The setting sun's afterglow bathed the Martial Arts Room in a warm golden light, but it couldn't dispel the silence of the empty space.
The door to Class 21's Martial Arts Room opened and closed several times as the chatter of voices gradually faded.
In just a few moments, Li Wen was the only one left in the spacious training hall.
The usual sounds of clashing equipment and heavy panting were gone. All that remained was the occasional birdsong from outside the window and the echo of his own soft footsteps in the vast, empty room.
This was the very moment Li Wen had been waiting for.
He walked to his usual corner and gripped his long-familiar Standard Rapier. The cool touch of the metal sharpened his focus.
He glanced around, and once he was sure no one was watching, Li Wen took a deep breath, calmed his thoughts, and silently activated the core skill of the Scholar class.
'Activate—Absolute Focus!'
HUMMM!
An imperceptible ripple, one only Li Wen could feel, silently spread out from him.
In that instant, it was as if the world had been muted. The distant, indistinct birdsong, the subtle vibration of the window frame, even the faint sound of his own blood flowing—all of it was shut out.
His eyes suddenly became as still and deep as a frigid pool, pure and concentrated. All distracting thoughts, fatigue, and emotions were scoured away by this immense power of focus.
In that moment, his world narrowed to a single thing—the blade!
Under Absolute Focus, every detail of his previous practice with the Tiger Saber Skill—every successful micro-adjustment, every trace of flawed hesitation—replayed in his mind with the clarity of a high-definition video.
An unprecedented sense of clarity washed over his understanding of the saber technique.
'So that's it... For the 'Golden Roc Spreads Its Wings' transition, a slight rotation of the shoulder blades is the key to a fluid strike...'
'After a downward slash, the power should pivot at the wrist, not the elbow. That creates the optimal opening for the next form, 'Spirit Snake Whips Its Tail'...'
'If the placement of my feet were just a fraction more precise, I could perfectly convert the momentum into killing power...'
Countless sparks of insight ignited in his mind, and the bottlenecks that had plagued him for days melted away like ice and snow.
He no longer needed to struggle to recall the diagrams; his body, guided by his focus, instinctively found the most efficient lines of force.
With a flick of the wrist and a shift in his stance, the sound of his blade slicing through the air grew more fluid, carrying an ineffable sense of rhythm and power.
He lost himself in the practice, forgetting the passage of time, the strain on his body, and pouring his entire being into the execution of the saber forms.
Slashing, hacking, flicking, thrusting, parrying, blocking... He deconstructed and reassembled the twenty-six basic forms. Each swing was imbued with his newfound understanding, achieving an efficiency that far surpassed his earlier, unassisted practice.
The gleam of the blade flashed and danced around him, weaving a web of power and skill that grew ever tighter, ever more deadly.
As the humming persisted, so did his focused state. Li Wen's movements grew faster and more precise.
WHOOSH—!
However, just as another vicious arc of the blade tore through the air in an attempt to complete a difficult spinning slash, the profound state supporting him shattered without warning!
The humming stopped dead.
It was like being plunged from warm water into a bone-chilling pool. The jarring shift made his vision go black as an irresistible wave of profound fatigue and emptiness crashed over him like a tsunami.
The surging power that had filled him was drained dry. His arms felt as if they were filled with lead, and in an instant, even the strength to hold his blade was gone.
CLANG!
The Standard Rapier slipped from his grasp and crashed heavily onto the floor, the piercing metallic clang echoing far in the silent Martial Arts Room.
Li Wen planted his hands on his knees, barely managing to keep himself from collapsing.
Large beads of sweat streamed from his forehead and temples, splattering onto the floor and forming a dark, wet stain.
His body felt completely hollowed out, squeezed dry. Every cell screamed in protest.
This feeling of being instantly drained was several times more intense than the exhaustion from his practice session earlier that afternoon!
Using the skill at high intensity while executing the advanced saber forms with all his might had a terrifyingly high energy cost.
Time seemed to stand still.
A good four or five minutes passed before his ragged gasps began to even out and the overwhelming dizziness started to recede.
When he tried to move his fingers, they still felt ineffably sluggish and weak.
He struggled to his feet, his steps so unsteady it felt like he was walking on cotton. He staggered over to the rest area at the side of the Martial Arts Room and collapsed onto a cold bench.
After a long moment, he fumbled with his old bookbag, which was tossed by his feet, and managed to pull out a high-energy protein bar and a small bottle of electrolyte water.
His fingers trembled as he tore open the wrapper. Li Wen practically shoved the entire bar into his mouth, wolfing it down.
The hard, dense bar, with its distinctively sweet and fatty taste, felt like his only salvation.
He chewed frantically, his throat bobbing as he washed it down with the water.
The intense hunger was temporarily suppressed. A faint warmth began to spread through his cold stomach, slowly flowing out to the rest of his body.
It wasn't until he had finished half the energy bar and chugged most of the electrolyte water that the feeling that he might pass out at any moment finally began to subside.
Though his body was still sore and heavy, he at least had enough strength to move.
Leaning against the cold wall, Li Wen focused his thoughts, and a familiar, light-blue panel silently appeared before him:
[Name: Li Wen]
[Age: 18]
[Class: Scholar Lv. 1 (36/100)]
[Realm: Unranked (6.1)]