'This is a lot harder than I'd thought it'd be'
He had gained a bit more meat to his bones, hosting refined musculature as evidence of his training.
But he wasn't satisfied.
'I thought I had a substantial cultivation level'
He found a month after he'd begun his training that his cultivation was shallow.
Not shallow as in damaged, but shallow as in his level wasn't what he thought.
His overflowing mana, as he found, wasn't overflowing, it only felt as such because his body wasn't that used to mana at the time, projecting him as Intermediate-rank when in fact, he was Adept-rank.
Well, it wasn't all bad.
Given that he was an Adept-rank, his meridians had barely opened up, so he improved his foundations immensely through herbs, potions, pills and, most importantly, mana stones.
On that note, he also reinforced the toxicity of his poisoned blood by drinking poison or eating poison inducing items.
Right now, he was sitting cross legged with his hands encasing one another.
In his hands was a mana stone, from which Ezra absorbed mana to cultivate.
At the start - which was four months since he had begun training - the quality of mana in the mana stones was too much for him, causing him to puke blood.
It took another three months of training before his feeble body could withstand the mana a bit.
He carefully extracted the mana in miniscule amounts akin to water drops.
At the start, he could only absorb ten drops of mana, but as he tempered his body, it grew to fifteen, then to twenty.
Now, after a year, he could absorb fifty drops.
This gave an incomparably strong foundation that others could only wish to achieve.
I mean, who else cultivated with MANA STONES at the ADEPT rank?!
Yet, Ezra frowned.
'Can't I grow faster?'
Yes, his method of cultivation was something others could only dream of, but what did that mean?
Just because something's working well doesn't mean it can't be improved, and Ezra, with his obsession, wasn't going to settle for less, no matter the case.
He huffed, quickly absorbing the fifty drops of the day before looking over the mana techniques contained in not copper, but silver scrolls - another souvenir he got at the Missionary.
Knights cultivate by opening up meridian pathways - of which hundreds exist in the human body - and then strengthening them by tempering, opening up a network of meridians catering to one's preferred fighting style.
Those who prefer explosive power open meridians that add weight to punches and kicks, while those who prefer nimbleness and speed would open meridians at the tip of their hands and feet to allow faster movement.
Why couldn't one open both? Cause it'll take far more mana to cultivate, meaning you'd use eight hours on what would've taken only two, and since such a build is all rounding, one has no particular strengths or weaknesses, making for a mediocre build.
What would you know? Ezra opted for such a build, simply because he needed somewhere to put the excess mana.
This was how he was able to withstand the mana quality.
He opened up a network of meridians that others wouldn't dare to.
To make sure he didn't go overboard, he only opened the main (biggest) meridian in each limb, connecting his body in a simple way, but one that would give powerful results.
Now he could only be patient, as hit meridians were being tempered while still developing.
Should he overdo it, he could cripple himself.
Each day, he chipped away at the impurities within, opening the meridians further.
As the meridians were cleansed, they could take in more mana, hence his increase to fifty drops a day.
Eleven months of chipping away at impurities opened his meridians halfway.
Since the drops of mana increased, he could finish the cleansing in another four to five months.
'How ridiculous' he thought. A year went by with him in the same rank.
Nevertheless, experience told him it was worth the cost.
A wood-cutter pausing his work to sharpen his ax could not be said to be wasting time.
Likewise, this obstacle, once surpassed, would afford him far more options for his future pathways and fighting styles.
He almost couldn't wait, but he'd have to.
Today - as it was past midnight - his vassals will go through their first advancement, and he had to be there.
His hands were bandaged, having torn many times over during training.
That said, he hadn't removed the iron braces since day one, and now, they felt lighter.
'No, they didn't become lighter. I became stronger' he smiled.
He was steaming and sweating, permeating a foul odor after expunging impurities.
He wasn't bothered as he'd long gotten used to it.
The tri-affinity techniques brought insights on matters he hadn't considered.
For one, a Knight's affinity forms naturally in their chests as crystals once they reach Adept-rank.
At first, they would only be as big as rice grains.
Growing stronger, the crystals become bigger, but remain docile, offering passive effects of resistance to attacks of the same element and subtly influencing one's character.
At Expert-rank, these crystals would be of use in forming one's aura.
They become more prominent at Master-rank, because at this point Knights started being able to use elemental mana to form spells of all kinds.
With mana techniques as guides, he was able to pinpoint common meridians used for particular elements, and picked out those he would open in advance.
'Hmm, time to sleep'
He sucked the mana techniques into his space ring and laid on his bed - covered in a thick blanket with a pillow - to sleep.
—-------------------
Dawn came quickly, with Ezra back on his feet.
An hour later…
*Knock*
'They're early' he thought, opening the door to let his vassals in.
The girls made their way in first, garbed in black clothes.
Roxanne had grown into bigger hips and firm but slender muscles, with her red hair flowing past her shoulder.
Velora mirrored Roxanne, but was shorter and her green hair was tied in a bun.
The boys made their way in, also in black.
Ashton came in first. He'd grown taller, broad shouldered and wide chested, wearing a smile with his brown eyes.
Johan followed, his hair disheveled and his eyes ferocious as always, surpassing Ashton in all physical aspects, except height.
Lastly, Theron, surpassing Ashton in height with refined but slender muscles.
'Seriously?'
Ezra was pissed.
'Why am I the only one who grew the least?'
He calmed down, suddenly finding his actions ridiculous.
'Why do I care about that?'
He shook his head to ward off stupid thoughts, folding his arms afterwards.
"Theron, close the door"
Once that was done, Ezra got to business.
"I see you've all done a good job at growing strong. While this is nowhere near enough, keep it up"
"Now-"
Someone interjected.
"Ha! It won't work"
Johan was at it again.
"Look at you, you have barely grown since the last time we saw you. Aha! I bet I'm stronger than you now!"
Ezra wasn't interested, but kept his silence.
"Know what, I challenge you. I bet I could get my freedom back right now"
Velora facepalmed, while Ezra sighed.
"Give us space"
The siblings stepped back, circling Ezra and Johan.
Without fanfare, Ezra brought out the Gold-rank spear from his ring and took a stance, while Johan brought out his saber, wielding twin sabers.
"Anytime you're ready"
