The dense canopy of Rodu Forest swayed gently as shafts of golden sunlight pierced through the gaps between the towering ancient trees. The chirping of birds and the distant cries of Spirit Beasts blended together to create a rhythm unique to the wilderness. Beneath that seemingly peaceful atmosphere, however, fierce battles were unfolding simultaneously.
Boom!
A massive wolf-like Spirit Beast crashed into a tree after being struck by a powerful kick. Before it could regain its footing, a slender figure darted forward with astonishing speed, appearing before it almost instantly.
Bang!
A fist reinforced with Spirit Essence slammed into the beast's jaw, forcing it to stagger backward.
Not far away, another fierce confrontation was taking place.
Unlike the first battle, this one was a contest of speed.
A graceful figure weaved effortlessly through the attacks of a giant horned panther. Every swipe of its razor-sharp claws missed by only a fraction, leaving behind deep gouges in the earth and tree trunks. Yet the young girl seemed to vanish whenever the beast thought it had cornered her.
Afterimages appeared one after another.
The panther lashed out wildly.
Only to discover that every target it struck was merely an illusion.
Several dozen meters away, another battle continued at a noticeably slower pace.
A young woman fought cautiously against a Tier 2 Spirit Beast. Unlike the other two, she did not possess overwhelming speed or overwhelming adaptability. Every attack required careful timing, and every defensive maneuver demanded her complete concentration.
Sweat rolled down her forehead as she steadily exchanged blows with the monster.
Her breathing had already become uneven.
Even so...
She refused to retreat.
Watching over the three battles from a nearby cliff were two elderly men whose sharp gazes continuously swept across the battlefield.
Neither of them looked relaxed despite the favorable situation.
They remained prepared to intervene at any moment should anything unexpected occur.
The two men were naturally Alfonso and Nakita.
Although the younger generation was responsible for fighting, the responsibility of protecting them still rested upon the veterans' shoulders.
Nakita folded his arms while observing the ongoing battles.
A bitter smile slowly appeared on his face.
"These two are absolute freaks."
Alfonso couldn't help but chuckle.
"I was wondering how long it would take before you finally admitted it."
Nakita let out a helpless sigh.
"How long has it been since we entered Rodu Forest?"
"Not even that long."
"And yet..."
His eyes shifted toward the two figures who were dominating their opponents.
"They're already halfway to Tier 2."
There was genuine disbelief in his voice.
"When they first arrived, defeating a Tier 1 Spirit Beast required complete concentration."
"Now..."
He shook his head.
"Even fighting Tier 2 Spirit Beasts no longer appears particularly difficult for them."
Alfonso silently nodded.
He had been paying close attention to every battle.
Compared to their first few days inside Rodu Forest, the changes in both Nicos and Tabitha were astonishing.
Not only had their strength increased dramatically...
Their instincts had evolved as well.
Their movements had become cleaner.
Their reactions had become sharper.
Most importantly...
They had begun fighting with confidence instead of hesitation.
"They've already outgrown their current opponents."
Alfonso spoke calmly.
"At this point..."
"I'm fairly certain both of them can fight two ordinary Tier 2 Spirit Beasts simultaneously."
His eyes remained fixed upon the battlefield.
"Perhaps not effortlessly."
"But they certainly wouldn't lose."
Nakita slowly nodded before his expression became complicated.
"That's exactly what worries me."
Alfonso turned toward him.
"You mean Milota."
Nakita sighed deeply.
"Yes."
His gaze shifted toward the young woman struggling against her opponent.
"Fighting a single Tier 2 Spirit Beast is already pushing her close to her limits."
"If we suddenly increase Nicos and Tabitha's training difficulty..."
"They'll naturally begin fighting two beasts each."
He paused briefly.
"Meanwhile..."
"Milota will still be struggling against only one."
The gap...
Would become even wider.
Nakita's expression darkened.
"Competition has always been healthy."
"It pushes people beyond their limits."
"But..."
"If the difference becomes too great..."
"It stops becoming motivation."
"It becomes despair."
He looked quietly at Milota.
"I don't want her to lose the will to compete simply because the other two have advanced too far ahead."
Alfonso remained silent.
He understood Nakita's concern perfectly.
Talent alone was enough to create distance between people.
Now that Nicos and Tabitha had awakened Special Spirit Bodies...
That distance had begun widening at an alarming rate.
If left unchecked...
Milota might eventually believe that no amount of effort could bridge the gap.
Once that thought took root...
Training would lose its purpose.
Alfonso rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"You're right."
"That will eventually become a problem."
He narrowed his eyes as he watched Nicos dodge another powerful attack with unbelievable precision.
"If there's no challenge left..."
"The two of them might become complacent as well."
After all...
Even geniuses required suitable opponents to continue growing.
Without pressure...
Progress naturally slowed.
The two elderly men fell into silence as they considered possible solutions.
Their thoughts gradually drifted back to everything that had happened since the group entered Rodu Forest.
...
The first few days after entering the forest had not been spent hunting Spirit Beasts.
Instead...
Alfonso had forbidden both Nicos and Tabitha from engaging in actual combat immediately.
Before either of them could challenge the wilderness, they first needed to master the skills and techniques their mother had given them.
Nicos devoted himself entirely to studying the Butterfly Step.
Tabitha immersed herself in comprehending the Spectre Step.
Rather than practicing separately...
The two unanimously decided to use each other as sparring partners.
Their decision delighted Alfonso and Nakita.
A suitable opponent who could continuously improve alongside oneself was far more valuable than endlessly practicing alone.
The Butterfly Step emphasized unpredictability.
Its core principle lay in constantly shifting the body's center of gravity while moving along irregular trajectories. Every movement appeared impossible to predict, allowing its user to evade attacks while simultaneously creating opportunities to counterattack.
The Spectre Step, on the other hand, pursued overwhelming speed.
Its movements produced afterimages capable of confusing opponents, making it nearly impossible to determine the user's true location during high-speed combat.
Although both movement techniques belonged to different philosophies...
Each possessed extraordinary potential.
Every single day, Nicos and Tabitha repeatedly exchanged blows from sunrise until nightfall.
Again.
And again.
Each mistake became another lesson.
Each successful dodge became another step toward mastery.
What surprised Alfonso the most wasn't the speed at which they learned.
It was what happened afterward.
Not long after fully grasping the foundations of their respective movement techniques...
The two began making improvements.
At first, Alfonso believed he had misunderstood what he was seeing.
Movement techniques handed down through generations weren't something that could simply be altered on a whim.
Every principle had been refined countless times by powerful predecessors.
Yet...
The impossible was unfolding before his eyes.
The first breakthrough came from Tabitha.
While sparring against Nicos, she gradually realized one glaring weakness within the Spectre Step.
Its greatest advantage—its explosive speed—also concealed its greatest flaw.
Once an opponent successfully forced the user into close-quarters entanglement, there was often insufficient space to accelerate.
Without enough room to build momentum...
The Spectre Step became increasingly difficult to activate.
Recognizing this flaw, Tabitha began experimenting.
Rather than attempting to overpower the weakness...
She borrowed from another philosophy entirely.
She observed the irregular footwork of Nicos' Butterfly Step.
Then...
She quietly incorporated portions of its principles into her own movement.
Instead of relying solely on acceleration...
She began shifting her body's center of gravity unpredictably even while remaining within extremely confined spaces.
The result astonished everyone.
Even while locked in close combat, she could now create tiny openings through subtle body movements before instantly launching into the full Spectre Step.
The weakness that had once restricted her...
Had nearly disappeared.
Alfonso and Nakita exchanged stunned glances that day.
Neither of them had expected such a solution.
Much less from someone so young.
But before they could fully recover from that surprise...
Nicos produced an even greater one.
Nicos had been quietly observing Tabitha's improvements throughout their countless sparring sessions. Rather than merely admiring her ingenuity, he began analyzing the Butterfly Step from an entirely different perspective.
Although the Butterfly Step excelled in unpredictability, it possessed one obvious weakness.
Against opponents whose speed and agility far exceeded the user's own, unpredictability alone was often insufficient.
An enemy that was overwhelmingly faster could simply overwhelm every movement before the unpredictable footwork had the chance to create an opening.
Instead of accepting that limitation, Nicos sought to eliminate it.
He carefully studied the principles behind the Spectre Step.
The explosive bursts of speed.
The deceptive afterimages.
The illusion created by rapid directional changes.
Rather than copying the technique itself, he absorbed its underlying concepts.
Gradually, he began incorporating those principles into the Butterfly Step.
The changes were subtle at first.
His movements became slightly faster.
His transitions between steps became smoother.
Soon afterward, faint afterimages began appearing behind him whenever he accelerated.
Then came the final transformation.
The already unpredictable Butterfly Step evolved into something even more troublesome.
Every movement now carried three layers of deception.
Unpredictable footwork.
Sudden bursts of speed.
Illusory afterimages.
An opponent no longer had to guess where Nicos would move next.
They first had to determine which image was even real.
When Alfonso witnessed the completed movement technique, he remained silent for a long while.
Finally, he let out a long sigh.
"...Monsters."
Nakita laughed bitterly.
"I was wondering when you would finally say it."
Alfonso shook his head helplessly.
"They've only just begun practicing these movement techniques."
"And yet..."
"They've already improved upon the techniques their mother handed over to them."
He looked toward the two young prodigies sparring in the distance.
"They aren't merely talented."
"They possess frightening comprehension."
Nakita slowly nodded.
Even he, despite decades of experience, couldn't confidently say he would have discovered those flaws or devised such elegant solutions within such a short period.
It wasn't simply intelligence.
Nor was it merely hard work.
It was an instinctive understanding that bordered on the absurd.
As though the techniques themselves naturally revealed their secrets before the two youngsters.
Their opinion of Nicos and Tabitha rose once again.
Previously, they had regarded them as exceptionally talented youths.
Now...
They were beginning to reconsider where that ceiling truly lay.
Perhaps...
There wasn't one.
...
The surprises did not end there.
As instructed by Alfonso, everyone continued observing the changes brought about by their newly awakened Special Spirit Bodies.
Every day, the youngsters meditated after training.
Every day, they carefully examined the subtle transformations occurring within themselves.
Eventually...
The first significant discovery came from Nicos.
During one evening meditation session, he quietly shared his observations with the group.
"My Spirit Essence feels... different."
The statement immediately caught everyone's attention.
"Different how?" Alfonso asked.
Nicos spent several moments organizing his thoughts before replying.
"When I decide to move..."
"My body reacts almost instantly."
"It isn't simply fast."
"It feels as though my body has already completed the calculations before I consciously make the decision."
The others exchanged puzzled glances.
Nicos continued.
"When attacking..."
"When dodging..."
"When shifting my balance..."
"My Spirit Essence flows through my body almost the instant I think about it."
He frowned slightly.
"No..."
"Perhaps even before I finish thinking."
"It happens within a fraction of a moment."
He struggled to explain the strange sensation.
"There are times when my body has already begun moving before my mind completely processes what's happening."
"It feels..."
"...unnatural."
Alfonso's eyes narrowed.
"Show me."
Nicos nodded.
He stepped into an open clearing.
Without warning, Alfonso flicked a small pebble toward him.
Whoosh!
Before anyone else could properly react...
Nicos' body had already shifted slightly.
The pebble harmlessly passed beside his shoulder.
Only after the dodge did Nicos blink in surprise.
"I..."
"I didn't consciously think about moving."
"It just happened."
Silence filled the clearing.
Alfonso repeated the test several more times.
Each result remained the same.
Whether the attack came from the front...
The side...
Or behind...
Nicos' body always responded with astonishing efficiency.
There wasn't a single wasted movement.
Not even a slight hesitation.
Every dodge utilized the minimum amount of energy necessary while maximizing effectiveness.
After several minutes of careful observation, Alfonso slowly nodded.
"I believe I understand."
Everyone turned toward him.
"This isn't simply faster reaction speed."
He looked directly at Nicos.
"Your body appears capable of performing rapid analysis almost instinctively."
"It calculates."
"It predicts."
"And then..."
"It selects the most efficient response possible."
Nakita rubbed his beard thoughtfully.
"The body reacts before the conscious mind catches up."
Alfonso nodded.
"Exactly."
He looked at Nicos once again.
"For now..."
"We'll refer to this ability as Optimal Body Reaction."
"The name isn't important."
"What matters is understanding how to control it."
He continued seriously.
"Your greatest problem isn't your body's reaction speed."
"It's synchronization."
"Your body and your conscious thoughts are currently operating at different rhythms."
"If you fail to bring them into harmony..."
"You'll constantly experience a disconnect between thought and action."
Nicos nodded thoughtfully.
"So what should I do?"
"Meditate."
Alfonso answered without hesitation.
"Use your meditation periods to observe your own body."
"Learn how your Spirit Essence flows."
"Understand every subtle change."
"Eventually..."
"Your mind and body should naturally synchronize."
"I understand."
Nicos accepted the advice respectfully.
Outwardly, his expression remained calm.
Inwardly...
A completely different thought surfaced.
'That probably isn't the real reason.'
His eyes lowered slightly.
'Everyone else possesses Spirit Roots...'
'But I possess a Spirit Being.'
'Maybe...'
'That's what's causing this difference.'
He quietly buried the thought.
There wasn't enough evidence to support his suspicion.
Until he understood more about his own circumstances...
He decided it was wiser to keep that conclusion to himself.
...
Not long afterward, Tabitha made her own discovery.
Unlike Nicos' revelation, hers shocked the two elders almost immediately.
During combat practice, she noticed something unusual whenever she activated her Spirit Essence.
Rather than directly fueling her techniques...
Her Spirit Essence underwent a transformation.
"It changes by itself."
She spoke curiously while examining the faint energy flowing around her fingertips.
"It feels different before I use any technique."
Alfonso carefully examined the phenomenon.
Moments later...
His eyes widened.
"So that's what it is..."
Nakita looked equally astonished.
"Incredible..."
Nicos and Tabitha exchanged confused glances.
Neither of them understood why the two elders suddenly appeared so shocked.
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Alfonso slowly explained.
"As an Elementalist..."
"The ideal method of utilizing Spirit Essence is to convert it into Elemental Essence before executing a technique."
He paused briefly.
"Unfortunately..."
"Almost nobody can achieve that."
"Most Elementalists only manage partial conversion while actively casting an elemental skill."
"Outside of those techniques..."
"They're still using ordinary Spirit Essence."
He looked directly at Tabitha.
"But your body..."
"It performs the conversion automatically."
"Before every movement."
"Before every skill."
"Without requiring conscious control."
Nakita couldn't hide his amazement.
"That means every attack she launches begins with Elemental Essence at its optimal state."
"The efficiency alone..."
"...is terrifying."
"And the power consumption becomes significantly lower."
Alfonso slowly nodded.
"Exactly."
He looked toward Tabitha with admiration.
"The Elemental Monarch Spirit Body truly lives up to its name."
Tabitha looked down at her own hands.
She had simply thought it was normal.
Only now did she realize that what she considered ordinary was something countless Elementalists dreamed of achieving.
Nicos smiled faintly.
"So your body is helping you become stronger without you even realizing it."
Tabitha laughed softly.
"It seems yours isn't any less outrageous."
The two exchanged amused smiles.
Watching the interaction, Alfonso and Nakita couldn't help smiling themselves.
The atmosphere within the group had become increasingly harmonious during their time in Rodu Forest.
Although competition still existed...
It had never evolved into jealousy.
Instead...
Each person's growth inspired the others to improve.
That was precisely the environment Alfonso had hoped to create.
His gaze slowly shifted toward the three ongoing battles.
Boom!
Nicos sent his opponent crashing into a tree before smoothly evading another attack.
Not far away, Tabitha danced across the battlefield like a phantom, leaving illusion after illusion in her wake.
Even Milota, despite facing greater pressure, continued refusing to retreat.
A satisfied smile appeared on Alfonso's face.
"Their foundations are complete."
Nakita nodded.
"Now..."
"The real training begins."
Looking at Nicos and Tabitha once more, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
"If news of these two spreads throughout the Spirit Realm..."
"I'm afraid countless geniuses will lose sleep."
Alfonso chuckled softly.
"Lose sleep?"
"I think you're underestimating the situation."
He looked toward the endless depths of Rodu Forest before speaking the words that perfectly summarized everything they had witnessed over the past weeks.
"These two..."
"...are going to make the entire Spirit Realm cry with jealousy."