Minutes passed after Silver was knocked out cold by his mental image of Nathaniel. The minutes eventually turned into hours, and the sun rose, casting a golden hue over the sky.
If one were to find Silver right now, one would realize that Silver was no longer unconscious. He was in a deep sleep.
Another two hours went by, and Silver's body had become a thing of curiosity to the harmless critters and animals of the woods.
A curious bird perched on Silver's head, and the bird moved around while tilting its head curiously. It moved closer to Silver's mouth, and it curiously decided to peck the worm-looking thing on Silver's mouth- His lips.
'A dead worm?' The bird thought, and then its beak moved. A second later…
"FUCK!"
Silver shot up from the ground, and the birds and little critters scurried away in fear.
Silver inhaled and exhaled deeply, and then he instinctively looked around for any sign of danger. Seeing none, he exhaled a sigh of relief. But then he looked at the sky, and his expression drastically changed to one of horror.
"What the fuck?! It's morning?! How long was I asleep?!"
He quickly shot up, and without hesitation, he bolted towards the Great Wall of Sparta.
"Mom is so going to skin me alive."
As Silver had this soul-shivering thought, he could not help but think of the reasons as to why he had been asleep for so long.
'I used up too much mental energy and strained my mind to make my mental image of Nathaniel as realistic and as powerful as the actual Nathaniel. Not only that, I also tried to make the mental image emulate the killing intent of Nathaniel I experienced. And this was exceedingly difficult to do since my killing intent is pathetic.'
'I must have strained my mind too much.'
The ability to conjure up mental images that he believed only he could see was an ability he learned by chance from one of the Spartan royal guards.
Although Silver was a playful, mischievous, and adventurous kid, he had a deep desire to not be weak and to prove to everybody who looked down on him due to his average talents.
In Sparta, kids below the age of 16 were not allowed to cultivate or increase their bloodline powers for one reason only.
Their fragile bodies.
The education system consists of two parts. Those below the age of sixteen were required to go to school for six years where they would be taught the basics of fighting, basics of warfare, language, culture, basic history, the basics of bloodlines and bloodline gates, and so on.
The typical age range most Spartan youths decide to go to school is from ages ten to sixteen. But Silver started his when he was six years old and finished his school a few months ago.
This might seem like an impressive achievement, but in the eyes of the Morningstar family and Spartan nobles, this was normal.
One should not compare royalty and nobles to commoners. The advantages Silver, a royalty, had over commoners were much greater, and it was absolutely normal for him to start schooling at a much younger age and also finish schooling at a much younger age compared to his peers.
This was also the same for Spartan nobles and youths of the Morningstar family who wished to undergo their rite of passage at a young age.
Usually, when a Spartan reaches the age of sixteen, he or she would usually undergo his or her rite of passage, and if one survives or passes it, one would undergo an awakening ceremony that would open their bloodline gates.
Talented noble youths and Morningstar youths could decide to undergo their rite of passage before they become sixteen, and the more talented the Spartan, the younger he or she could decide to undergo his rite of passage and attend the Spartan Warrior Academy.
Ever since Silver realized the consequences of his average talents, he had been trying to find ways to strengthen himself and improve himself.
Although his grandfather had treasures that could help him improve his bloodline talents, his grandfather once told him that if he would ever use such a precious and exceedingly rare treasure, he would definitely not use it on him since it would be a tremendous waste.
When his grandfather told him these words, Silver's emotions could not be described with mere words. But if there was a single word that could describe a large part of the emotions he felt on that day, it would be...
Sadness.
Silver did not resent his grandfather for saying such words since he knew his grandfather was absolutely right.
If he consumed the treasures that could improve his bloodline talents, his talents might reach the level of Nathaniel's talent or maybe even surpass it.
But assuming it was somebody with high bloodline talents who consumed such treasures, the person had a chance to increase his or her bloodline talents to heights that can rarely be achieved by just anybody.
His grandfather was the king of Sparta, and as the king of Sparta, it was obvious that every decision he made must benefit Sparta in some way.
Deciding to use an exceedingly rare treasure to improve his grandson's talents would result in an immense backlash that could destabilize Sparta and even ruin the Morningstar family.
When Silver knew this, he knew that he could only take matters into his own hands to have a better life in the future.
One might ask, 'What else did one need as royalty?'.
'Couldn't one just live a life of comfort and pleasure as royalty?'
But one should not forget that Silver was not just any royalty, he was a Spartan royalty. In Sparta, a royal with average talents and achievements had no right to call themselves royalty if their talents were average and their achievements were also average.
This was just how competitive the world of Spartans was and also why Spartans were referred to as the strongest and most terrifying force of the North.
And this was also what led Silver to develop the ability called... Phantom Combat.
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[A/N: I wanted to post this chapter yesterday, but there was no light and my laptop died when I was writing the chapter. I was also busy. Sigh.]