Money didn't grow on trees, so even though adventures in the forests and mountains sounded fun, Lucian was already busy enough to add one more thing to his plate.
Whatever place he was at, he would use it as a training ground. Be it his office or middle of a ship's deck.
Lucian continued to treat Blocky as a fragile egg and only hit it with the amount of force required to crack its shell.
It was hard to resist the temptation of adding just a tiny bit more force, but he held his ground.
'Are my powers sealed or something? Is this how you break the seal?' Lucian asked. 'That would be nice. I would feel important then.'
'Stop looking for a meaning where there isn't one.' Voice replied, as meanly as possible, 'No, you are not a special snowflake. Or any other crap like that.'
'If I'm not a special snowflake, who is?' Lucian asked.
'The Crown Prince for starters.'
The Crown Prince had reached the emerald stage, a monstrous achievement.
Lucian and his bronze stage were far too behind.
He would need to go through the stages in this order:
1. Copper stage
2. Iron stage
3. Bronze stage
4. Silver stage
5. Gold stage
6. Emerald stage
7. Saphire stage
8. Ruby stage
9. Diamond stage
Lucian found out he reached the copper stage during his travels to the Southern Alliance.
It was a stage that helped him stabilize extreme internal temperatures. He could also survive more blood loss before fainting.
His wounds would not heal faster but they would be more resilient to infections.
Iron was a metal that let every creature breathe and live, thus reaching the iron stage would allow him to survive in places with thin air.
The improved blood circulation would increase his stamina, allowing him to run faster and longer without getting as winded.
Reaching a stage didn't mean he had perfected the previous one, only that he had met requirements to start the stage's knight training. It was a bottle neck of some sorts that could only be crossed with a blessing.
Bronze stage was the stage Lucian was at now. It was a fusion of the first two.
His body would have an easier time remembering and learning how to react without him having to think about it, allowing his experience to fuse into instincts faster.
He didn't have to focus on the tasks that were second nature to him and could multitask much better.
Lucian continued to punch the dummy with feather-like strikes, trying to ignore the judging stares his crew was giving him as they brought out the food.
'They must think I'm lazy, and not putting any effort in my training,' Lucian mused, his cheeks turning red as he increased the strength of his blows.
He had to make sure that his progress was noticeable but not suspiciously fast
'Seal, seal...' Lucian sang in his mind, coaxing an imaginary thing that he made up off the top of his head. Shackleds got their power boost from somewhere after all, and it wasn't the priest's prayers, that was for certain, 'You are in my way. Be good and break for me, so I can return to my Celine sooner...'
"Did you get hurt, Boss?" Goblin asked, his mouth full of bread.
"Nah, it looks more like he is hitting the dummy as if he is scared to break it," Jax commented, catching on to what was going on.
"I'm practicing restraint," Lucian explained, "If I am not able to hold back, how could I stop myself from accidentally killing someone?"
Goblin didn't understand the reasoning, "I thought the point of combat learning was to kill someone faster and more efficiently, not to hold back."
"You are right, but that's not how you make the blessings stronger," Lucian was of the same opinion until he met Celine.
Her self control was the only thing that made him not doubt Voice's instructions.
Women didn't have the constitution to cultivate their bodies like men, or else he would have thought Celine was going through some knight training as well.
They were better with blessings though, so if a girl with this gift appeared, she would be coveted by all the houses around.
Lucian thought his little villainess would be better with curses and hexes, not blessings. But he had no problem with it as long as he could be the target of her love spells.
'Focus,' Voice said, and Lucian stopped day dreaming, returning his attention to his subordinates.
"Is the food ready?" Lucian asked, and the crew nodded.
Each brought a large bowl, setting them on the barrels.
Most of the dishes had meat, meat, and more meat in them.
Since they were in the sea, seafood was the main course.
They had a lot of fish, octopus, crabs, and shrimps. There were a couple of vegetables and a small portion of fruits as well.
"Let's eat." Lucian was the first to reach for the crab.
Picking it up, he used his bare hands to crack the shell open like a walnut, taking the meat out, and eating it.
"Ah, this is life," Leaf sighed with contentment, artificially improving his mood so his blessing would be more potent. "A full stomach and a beautiful ocean view to enjoy. What else does a man need to be happy?"
The rest of the crew followed his example, cracking the crabs' shells, and enjoying their fill of seafood.
They looked at Lucian's left hand, which was red and swollen, then at Blocky who had a fist imprint in its stomach. It wasn't deep but visible to the naked eye.
They were quite invested in Lucian's progress, and they had a reason to be.
If Lucian could break through the limitations of a normal person like the knights did, their standing in society would change drastically.
The world would have to recognize him and give him the appropriate treatment.
It would reflect on the people around him, on them, his subordinates, his crew, and his followers. All of them would benefit from it.
They didn't say it, but Lucian could feel how they wanted him to work even harder, to push himself more.
It was a bit annoying to feel their expectations and their desires to see him succeed.
Greed, ambition, and hunger for recognition, all mixed together.
It wasn't a bad thing.
They put lots of faith into Lucian, and their belief in him would make it easier to advance.