Infront of me, There a large crab with huge pincers, stood. Its blazing red eyes were staring straight at me as I felt the pressure that it exuded deep underwater. The Crab was anything but pleasant to the eyes, I mean obviously. I cannot see them properly because I am underwater, but from the blurry figure of the crab right in my perspective, it really appeared terrifying. Its exoskeleton looked like a rocky shore.
Master had told me that this will be my training, he did not really specify and I thought that it will just be about training my stamina underwater and as well as my mobility. But now that I've found out what he meant, I had mixed feelings.
Anger, terror, and Anticipation.
I was angry at how ridiculous this training was, I was terrified at this but...I was excited about thinking on how strong will I become if I overcome this challenge.
I stared at the oversized crab for a moment, it was just in the ground, and I am currently floating out of its range so it cannot reach me. I narrowed my eyes at it as I soon then estimated its strength.
Based on how large it is, this should be around Orange Level. Yeah, I might be going crazy or becoming arrogant because I sure want to fight this one right now.
I watched it struggle to try reach me with its pincers, then with a smile, I dove deeper to the seabed and tried to deliver a punch right after dodging the pincers but before I could avoid the pincer or even get closer to the crab, I was pulled by an unknown force and was brought back to the surface.
Heaving out a deep gasp of air, I panted as I looked at the guy who pulled me out of the waters. It was Master, he dove into the pond and dragged me out. But what made me wonder though was that, despite him diving in there....he was not wet, even one bit. Or did he really dive in there?
"Why did you pull me out? I thought that was my te—"
Before I could finish out my words, I accidentally bit my tongue as I felt a pain on the crown of my head. I was hit by my Master using a bamboo stick.
"Bravery is a good thing, but with stupidty it isn't."
Master stared at me with a condescending gaze in his eyes, he still had his carefree expression plastered unto his face as he lazily sat on a lotus position infront of me, seeing his gesture, I also followed him.
"People always study first before taking an Exam. They do not jump into the exams without preparations."
I listened in to his words as I was enlightened about what he was talking about, I kept my head low and then uttered an apology towards my master.
"I deeply apologize for being careless. I will try to be careful next time."
I bowed towards my master, asking for apologies as he just lightly tap me with the bamboo stick, and then stood up from the lotus position.
Smiling, he walked towards the wooden bed where he was lying down earlier. He stared at me the moment he settled in and then opened his mouth to ask.
"So? What did you find out?"
He asked me, his eyes were staring straight at me as if he was trying to test me...no, he was testing me.
"I saw a monster of Orange rank.....Elite Orange if I estimated correctly. My strength is only around the lowest rank: Red, and since I have no mana to improve my strength....I cannot get stronger, but I am confident that I can win against it. Why is that, Master?"
I asked my master in a serious tone, my gaze was solemn as I met his which felt like he was unserious. Then after a moment of a stare down, My master chuckled and pointed the bamboo stick to my direction.
"Precisely. You can win against it....but that is if you are in Land."
He answered my question with a chuckle which made me tilt my head in confusion. What does he mean by that? If I can win against it then why did he pull me out? I thought about it and did it even make a difference on land?
In a span of second, I thought about the reasons why Master said those words then after a few more second, I finally had an idea.
"Ah. It's because my mobility was limited underwater!"
Yeah, that might be it. The pighead might have been more powerful compared to the crab underwater. The reason why it is only strong for me right now is because my movements are limited by the underwater. I cannot breathe in there nor can I move my body easily.
Staring at my smiling master who somewhat affirmed that my guess was correct with a chuckle, I hit him with a question.
"So what should I do to beat it? Bring it here on land?"
I asked with my brows raised, My master who received that question just chuckled and then stretched. He stood up from the wooden bed and then brought the eerie stick sword with him and headed straight inside the Cabin.
"I am hungry for lunch, you should go catch some fishes there"
What is this guy on about now? I asked him a pretty important question but he did not answer it and just joked.
This fucking master of min—
I had a sudden idea, with a smile, I bowed down to my master and thanked him for his words as he just took it with his usual chuckle and headed inside.
"Thank you for your guidance"
I said sincerely towards him as I turned to dive back into the not so shallow pond. Catch some fishes....he indirectly told me the answer to that question. For me to improve on mobility, I must work on catching fishes. Fishes are very agile underwater, and he is telling me to train by catching them with my bare hands.
As I dove into the pond, I was unable to breathe again and felt the coldness of the water permeating my skin. This time, I did not dive deep into the floorbed, I just stayed afloat and looked for a fish around. I mean, since this is a place with a large ass crab...shouldn't there be a fish here? Then the moment I thought of that, I saw a large bass swimming at a distance.
The bass was larger than its normal size, it is as large as my forearm. With a smile, I swam towards it slowly...and undetected. But I was wrong, before I could even get closer towards it, It just swam away as if it already detected me.
Quite pissed at this, I swam desperately to chase after it..but it was faster. This is useless, how am I supposed to catch something like this? Not like I can cheat my way out here and risk getting beaten up by that damned master of mine— wait, cheat? Exam? Prepare?
Goodness, why did I not realize this? That damned smug of my master has been giving me hints all this time.
Swimming back up to the surface, I crawled out of the pond and did not find my master waiting for me there. Makes sense, he must be lazing around inside the Cabin.
After getting out of the pond, I then walked a bit farther from it and sat on the ground on a lotus position. I thought about my master's words on how he improved his Physical Ability.
Mortals awaken the power lying dormant in them by being blessed by a God. But my master said that mortals have no limits. So does that mean that, even if Mortals are not blessed by Gods, they can still awaken?
I have been a big fan of heroes before, so I have been reading books about them. I read about them storing their mana on a core located in their solar plexus. Blessings are technically just what they call a "Magical Ability" as someone needed a "Mana" to use them. But what happens if you do not have a "Magical Ability" and your "Mana" has not been awakened by a catalyst? Simple....as what my master said, Surpass your limits. Do it yourself.
'It is just lying dormant in me, he said'
As I went deeper into a meditation, my mind wandered off into my deep sea of consciousness. I must say, this feeling is quite unsettling. My consciousness is so....vast? It feels like a void, there is nothing here but myself.
I concentrated more as I start to feel my surroundings. I recalled the things I know about 'Mana', in the books it was stated that Mana is the source of energy in the world. It is the reason why the world is functioning. Then is Mana the surroundings? No, it is nature itself.
I concentrated more deeply, I start to feel the energy around me, but I was unable to. I can only feel the wind, the chirping of the birds, the sound of the leaves rustling, the light of the sun...ah, I am an idiot. Isn't that nature? That is nature that I am feeling.
Drowning myself in this feeling, I could feel the void in my consciousness being filled with light as I followed that thread of white light that guided me somewhere...I walked in my consciousness until I hit a wall, is this the dead end? But the light was on the other side of this wall. So what must I do? Break the wall.
Letting the energy of nature wrap around my right fist, I raised it as I smashed it onto the wall. I smashed it over and over again until a crack finally showed. Satisfied, I smiled and delivered one last blow as the wall was shattered and I saw a whole new world on the other side. This was unlike the dark void, it was a vast space of white...and in the center of it, I could see a large sphere of a world dyed in a pure red color.
I unlocked my own core....
With a smile, I rejoiced as I went back to reality and felt the energy of nature wrapping around my body, I could feel a whole new sense of vigor with this energy as I heard a clap behind me.
"Congratulations on reaching Elite Red stage"
I turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw my Master smiling there while clapping his hands. Turns out he had been watching me all this while.
With a nod from him, I grabbed the bamboo stick that he used to beat me up and then dove into the pond with it.
With the energy of nature wrapping around me, I swam more easily underwater and my stamina cost seems to have been decreased. Even my vision was not blurry anymore underwater, I looked around underwater and soon spotted the bass that I was chasing earlier.
Raising the bamboo stick, I let the energy of nature flow into my arm muscles and then, I threw the bamboo stick as it flew through underwater with a ridiculous speed and power and then it pierced the bass.
'I got one'