The black worm was said to have an infinite void of self-improvement. It was almost impossible to find even if you were powerful. Specific requirements need to be met.
Most families wanted it, but they didn't go the extra mile to get it. The main requirement to use it was to have gone through something life-changing. Usually, the worse it was the more benefits you got.
Something like Kaiser had.
The known stages of the worm were as such: Burning, Freezing, and Shredding. Each of them also has another requirement tagged with the pain.
Burning was the first and only needed you to remain awake. Freezing requires you to remain motivated through sluggishness to complete your revenge or what you seek with power. Shredding demanded a strong will, or so they say.
No one had made it past Shredding as it lasted for at least 6 hours.
No matter who goes through that. Remaining awake is incredibly difficult.
The old man saw the change happen in Kaiser and was thrilled. He hadn't had much hope because he was so young. It's hard to tell how much a child can take, pain-wise.
With Kaiser's body returning to a normal temperature that means he passed the freezing stage.
The old man wasn't sure if this was a record, but he knew it fast. More than he could ever hope for.
Kaiser may have not known the changes happening to him, but he did. Burning healed your physical body and made you physically stronger. Freezing fixed all your mana defects, increased your mana pool, and your ability to utilize mana properly. He wasn't sure about Shredding.
Just getting past freezing would immensely help Kaiser's journey. He was excited at this new prospect.
"Can he beat the last known stage?" the old man mumbled, unsure of himself.
Kaiser was filled with rage and determination. He felt fiery and like the world would bend to his will. This was rightfully his and he would take it.
He knew something worse was coming so he tried to remain as calm.
Soon, another feeling took over his body. At first nothing, then his skin started to tickle. Then it started to become uncomfortable. His skin felt like it was rubbing against itself at unimaginable speeds.
It only sped up. His skin felt like it was tearing itself over and over again, but only getting worse.
His bones started to shake, mimicking his skin. At this point, his entire body was vibrating intensely. It looked odd to the singular observer, but he paid no mind. This stage was the most unknown.
Time for Kaiser was going at a snail's speed. The only thing he could do was feel every ounce of pain being inflicted by the worm.
Time passed with the pain, a relationship he hated.
For some reason, Kaiser felt the pain was slowly lessening over time. Not getting worse.
'Is this supposed to happen?'
Little did he know that his mind had been transported. His body was still shaking on the outside world so it looked no different than before. The old man couldn't tell anything different either.
Kaiser opened his eyes once the pain thinned and looked around. There was but a dirt field, with a blue sky, and bright yellow sun.
Nothing else was in view for miles.
"How strange. Where am I?"
He inspected his physical body.
"I feel no pain, but I'm also not where I was. I don't think the old man would let something harm me right now so this should be a beneficial area right?"
He stood up and took a deep breath of air.
"This is a wonderful place. A perfect place for concentrating."
As he said that, an idea appeared.
Starting his mana meditation, he looked around and what he saw amazed him. If before the bright particles were scattered about in the room, now they were jam-packed, in an open field. They couldn't move without hitting one another, but they were all blended somehow.
'I'm really glad I chose to use the eye meditation. I wouldn't be able to see these mana particles without it.'
The eye meditation wasn't your usual meditation to reduce stress; it was similar. This meditation cleared your mind and directed your attention to your eye, from there you would feel for the mana. Once you did that you would pull it inside your body and collect it.
Repeating this process would result in an enlarged mana pool.
The entire process may sound easy, but it takes many years to find that feeling of mana.
There were other techniques, but he wanted to be able to see mana. The very thing that had been hidden away from him all his life.
Kaiser sat down and started pulling in the mana and instantly noticed the speed increase. His pool of mana was tiny right now. After all, he'd only been using the technique for one day and you can only use it so much in a day. The strain is too much.
At some point, his original tiny amount of mana turned into a cup of mana. This was an extravagantly large increase. He struggled to add small drops to his mana before, but now all of a sudden, there was a cup amount spread throughout his body.
"This, this must be from the Freezing stage. Guess I didn't realize."
He set that train of thought away and started concentrating again. Regardless of what was happening, the amount of mana he could pull in was too great to give up.
He sat there for 30 minutes and never felt tired.
'That's odd, I should be tired about now. Is it the environment?'
Kaiser carried on, not caring what the deal was with this place.
He had just read two books on mana in four days. This time, he pulled in mana for a week straight.
Normally his concentration would be unmatched, but he thought the old man might start to worry.
'I should head back first. I'm sure there's faster ways to get mana anyway.'
He stood up looking around once more.
'Ah, I don't have a clue.'
He started walking in a random direction. While walking he used his eye technique, but it couldn't be used fully, so now his intake was less than before. Increasing nonetheless.
He never got tired in this world and never seemed to need sleep or other bodily needs.
And so he walked.