Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 472: Stamina

Asher shook his head at her question and replied in a calm, steady tone, ”I intend to continue my training. I want to pay for the Lightning element, a basic training chamber.” He stated what he wanted plainly; he had been to the lightning chamber before, so he already knew the price.

”Seven hundred points for every half an hour,” the receptionist stated calmly, her voice professional and unhurried.

Asher nodded at her words as he took out his card and paid for three hours straight. He had no intention of taking any missions until his points were exhausted. Until then, he planned to turn the training facility building into his bedroom, his refuge, and his battlefield all in one. His point balance dropped to 41,500. Although he didn’t know how long that amount would last, he was certain it should be able to sustain him for a month, or at least a few intense weeks.

”Let’s go,” the receptionist said as she rose from her seat, gesturing for him to follow. She led Asher toward the hallway where the basic training chambers were located, her footsteps echoing softly against the polished floor.

’After this, I will create my rapier techniques,’ Asher thought as he walked. ’My basic and advanced foundations should be enough now. That means I’ll have to set aside points for that as well.’

If anyone were to hear what Asher was thinking at that moment, they would probably vomit blood from pure shock and jealousy.

It had only been a year and two months since his awakening, and here he was, casually talking about creating his own sword techniques. It was absurd. Ridiculous. Something that even seasoned veterans with decades of experience wouldn’t dare to consider lightly. Yet Asher was simply that talented. His Optimal Movement Efficiency and Perfect Muscle Memory abilities, all under the umbrella of his Absolute Physique, made him a monster when it came to any form of physical training.

’I wonder what I should name my technique in general,’ he mused, not referring to its forms or variations, but its core identity. As he walked, his thoughts drifted freely, and he could already picture it vividly, his rapier tearing a hole through the blue sky with a single, flawless thrust.

’I wonder if Thalric has created his own technique yet?’ His thoughts shifted to his strange older brother. He hadn’t seen Thalric use any personal techniques against Doris during their battle, which in itself was unusual.

’Decay, huh?’ Asher muttered inwardly as he thought about Thalric’s elemental affinity. ’Besides, my battle with Blue gave me a bit of inspiration. I should try that out as well.’ His thoughts shifted again, branching into another aspect of training. ’Sigh... there’s a lot to do and even more to train. Will my forty thousand point balance even be enough?’ He could already see himself going completely broke by next month.

”We are here,” the receptionist stated, breaking Asher out of his thoughts before he could drown completely in the dilemma of his impending poverty.

Stepping into the chamber, Asher inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly as he felt the crackling energy of lightning saturating the air. It pulsed through the walls and the ground like a living beast, vibrant and untamed. Buzzing sounds echoed relentlessly in his ears, as though the chamber itself were alive. Asher took it all in for a brief moment before calmly sitting down in a lotus position at the center of the room.

After his battle with Blue over a week ago, Asher had come to understand another weakness of his, stamina. For someone who was building himself to possess no weaknesses at all, this realization was unacceptable. He knew he needed to erase this flaw as soon as possible.

For now, he wasn’t bothered about injuries. He had more than enough blood to deal with that. After carrying out so much massacre and bloodshed throughout his three missions, Virelass was no different from a well of blood, or perhaps even a blood bank in a weapon form.

He wasn’t worried about his Astra reserves either. His own reserves were monstrous, far beyond what most could imagine. On top of that, he possessed Virelass, who could return thirty percent of his reserves to him if he ever ran out of Astra energy. Even if that thirty percent was exhausted, Asher could manipulate the Astra energy in the surrounding air, or simply switch to Star Energy altogether.

So stamina was the real issue.

As for how he planned to overcome it, the answer lay in the lightning element.

Asher knew that if his Limitless Physical Growth ability hadn’t kicked in during his battle with Blue, he would have been completely at the mercy of the Rank 5 Emovira. The thought alone sent a faint chill through him. What would happen next time if Limitless Physical Growth didn’t activate? After all, every time that ability triggered, the conditions for its next activation became even more extreme.

Sure, in such a situation he could use the Star Academy scroll to escape, but would his enemy give him that chance? Even his Virelass Position Marker ability would be useless if he couldn’t activate it faster than his opponent’s speed of movement.

With a calm breath, he began.

Lightning coursed through his body, weaving itself through muscles, nerves, and blood vessels alike. Muscle fibers and nerves were responsible for stamina, and blood flow played a crucial role as well. But as lightning surged through him, Asher suddenly stopped his movements.

He wasn’t tired. He wasn’t stressed. He wasn’t even fatigued. How could he embark on stamina training if his body wasn’t tired in any shape or form?

’Should I start with another form of training?’ he wondered, his mind briefly considering abandoning this particular training for the moment due to the current circumstances. But as soon as that thought arose, he crushed it. He was far too intelligent to think so narrowly. ’I’ll create localized fatigue in a muscle group on purpose,’ he decided. ’Not through physical exhaustion... but through Astra-induced micro-fatigue.’

With that idea established, Asher began controlling his Astra energy with extreme precision. He contracted a muscle, then augmented it with Astra, but he did it incorrectly on purpose. The result was immediate. The muscle trembled violently, pain shooting through it as microscopic damage accumulated.

Asher continued this method, repeating the process until a specific set of muscles in his body became fatigued and genuinely tired.

’It seems I’m back to my masochistic tendencies,’ he mused as he felt the dull fatigue and sharp pain settle in. ’I wonder why my own training methods always end up involving me inducing pain on myself.’

He sighed softly but didn’t stop working, time was something he couldn’t afford to waste. He had paid over four thousand points for this training chamber alone. Missions didn’t even pay that much, and he intended to squeeze every single point’s worth out of it.