I had never seen Spirit Mountain in its entirety, but I knew its general appearance: a tall stone mountain that was dangerously thin.
Naturally, that meant it was sheer cliff faces all the way down...
“Fuu...”
I let out a long sigh.
Today was the seventh day. A week had now passed.
In that time, the progress I’d made...
[Current Progress: 1.44%.]
“...Looks like I’m done for.”
At this pace, even if I didn’t take a single break, I wouldn’t see the ground at the end of all this.
That meant I needed to change my method, but the problem was how.“...Hm.”
There was one thing I wanted to test.
Step.
I stood at the edge of a sheer cliff and looked down.
Beyond the fog, I could see a faint path.
If the dangerous path around Spirit Mountain was a helix that circled the mountain's exterior, then...
Wouldn’t jumping off the side would be much faster than running down?
“Can I do it without internal energy...?”
To begin with, this drop looked higher than the roof of House Bednicker’s main house.
No matter how trained my body was, it wasn’t a safe distance.
However...
“...”
When had I started worrying about all these small things?
Jump.
I didn’t hesitate as I jumped down.
Fwoosh.
It was difficult to keep my eyes open due to the air resistance, but I kept my sight on the path below.
It might be obvious, but a proper landing was more important than the jump.
It was a cliffside path that was too narrow to land on safely.
If I misstepped, it wouldn’t end with “Oops! That was a mistake!”
Boom...
Fortunately, I landed properly.
An electric numbing sensation coursed up through my spine, but I let out a sigh.
[Current Progress: 1.51%.]
[FAD’s one-line comment: That’s cheating! You’re quite good at it.]
“Shut up.”
I ignored FAD’s words.
***
Although it was an idiotic approach, it was effective.
[Current Progress: 9.84%.]
I was quickly nearing 10%.
This was the result after five days of using my new method—twelve days since I’d begun my descent.
I think my legs are getting stronger as well.
FAD kept saying I was cheating with this method, but wasn’t this the proper way to complete this task?
...I realized how wrong that was on the morning of the next day.
Beep.
[Current Progress: 10%.]
It happened when I reached the 10% mark, which should’ve been a moment of celebration.
Thud!
“Ack...?!”
I ended up falling flat like a frog at the sudden pressure.
“Whaaaat issssss thissssss...!”
It wasn’t my physical condition deteriorating or anything like that.
It felt as if I’d become ten times heavier. I found it difficult to even move.
“Ha, haah...”
At this pace, forget running, I wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.
“...You... little...!”
After letting out a few dry laughs, I couldn’t help but start swearing as well.
It seems a lot has changed with Spirit Mountain while I was away...!
Boom...! Boom...!
I continued forward, putting all my strength into each step as if I were a giant.
Naturally, the strain on my body was insane.
One thing was certain: I couldn’t cheat by jumping off the side in this state.
If I did, either my entire body would be crushed or I would misstep and slip off the cliff.
Then was I supposed to properly walk down the cliff path?
With this heavy body?
...I took a few steps as a test.
“Kugh...!”
Spit drained out from my mouth.
My movement was odd. It looked more like I was twisting my body than walking.
I was still in the body of a fifteen-year-old. Even with my increased athleticism due to my time in the Gem Mountains and the training camp, I was still far too weak.
After taking but twenty steps, I collapsed to the ground.
“Huak, haak...”
I was sweating as if I had run 20 kilometers, and my legs, especially my calves, felt hot like they had been burned.
“Curses...”
I forced my neck to turn to look over the cliff path.
I could still only see fog.
The ground was nowhere to be seen.
If I needed to take a break like this every twenty steps...
Forget 100 days, even 1000 days wouldn’t be enough.
A hundred days...
To be precise, I had 87 days left.
Would I really be able to reach the ground before time was up?
Impossible.
That word passed through my mind.
Beep.
[Contact RAN-4700 Type-A?]
[Y/N]
I raised my head.
I was a little out of it as I looked at the screen FAD had pulled up.
“...Hey.”
[Yes?]
“I can contact Fourth Senior Brother through you, right?”
[That’s correct.]
“Then, perhaps... can Fourth Senior Brother see everything I’m doing?”
[...]
For the first time, FAD became silent.
[That’s right.]
“...”
My mind woke up as if I had been splashed with cold water.
Before I could think any more useless thoughts, I slapped both of my cheeks at once.
Slap!
“...Sigh.”
I couldn’t let Fourth Senior Brother see me struggling like this.
To me, Fourth Senior Brother was something like an older brother, but he was also a competitor.
Naturally, all four seniors were existences who I couldn’t compare to yet, but I wanted to exceed them at some point in the future.
It was a thought I’d had constantly, even before Eldest Senior Brother went astray.
Even though I hadn’t told anyone.
[Contact RAN-4700 Type-A?]
[Y/N]
I suddenly had a thought.
Maybe the one who was making that message appear wasn’t the flying box but Fourth Senior Brother himself.
Maybe he suspected that I would give up around this point. With that simulation or whatever that Fourth Senior Brother talked about a lot.
As I had that thought...
“...That’s pissing me off.”
* * * * *
* * * * *
I had a twisted personality.
For some reason, I became more motivated when I was being looked down on rather than when I was praised.
A defiant mind was one of my core principles.
Thud!
I lay on my back on the cliff.
Even with how heavy my body felt, it was manageable when I spread out.
I should cool my head first...
I went over the negatives of my situation first.
A limit of 100 days.
A goal that was still nowhere in sight.
Unrecoverable internal energy.
As for the positives...
I didn’t need to eat anything.
I didn’t need to sleep.
My physical recovery was quick.
“...Huh?”
I felt like I’d just realized something.
Jump up... was what I wanted to do, but instead I slowly raised my body.
Then, I took the lotus position.
Although it wasn’t as bad as standing, sitting was still backbreaking.
My spine is creaking a little...
I forced myself to ignore the pressing pain and began practicing the Strongest Fire Technique.
Fwoosh...
As stated before, one of the secondary benefits of the Strongest Fire Technique was that it granted incredible physical regeneration.
And if that compounded with the effect of Spirit Mountain...
“...Ah.”
As I expected.
The muscles that had ripped to their limits regenerated at a rapid pace.
“Am I a troll or something...”
It was a disgusting regeneration rate, even for me.
At this rate, wouldn’t I recover immediately even if I had a few fingers cut off? Of course, I didn’t intend to test that.
In any case, I stood up.
With my regenerated body, I began to trudge down the path.
Each step left me overwhelmingly exhausted. It felt like I was being ripped apart.
Not yet...
I ignored my body’s screams as I continued to walk.
When I reached the point where I couldn’t walk further, I collapsed on the spot... and began circulating again.
I repeated this process for a day straight.
On the next day...
Step.
I managed to walk normally.
It still felt like I was twisting my spine and legs in weird ways, but it was much better than the clown walk I’d been doing yesterday.
“...Leg strength.”
I thumped my tensed calf with my fist.
Although it was terrifyingly difficult, I could see the path.
***
It might be unexpected, but even on Spirit Mountain, where there was no boundary between night and day, there was still a way to figure out the flow of time.
Kaaaak.
Exactly once every day... an odd scream could be heard from beyond the fog.
A crow? An eagle?
I couldn’t know, but I thought it might be a monstrous bird I had never seen before.
In any case, I was thankful for it.
I could tell the flow of time through FAD, but that crowing sound signaled to me the start of the day.
A rooster just for Spirit Mountain.
“All right...”
I got up from my seat.
Today was the 30th day. A month had now passed.
What changes had I experienced in this time?
Firstly, my body was decently trained now.
It was to the point that I could sprint for ten minutes straight.
Of course, I would collapse immediately afterward and have to quickly circulate...
But while repeating that process, I’d realized something.
Although running was important, circulating was even more important.
Maybe because of the limit of 100 days, I’d recently been focusing more on finding a method to speed up my circulation.
[Current Progress: 17.6%.]
The progress not being 20 percent yet ignited a fire in my heart.
I was still accelerating, but it was still too risky.
And I don’t know what other situations might await me below...
Like when my weight suddenly increased.
“...Circulation.”
Of course, the general use of all circulation was to improve one’s internal energy.
Naturally, depending on the technique and its core formula, each had its own specialty.
That was why the incredible regenerative power of the Strongest Fire Technique was a secondary effect.
It felt like my technique was misaligned with my will.
I wanted more regeneration from the technique rather than an improvement to my internal energy.
“...”
I was hesitating right before taking action.
Recently, I had been contemplating this deeply.
While running, circulating, and resting, I had never let go of this thought.
However...
There was nothing else I could do.
“...I’ll need to alter the technique’s formula a little.”
Although I said it easily, I would have to risk my life.
I knew how dangerous altering a technique’s formula was.
Internal energy was coursing within my body, and it naturally passed through a few critical places.
If the altered formula didn’t account for those places or created an accident in an unexpected area...
...And this circulation technique didn’t have any flaws to correct.
The technique that I called the “Strongest Fire Technique” was originally the fire-attribute part of the Strongest Technique in History.
Unlike the White Sun Form, it had been created purely by Master.
I knew just how insane and arrogant it was for me to alter that technique.
I knew that, but I was still going to do it!
At my current level, shouldn’t I be able to alter it just a little?
“Uwek!”
Not at all.
After altering the technique a little and then attempting to circulate, I felt my entire body lurch, and the reaction made me throw up blood.
Normally, that internal injury would’ve forced me to stay in bed for at least a few weeks...
But after a short time, my burst internal veins quickly regenerated.
So did my disturbed breathing.
This was within my expectations. It seemed that if I didn’t die, I would regenerate from any damage I took.
I was doing something crazy that could only be done under these circumstances.
“...Can someone develop martial arts in a more stupid way than I am doing now?”
I was like a mad alchemist performing human experimentation on himself.
Still, it was so direct and stupid because I could adjust the errors I made and aspects I missed and continue altering the technique.
While doing all of this, I continued to think.
Why was the Strongest Fire Technique so good at physical regeneration?
That was because the internal energy created by its formula held the nature of fire.
Fire was usually connected to heat, life, and rebirth... but with its indiscriminate burning, it was also called hellfire.
That was why, in my opinion, fire was the most contradictory element among the Five Elements.
The Strongest Fire Technique my master had created was definitely an aggressive technique.
That was why the greatest effect of this technique was to amplify the other techniques used alongside it...
And also why the White Sun Form was such a destructive technique.
However...
Was there a reason that needed to be the case?
If the Strongest Fire Technique originated from a small flame, couldn’t I focus more on the warmth it provided?
That wasn’t moving too far from its origin.
...Wait.
At this moment, a thought suddenly crossed my mind about the second half of the White Sun Form.
The Martial God had suggested that I make the techniques in the second half stronger than the first half...
But was there a reason that needed to be the case?
During a fight, switching between offense and defense needed to be smooth and flawless.
So if I made the second half of the White Sun Form focus not on offense but on defense, evasion, and regeneration...
And if I could switch between the first and second half quickly and smoothly...
Wouldn’t that complete the White Sun Form?
“Haha...”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Inspiration was said to always come at the most unexpected times, and this was no exception.