Chapter 19: Initial Mastery
The next morning, after breakfast, Rhodes arrived at the training room, ready to begin learning Soru and Geppo.
"Soru is a high-speed movement technique, and Geppo is an aerial stepping technique based on Soru."
"Let's start with Soru."
Recalling the training method Hack had explained yesterday, Rhodes slowly approached the side of the training room.
The principle behind Soru wasn't particularly difficult—it could even be considered the easiest of the six techniques. The real challenge lay in meeting the prerequisites. One must possess a superhuman physique capable of withstanding such explosive speeds to even qualify for training.
Just like breaking the sound barrier required exceptional strength—once one's physical capabilities reached the required threshold, the actual practice wasn't overwhelmingly difficult.
"Wait."
Just as Rhodes was about to begin practicing, he suddenly noticed something problematic.
"This training room seems a bit cramped..."
He took a quick look around. As a Revolutionary Army facility, the construction materials were naturally top-quality—a special stone only slightly less durable than Seastone, incredibly resilient.
Therefore, while this private training room was well-equipped, it wasn't particularly spacious. Though certainly adequate for general physical training, it was far from ideal for learning Soru.
Hack had mentioned that the greatest difficulty in the early stages of Soru training was controlling explosive force, as it was easy to send oneself rocketing uncontrollably through the air.
Rhodes shook his head—he wasn't about to beat his head against a wall.
"Guess I'll head to the main training hall."
He sighed, turning to leave. While he didn't particularly enjoy training around others, there was no alternative.
Following the corridor, Rhodes gradually arrived at a large hall.
This space had ample room, perfectly adequate for practicing Soru, though Geppo would likely still be somewhat challenging.
At that moment, many trainees were exercising or chatting throughout the hall, and his arrival was met with surprised glances.
After the last mission, Rhodes had become a prominent figure among the trainees, on par with the squad captains.
Such individuals typically didn't come to the communal hall for training.
"I bet he's looking for space to practice Rokushiki. The individual training rooms at this base aren't as large as the ones at headquarters."
"Incredible! He's only been a trainee for a month, and he's already met the physical requirements for Rokushiki."
"Meeting the requirements is one thing. Actually mastering the techniques will take at least several months, maybe even longer. It took Shanuo over four months to master just two of them."
"That's not necessarily true. I heard he's a genuine prodigy—a sixteen-year-old swordsman! How can we possibly understand someone like that?"
"Swordsmanship and martial arts aren't even in the same category. How can they be compared?"
The crowd chattered away, creating a cacophony of discussion.
This irritated Rhodes—he much preferred a quieter training environment.
"Let me find somewhere else."
He shook his head internally and walked down the corridor, heading outside the base.
After showing his identification, he emerged into a clearing in the valley where several plants unique to Baltigo grew. They resembled cacti but were distinctly different.
"This will work."
Rhodes marked a spot in front of one of the unique plants and slowly retreated to a sufficient distance.
"Here goes."
Recalling the technique for Soru, Rhodes took a deep breath, mentally adjusting his power output, then stomped down hard on the ground.
BANG!
Instantly, the earth cracked, leaving spider-web fractures, and he launched forward.
"No, the force isn't accumulating properly."
"Try again."
BANG!
The ground cracked once more, and Rhodes' body suddenly shot forward. Though slightly improved, it was still far from proper Soru technique.
"Another attempt."
Rhodes remained calm. His natural talent lay in swordsmanship, not martial arts training, so slower progress was expected.
However, with intelligence more than twice that of an average person and sharp analytical skills, he easily identified problems and made gradual corrections. His advancement wasn't slow at all—certainly much faster than normal people.
Rokushiki truly represented advanced martial techniques that transcended human physical limits, requiring tremendous energy expenditure. After just a few minutes practicing Soru, Rhodes' legs were completely numb and his muscles ached intensely.
"This is probably why most people struggle with Rokushiki training."
Rhodes grimaced, assessing his physical condition. After only brief practice, he was already approaching his bodily limits. Given normal recovery rates, an ordinary person could only train a pitifully few times per day.
"But I'm different."
Rhodes chuckled, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Zzzzt... Zzzzt...
Wisps of pale blue electrical arcs emerged, slithering around his body like tiny serpents.
A faint azure glow began emanating from Rhodes' form.
This state differed from his nighttime Lightning Body Conditioning. The current flowed more gently, like soaking in a hot spring, Producing only a slight tingling sensation.
Rhodes had currently developed three applications of his lightning power.
The first—Lightning Body Conditioning—used electrical current to stimulate bodily cells, increasing their activity and thus strengthening his physique.
The second—Lightning Mode—was combat-oriented, fully activating his lightning power to stimulate his body's nervous system, enhancing physical speed and reaction time to a significant degree.
At Rhodes' current strength level, this mode could be sustained for approximately one to eight hours, depending on battle intensity.
The third—his current state—was used for fatigue relief and accelerated recovery, with the side effect of increased appetite.
Soon, Rhodes' strength gradually returned to full capacity. He stretched his legs, stood up, and continued training.
Two weeks passed swiftly.
During this period, apart from nighttime Lightning Body Conditioning, Rhodes spent most of his time practicing Soru and Geppo.
Because electrical stimulation could relieve fatigue and accelerate recovery, Rhodes trained far longer and more frequently than normal people.
In just fifteen days, he had grasped the high-speed movement technique "Soru," though his directional control remained somewhat unstable.
Specifically, he could execute the technique but couldn't precisely control his landing point.
This was extremely dangerous.
Using it again, Rhodes' figure flashed across a considerable distance, appearing before a large tree and nearly colliding head-on with it.
"For now, it's only useful for basic movement—not combat-ready yet."
Rhodes shook his head slightly.
Using Soru in its current state during battle would be tantamount to suicide. One burst of speed could easily land him directly on an enemy's blade.
"It's not that simple after all."
"That's right. Rokushiki represents the pinnacle of various martial techniques. A pure martial artist who masters even a few of these can traverse the seas. How could mastery be so easy?"
Rhodes remained composed, not anxious in the slightest. Compared to others, he was already learning remarkably quickly.
Beyond his technical progress, his physical strength—thanks to diligent daily training—had finally reached a critical threshold.
Rhodes estimated he was now on the same level as squad captains like Nia.
This increasingly powerful physique was also one reason Rhodes mastered Rokushiki so rapidly.
It was now winter of Sea Calendar year 1520. A series of major events were brewing and could erupt at any moment.
This gave Rhodes a constant sense of urgency. He wished he could split each day in two for additional practice time. He was desperately eager to possess greater strength.
"I'm still nowhere near sufficient."
Rhodes exhaled lightly, loosened his muscles, and continued practicing Soru.
As for Geppo, this was an advanced application of Soru—a high-level technique. After mastering Soru, the difficulty of learning Geppo would be greatly reduced.
(End of Chapter)
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