The fifth day followed the same brutal pattern. Warm-ups that threatened to break me. Five hundred repetitions of First Light. Then hours of Phantom Step drilling, falling and stumbling and slowly improving.
The sixth day was identical. And the seventh. Days blurred together into an endless cycle of training, exhaustion, sleep, and training again.
But something was happening. My body was adapting to the demands being placed on it. The warm-ups that had destroyed me on day one became manageable. The techniques that had felt impossible started feeling merely difficult.
First Light became smoother, faster, more powerful. The pressure waves I generated grew stronger with each passing day. The preparation time decreased as the motion became more instinctive.
Phantom Step transitioned from a clumsy approximation to something approaching the real technique. The footwork became natural. The mana pulses synchronized with my movements. I could reposition rapidly without falling or losing my balance.
On the morning of the eighth day, Jack added the third technique to my training.
"Heaven Splitter," he announced after the now-routine warm-up. "The third and final foundational art. This is a pure power technique, designed to overwhelm any defense through concentrated force."
He demonstrated, and I watched as he executed a thrust so powerful it created a visible cone of compressed air. The training dummy exploded just like it had during his initial demonstration.
"Heaven Splitter requires you to channel the absolute maximum amount of mana you can safely handle into a single strike. There's no subtlety, no finesse. Just overwhelming destructive power delivered to a precise point."
Jack spent the morning breaking down the biomechanics. The way your entire body contributed to the thrust. How your legs, core, shoulders, and arms all worked in perfect synchronization to generate maximum force. The mana circulation pattern that enhanced every component simultaneously.
"The key is commitment," Jack explained. "Heaven Splitter is not a technique you can execute half-heartedly. You pour everything into a single strike. If it fails to break through, you're left completely vulnerable. This is an all-or-nothing technique."
I spent the afternoon learning the basics. The stance. The body mechanics. The mana flow. It was different from the other two arts, requiring a type of explosive total-body coordination that was challenging in new ways.
By evening, I could execute a crude version that generated a small amount of compressed air in front of my thrust. Nothing like Jack's devastating demonstration, but a beginning.
The ninth day was dedicated to refining all three techniques simultaneously. Morning was First Light repetitions. Afternoon was Phantom Step drilling. Evening was Heaven Splitter practice. The constant switching between techniques was mentally exhausting, but it forced my brain to maintain multiple complex patterns simultaneously.
The tenth day followed the same structure. And the eleventh. My proficiency with each technique climbed gradually, the motions becoming more natural with every repetition.
On the twelfth day, something clicked with Phantom Step.
I was in the middle of a repetition, executing the three-step sequence for what felt like the ten-thousandth time, when suddenly everything aligned perfectly. The footwork, the mana pulses, the timing, the weight distribution. For one brief moment, every component worked in perfect harmony.
I vanished from my starting position and reappeared fifteen feet away, the transition so fast that I barely processed the motion myself.
Jack, who had been observing from his usual position, straightened slightly. A small smile crossed his face.
"Do it again."
I reset and executed Phantom Step once more. The technique worked again, my body repositioning rapidly and smoothly.
The system screen materialized in my vision.
[Congratulations! You have learned a new skill through intensive practice and proper instruction.]
[Skill Acquired: Phantom Step]
[Skill: Phantom Step]
[Type: Active Combat Technique]
[Proficiency: Basic (1%)]
[Cost: 8 Mana]
[Description: The second art of the Einsworth Family's Flash God Technique. Phantom Step is a movement technique that allows rapid repositioning through a sequence of precisely timed steps enhanced by controlled mana pulses. When executed properly, the user appears to vanish and reappear at a different location, creating opportunities for unexpected attacks or defensive repositioning.]
[At Basic proficiency, this technique allows you to:]
[- Reposition up to 15 feet in any direction in under half a second]
[- Maintain combat readiness throughout the movement]
[- Execute the technique without losing balance or orientation]
[- Chain into offensive or defensive techniques immediately after completion]
[Current Limitations:]
[- Visible preparation time of approximately 1 second before execution]
[- Cannot change direction mid-technique once committed]
[- Limited to linear or simple angular repositioning]
[- Moderate mana cost that limits consecutive uses]
[- Uneven terrain significantly reduces effectiveness]
[Proficiency Advancement:]
[To advance this skill to Intermediate proficiency, you must:]
[- Successfully execute Phantom Step 800 times with proper form (1/800)]
[- Use Phantom Step to dodge 75 incoming attacks (0/75)]
[- Reduce preparation time to under 0.5 seconds (Current: 1 second)]
[- Successfully chain Phantom Step into offensive techniques 50 times (0/50)]
I dismissed the screen and looked at Jack, who was nodding with clear satisfaction.
"Twelve days to learn Phantom Step. Still faster than your brother managed, though not quite as dramatic as your First Light progress. Good. Very good."
He walked over and examined my stance after the technique execution.
"Your completion form needs work, but the core technique is solid. We'll continue refining it alongside the other two arts."
The days continued to blur. Training consumed every waking hour. First Light became faster and more powerful. Phantom Step became smoother and more reliable. Heaven Splitter gradually evolved from a clumsy thrust into something that generated noticeable compressed air.
On the fifteenth day, after another exhausting session of Heaven Splitter practice, I finally felt all the components align. Stance, body mechanics, mana circulation, timing. Everything synchronized perfectly.
I thrust the practice sword forward with everything I had, channeling massive amounts of mana through my entire body and into the strike.
The compressed air in front of the blade became visible, a cone of distorted space that shot forward like a projectile.
It struck the training dummy with enough force to tear a chunk from its reinforced surface. The impact sounded like a thunderclap, echoing across the courtyard.
Jack's smile returned.
"Again."
I executed Heaven Splitter once more, the technique working even better the second time. The compressed air projectile hit harder, the destruction more pronounced.
The system screen appeared again.
[Congratulations! You have learned a new skill through intensive practice and proper instruction.]
[Skill Acquired: Heaven Splitter]
[Skill: Heaven Splitter]
[Type: Active Combat Technique]
[Proficiency: Basic (1%)]
[Cost: 15 Mana]
[Description: The third art of the Einsworth Family's Flash God Technique. Heaven Splitter is a power technique that channels maximum mana into a single devastating thrust. When executed properly, the concentrated force creates a projectile of compressed air capable of penetrating defenses that would stop normal attacks. This technique embodies the principle of overwhelming power over finesse.]
[At Basic proficiency, this technique allows you to:]
[- Generate compressed air projectile that extends your effective range to 25 feet]
[- Deal 200% weapon damage when successfully executed]
[- Penetrate or damage physical barriers and defensive techniques]
[- Strike with enough force to stagger or knock back opponents]
[Current Limitations:]
[- Extremely obvious telegraphing before execution]
[- Long recovery time after use (approximately 3 seconds)]
[- High mana cost limits frequency of use]
[- Leaves user vulnerable if technique fails to eliminate threat]
[- Accuracy decreases significantly beyond 20 feet]
[Proficiency Advancement:]
[To advance this skill to Intermediate proficiency, you must:]
[- Successfully execute Heaven Splitter 500 times with proper form (1/500)]
[- Break through 50 defensive barriers or techniques (0/50)]
[- Reduce recovery time to under 2 seconds (Current: 3 seconds)]
[- Defeat 15 enemies using Heaven Splitter as the killing blow (0/15)]
I looked at Jack, who was examining the destroyed training dummy with clear approval.
"Fifteen days," he said. "You've learned all three foundational arts of the Flash God Technique in fifteen days total. Your brother required six weeks to reach this stage."
He turned to face me directly.
"You have two days to continue refining these techniques before your hunt. Use them wisely. The Crimson Alpha won't care how quickly you learned. It will only care whether you can execute properly under pressure."
Jack walked toward the manor, then paused and looked back.
"You've surprised me, Young Master. Genuinely surprised me. I expected to spend this month forcing basic competence into someone who'd wasted their potential. Instead, I'm watching someone who might actually be worthy of the Einsworth name."
He continued walking, leaving me alone in the courtyard with three newly learned techniques and two days until I'd have to use them in actual combat.
I looked at the destroyed training dummies around me, evidence of techniques I'd learned through blood and sweat and endless repetition.
'Two days. Then I return to the Saber Garden to hunt something that can kill me.'
The thought should have terrified me. But standing there, exhausted and sore and more capable than I'd been two weeks ago, I felt something else instead.
Readiness.
I was ready.