Though Jash's determination to fulfill his resolve reached an all-time peak, it was easier said than done.
Carcel's daily training wasn't going to stop since he somehow managed to get Sera's permission, making every attempt of Jash fail.
As a few days passed, Jash walked around his room, anxiously biting his nails.
"Just why is every attempt to stop dad's training met with failure?" he questioned himself in a frustrated tone, his expression sunken..
Stomping the ground to stop his mindless walking, he punched the wall in front of him.
It didn't even budge. Surprisingly, Jash felt only an itch in his knuckles, that didn't even turn red.
Looking at his unharmed knuckles, he blurted out, "The training is working. Darn it!"
Although it was a bit tedious to wake up with DOMS(Delayed-onset muscle soreness) pain every day, it felt quite good to notice the changes in his body.
Not only did it ease out his personal training, but also increased his access to mana itself.
'If not for the increasing intensity everyday, I wouldn't want to skip it!'
After all, the effects of the training were obvious.
Still, it was a problem for Jash as he couldn't just start practicing the techniques he got the knowledge of.
'How would I explain their source?' The question stopped him from delving into them every single day.
Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly harder for him to control himself as he felt he was somewhat wasting time.
'Maybe I should just come clean about everything?' The thought never left his mind since he got the memories.
Yet he somehow curbed his urge to just say everything as it would seem like a madman talking.
It was truly vexing that he couldn't do anything his way.
'They are my family, and I believe they will trust me, but I don't know what will happen if I do. What if something worse happens? What if I am incorrect and everything falls apart?'
The endless possibilities haunted his mind every time he tried to come clean regarding his reincarnation and memories.
It was to the point, he couldn't help but doubt, 'Maybe someone or something is stopping me from speaking?'
In the end, he had no solution for it.
At least for now.
However, it was far from being enough to make him stop achieving his goal.
'I need to be strong. Stronger than anyone my generation, or it will be annoying. But it will garner attention and that's annoying too!'
Despite his inner dilemma, he was determined to survive and was already training to his most optimum limits.
Having the memories of an expert who would even cut off their blood and bones for their enemy's death helped him gauge out his limits extremely well.
It was more so because the memories originally belonged to him and were just returning to the rightful owner.
Each time he improved and needed the next step, it would appear in his mind in the most perfect form.
"Yet it becomes obsolete when the next step comes," mumbled Jash in awe.
Even his self-learned knowledge had morphed and evolved to be more perfect over the time, if he wasn't effectively learning something new.
After everything was said and done, he was still clueless on how to start his mana cultivation or even trying to rank up.
"What do I do about this?" he muttered helplessly, unaware of the keen eyes watching him everyday.
"Interesting..."
Startled by the sudden voice, Jash became alert and looked around everywhere.
"Who's there?" he shouted, his eyes darting around the walls, roof, floor and the balcony of the room.
"Hmm. It's me, you brat," a firm voice echoed before Jash felt a sudden tick on the back of his forehead as he stumbled forward.
"Grandpa Inigo?" blurted Jash in surprise. 'How come he's here? Wasn't he chasing after-'
"Owww"
Another smack landed on the back of his head before a reprimanding tone followed, "Didn't I tell you not to call me Grandpa? Don't compare me to that all-serious grumpy guy!"
Jash's lips twitched hearing this and he couldn't help but retort, "I'll tell grandma that you hit me!"
Although childish, it was Inigo's bane and worked like a breeze every single time.
"Tsk, tsk. You have grown but still want to snitch? What a rude brat," snorted Inigo, but changed the topic immediately.
"Anyways, Samantha mentioned you finally awakened. So, she asked me to do the same I did for Caera."
'Finally!' Jash felt elated, forgetting his dilemmas momentarily.
"Grandma said? She didn't come?" Jash asked innocently, not hiding his excitement and eagerness at all.
"Huh! Who will manage the territory then? Those midgets still want a piece of the volcanic region!" Inigo used derogatory speech for dwarves and their entire race might chase after him, if they weren't doing it already.
"Well, not like they would trespass or anything. Grandma made a treaty with them, you know?" Looking at Inigo's questioning expression, Jash facepalmed.
'This old man, he is really not good at anything!' Jash lamented Inigo's ignorance towards his own territory.
"That's your region, your territory. You know that, right?" Jash teased his grandpa, only to hear a childish answer.
"Of course I do! I protect that piece of land forced onto me!"
'Haa. One can't really get through his thick skull,' Jash recalled his mother's advice and just gave up trying to talk some sense to this old man.
Sometimes, he even wondered how his grandfather even seduced women. He didn't seem to have the brains for it, or maybe that was all a hoax?
Jash had no clue and didn't even want to find out about it. 'Grandma has already made him stop, though. Also, he fears her despite her being only at the late SS-rank while he is an early SSS-Rank Hunter.'
Ignoring the matters regarding his grandfather, he returned to his main point. "Ugh. Whatever. When are you gonna do it?"
Inigo smirked at Jash's words, "Heh! What's the hurry? First, your body has to be in the most optimum state. Also, the process will be painful."
Jash's expression turned serious as he recalled the time Caera went through the process last year and how she was howling in pain.
The cries of pain from her brought about an uneasy feeling into his heart, so he chose to console himself, 'Painful? Isn't that an everyday thing now? Even that darned awakening was so painful! It shouldn't be that much, right?'
However, it seemed Inigo could read his thoughts and sneered at him, "Brat, if you are thinking it will be the same as everyday muscle soreness or your awakening pain, then... Good luck to you, I guess."
Hearing his words, Jash couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration not at Inigo for teasing him, but at himself as he knew it to be the truth and tried to deny it inwardly.
"Just when? When will you do it?" Jash questioned impatiently.
Although extremely rude, Inigo didn't seem to mind and answered in a relaxed manner, "Let's see... I just came here, so I need to observe you. A week, at the minimum? Maybe a month. Depends on you."
"Ah! Before you bring it up, I already heard about you breaking that geezer's record. It doesn't matter, though."
As if caught red-handed, Jash could only open and close his mouth like a fish, cursing his rotten luck inside. 'Damn it all!'