The Academy's training field was bustling. New students were excitedly talking about their first soul rings. A few showed off weak spirit skills—sparks, shields, water blades.
Karim stood apart, leaning against a stone wall, watching silently.
> "You still haven't gotten your first ring?" one instructor asked, frowning.
"With your spirit power and hammer, you could have claimed a hundred-year ring easily."
Karim shook his head. "It's not enough."
---
🔩 The Strength of Patience
Most children couldn't wait to reach Rank 11 and break into the first realm of spirit mastery.
But Karim had studied. He knew what kind of strain a powerful ring placed on the body—how some geniuses had their souls damaged from forcing a spirit ring too soon.
> "Why accept a hundred-year fish… when I can shape my body to handle a thousand-year beast?"
So while others meditated, Karim worked.
---
🪓 The Grind
His days became grueling:
Carrying boulders up the mountain trails—barefoot, in silence.
Pulling nets with the fishermen during storms, learning resistance.
Hammer swings underwater for hours without surfacing.
Forgoing spirit energy usage, relying only on physical strength to deepen his natural reserves.
Instructors called him stubborn. Students called him stupid.
But his eyes remained cold. Clear. Focused.
---
🌊 Combat Without Rings
One day, the academy held a live combat assessment. Karim stepped forward—still without a spirit ring.
His opponent: a Rank 12 boy with a double spirit skill advantage.
The boy summoned a shield of rock and charged.
Karim lowered his stance. The Abyssal Tide Hammer hummed in the salt wind.
He waited… timed the momentum… and then—BOOM.
With one strike, the shield fractured.
The pressure wave from the hammer's weight-laden spin sent the other boy flying.
> "No spirit ring... and he still won?!"
---
đź’¬ "Why Wait?"
After the match, a teacher pulled Karim aside.
"Don't you want to catch up to your peers? You're wasting your talent."
Karim replied with a calm voice:
> "No. I'm forging my talent."
The instructor was stunned.