The training ground rang with the sharp clash of steel as Ash launched his attack, determined to prove himself.
His strikes came fast and relentless—overhead sweeps, thrusts, and sweeping arcs designed to break through Aelion's guard. Yet, with every attempt, Aelion danced just out of reach, his movements fluid and almost effortless.
Aelion never faltered. His blade moved with the precision of a river flowing around a stone, redirecting Ash's every strike with a flick of the wrist or a subtle shift in footing. He neither attacked nor defended in haste; each motion was measured, each parry a lesson.
Ash grew more aggressive, frustration tightening his grip and quickening his breath. He tried to feint, weaving between techniques he'd practiced countless times, but Aelion read every move as if Ash's intentions were written in the air.
No matter how cleverly Ash disguised his strikes, Aelion countered them with an ease that bordered on disdain.
"You're relying too much on strength," Aelion said mid-parry, his calm tone cutting through the sharp rhythm of their blades. "Power means nothing if it's misdirected."
Ash surged forward, determined to prove him wrong. He aimed a precise thrust, seeking the smallest opening, but Aelion sidestepped gracefully, his blade tapping the flat of Ash's sword and sending it harmlessly aside.
"Anticipate," Aelion instructed, pivoting smoothly to avoid Ash's wild follow-up slash. "You fight as though victory lies in hitting me. It does not. Victory lies in understanding why you cannot."
The match wore on, and still, Aelion remained untouched. He moved with the ease of a breeze skimming across the ground, his blade never straying from the perfect path to deflect or avoid each incoming strike.
At last, Ash faltered, his breathing labored and sweat dripping down his brow. Aelion stood before him, entirely unruffled, the blade in his hand steady as though it had been at rest the entire time.
"You lack patience," Aelion said, his voice carrying neither triumph nor mockery, only a quiet authority. "Until you learn to control your emotions, you will always swing wildly and miss the mark."
Ash's shoulders sagged slightly; his frustration tempered by a grudging respect. He lowered his weapon, glancing at the ground before meeting Aelion's steady gaze.
"Again," he said, swallowing his exhaustion.
Ash knew it was pointless to fight like this, so he made one last desperate struggle. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his breathing. The Rune of Stability showed its magic, clearing his mind of unnecessary thoughts as always.
He moved like a passing breeze, using air elements to enhance his agility, and swung his sword at Aelion. He channeled lightning into his arm in short bursts, mimicking the techniques from his First Sword Movement.
But Aelion deflected his attack, stepped back slightly, and struck with a precise kick to Ash's stomach.
"Urgh!"
Ash crashed to the ground while clutching his stomach and his sword fall from his hand.
"Why can't I hit you even once?" Ash groaned.
Though Ash had accepted Aelion as his master, he had never managed to land a single successful strike against him. Even with his experience from the virtual game world, where death wasn't a real consequence, it didn't help him much here.
Even when using the First Form of Zephyr's Style: Wind's Whisper, Aelion always managed to block his attacks.
"That's experience, boy. Even though I've lost my mana, I still have my senses and many years of battle expertise," Aelion explained.
"And you fight as if you don't fear death. While that mindset has its merits, it also creates more flaws. If someone experienced lands even a single hit on you, you'll die."
Reflecting on Aelion words, Ash thought to himself, fighting in the virtual game world, where true death doesn't exist, made me reckless. He's right. I need to leave those bad habits behind and improve myself.
Then he suddenly remembered.
"Isn't it time now? You said you'd teach me how to develop my sixth sense."
Aelion smiled knowingly. "Now that you mention it, this is the perfect time to start. Moreover, after your breakthrough, you're now at the peak of G Rank. You just need to hit the limit in the stat you want to excel in before ranking up.
"Building a perfect foundation is ideal, but it's incredibly difficult. Throughout history, no one has ever managed to maintain a perfect foundation across all ranks."
Ash knew that achieving a perfect foundation would make one far stronger than their peers, but it was an almost impossible task. Raising all stats to their absolute limits at every stage of advancement required immense resources, patience, and luck.
Even across the vast universe, no one had ever successfully maintained a perfect foundation at every rank. Most cultivators started their journey striving for perfection, but only a handful of true geniuses managed to succeed—and even then, only with the help of rare elixirs and legendary resources.
That was where the Rune of Balance came in. Unlike normal methods, this rune defied conventional limits, allowing the protagonist of the novel to maintain a perfect foundation all the way to the peak.
But now, that rune belonged to Ash, along with his two legendary cores, he was perplexed about whether it was a blessing or a curse.
With his dual cores, his stat limit, which should have been 100, had doubled to 200. At first glance, this seemed incredibly overpowered—But there was a problem.
Legendary cores, despite their increased power (in mana) compared to normal cores, were still bound by the universal stat limit of 100 stat per core. Since he possessed two of them, it was reasonable to assume that his new limit was 200.
But that also meant one thing—his growth would be painfully slow.
While his potential far exceeded that of normal beings, the time required to raise his stats to their full potential would also be significantly longer.
And time was something Ash couldn't afford to waste.
Then, Aelion abruptly cut through Ash's thoughts.
"It's better to focus on agility, strength, and stamina. If you manage to max these three, you'll definitely become the best swordsman in the future," Aelion declared with pride.
"Of course, After all I am your disciple!!!", said Ash while smiled knowingly.
"Now, let's start your sixth sense training," Aelion said, rubbing his hands together with a blissful smile.
Seeing that smile on Aelion's face, a chill ran down Ash's spine.
It wasn't a warm or reassuring smile—it was sharp, knowing, almost predatory.
**
Time went by.
Six months passed.
Everyone was moving forward—some in search of wisdom, others in search of power.
At this time, deep inside a forest near the Elf Kingdom, a boy was fighting five wolves while blindfolded.
His whole body was covered in scars, and blood was flowing from his wounds, yet he desperately fought to survive.
He wasn't using any flashy skills, only a strange form of footwork, trying to dodge all the wolves' attacks.
Of course, the boy was Ash Burn. Over the last six months, he had developed a rigorous training routine.
He woke up early every day to do basic warm-up exercises: 200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 200 finger push-ups, holding a horse stance for about an hour, and shadow boxing techniques he remembered from his previous world.
After his exercises, he sparred with Aelion everyday despite being beaten down regularly, and then Ash trained his sixth sense by covering his eyes and dodging the attacks of wolves.
On the first day, he was severely injured. However, after two to three months, he adapted. Though not yet perfect, he began to grasp the feeling of a heightened sixth sense.
If he wanted to, he could have created a skill based on
He wanted to fully experience the thrill of the fantasy world and enjoy the journey.
After all, it's not every day you get the chance to transmigrate.
***