The next day, Spes would go on and train under Crystal this time, honing his swordsmanship. Both she and Decus would immediately be surprised at how fast Spes's recovery speed was. It looked as if he hadn't trained to his limits the previous day.
Of course, as Liber had instructed him, Spes feigned ignorance, acting surprised along with them.
As days passed, he would alternate between Decus and Crystal, both his proficiency with the sword and his overall body condition drastically improving. The only thing that bothered Spes was that his big friend Vota was barely seen.
They all knew he was alive, as his men would make food for him, but he would always stay locked in his cabin, doing God knows what. There was a time Spes happened to cross him again, but he would immediately complain about sea-sickness, rushing back to his cabin. Spes really didn't give much thought to it, as Vota was sometimes a weird character.
Welcoming the new day, Spes smiled brightly, leaning on the edge of the ship, enjoying the view of the beautiful blue sky. He looked completely different from the young man that boarded the ship the first time.
"What's making you so happy? Is having a day off training that good?" Decus said, leaning next to him.
"I've just made a breakthrough!" Spes smiled, a blue panel that only he could see at the side of his eyes.
[[ Spes ]]
[[ Race: Human ]]
[[ Job: Apprentice Knight - Middle Stage ]]
[[ Modules Installed: Automated Ki Redirection Module (On) ]]
[[ Mana Pool: 0 U ]]
[[ Meridians: 100% formed ]]
[[ Ki: 68 U / 100 U ]]
[[ Spiritual Sense: Lvl 3 (in sync with Liber) ]]
[[ Physique: LifeStream Physique (Mortal Stage / Late Phase) ]]
+New: Apprentice Knight - Early Stage (Peak) => Middle Stage
+New: Meridians: 40% formed => 100% formed
+New: 50 U Max => 100 U Max
+New: Physique (Mortal Stage / Middle Phase {Peak}) => Late Phase
Spes was indeed overjoyed. He didn't only have one breakthrough, but he had two! His training with Decus accelerated the formation of his Meridians. And once fully formed, he broke through to the Middle Stage as an Apprentice Knight.
And the best thing was that somehow, all of these factors pushed his Physique to its limits, successfully boosting the LifeStream Physique to its Late Phase.
Like a river, he felt his Physique flowing through his entire body, nourishing it slowly like how his Ki had nourished his Dantian. Every second, he could feel his fleshly body increasing not only in strength but also in resilience.
"So this is the Middle Stage..." Spes whispered, clenching both his fists, feeling the raw power surging through them.
"M-Middle Stage!?" Decus exclaimed, his eyes wide open.
Seeing how Spes seemed as if he were not joking, Decus pulled the young man, sending his Spiritual Sense towards his lower abdomen. He would then discover that Spes was telling the truth.
There would be multiple channels within his Dantian that would exit towards various pathways. These were Spes's fully formed Meridians. From the Dantian as base, they extended towards every part of Spes's body. With these, the young man was truly in the Middle Stages of being an Apprentice Knight.
"You're one hell of a monster..." Decus smiled wryly, letting go of Spes.
"Within the span of a month, you've jumped to the Middle Stages... that's unheard of. Even with the most intense training, the most promising Inquisitors would take at least half a year to achieve that."
A thought then passed by Decus's mind. What if the young man in front of him had walked the path of Knighthood from a young age as he did? Wouldn't he be a Great Knight by now?
"Sadly... it's impossible..." Decus sighed, recalling how limiting Spes's Physique was. The realms of a normal Knight were the only thing Spes would be able to reach...
"What's wrong?" Spes asked, seeing Decus turn silent.
"I-It's nothing... I was just thinking of your new training now that you're in the Middle Stage." Decus smiled.
"I'll be leaving you for now... I have to discuss the matter with the Captain." He patted the young man's shoulder.
"Stay put meanwhile, we'll be arriving at the Alliance's continent at any moment now," he added before leaving him alone, heading to the helm where the old Oblitus and Crystal stood.
Spes then turned, staring back at the blue sky.
"I told you he would be surprised," he thought, speaking to Liber, his other self.
"It's nothing, no one is suspecting your Physique. They'll think you're just built different."
"Am I not built different?" Spes raised an eyebrow, thinking of all the weird things that he possessed now. There was the Seeing Sense that would activate automatically whenever near an otherworldly item. There was also his other self that was training as a Mage inside a Seed that was located between his eyebrows. And last but not least was the LifeStream Physique of his that gave him immense fleshly power and regenerative abilities.
"Hm?" Liber grunted, ignoring Spes's question.
The Seed would then suddenly resound loudly within Spes, sending along a red panel with giant words.
[[ ALERT: HOSTILE ENTITY INBOUND ]]
[[ Classification: Unknown ]]
[[ Lethality: Maximum ]]
[[ KILLING INTENT DETECTED — DEFENSIVE MEASURES RECOMMENDED ]]
There was a map displayed below, showing in the middle a ship surrounded by the ocean. The ship was headed East, getting closer and closer to a landmass. What was most concerning was that at the edge of the map from the West, a red flickering dot approached the ship with alarming speed!