Developing Abilities and Gains

“Using water with lightning can actually produce fire.”

This discovery felt rather strange to Ogre.

In his impression, water and fire were incompatible.

“Could it have to do with those bubbles from earlier? Did the electricity turn the water into a gas? And then that gas burned?” Ogre keenly grasped the key point.

Ogre pulled his hand out and began to ponder.

“Wood leaves ash when it burns, and fire doesn't just appear out of nowhere. But after this fire burned, it didn't seem to leave anything behind...”

Ogre looked back at the water basin and muttered to himself in thought, “Perhaps water is the ‘ash’ produced after this gas burns.”

Unfortunately, Ogre couldn't think of any use for this discovery for the time being.

He vaguely felt he had grasped something, but he wasn't sure what that feeling could actually be used for.

“Also, the burning from the flames just now... why does it feel like my pain sensitivity has increased?”

If Ogre had the ability of internal inspection, he would have discovered that the nerves in his body had multiplied several times over.

It was precisely these special nerves spread throughout his body, woven into his muscles, that allowed him to control his muscles to generate electricity.

This was also the true source of his intense pain from earlier.

“Ugh, how annoying... This kind of thing should be researched by those Sorcerers from the Church of Truth. I'll wait until I get stronger in the future, then find a Truth Sorcerer to help me develop it.”

Ogre shook his head, no longer overthinking it.

He began to force himself to ignore his recent discovery.

However, since water caused an explosion, he could only try using a different conductor.

Ogre squatted down and pulled out a box from under his bed—it contained a portion of his savings.

He casually pulled a gold coin out of it, but after thinking it over, Ogre put the gold coin back and chose to take out two silver coins and ten copper coins instead.

He planned to test these materials.

Pinching a silver coin, Ogre began to channel electricity into it.

As the electricity was channeled in, sparks suddenly flew from the silver coin, causing Ogre to stop the current flow once again.

He lifted the silver coin to examine it closely, finding that the spot pinched between his two fingers had been slightly blackened by the electrical current.

“Silver resists electricity?”

Ogre felt a sense of strange inconsistency; he clearly remembered seeing somewhere that metals were the best conductors of electricity.

The silver coins within the Kingdom of Engodo were refined by manipulation mages, and their purity depended entirely on the skill of the refining mage.

“No, that's not right. It seems like there's something inside the silver that blocks the electricity, converting the energy into damage similar to fire...”

Ogre scratched his head.

He felt as if something was trying to wiggle into his brain—it felt like he had discovered something, yet at the same time, it felt like he had discovered nothing at all.

“Does this mean that when a person gets hurt, it's also because something clashed with and canceled out the electricity?”

Ogre put down the silver coin and picked up the copper coin. But after some thought, he put the coins back, walked over to his bag, and pulled out his specialized small hammer.

Ogre felt that if silver coins didn't work, copper coins would probably be about the same.

Thus, he decided to directly switch to a larger prop for his experiment.

Ogre's small hammer was pitch-black all over.

Its shape was somewhat unique.

At first glance, rather than a war hammer, it resembled a small mallet used by craftsmen or stonemasons.

One end of the hammer was a spike, while the other was a square-round mallet.

The body of the hammer was not long; its total length from top to bottom was only slightly longer than Ogre's forearm.

The only notable feature was the end of the handle, where there was a relatively large ring loop that could fit two fingers, which was rather eye-catching instead.

On the whole, it was still quite ordinary, but it was the weapon Ogre wielded most comfortably. His mastery of the hammer far surpassed his skill with other weapons—this was also related to Yade, who had taught Ogre his combat techniques.

Paladins, after all, were generally skilled with hammers, greatswords, and the like.

As for Ogre's spear and staff techniques, those were specifically trained for the arena.

In that environment, a staff was easier to deploy.

Whereas in an environment like the Forest of Monsters, a hammer that wasn't too long was the truly practical weapon. The ring at the end was also perfect for attaching a rope for throwing attacks.

“Let me try again...” After taking out the weapon, Ogre immediately gripped the end of the hammer and began discharging electricity.

Blue sparks of electricity leaped from Ogre's palm, climbing up the body of the hammer and leaping forward.

In an instant, the ordinary small hammer in Ogre's hand transformed into a cool, lightning-infused weapon.

“It really can conduct...”

Ogre's hammer was custom-made by a blacksmith affiliated with the colosseum, crafted entirely from durable refined iron.

Only because it was mixed with dark steel powder did it look dark and unremarkable.

But this was exactly what Ogre wanted. Being unremarkable was a good thing; a weapon only needed to be sturdy enough.

“As long as it can extend my lightning, it's fine. But why would a tiny silver coin burst with sparks while such a long hammer is completely fine?”

“Could it be... electricity is actually similar in nature to water? Is it that the thicker and larger the object, the easier it is to conduct, just like the width of a river channel?”

Ogre summarized the patterns he had discovered.

He wasn't sure if his discoveries were entirely accurate; he could vaguely feel that something was missing from his speculation.

However, lacking knowledge in this field, no matter how much he thought, it was difficult to reason any further.

Mainly, most of the books Ogre read were of the monster encyclopedia variety, which he preferred to read as cookbooks.

“Forget it, I'll just treat it as a trump card for close combat.”

After thinking it over carefully, Ogre still couldn't come up with any major use for it. This discharge ability indeed seemed to have little utility unless he was fighting in water.

Ogre could feel that this discharge ability had potential developmental value.

But with Ogre's current sixteen-year-old brain, he really couldn't think of how to develop it to produce results—his intelligence and talents were mostly directed toward combat.

Asking Ogre to be a researcher was indeed asking too much of him.

“Mainly, I can't use mental power like a mage to bind lightning into a concrete form to attack...”

Ogre reached a conclusion, attributing the clunkiness of his lightning power to his inability to make ranged attacks.

Only being able to discharge electricity in close combat was indeed far inferior in comparison. The only useful part was that he could imbue his weapon with what looked like a cool, pseudo-magic effect.

“Though... if this material can conduct, maybe I could get an iron chain?”

Ogre once again imagined the scene of attacking with an iron chain.

But in the end, he temporarily put that thought aside.

Chain weapons required practice; if used poorly, one would only end up hitting oneself.

Ogre felt... surely no guy would think of directly using an iron chain as their main weapon.

“It feels like this ability isn't even as useful as high-speed vision.”

Ogre felt that he had miscalculated this time. Wasting a feeding opportunity was not even the most painful part.

The most painful part was that his physical muscle strength had even decreased slightly.

“My muscles also feel a bit sore...”

Ogre stretched his muscles and tendons; the continuous discharge from earlier had left him feeling slightly fatigued.

Discharging required physical strength to sustain.

He could emit a faint, sustained current for a long time. However, for the lethal discharges that required exertion from half of his body's muscle groups, Ogre estimated that he could only release them continuously for five minutes at most.

If it was the kind of full-power discharge that could shock him unconscious, he would give out in a minute at most.

Of course, being able to release it for a minute was already a feat; if he weren't soaking in water, Ogre truly wouldn't be able to use his full power.

Perhaps only when his physical constitution adapted in the future would he be able to discharge electricity without any restraint.

Whether they were humans or ogres, they would develop resistance to attacks they frequently received. Ogre's constitution lay somewhere between the two.

Adapting to this intensity of full-power current shouldn't take too long, provided his lightning ability didn't continue to grow stronger.

“Wait... this soreness, why does it feel so much like when I first started training?”

Ogre rubbed his neck, suddenly drawing a connection to his usual symptoms after training.

A Martial Artist's training, besides regulating and balancing the three qi and practicing martial techniques, consisted of exercising—continuous training, eating, and resting, then repeating this cycle.

As long as they ate enough and well, gradually increased their training intensity, and recovered well, they could improve their physical constitution.

As for meditation, it was classified as a part of rest; focused meditation could better restore physical strength and train the mind.

Without a Knight's constitution, a Martial Artist's training usually had to adhere to the body's golden period. If one didn't become a Professional after passing this golden period, their physical strength had basically reached its limit.

The body's golden period was divided according to differences in gender and personal talent, but the golden period of an ordinary person was still very clear.

Taking human males as an example:

Under the premise of ensuring proper nutrition, the golden period for flexibility training was usually between five to eight and twelve to fourteen years old. Bone, ligament, muscle, and fascia structures were still growing, possessing high plasticity.

While the golden period for speed training was between seven to nine and thirteen to sixteen years old; this period was very suitable for increasing speed.

As for strength training, it could be performed between twelve and twenty-five, though the intensity had to be lower when younger.

Finally, endurance training yielded the best results between twelve to fourteen and seventeen to twenty-two.

Missing this window meant the effects of training would not be nearly as good, and the hope of becoming a Professional Martial Artist in this lifetime would become slim.

Ogre had missed a portion of this so-called golden period.

But Ogre possessed stomach digestion and recovery abilities far exceeding ordinary people.

He could eat, he could recover, so naturally he could also endure much more intense training.

Relying on this training intensity that surpassed ordinary limits, combined with Yade's guidance, Ogre had become the strongest Martial Apprentice in this small frontier border town within just two short years.

But no matter the training, there was ultimately a limit; Ogre had already hit his physical bottleneck a month ago.

Constantly increasing weights and longer training times only yielded progressively smaller improvements.

Hence, as an all-around combatant, Ogre had conceived the idea of using forbidden elixirs.

This was truly because his physical improvements had already reached their limit.

Yet, his cultivation of vital energy and blood had consistently shown no results.

For Ogre to get any training feedback, he had to spend at least half a day or more to see results—it couldn't be helped, his endurance was simply too high.

If his body weren't still in its growth phase, Ogre would have found it hard to even feel that microscopic sliver of improvement.

If he didn't successfully unite the three qi into Vital Blood Rage, Ogre's path as a Martial Artist would indeed have basically reached its end.

But now, he actually felt tired in such a short amount of time—this meant he still had room and hope for improvement!

“Is it the strain caused by this method of exertion, the stimulation from the lightning, or is it both?”

Yade had once told Ogre what the essence of training was—

Training was the process of smashing a bottle and gluing it back together, the process of carving out a larger cavern. Almost all professions could not escape this cycle.

Break down, repair, and grow.

As long as the foundation wasn't damaged and one could recover in a short time, the effects of training would take root.

This was why once one grew older, it became easy to fall into a bottleneck, because both the spirit and the physical body had a period of decline.

If recovery was no longer possible, naturally, there would be no way to improve.

It wasn't just humans; monsters were the same.

“No matter the reason, as long as it has a training effect, it's a good ability!”

Ogre didn't care about the principles behind it; as long as it worked well, that was all that mattered.

Originally, he had already stopped training his physical constitution and had shifted to practicing martial techniques.

But the discharge ability brought by the Electric Eel had opened a new window for him once more.

If his physical constitution could be infinitely enhanced under this positive cycle, Ogre felt that even if he didn't become a so-called Professional, with the blessing of his innate talent, he could still possess power comparable to a Professional!

One had to realize that the strength of the discharge ability was directly linked to Ogre's physical strength.

For Ogre...

...using lightning to temper his body was actually far more practical than acquiring an extra ranged skill.

Though he didn't know where the limit of this method lay, as long as there was room for improvement, it was always a good thing.

“I really am a bit hungry...” Ogre cast his gaze toward the remaining honey.

Well, it looked like he had to eat sugar again.

Picking up his water skin, Ogre prepared himself to force down more sugar.

“Next time, I should go out and buy more meat...”

...

After two and a half hours of tentative "training,"

Ogre could feel that his body had seemingly improved in all aspects.

But Ogre wasn't sure if his feeling was an illusion; he had felt this way every single time he trained to the brink of death before.

Yet in reality, even with his breathing techniques, the improvement later on was virtually non-existent.

The sole purpose of training seemed to have dwindled to merely maintaining the status quo.

“If only there were no limit to physical progress. Without becoming a Professional, one is ultimately just an ordinary mortal...”

In Engodo, the treatment of Professionals was almost on par with nobles. Aside from having no fiefdoms, the respect and status Professionals commanded were far higher than those of ordinary commoners.

It was indeed extraordinary in every sense.

From this, it was evident that in any race, strength was always the ultimate arbiter of authority. Knowledge and power were merely different forms of strength.

“Still, this efficiency is indeed quite good.”

This was only his first attempt, but Ogre had achieved substantial gains within these two and a half hours.

During the training session, Ogre had even figured out another way to use his ability.

This was far more satisfying than his previous weighted training.

“Train well, eat well, rest well” were the words Yade had given to Ogre.

Ogre had now completed the first two steps; it was time for him to get a proper rest.

The sky had not yet darkened. Ogre briefly tidied up his room and sat on the bed.

He opened his other harvest of the day—the Withered Wood Rejuvenation Meditation Method.

“Hopefully, this will bring me some help,” Ogre muttered to himself.

As for uniting the three qi as one, Ogre no longer had any desire to try. However, regarding the planting of the Mind-Image Seed, he still held a sliver of hope.

This hope stemmed from the Discipline Knight crest Yade had gifted him.

Ogre highly anticipated the day he would meet that mysterious Cleric.

After reading through the entire thin meditation manual:

Ogre habitually used his breathing technique to adjust his state of mind and pace.

Finally, Ogre officially closed his eyes and began his exploration of this meditation method...