He practiced for about another ten minutes.
Only when Matthew felt that most of the life energy in his body had been depleted did he slowly stop his movements.
Sheathing his sword, he let out a long breath. Looking at the rows of transparent black characters before his eyes, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face as he murmured,
“A rich harvest for just a short hour.”
【Basic Swordsmanship +1】【Basic Swordsmanship +1】【Basic Swordsmanship +1】
【Melting Slash +1】【Melting Slash +1】【..........】
【Eagle Eye Gaze】【Eagle Eye Gaze】【...................】
At the same time, this practice gave him a clearer understanding of the “Feathering” state.
Its advantages and costs were equally obvious.
The advantage was that the “Feathering” state brought Matthew an all-around enhancement, except for his Spirit, which remained unchanged.
His Strength was enhanced, and from a certain perspective, his Agility had also improved.
Because in a field of vision where dynamic vision was immensely enhanced, other people's movements seemed to slow down. This in itself was equivalent to Matthew becoming relatively “faster.”
In addition, under this state of highly focused attention combined with extraordinary perception, the proficiency of his various skills grew exceptionally fast.
With a thought, Matthew immediately brought up his panel:
【Name: Matthew
Age: ............
Strength: ............
Equipment: ............
Skills: 【Basic Swordsmanship: Practiced (83/500)】 (+3)
【Basic Archery: Practiced (21/500)】 (+7)
【Melting Slash: Novice (45/100)】 (+4)
【Eagle Eye Gaze: Mastered (9/30)】 (+7)
In less than half a day, the proficiency of 【Melting Slash】 had increased by 4 points. This efficiency was simply astonishing!
What surprised Matthew even more was the leap in 【Eagle Eye Gaze】—increasing by a full 7 points.
This combat technique had only been developed a few days ago and had been in the exploration phase, so its growth had been extremely slow, only increasing by one point every two or three days.
For such a huge breakthrough to occur from yesterday to today, he speculated that first, it benefited from the profound insights gained from actual combat in the forest, and second, perhaps because he had the experience of 【Melting Slash】 as a reference. Drawing analogies had saved him from taking many detours in controlling energy.
Alongside his joy, a trace of worry also quietly crept into his heart.
He could clearly feel that after a skill level rose to the “Practiced Rank,” the growth rate of proficiency began to slow down significantly.
This feeling was not unfamiliar to him; he had a similar experience with 【Basic Swordsmanship】.
To solve this problem, Matthew had a simple and direct solution: replacing his weapon with one of higher quality.
The good news was that a higher-grade, “Blue-quality” weapon was already secured.
The bad news was that obtaining the weapon required waiting, and it would be after the start of spring at the earliest.
That meant less than two months.
“I hope nothing goes wrong in the meantime,” Matthew murmured to himself.
His thoughts then turned to another crucial point. “Before that, I must hurry and improve my physical fitness. Otherwise, even if the weapon is in hand, if my physical strength doesn't meet the standard and I can't equip it, that will only delay things further.”
After summarizing his gains and worries, he also gained a clearer understanding of the disadvantage of the “Feathering” state: its demand for life energy was absolutely terrifying!
With Matthew's Brass Rank constitution, maintaining the state of dual combat techniques for less than twenty minutes consumed nearly seventy percent of his life energy.
If he exerted himself fully in actual combat, he might not even be able to sustain it for half an hour.
However, if he activated “Feathering” and couldn't defeat an opponent in half an hour, the situation would already be extremely dire. He might as well just flee.
Still, half an hour was only his estimation. With Matthew's cautious personality, he always preferred to leave himself a way out.
He didn't want to completely drain himself during practice; otherwise, if an emergency arose, it would be troublesome.
All in all, despite the significant drawback of immense consumption, the combat strength boost brought by the “Feathering” state was very real, and it was undoubtedly a massive upgrade to Matthew's actual combat capabilities.
Meanwhile,
the giant bear prime meat in the pot had been stewing for about an hour and was now perfectly cooked.
A rich, meaty aroma mixed with a unique gamey scent was slowly wafting out of the house.
This smell pulled Matthew back from his thoughts.
He could feel a slight emptiness in his stomach and a deep craving within his body due to the massive energy consumption. This was not just hunger, but an instinctive need for high-quality food that could replenish his life energy.
Exhaling a breath, he glanced at the distant forest, sheathed his shortsword, and turned to walk back inside.
White steam continuously escaped from the edge of the pot lid, and that unique meaty aroma grew even stronger.
He walked to the stove and carefully lifted the lid. An even denser wave of hot steam, accompanied by a more pronounced fragrance, rushed over him.
The broth in the pot had already been boiled down to a thick, milky white, and the large chunks of giant bear prime meat trembled slightly in the soup, presenting the unique color and texture of well-stewed meat.
After carefully skimming off the last of the foam and impurities from the pot, Matthew, with a hint of anticipation to test it out, used wooden chopsticks to fish out a piece of the tenderly stewed giant bear prime meat. He blew on the hot steam and took a large bite.
Although the meat was scalding hot, it was of no consequence to Matthew's constitution.
Before long, he finished eating this half-pound of tenderly stewed giant bear prime meat.
A gentle yet powerful warm current immediately spread from his stomach to his entire body.
This warm current was not the simple feeling of fullness provided by ordinary food, but a nourishment containing pure life energy.
He could clearly feel that the life energy that had been nearly depleted from practicing the “Feathering” state was being rapidly and effectively replenished and restored by this warm current.
And this efficiency far exceeded that of the Shadow Wolf magical beast meat.
Moreover, he roughly estimated that the life energy contained in this half-pound of giant bear prime meat was enough to equal a full pound of Shadow Wolf magical beast meat.
“What a treasure. These forty pounds of prime meat will be enough to support my training for three months.”
Matthew was overjoyed.
More importantly, this high-quality replenishment reconfirmed a core principle for him:
The higher one's rank, the greater the need for this kind of high-quality food. Otherwise, once he reached the Silver Rank, even eating ordinary meat until he was stuffed wouldn't be enough to fully restore his life energy.
He properly put away the remaining giant bear prime meat, his plan already clear in his mind. Next, he would make full use of this resource to steadily improve and patiently wait for the Blue-quality weapon.
As for that kobold nest, Matthew knew deep down that his current strength was not yet enough to explore it.
This matter could only be put aside for now, to be dealt with after he broke through to a higher realm, or after Instructor Calm successfully promoted to a Silver Rank powerhouse.
Outside, the sky was gradually darkening, but the residual heat of the stove and the warmth in his stomach together drove away the winter chill.
Rate on N.U.
