Although the anticipated skill notification still did not appear before his eyes, the sensations in his body did not lie.
Every successful 'empowered' shot deepened his muscle memory and made the path of energy flow smoother.
Only when his arms grew noticeably sore and numb, and a wave of mental fatigue washed over him, did Matthew slowly stop.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he muttered to himself, “The last time I practiced 【Melting Slash】, although it was also difficult, I got the hang of it after just a few tries... Now, I've practiced this 'passive empowerment' for so long, and it feels like I've succeeded, so why hasn't any notification appeared? Could it be that I'm practicing it wrong? But the feedback from my body doesn't lie.”
Matthew was somewhat puzzled.
“It seems passive skills are indeed much harder,” he concluded, shaking his sore arms. “Active skills at least have a clear 'form' to imitate, whereas passive skills are more like honing a 'state' or 'instinct.' I have to make my body completely remember this feeling, making the flow of energy as natural as breathing.”
Having understood this, Matthew actually felt more at ease.
He knew he was on the right path. The rest was nothing more than slow, patient work, spending more time and practicing more heavily to irrigate this newly forged path.
Having sorted out his thoughts, he stepped through the snow, carrying the fatigue of his practice and a touch of satisfaction from his gains as he walked toward the wooden cabin.
Pushing open the door, the rich aroma of stewing meat inside had grown even stronger. Mixed with the warmth of the hearth fire, it washed over him, instantly dispersing the cold and fatigue clinging to his body.
He ladled out a large bowl of tender, stewed magical beast meat and began to eat in large mouthfuls along with the hot broth.
As the broth entered his stomach, it quickly turned into a warm current that spread to his limbs and bones, not only relieving the soreness in his arms but also replenishing his consumed life energy.
As he ate, he felt the subtle process of the energy being absorbed and converted within his body.
This magical beast meat was indeed a treasure. After eating just a few pieces, a gentle and continuous warmth from his stomach flowed endlessly into his limbs and bones.
“Good stuff... Unfortunately, the supply is still not enough.” Matthew chewed on the chewy meat chunks, but he couldn't help but calculate in his mind.
He glanced at the cloth bag in the corner of the room. Although the remaining magical beast meat could last him for over ten days, it was still a far cry from being able to eat his fill.
If he could eat as much as he wanted without having to budget carefully every day, or even use this meat rich in pure life energy as his staple food...
At this thought, a trace of regret and longing flashed in his eyes, and he murmured, “If I could eat my fill of magical beast meat, I'm confident I could break through 【Melting Slash】 from its current Novice rank to Basic rank before spring. By then, my physical attributes would be strengthened again, and my combat strength would rise accordingly.”
However, the reality was that this was ultimately a precious, scarce resource.
It was a resource that required both money and connections to consume.
At this thought, Matthew's mind stirred, and a transparent panel appeared before his eyes:
【Name: Matthew
Age: 16
Strength: 19.5 (+1.5), Agility: 16 (+1.7), Constitution: 19.5 (+1.5), Perception: 6, Spirit: 6.78 (+0.35)
Equipment Slots: Finely Forged One-Handed Sword (Green), Forest Shadow Hunting Bow (Green), Filthy Bone Chain (White), Steel Chainmail (Green), Damaged Staff (White)
Skills: 【Basic Swordsmanship: Practiced (81/500)】 (+42)
【Basic Archery: Practiced (7/500)】 (+6)
【White Snake Breathing Technique: Novice (89/500)】 (+45)
【Elemental Meditation Method: Mastered (71/500)】 (+61)
【Melting Slash: Novice (52/100)】 (+42)
【Energy Missile: Mastered (45/100)】 (+35)
Looking at the familiar panel floating before him, Matthew couldn't help but feel a touch of emotion.
It felt like a long time since he had last examined his panel in such detail.
Looking over it, the changes in each value filled him with satisfaction.
At the same time, the differences in the growth rates of the three physical attributes (Strength, Agility, and Constitution) also confirmed a previous conjecture he had about the panel: the higher the base value, the slower the subsequent improvement.
“The reason Agility's growth is more pronounced than Strength and Constitution is precisely because its base value is relatively lower.”
What made him even more certain of this conjecture was when 【Basic Swordsmanship】 broke through to the Practiced rank back then, rewarding him with a flat three-point bonus to all physical attributes! Yet now, breaking through to the Practiced rank in 【Basic Archery】 only gave him 1.5 points.
“Still,” the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, “the value of this 1.5 is probably far more substantial than the previous '3.0'.”
Matthew's gaze continued downward, resting on his Spirit attribute.
A Spirit value of 6.78 was only a minor increase of 0.35 compared to last time. This growth was indeed not large, and could even be described as slow.
Matthew had actually anticipated this.
If not for the boost from equipping the "Damaged Staff," relying solely on the daily cultivation of the 【Elemental Meditation Method】 would take about ten days just to barely increase his Spirit by 0.1.
But Matthew did not feel discouraged; instead, he felt somewhat fortunate.
Because he had already broken through the 6.5 Spirit threshold, reaching the minimum requirement to equip the staff.
This meant his daily meditation cultivation efficiency received an extra bonus, which saved him a lot of time.
On the path of pursuing extraordinary power, this tiny bit of accumulation was often the key to widening the gap.
Of course, the gap between Matthew and highly talented wizard prospects was still immense.
As for why his progress was so slow, he had two conjectures:
First, his aptitude was poor. However, because he did not know the cultivation progress of others, there was no way to verify this.
Second, it was due to the meditation environment.
He recalled the legends he had read in his past life—those who cultivated immortality always sought out grotto-heavens and blessed lands, because the spiritual qi of heaven and earth there was dense, making cultivation efficiency far exceed that of ordinary places, allowing one to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Looking at Stone Mill Village where he was now, it was essentially still a barren borderland. The energy environment was likely inherently impoverished.
Cultivating here, a slow progress was probably the norm, and others might be even worse off than him.
The reason he had this conjecture was based on a personal comparison.
He had entered the Shadow Forest before and could clearly feel that the density and activity of the free-floating "energy particles" there far exceeded those in Stone Mill Village.
Although he could not absorb them, they truly existed!
Since natural areas with relatively abundant energy like the Shadow Forest existed, it stood to reason that there were highly likely to be certain "exclusive meditation sites" with even higher energy concentrations, whether artificially modified or naturally formed.
Meditating in those places would yield an efficiency incomparable to that in Stone Mill Village.
Rate on N.U.
