Riya shook her head again. "A breakthrough is directly related to your relationship with the planet and to the entire universe—especially training breakthroughs. It is straight up a challenge to everything in existence. It is your personal challenge to 'them.' What shortcuts will there be?"
"Although this 'breakthrough' looks simple, it is actually not. The final result will be no less than becoming a 'Mana Wielder' once again—in fact, far more. I believe the moment you break through, large changes will happen to your entire body, especially into your Mana Body, which I cannot calculate nor observe properly."
Riya, in truth, could actually think of a recipe to make a pill or potion to make the 'number of sets' a little lesser—such as making Eric more tired and weak during the trial. Yet doing so won't reduce the difficulty overall, and this path was no different than taking lethal poison to fix some temporary problems.
If possible, she didn't want to try this type of pointless cheating ever. They just need to train, and the breakthrough requirements should get easier—hopefully...
Eric let out a deep breath. It seemed he really needed to work out; he had been a little too lazy recently.
Since he had decided, he no longer hesitated—even if he had to do twice the amount, he would do so until he died or succeeded!
Eric nodded toward Riya and just as he was about to leave and go to the 'gym,' Riya stopped him. "Wait! Don't try that before all your stats are maxed out."
"Why?" Eric asked in confusion.
"Eric, you are not making full use of me. And you are not using your own brain these days..." Riya said with a cocky smirk.
Eric didn't wait for Riya to continue. His eyes flashed as he tried to figure out the reason.
He was not discouraged by Riya's mockery, it instead woke him up. It reminded him that he was getting too clumsy on all levels. Since he had Riya to think about most of the things, he had also stopped his own thinking. Although he jokes around and makes everything stupid and playful, he was never truly blind about anything.
Within a split second, he figured it out, and his eyes widened.
He looked at Riya in amazement. "Since all breakthroughs are of the same body, they could be related to each other. In other words, perhaps agility and other breakthroughs could also be done together if their requirements are close to each other!?"
"That's right," Riya agreed. "After I figure out the requirements of other stats' breakthroughs, all I have to do is match the trials close to each other. As long as you, Ly, and Liv have the willpower and determination to complete it, then you guys can pass a few of the stats breakthroughs—if not all of them—all together!" In truth, she felt this trial was a lot more straightforward—perhaps due to being the first breakthrough after becoming a Mana Wielder or due to being the first test in Rank 1. That was why she was half-confident enough to manipulate these tests a little. If it was truly a very specific Trial, then Eric, along with Lyria and Livy, would have really been fucked up. They really better begin physical training—if they do manage to pass through this one, that was.
Eric's eyes shone with realization. His previous worry about 'how to break through one at a time if the difficulty was that high' could indeed shorten greatly this way.
Perhaps the difficulty would also spike, but it could also be lesser compared to if done individually.
Riya nodded in agreement. "Breakthrough is a challenge for yourself and your body's relationship with the planet and the entire universe. There is no reason to go at it one at a time unless it is completely a different or very hard to fulfill trial. Of the three physical stats—Constitution, Agility, and Strength—if you guys could finish at least two of them with a single trial, then you guys are winning a much bigger lottery than you think."
Eric didn't converse any further and swiftly left the Mind Space.
Following that, he told Lyria and Livy that they needed to drop whatever they were doing and finish the drugs that he had prepared for them.
Eric had prepared massive numbers of alchemy products, including Tier 2's as well. Perhaps by mistake, Lysandra had also left behind quite a few Tier 3 ingredients as well, though none of them were touching any Tier 3 or Tier 2 at this moment.
And so, with no lack of steroids, they all hit the peak in all their stats within two days.
---
Eric sat within his Mind Space and stared at the bluish screen in a daze, which was showing all the trial requirements of the three idiots.
In fact, it wasn't that bad, but it was enough to make him speechless.
Riya laughed embarrassedly.
She was not at fault! It was because none of them had trained at all for the last few months—or rather, since they had become Mana Wielders. Though thankfully, they were still at the 'first' breakthrough, and their capabilities were still within 'limit,' so the breakthrough requirements could still be considered 'look-able.'
Eric stared at Riya with a vacant expression for a long time.
In the end, he sighed. It seemed their true masochistic souls were not impressed by how easy they were going.
"Why are our breakthrough requirements the same?"
If he was challenging the heavens, then shouldn't it be in his style? Like his unique way of living and fighting. So why are all three of them summed up in one single trial?
Riya shook her head. "No, in truth, it's not. For example, Liv's required breakthrough for Agility was—cover 1,000 miles by swimming within 5 to 10 days without pausing. Ly's and your Strength stat requirement was very similar, with little time difference in requirement. It was to fight an intense battle for one day straight without stopping, like your life depends on it, and one mistake could end you. While Liv's one was much more severe..."
Eric was sweating, hearing all these trial requirements.
If not for Riya, he would have had no idea when he truly reached the peak, and fulfilling the breakthrough requirements was completely dependent on luck. Maybe a few times he could pass on a few stats' trials with some coincidence or luck, but all the time, on all Ranks, was absolutely impossible!
This was freaking Nightmare+++ difficulty!
Eric always preferred playing new games with the highest difficulty settings in his past life, but this 'Nightmare+++' was a little too 'thrilling' for his current low-level masochistic soul.
Maybe it was high time to upgrade his masochistic soul to Grandmaster level!
Eric sighed again. At least Riya had made it much easier and simpler for all three of them. He could also do one trial at a time, but that was something he would disdain to do. He wished for it all to be done together so he didn't have to wait in traffic.
He wondered if it was possible for future breakthroughs too…
He soon stopped thinking about it—what the future held was for the future. Right now, he needed to survive the current onslaught. And he was completely determined to win—until his last breath!
"So, what's with the Intelligence stats?" Eric's lips twitched as he stared at their Intelligence stats' Breakthrough requirement.
Intelligence - 30, (50) - Don't have any thoughts on anything for 3 hours straight, while being completely aware and awake. During the process, no help from foreign objects or means allowed, including Mana usage.
Although it looked simple, it was not! Forget three hours; even ten minutes would be hurdles for everyone on Earth.
With his past yoga meditation, he had done something similar with barely any thoughts back on Earth, but to bring back that much discipline would take him at least weeks or months—and the requirement was freaking three hours! One thought after two and a half hours would set him back to the beginning again!
Probably he needed to become a sage for a few years or maybe through some accident he could do... it... Hm?
Eric's eyes narrowed as he stared at the requirement for all other physical stats breakthroughs.
He and the girls shared the same two trials' requirements, which were cooked up by Riya, but Eric had complete trust in her on this and wouldn't question her on this subject.
Just getting a direction in the complete 'darkness' was of immeasurable blessing.
Probably low-Rank Mana Wielders wouldn't think what Riya just did was too amazing; perhaps to them, her stats-increasing way was much more amazing. Yet what Riya just did by calculating the requirement to pass the trials was something that probably no one would be able to accomplish.
Her previous stats-increasing through resources was indeed amazing, but for people who could see further, they would recognize—just the capability to point out a timing and a direction for breakthrough was far more useful than any of her previous stats-increasing cheats.
Eric would respect whichever way Riya pointed her finger toward at this junction and wouldn't question or doubt her.
The only thing he could do was choose—to do it or not. And for sure, he would do it! It was just physical endeavor, and all that was required was full determination and willpower.
As Eric watched the requirements of the three physical stats, it suddenly hit him that perhaps through these physical trials, he could also complete the 'Intelligence' stats trial all at once!
Strength - 30, (50) - 10 million squats or 100,000 squats in gravitational room Level 1 or 10,000 squats in Level 2, all in one go. Hands should be stretched in front or on sides and shouldn't drop below one's heart. Spine should be as erect as possible throughout the process. During the process, no help from foreign objects or means was allowed, including Mana usage.
Eric quietly gulped, watching the requirement again. A few things were changed and added to increase the difficulty. It may not be much at the beginning, but with the Gravity Array working, it would slowly become arduous.
During such heavy physical exertion, people are bound to lose their ability to think. So as long as, for three hours straight, he went through this while being in a half-dead state, he might be able to finish the 'Intelligence' trial together—and this was the only way. Any other way would take too long, and he wouldn't skip it and go toward the next Rank—especially when he had already received such a clear direction from Riya.
In short, if he failed, then he would have to give up on becoming a Rank 2 Mystical Knight for the next few years at least—so this was a gamble, and one that he didn't want to lose or delay.
He nodded at Riya and promptly left the Mind Space.
All three of them had just had their breakfast not long ago, and it was only around 10 AM.
Eric decided to begin immediately—the longer he waited, the more indecisive he would become, so he might as well go through these trials right away.
Eric went to his neighbor's room first, directly opposite his Alchemy Room.
---
Lyria had already begun touching on concepts of making high-grade Tier 1 weapons, but she was still a little away from achieving it. She needed more mana control and the required mastery in enchantments.
In fact, if she broke through to the mid-stage of Rank 1, she thought she would have more than enough mana control to create high-grade Tier 1 weapons with the help of the available tools Lysandra had left behind. But Eric had informed them not to break through, so she only kept making low- and mid-grade Tier 1 weapons.
She didn't mind the delay—there were still many things to learn and create, so breakthroughs could wait.
Currently, her low- and mid-grade weapon creations were being used by Livy to practice her Tier 1 runes. After they left the island, they planned to sell all these to obtain wealth.
As Lyria was working on the process of making a pair of enchanted shoes, which would automatically adjust to the wearer's comfortable size, Eric suddenly entered her blacksmith room.
Lyria glanced at Eric, and her eyes immediately brightened. She or Livy would never get tired of seeing Eric; they were always in bliss whenever he was around them.
Yet Eric's expression was indifferent, which in turn made Lyria more serious. She had known him for so long and knew that whenever he had such an indifferent expression, it meant he was solemn about something.
Eric looked around and saw Lyria, who normally was always beside the forge, directly in front of him at the 'clothing' section.
He made a hand motion. "Ly, come with me."
After saying this, Eric went to the runes and array room and found Livy placing 'Shimmer Dust' in some patterns on the array drawing area.
She was extremely focused, but Eric didn't hesitate and called her out, then headed toward the training room.
After arriving, Eric turned around to see the two confused but stupidly smiling girls.
Suddenly, all the tension in his body and mind diffused and flew off elsewhere, and he also ended up smiling.
How could anyone not smile back when two beautiful girls were smiling with such innocent expressions, happy for no other reason than being called out?
Eric knew very well how dedicated and serious both Lyria and Livy were with their crafts, yet whenever he was around, they always looked so happy and excited for no reason. He didn't know what to say, so he also ended up being happy as well.
As they say, happiness is contagious.