A Step

Matthew raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, his chest still rising and falling slightly. However, his gaze remained locked onto the blazing tree, evaluating the final effect of the strike.

“Trajectory control... as expected, it's not that simple, but its utility is substantial. After all, who wouldn't be terrified of a fireball that can curve?”

“Moreover, once my Spirit increases further in the future, a Fireball spell with homing properties will be a completely different story!”

He murmured in his heart, carrying a trace of post-exhaustion excitement!

“Although I barely managed it, the Spirit consumption was nearly double that of a straight shot. This kind of 'shaping' and 'guiding' is still too forced for my current level of control.”

In terms of power, he could see it clearly: the flame's own “Basic” tier limited its instantaneous explosive power, failing to completely shatter the tree.

However, that highly concentrated, continuous burning style of destruction and the tactical value of precisely hitting vital points were incomparable to simply pursuing brute force.

“The road ahead is still long.” He slowly exhaled a breath of scorching air, feeling waves of emptiness in the depths of his mind and the signals of fatigue from his body.

Slowly gathering his thoughts, he sat cross-legged and began to meditate, recovering the missing Spirit in his body.

...

In the afternoon, Matthew went to the training hall in the outer city that he usually frequented.

Walking up to the elderly man guarding the training hall, Matthew spoke, “I need to change to a higher-tier training room.”

The old man looked up and recognized him instantly. His expression immediately turned respectful as he bowed slightly. “My lord, the price of the higher-tier rooms is slightly higher than usual...”

Matthew nodded, indicating it was fine.

Seeing this, the old man bowed and led him through the corridor to a more spacious training room deep inside.

The room was brightly lit, and the air carried the faint scent of oil from equipment maintenance. Most eye-catching of all was the pitch-black humanoid target post in the center of the room—it gleamed with a cold, hard metallic luster, its surface as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a blurry shadow under the training room's lights.

The previous iron-sheet dummy had been removed, replaced by this far more oppressive black creation.

The old man paused to the side and asked carefully, “How does this look... Are you satisfied with it?”

Matthew didn't speak, only nodding slightly and waving his hand. Understanding the gesture, the old man quietly retreated, closing the heavy door behind him.

The training room fell completely silent.

Matthew slowly walked toward the black dummy. Reaching out to press his hand against its surface, what his fingertips felt was not the roughness of ordinary metal, but a dense, uniform solidity. Its temperature was also slightly lower than room temperature. He applied a bit of force, but the target post remained completely motionless, with no shaking whatsoever at the connection between the base and the floor.

This material... he thought to himself. The feel is almost identical to the high-tier target posts in 'Anvil and Chalice'. The density is clearly much higher, and the overall casting is more precise.

Retracting his hand, he nodded slightly.

It was indeed not bad.

Without wasting any time, after regulating his breathing for a moment, he drew his wooden sword and focused his mind to circulate his life energy.

The energy circulation of the Silver Rank was smooth and rapid. In an instant, a layer of white light coated the blade, and the surrounding air simmered slightly with it.

Taking a step forward, his figure was like lightning as the longsword in his hand drew a scorching arc—

“Clang—Hum!!!”

The moment the sword edge struck the black target post, a dull, tearing roar erupted.

Unlike the shallow white scratches left on the iron-sheet dummy in the past, this strike of 【Melting Slash】 carved a charred slash mark over an inch deep into the surface of the target post. The metal at the edges melted and distorted slightly, as wisps of dark smoke drifted away along with a pungent, burning smell.

The target post as a whole shook violently, a dull grinding sound coming from the connection between the base and the ground, yet it did not shatter or topple over.

Matthew withdrew his sword and stood still, staring at the result of his strike, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

“This burning smell is probably caused by the wooden sword burning.”

As for the slash mark, it was within Matthew's expectations.

He did not stop. Adjusting his breathing, he gathered his focus and energy once more. This time, he channeled his life energy slower and more steadily, attempting to make the white light on the blade more restrained and concentrated.

He unleashed the second slash—

“Clang!”

Sparks flew from the slash mark, but the depth did not increase by much; only the melted traces along the edges became more pronounced. The moment the wooden sword made contact with the target post, the front of the blade already showed signs of charring.

Matthew frowned slightly.

He realized that when testing the pure destructive power of 【Melting Slash】, the material of the wooden sword could no longer keep up with the intensity of the Silver Rank energy. With every slash, not only was the target post damaged, but the wooden sword itself was also enduring the erosion of high heat and backlash.

But with no better weapon at hand for the moment, he could only continue.

Over the next half hour, Matthew changed angles, adjusted his power output, and repeatedly executed 【Melting Slash】.

Slash marks stacked one after another on the black target post, the charred dents gradually merging into a single area. The front half of the wooden sword was completely carbonized, its body covered in fine cracks, feeling as though it would crumble at any moment in his hand.

A thick burnt smell filled the training room, mixed with the pungent odor of scorched metal.

When Matthew swung his sword one last time, the wooden sword finally could not take it, snapping in half with a loud crack. The front half of the blade flew out with a residual ember-like red glow, striking the wall and shattering into several pieces.

Holding the remaining half of the hilt, he slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

Looking down at the target post—in the center of the crisscrossing, overlapping slash marks, a fist-sized dent had appeared. The metal at the edges showed a distorted texture from melting and then solidifying, glowing dark red amidst the black.

“The power is decent, but there is still room for improvement in my control,” he evaluated silently. “If I switched to a real longsword, it should leave a deeper wound without wearing down the weapon this much.”

Tossing the broken sword aside, he walked to the sink by the wall, cupping some water to wash his face. The cold water cleared his slightly heated mind.

Looking through the small window on the training room wall, he could see that the sky outside was already turning to dusk.

Matthew tidied up briefly and pushed the door open to leave the training room. The corridor was quiet, with only the echo of his own footsteps.

As he crossed the hall, the elderly guard looked up at him, seeming as though he wanted to say something. But seeing Matthew's calm expression and steady pace, he merely bowed slightly and watched him leave.

...