After an hour of study, his eyes were stinging, but he determinedly pursued another subject: "Weaknesses and Anatomies, 100 Common Creatures to Know."
This course quickly became one of his favorites, as it combined biology and strategy.
Monsters, though frightening, usually had specific weak points: Sometimes it was a physical point like a brittle tendon, or it could be spiritual such as an innate fear of fire.
Indeed, some monsters had fears rooted in their genes, and even becoming a monster of extraordinary physique didn't change that.
And little details like that could preserve one's life in the wild.
Studying this, another thought ran through Adam's mind.
"If the contest includes a fight against a monster, knowing their flaws could make all the difference," he thought.
Then he took out a sheet of paper, and began to draw certain species and indicate their vital organs, their behavior in the wild, for example whether they were herbivores or carnivores, whether they lived in packs or alone.
He would also learn the mating periods of the species referenced in the book.
All these details could be insignificant, but in certain situations, they could really make all the difference.
Adam was aware of this, but it still gave him a headache.
"Even if I never use them, it's important for the contest, come on!"
Adam cheered himself up.
When he finished a sketch, he tried to match it to the manual.
And these sketches were usually very similar.
Don't look at it this way, but when he was at the hospital, he spent a lot of time drawing.
Either alone, or with sick children from the hospital.
For a man with no family, it was nice to have some company.
So his drawing skills weren't bad at all.
On the other hand, he also looked at the manual to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
He often forgot certain details.
When he did, he'd start all over again.
After a while this became unbearable, and he couldn't even think or learn anything.
So he put down his pencil and closed his textbook.
He stood up and opened the window to get some fresh air and relax.
"That feels really good."
It felt so good, in fact, that he took the chair from his desk, sat on it and rested his elbow on the window sill.
Then he simply watched the stars from this position.
"This, too, is life," he murmured with a smile.
"Taking your time, not worrying about when you're going to die."
"And just enjoying the scenery and what nature can bring."
After ten minutes of enjoying the scenery, he stood up and grabbed a new textbook:
"The Theoretical Basics of Ancient Martial Arts."
Although he couldn't yet practice any fighting techniques, he knew that Keria's ancient texts were full of useful concepts.
They were mostly martial arts that existed before the appearance of the mysterious energy.
And they were very similar to those of his previous life.
But here, it was just a textbook that compiled several theoretical fundamentals of combat, without worrying about anything else.
Thus, there was no need to practice with this manual, it was enough to understand the knowledge it contained, then later know how to apply it in a real combat situation.
Adam skimmed through the first few chapters, and they spoke of the importance of intention in every movement.
"A blow without purpose is as ineffective as a blow without force", he read aloud.
These theoretical lessons, though boring to many, fascinated him.
This time he did nothing but read attentively.
Half an hour passed quietly in this way.
"It's past midnight...I'd better go to bed if I'm going to have a good training rhythm."
Indeed, between getting up, getting dressed and washing up, a lot of time had already passed.
The problem was that training also took up a lot of time.
Even though the time to perform each movement had been reduced from 15 to 10 minutes, there was also an extra movement to practice.
So there was only a gain of 5 minutes per set.
More importantly, because it took less time and because the movements were correctly executed, he could do more sets per day.
So he could break through in 5 months, but only if he put in the effort.
And at the very least, he had to train every day for at least 8 hours from now on, with rest intervals between each set.
Without these rest intervals, he wouldn't be able to train that much every day.
So discipline was very important.
"I'm going to make the most of this life, and above all, I'm not going to regret anything."
"And to regret nothing, you have to work while there's still time."
After muttering these phrases, Adam turned off the lights and went to sleep, his conscience clear and above all full of optimism about the future.
Thus began Adam's new routine. Every day, he tirelessly repeated the same gestures, refining his movements, deepening his knowledge and strengthening his body.
In the morning, he'd get up before dawn and start with a series of warm-ups, followed by his body-shaping movements.
He trained relentlessly, repeating the sequences until his muscles cried out in pain.
Gradually, he noticed that his stamina was increasing, and that the intense pain of the first few weeks was subsiding.
The human body was endowed with infinite potential, and thanks to this, Adam's body had become accustomed to the rhythm of training.
He had even gone from training 8 hours a day to training 9 hours a day, slowly bringing him closer to the2nd rank of apprentice warrior.
So he tried to break through the fifth movement during the third week of training.