Chapter 128

I started the exercise in the same way that the dark figure did . I shoved one hand in and then out, followed by the 2nd hand . I didn't think much of it before I noticed what was happening to my skin, after couple of shoves .

My hands became very red but not because of heat . It was due to friction . I didn't know what type of thing was inside the basin but not only was it sharp, it also kind of stuck to my hands . Not in a gluey sense, where I would pull out my hand and there would be some of that gravel stuck to my hands . No, it only stuck to me when I tried to shove my hand in and out, it wasn't sticky otherwise .

After about 10 minutes of this exercise, I had to stop . My hands were already bleeding and although this might've been a dream, I still felt pain . I rested for a while but my hands didn't get any better . I gritted my teeth and though 'I'll do it till my hands fall off in that case!" .

I shoved my hands into the basin for another 10 minutes . My hands already lacked skin, The pain was unbearable so I stopped . I decided it would be less painful to die than continue with those kind of injuries . I did just that . I went over to the dark figure and tried to kick it . The dark figure stopped whatever it was doing and avoided my kick . The dark figure then punched me and I died, as simple as that . When I woke up, I noticed that I'm still in the dream . I was quite happy about that, this gave me more opportunities to try more exercises .

My hands were also healed and there were no signs of any injuries . That was why I prefered to die, instead of continuing on with that agonising pain . I waited for the dark figure to start the next exercise . I didn't have to wait long, the dark figure finished quite soon . The next exercise started and I had to think about starting it as well .

Soon, a field of what looked like wooden poles rose from the ground in front of me . I thought 'This should be easier than the previous exercise . Right?' . I did the same thing that the dark figure did and kicked at the 1st pole using more than half of my strength .

"Boom! . . . Creak! . . . OOOOOOOWWW!"

"Boom! . . . Creak! . . . OOOOOOOWWW!"

"What sort of buls.h.i.t is this! This is no wood, this thing is like metal!" I exclaimed painfully . My leg was not broken but it creaked in a way that it shouldn't . I kicked wood before, to be precise a whole tree and compared to that pole? Wood was as soft as b.u.t.ter . 'I can't go around kicking that pole like this . If my guess is correct, this is the same type of exercise as the 2nd one . Both train stuff like bones or resilience' I thought .

I used my other leg to kick it with much less power this time . "Thud!" I felt some discomfort in my leg but it was nothing compared to the 1st try . I started kicking that pole as if possessed . 'I need to get used to a certain level of st.u.r.diness, then I can increase my power . This thing actually broke over 50 of them, no wonder I die with one hit from that dark figure' I thought .

I kicked and kicked and kicked, until the pole in front of me disappeared . 'So this is the end of that exercise . Now the last exercise, something I've been waiting for!' I thought and prepared for the 4th exercise . I sat down just like the dark figure and thought about starting the last exercise .

Shapes and objects of different origins started to pop up around me . I focused and tried to memorise all of them . I was doing quite well, until more and more objects started to arrive . Finally, the objects started to change positions . I was totally lost at that point but before I started that exercise, I had a plan . I decided to train this progressively . I memorised about 10 objects out of all visible objects and only tracked their movement . I got lost later and was only able to keep track of 2 objects . I had to start somewhere and it seemed that 2 was my current limit . With time, I would get used to that exercise and the number would increase . I wasn't worried about the weak results .

Shapes and objects of different origins started to pop up around me . I focused and tried to memorise all of them . I was doing quite well, until more and more objects started to arrive . Finally, the objects started to change positions . I was totally lost at that point but before I started that exercise, I had a plan . I decided to train this progressively . I memorised about 10 objects out of all visible objects and only tracked their movement . I got lost later and was only able to keep track of 2 objects . I had to start somewhere and it seemed that 2 was my current limit . With time, I would get used to that exercise and the number would increase . I wasn't worried about the weak results .

After that exercise, the cycle started again from the beginning . I tried to find the gla.s.s path which was random and my previous progress didn't matter . Then shoved my hands into the basin until they bleed . I did the 3rd exercise the same way, kicking at one pole to increase my resilience and then tried to remember as much as I could in the last exercise . Coincidentally, it was also random and not repeating at all .

I was so engrossed in my exercises, I forgot where I was . I immediately received a clue when I woke up in the morning . I was starving again and could barely move . Although I could die as many times as I wanted in that dream, there were some limitations . Any type of exercise I did or suffered fatal injury, those things consumed my energy . That was the reason why I was always hungry, when I woke up .

I ate something as quickly as I could . I was fortunate enough to have some food stored precisely for those kind of situations . I knew I overdid it in my dream . Next time, I had to take it easy . 'My body needs to adjust to that first, just like in the past . I have to take regular breaks and allow for my body to adapt' I thought .

All the food was gone but I was still hungry . I decided to go hunting right after I trained the diagrams from the Strength Manual . I was surprised that my times got slightly better . Although not much, an increase was always welcome . After my morning training, I went deeper into the forest in order to hunt .

I ate something as quickly as I could . I was fortunate enough to have some food stored precisely for those kind of situations . I knew I overdid it in my dream . Next time, I had to take it easy . 'My body needs to adjust to that first, just like in the past . I have to take regular breaks and allow for my body to adapt' I thought .

All the food was gone but I was still hungry . I decided to go hunting right after I trained the diagrams from the Strength Manual . I was surprised that my times got slightly better . Although not much, an increase was always welcome . After my morning training, I went deeper into the forest in order to hunt .

I had to search for a while, it was quiet as usual . After about 40 minutes of searching, I finally found a group of bears . This was a small group of about 6 bears . What shocked me, was the Black Bear amongst the group . 'I think this is 1st time, that I see a variant here . Good, I wanted to test my strength anyway . I wonder if the Black Bear will be able to take my punch!' I thought full of excitement .

I didn't try to conceal my presence and simply walked forwards . The bears noticed me no problem and started running at me . This was their doom . Even if they tried to run, I would still catch up . I ran at a slow pace and didn't release my aura this time . The Black Bear was at the front, I extended my arm and punched with about 70-80% of my strength . I couldn't control it that well yet .

"Booom!"

The same thing happened . The Black Bear's head exploded due to my punch . I was kind of expecting that, I was also expecting the reactions of other bears . Besides fear, they also tried to run away but I quickly caught up and shattered their dreams of freedom . With the meat in my bag, I walked back to my camp .

I started the exercise in the same way that the dark figure did . I shoved one hand in and then out, followed by the 2nd hand . I didnt think much of it before I noticed what was happening to my skin, after couple of shoves . My hands became very red but not because of heat . It was due to friction . I didnt know what type of thing was inside the basin but not only was it sharp, it also kind of stuck to my hands . Not in a gluey sense, where I would pull out my hand and there would be some of that gravel stuck to my hands . No, it only stuck to me when I tried to shove my hand in and out, it wasnt sticky otherwise . After about 10 minutes of this exercise, I had to stop . My hands were already bleeding and although this mightve been a dream, I still felt pain . I rested for a while but my hands didnt get any better . I gritted my teeth and though Ill do it till my hands fall off in that case! . I shoved my hands into the basin for another 10 minutes . My hands already lacked skin, The pain was unbearable so I stopped . I decided it would be less painful to die than continue with those kind of injuries . I did just that . I went over to the dark figure and tried to kick it . The dark figure stopped whatever it was doing and avoided my kick . The dark figure then punched me and I died, as simple as that . When I woke up, I noticed that Im still in the dream . I was quite happy about that, this gave me more opportunities to try more exercises . My hands were also healed and there were no signs of any injuries . That was why I prefered to die, instead of continuing on with that agonising pain . I waited for the dark figure to start the next exercise . I didnt have to wait long, the dark figure finished quite soon . The next exercise started and I had to think about starting it as well . Soon, a field of what looked like wooden poles rose from the ground in front of me . I thought This should be easier than the previous exercise . Right? . I did the same thing that the dark figure did and kicked at the 1st pole using more than half of my strength . Boom! . Creak! . OOOOOOOWWW! What sort of buls.h.i.t is this! This is no wood, this thing is like metal! I exclaimed painfully . My leg was not broken but it creaked in a way that it shouldnt . I kicked wood before, to be precise a whole tree and compared to that pole? Wood was as soft as b.u.t.ter . I cant go around kicking that pole like this . If my guess is correct, this is the same type of exercise as the 2nd one . Both train stuff like bones or resilience I thought . I used my other leg to kick it with much less power this time . Thud! I felt some discomfort in my leg but it was nothing compared to the 1st try . I started kicking that pole as if possessed . I need to get used to a certain level of st.u.r.diness, then I can increase my power . This thing actually broke over 50 of them, no wonder I die with one hit from that dark figure I thought . I kicked and kicked and kicked, until the pole in front of me disappeared . So this is the end of that exercise . Now the last exercise, something Ive been waiting for! I thought and prepared for the 4th exercise . I sat down just like the dark figure and thought about starting the last exercise . Shapes and objects of different origins started to pop up around me . I focused and tried to memorise all of them . I was doing quite well, until more and more objects started to arrive . Finally, the objects started to change positions . I was totally lost at that point but before I started that exercise, I had a plan . I decided to train this progressively . I memorised about 10 objects out of all visible objects and only tracked their movement . I got lost later and was only able to keep track of 2 objects . I had to start somewhere and it seemed that 2 was my current limit . With time, I would get used to that exercise and the number would increase . I wasnt worried about the weak results . After that exercise, the cycle started again from the beginning . I tried to find the gla.s.s path which was random and my previous progress didnt matter . Then shoved my hands into the basin until they bleed . I did the 3rd exercise the same way, kicking at one pole to increase my resilience and then tried to remember as much as I could in the last exercise . Coincidentally, it was also random and not repeating at all . I was so engrossed in my exercises, I forgot where I was . I immediately received a clue when I woke up in the morning . I was starving again and could barely move . Although I could die as many times as I wanted in that dream, there were some limitations . Any type of exercise I did or suffered fatal injury, those things consumed my energy . That was the reason why I was always hungry, when I woke up . I ate something as quickly as I could . I was fortunate enough to have some food stored precisely for those kind of situations . I knew I overdid it in my dream . Next time, I had to take it easy . My body needs to adjust to that first, just like in the past . I have to take regular breaks and allow for my body to adapt I thought . All the food was gone but I was still hungry . I decided to go hunting right after I trained the diagrams from the Strength Manual . I was surprised that my times got slightly better . Although not much, an increase was always welcome . After my morning training, I went deeper into the forest in order to hunt . I had to search for a while, it was quiet as usual . After about 40 minutes of searching, I finally found a group of bears . This was a small group of about 6 bears . What shocked me, was the Black Bear amongst the group . I think this is 1st time, that I see a variant here . Good, I wanted to test my strength anyway . I wonder if the Black Bear will be able to take my punch! I thought full of excitement . I didnt try to conceal my presence and simply walked forwards . The bears noticed me no problem and started running at me . This was their doom . Even if they tried to run, I would still catch up . I ran at a slow pace and didnt release my aura this time . The Black Bear was at the front, I extended my arm and punched with about 70-80% of my strength . I couldnt control it that well yet . Booom! The same thing happened . The Black Bears head exploded due to my punch . I was kind of expecting that, I was also expecting the reactions of other bears . Besides fear, they also tried to run away but I quickly caught up and shattered their dreams of freedom . With the meat in my bag, I walked back to my camp .