A few weeks later.
POW! POW! POW!
Gunnar was moving all around the chamber. He was jumping high and was hitting the fist imprints at all angles without fail.
His fists were covered with aura whenever he wanted, and the more he struck the wall, the stronger the crystal lights were flickering.
In the past, only one crystal flickered its light with every punch, but his punches now made multiple lights flicker at a time.
And the sounds his fists made were matching the noise the water jet made.
Ripples formed in the pool even though he was punching the walls dozens of feet away.
With every passing day, his strength, power, and skill was significantly improving.
He was eating more and putting in more effort than ever before.
He was shouting at the top of his lungs as he was giving it his all with every punch.
It was extremely draining, but his stamina was now incomparable to when he just started. He could keep going for nearly an hour without stopping.
By the time he finished, all the lights in the chamber were flickering.
"They are still not shining as brightly as when I entered this place," he thought. "I've still got some way to go."
A few more months passed with Gunnar training intensely.
Meanwhile, Raha had become an inner disciple of the Immortal Sword Sect.
She was obviously happy about it, but she couldn't help but remember Gunnar and wonder how he was doing.
Did he manage to escape that chamber and get back home, or did he die?
"I didn't even thank him properly for saving my life back then. I wish I could go to him, but…" she touched her left shoulder, "ever since I lost my arm, everything has become a lot more difficult. I was blamed for my friends' deaths. I've made more enemies, and my own family has put me under surveillance. I miss the freedom I had in the past."
Because only Raha returned and informed the deaths of her five friends, she received a lot of backlash, and her clan also had to face the brunt of it.
"I hope we meet again one day, Gunnar…" she looked southward into the distance.
Back in the secret chamber.
Gunnar was eating a pomegranate-like fruit.
It was quite sweet and crunchy. This was his favorite fruit.
He thought about Raha.
"She didn't taste this fruit. She would have probably liked it more."
He smiled for a second.
"I wonder how she is doing now. Did she make it back home safely? Does she still remember me?"
After eating to his fill and speedily digesting the food using his aura, Gunner came into the main hall and punched the wall with all he got.
A small dent formed on it.
His eyes widened a little.
"Finally…"
It was only a hair's width dent, but he was happy about it, as it clearly indicated his progress toward becoming a master of martial arts, though he didn't learn any particular martial art or technique.
Thanks to the added motivation, he was able to continue working harder and more diligently than ever.
A few more months passed.
Gunnar was much taller and sturdier now, but his physique was still lean yet muscular. His hair came all the way down to his buttocks.
"This will be my last attempt…"
He stood before the wall, took a deep breath before executing all the moves by fully covering his body with aura. Every punch rapidly drained the aura out of him, but he kept releasing it again and again.
By the time he finished the 16,000 punches on the walls in one flow, all the crystals that were only flickering so far began to glow brightly.
Gunnar was sweating and gasping, but he smiled brightly after seeing the glow of the crystals significantly increasing.
Suddenly, all the crystals were connected by lines of light through the wall, and all the crystals shot forth rays of at Gunnar.
It happened so fast that he was not able to dodge it.
"AHHH!" Gunnar howled in great pain.
A lot of energy was poured into his body, so much so that he felt like he might explode any second.
His skin was cracking, and his veins were glowing as though molten hot liquid was passing through them.
Even his eyes glowed like torches.
This continued for almost three minutes, and then the rays of light suddenly stopped.
The crystals no longer glowed.
Gunnar was still standing and gasping, but externally, he looked completely fine, except that his clothes were completely torn into pieces.
"What just happened?" Gunnar was able to look around and observe things even in the darkness.
He was now able to notice the text on the boulder, which he couldn't see before.
He approached the boulder and read the text: Mark your fist on the wall, and the light shall shine forth and set you free.
Gunnar then went over to a corner of the wall, where there were no fist imprints. For some reason, he felt like he could do it now.
He clenched his fist tight, and it was covered with a burning hot aura that almost looked like a flame.
He threw a punch with confidence this time.
There was no aggressiveness in his movement, and his fist sunk into the wall half an inch. Energy spread from that spot to the entire chamber, and all the crystals on the walls shone at once, ever so brightly.
They were shining even brighter than when he had first entered the chamber.
Gunnar felt as if he was resonating with the energies of all those crystals.
He looked at his aural fist which radiated a similar glow like those crystals all around. "I see… so this is what freedom tastes like…"
With a smile on his face, he approached the boulder. He kowtowed and paid his respects. "I don't know who you are, but thank you for your teachings, my ancestors."
Gunnar then went into the weapons room and looked at all the items to see if there was anything he could take.
In the end, he only took one dagger which he had used to peel the fruits, and so he felt a personal connection to it.
Afterward, he went into the gold room.
"I wish I could take all the money, but I have no means of carrying it now. I'll have to return to this place some other time, though I wonder if it'll be easy. I still don't know where exactly this place is in the seven mountains. I have to keep track of my location as I leave, so that I can return to this place again."
Gunnar then grabbed a handful of gold coins in his left hand while holding the dagger in his right hand.
He was completely naked right now.
He had already eaten everything in the food room, and it would take a little while for the fruits and herbs to regrow.
There was nothing for him to take there, so he finally returned to the staircase room.
He didn't step into this room not even once since that day Raha left because he was afraid he might want to leave.
Now, he climbed up the staircase without looking back.
It was time for him to go back into the world.