After an hour of strenuous training, Void sensed that Lucien's ice-breathing technique was taking its toll on him from overuse, so he decided to stop. "That's enough for today," he said in his deep voice. "If you continue like this, you'll exhaust both your body and your energy. Take a break, and I will too."
Lucien sighed wearily, placing a hand on his chest, sweat glistening on his forehead. He nodded in agreement, his features beginning to lose their sharpness with exhaustion. Void handed control back to Saruto, and the boy's expression gradually returned to normal, easing the immense pressure that had filled the room. Saruto approached Lucien with a smile and said lightly, "How did you think of the training?"
Lucien laughed despite his exhaustion, his voice trembling. "It was... very helpful. Thanks, Saruto..."
He didn't finish his sentence before Saruto staggered in front of him, and Void quickly caught him to prevent him from falling. "You idiot! I told you not to overdo it, Void!" Sarotto cried, every muscle in his body aching.
After regaining his composure, Sarotto noticed that Lucien was exhausted from training, some of his limbs frozen from the Ice Breathing skill. He hoisted Lucien onto his shoulder, canceled the Warrior Skill, and rushed him to the Academy Hospital. There, the doctors, observing the frostbite in Lucien's extremities, began treating him.
Lucien sat quietly on his bed after the treatment began, recalling Void's words: "During your treatment... mentally replay the battle, analyze every move, and identify your mistakes."
He closed his eyes and began to breathe slowly. With each exhale, a cool vapor escaped his mouth, mingling with the air and giving it a pale blue sheen. Gradually, the room cooled, and a layer of frost covered the glass.
The nurses noticed their pace slowing down. But Lucien felt nothing… He was lost in his concentration, trying to synchronize his breath with the flow of his icy energy. With each slow breath, his new technique, Ice Breathing, began to take shape within him, steadily and calmly.
It was as if time itself was ticking away at his fingertips. At that moment, Saruto entered the room with quiet steps, but he stopped abruptly. "What…?!"
His breath froze for a moment, and the ends of his hair trembled with cold. He looked around and saw that everything was moving at a snail's pace. The nurse crossing the corridor seemed trapped in a cocoon of time, and a drop of water falling from the ceiling froze in mid-air. "Ice Breathing…?!"
Saruto immediately understood what was happening and increased his internal energy to accelerate his movement in order to keep pace with the slowing time. A faint aura appeared around him, rippling with black and purple light, and as his power grew, he began to move faster within the icy realm until he reached Lucien, who looked like a statue of ice. He grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard: "Lucien! Wake up!"
The cold gradually subsided, and time flowed normally again. Lucien gasped, opening his eyes abruptly, cold sweat trickling down his forehead. "Saruto?! What happened?"
Saruto strode toward him, his voice sharp. "You ask me what happened! Are you crazy? This is your skill—slowing down time and lowering the temperature—and this place is full of patients and nurses! Can you imagine what you might do to them?"
Lucien lowered his head in shame, trying to explain, but Saruto raised a finger at him, continuing sternly, almost telepathically, "And you, Void! How could you suggest he train inside a hospital? Did you want to freeze the doctors too?"
Void chuckled inwardly, his tone mocking. "I didn't expect things to get this bad, Saruto."
Saruto sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Enough with these kinds of experiments. I don't want the treatment ward to turn into an ice cave next time."
He sat beside Lucien and patted him on the shoulder after he had calmed down a little. "You've improved a lot, but don't forget… unchecked power can harm those around you before it harms your enemies."
Lucien nodded shyly, saying in a low voice, "Understood… I won't do it again."
Sarotto gave him a reassuring look, then turned toward the frosty window, the cold air still dancing before him like a flash of snow. He thought to himself: A skill that slows down time… if he truly masters it, Lucien will become a formidable opponent.