The high-noon sun beat down on the outer perimeter of Oakhaven. Far away from the bustling streets and the judging eyes of the tavern crowd, the deep northern forest was peaceful, filled with the gentle rustling of leaves and the occasional chirp of a fantasy bird.
"Um... Sir Arata? Are you sure it's alright for me to be here?"
Sera stumbled slightly over a thick tree root, clutching her apron as she hurried to keep up with Shin'ya's brisk pace. He had suddenly marched out of the tavern, holding the heavy Ketsugai in his hand, demanding she accompany him to the woods.
"Sera, every great master needs a witness," Shin'ya said, not looking back as his hood fluttered in the breeze. "And more importantly, I need a hype woman. Motivation is a statistically proven factor in training efficiency. Just stand there, look impressed, and give me a thumbs-up occasionally."
Sera blinked, a look of profound, starry-eyed admiration washing over her face. Wow... he's trusting me to witness his secret, high-level A-rank cultivation! I won't let you down, Boss!
They finally reached a secluded, wide-open clearing surrounded by towering ancient oaks. The atmosphere was perfect. It looked exactly like a training ground from a high-budget shonen anime.
Shin'ya cracked his knuckles, stretched his arms, and took a deep, dramatic breath. "Alright. First things first. If I'm going to survive walking past a giant, blind, S-rank disaster monster, I need to drastically increase my lung capacity and physical endurance. I need to build up my stamina."
He planted his feet, closed his eyes, and prepared to unleash his inner protagonist power.
One second passed.
Three seconds passed.
Five seconds passed.
Shin'ya opened his eyes, staring blankly at his own hands. The crushing weight of absolute reality suddenly slammed into his skull. He grabbed his hair and screamed at the sky with total, unbridled fury.
"HOW THE HECK DO YOU ACTUALLY BUILD UP YOUR STAMINA?!" Shin'ya yelled, his voice echoing through the entire forest, scaring a flock of birds into flight. "THIS ISN'T A GAME! THERE IS NO 'STAMINA' STAT BUTTON! DO I JUST... RUN? IS IT JUST CARDIO?! AM I SUPPOSED TO DO PUSH-UPS UNTIL I VOMIT?! HOW DO ANIME CHARACTERS DO THIS IN A THREE-MINUTE MONTAGE?!"
Sera gasped, her hands flying to her cheeks. She stared at him in utter awe. Deep... so deep! He is questioning the very concept of human limitations and the fabric of physical reality! Truly, the mind of a genius operates on a completely different plane!
"As expected of Shin!" Sera cheered, violently nodding and giving him a double thumbs-up. "Questioning the fundamental laws of strength! You can do it! Break through your limits!"
Shin'ya slowly lowered his hands, looking over at her with a dead, hollow expression. She thinks I'm being profound. I am literally just having a fitness crisis. "Right... change of plans. Let's work with what we have," Shin'ya muttered, coughing into his hand to clear his throat. He looked down at the dark shadow cast by a massive oak tree. "I already have Shadow Slip. I can sink into the darkness and move through it flawlessly. The problem is the exit."
He looked at Sera, his deadpan mask firmly back in place. "Sera. Turn around. Close your eyes and use your ears. I am going to use my shadow movement to reappear behind you. Tell me the exact moment you hear me return to reality."
"Understood, Boss!" Sera turned around, closing her eyes tightly and focusing all her senses on the quiet forest air.
Shin'ya focused somewhat on his shadow but mainly on the ketsugai, he slightly unsheathed Ketsugai.
Shadow Slip
In a seamless, beautiful motion, his body melted straight into the shadow beneath his boots. He traveled through the interconnected shadows of the forest floor like a ghost, completely silent, utterly undetectable. He arrived right behind Sera's shadow.
Perfect he thought. Now, the exit–
He popped out of the shadow.
SHHHHHK-THUD
The sudden displaced air made a sharp whistling sound, and his boots hit the grass with a heavy thud as the momentum carried him forward.
"I heard you!" Sera called out cheerfully, spinning around. "You came out of the ground right behind me! Wow, that was amazing, Shin!"
"No, it was a failure," Shin'ya groaned, bending over and resting his hands on his knees, panting slightly. Dang it. Dropping out of the shadow dimension forces my physical weight back into the real world all at once. In that Sound-Eater Miasma, that 'thud' will trigger the Titan instantly. I need to figure out how to feather my landing.
He tried again.
Shadow Slip
He dove into the darkness, surfaced ten feet away, and tried to land on his tiptoes.
SQUEAK-CRACK He accidentally stepped on a dry twig upon exiting.
"Heard you again! Over by the bush!" Sera cheered, waving her hands like a dedicated cheerleader. "Keep going, Boss! Your technique is so flashy!"
Shin'ya kept going. Again, and again, and again. He trained endlessly, chaining his Shadow Slip over and over, trying to find the exact frequency to dampen the sound of his re-emergence. But spamming Shadow Slip in rapid succession without a single second of rest was absolute torture on his unconditioned, fourteen-year-old body.
His lungs burned. His muscles screamed. Sweat completely soaked through his gray hoodie, dripping onto the forest floor. He didn't care about a clock right now. He just kept slipping, sliding, and popping out of the darkness, trying to conquer the laws of momentum.
Finally, on his fiftieth attempt, Shin'ya dove into a shadow, traveled twenty feet, and surfaced right behind a tree trunk. He willed his shadow mana to act like a soft vacuum, absorbing the displaced air as he stepped out.
....puff.
It was barely a whisper. A completely silent landing.
"Shin? Where did you go? I didn't hear a single thing!" Sera called out, spinning around in circles, completely losing track of him.
Shin'ya tried to open his mouth to declare victory, but the sudden, massive toll of draining his stamina and physically exhausting his body caught up to him all at once. The world spun violently. His vision blurred, and his legs turned to absolute jelly.
Before he could even say a word, his consciousness completely snapped. His body fell backward, collapsing flat onto the soft, mossy grass as his unique curse instantly dragged him down into a forced sleep loop from pure exhaustion.
"Shin?!" Sera shrieked, running over to his limp body in a panic. She knelt beside him, checking his pulse, only to realize he was completely, deeply asleep, snoring softly into the dirt.
She looked at his sweaty face, then at the forest around them, before letting out a soft sigh and smiling warmly. She sat down on the grass next to him, keeping watch. "You really are a reckless monster, Boss..."