"Bulk Up (Rarity 4): Tense every muscle in your body, increasing both attack and defense."
"Focus Energy (Rarity 2): Take a deep breath, center your spirit. Your attacks are more likely to hit vital points."
Focus Energy.
In the games, it was a forgotten move—one of those skills players replaced the moment they found anything better. But Bai Chen didn't judge by game logic anymore.
He stood in the middle of his training yard, facing a steel practice dummy.
He closed his eyes.
Then, one by one, he shut off his senses—sight, hearing, smell—until all that remained was the rhythm of his own breathing.
"Technique—Focus Energy."
His breath slowed. Aura stirred.
From the surface of his skin, faint streams of light seeped outward—thin motes of qi drifting into the air like glowing dust.
Then, through that dark and silent world, he felt it.
Threads of energy connecting him to the dummy in front of him.
One pulse.
One line.
And suddenly—
Ting!
That line tightened like a drawn bowstring.
Bai Chen moved.
The strike was almost soundless—just the whisper of a blade slicing through air.
He exhaled and opened his eyes. The world rushed back in.
The dummy before him…
Split cleanly in two.
His pupils contracted. That training dummy had resisted hundreds of full-strength swings before—never once cleaved through. Yet now, one strike had cut it apart like paper.
"So that's the power of a true critical hit," he murmured. "A move everyone ignored… actually hides this kind of precision?"
But as exhilarating as it was, he quickly saw the problem.
That single cut had taken him three whole seconds to find the dummy's weak point.
In a real hunt, three seconds of stillness could mean death.
"Still… this technique has potential."
What fascinated him wasn't just the damage. It was the control of qi itself.
Spirit Blade Breathing also manipulated energy—but Focus Energy was fundamentally different.
If Spirit Blade expanded his vessel for aura—like enlarging the bottle itself—then Focus Energy reshaped the bottle's mouth.
It could become a thin jet, a wide burst, or even a dripping stream.
A limiter. A regulator.
And the benefits were enormous.
First, efficient control—less wasted energy during battle, more endurance.
Second, adaptability—by changing the output and flow, he could create entirely new techniques.
"If even Nergigante can develop skills on her own," Bai Chen smiled faintly, "then why can't I?"
What started as a test had now become a revelation.
Then came Bulk Up.
Bai Chen had expected less from this one—but it turned out to be just as remarkable.
When he activated it during training, every movement consumed twice as much energy—
—but also yielded double the results.
It was simple math: the same effort, double growth.
"So, it really is a god-tier training skill," he said, tightening a band around his wrist.
Before, he'd thought reaching Master Rank in Titan's Physique before returning to the Monster Hunter world was impossible.
Now… maybe not.
He opened his status window again. Twelve skills total—far too many to train evenly.
"I'll have to prioritize."
His plan solidified in his mind.
In the next seventeen days:
Raise Titan's Physique and Spirit Blade Breathing to Master level.
Bring all other beginner skills up to Adept level.
It was ambitious—borderline insane. But Bai Chen had never been one for moderation.
Nergigante's training plan came next.
She already possessed absurd natural talent. All Bai Chen had to do was push her to fully awaken her racial potential.
He even added a special daily task: joint training.
They'd move together, breathe together, fight together—until they could finally trigger the legendary Bond Technique.
As for Tinkatuff, she needed no supervision.
Ever since she obtained five Fire Souls, she had thrown herself into the forge completely—hammering, shaping, and experimenting day and night.
Bai Chen's only request of her was simple:
"Forge me something worthy."
The rest—her journey to become the greatest smith across two worlds—was up to her.
Thus began the most intense stretch of their lives.
One man, two partners, each on their own path.
Even Lillie didn't disturb him.
Under Lusamine's guidance, she focused entirely on supporting Bai Chen's training—
providing nutrient-rich meals, energy-packed elixirs, and perfectly timed recovery breaks.
His days turned mechanical. Relentless. Precise.
Daily Schedule:
08:00 — Drop Lillie off at school.
08:30 — Spar with Kiawe, beat up his Pokémon.
09:00 — Return home, begin physical training.
12:00 — Lunch break.
12:30–15:00 — Strength and endurance conditioning.
15:00 — Drive to pick up Lillie.
15:30 — Another battle with Kiawe's team.
16:00 — Qi training: Spirit Blade Breathing refinement.
18:00 — Heavy dinner for energy replenishment (one full hour of eating).
19:00–06:00 — Continuous night training.
Then, a shower.
A brief nap—ninety minutes at most.
Even with Hyper Regeneration and Elder Dragon Blood keeping his body in top form, mental fatigue accumulated fast.
So he found a new solution.
"New skill: Rest."
A Psychic-type ability that allowed the user to enter deep recovery instantly.
Only he and Tinkaton could learn it—Nergigante lacked the aptitude.
With Rest, even ninety minutes of sleep restored him completely.
An extra hour during his morning drives sealed the deal.
Every second of his day was now optimized.
Every heartbeat, another drop of progress.
Fifteen days passed in a blur—
—a blur of steel, sweat, and blazing will.
And by the end of it, Bai Chen's body shone like tempered metal under the morning sun.
Fifteen days.
Not a single second wasted.
Bai Chen's muscles screamed, his bones ached, and his mind teetered on the edge—
—but his resolve never wavered.
If he couldn't endure this, what right did he have to hunt Black Dragons… or challenge Arceus itself?
"If I can't stay disciplined," he muttered to himself, "I might as well just use Rest every day and sleep forever."
For fifteen relentless days, man and monster alike trained like demons.
Nergigante, unable to learn Rest, required at least eight hours of sleep.
But aside from those hours—and her meals—she trained beside Bai Chen without pause.
Tinkatuff, on the other hand, could learn Rest.
At first, Bai Chen hadn't planned to teach her. But she insisted.
"More time for hammer," she declared.
And once she had it, she turned into a forge machine.
Where once she needed eight hours of sleep, now two was enough.
Six whole hours gained—six more for hammer strikes, smelting, creation.
With her Living Forge ability, she could work anywhere, anytime.
Eat, sleep, hammer—repeat.
Some days, the only time Bai Chen even saw her was when she came out for food.
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