time he looked at it. The best part about it is that he never wasted any Demon Souls on leveling up. He achieved this through sheer effort alone, and that makes him prouder about his progress.
While he could certainly start using Demon Souls to increase the level of his other skills, he didn't feel like doing so.
He quite liked the idea that he was refining his mastery of his skills through sheer effort alone. Something about it feels more rewarding to him. And while he certainly has a lot of Demon Souls now, in the face of his growing skills, it's not a lot.
If he were to upgrade the 『Sword Breath』 for example, he would need a whopping 100,000 Demon Souls to increase it to the next level. Why do that when he could achieve the same results after a couple of days' worth of effort? Plus, it will only get more expensive from that point onwards, so unless he couldn't think of a way anymore, he wouldn't consider it.
Once he could feel that his skill sword skills weren't being affected by the restriction anymore, Cedric put his sword away and went under the shade of a tree to sit down.
He entered a meditative state and sank his consciousness deep within his body. In there, he discovered his inactive Inner Breath, forming a circle around his heart. Rousing it to activity, he began nudging its movement according to the path of the [White Lotus Core Technique].
This took a considerable amount of effort to do, and now Cedric was aware of why that was. Once again, it's because of the Restriction Seal he placed on himself.
But even so, Cedric didn't back off from that difficulty. He faced it and continued his ministrations despite the obvious challenge. With his 『Inner Breath Mastery』 reaching Lv.3, he was now able to cycle his Inner Breath twice a day.
Doing that was a lot more difficult with the restriction seal but it did not stop him. As a result of his efforts, the quality and quantity of his Inner Breath grew drastically during these past few days.
That being said, it still didn't count as him earning his first success at cultivating the 『White Lotus Core Technique』, but he's getting there.
By the time he was done cultivating his Inner Breath, the day was almost over. When he opened his eyes and stretched his body, he stopped abruptly because he sensed several presences within the edge of his senses.
'Are those the people they're talking about?'