Rito woke up with his body trembling a lot.
He felt cold and in pain.
The sensation of having suffered from using the ocular ability beyond its limit was too painful.
He felt nauseous and weak.
His face was pale.
But, unlike in the hunting dimension, outside he was able to use the orbs, and that's what he did. Using a bit of the purple orb's energy, his mind began to calm, and his body stabilized when he used a bit of the red orb.
"Sigh~"
He sat up on the bed.
For a few minutes, he simply sat in silence.
Taking deep breaths and sighing, he managed to calm down considerably.
He still felt a bit influenced by that strange state he entered when using the ocular ability that was capable of replicating all of the Green Wolf's attacks.
'What should I call this ability?'
It was something he began to ponder.
Because of the vision and the cry that seemed to come from an eagle, he thought about naming it 'Eagle Eyes.' But that seemed too simple, considering it could analyze and copy.
'How about... Sage's Eyes?'
Thinking of something like that calmed his mind.
It might not be the best thing to do after what he went through.
He himself knew he should start thinking carefully when using this pair of eyes, but for now, he didn't want to think about it.
And after considering several names, he decided to stick with 'Sage's Eyes' until he found a better one.
That said, he got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
...
After showering and changing clothes, wearing a dark blue tracksuit, he left the house without anyone noticing.
Outside the house, the weather was a bit cold.
The smell in the air irritated Rito's nose a little.
A cold breeze passed through him, causing shivers as if a ghost had brushed by.
"So cold..." he murmured quietly.
Passing through the front gate, he began walking with his hands in his pants pockets.
It was obviously nighttime, and because of that, the streets were quiet.
He walked to the riverbank where he had been before with Lala.
While sitting on the riverbank, he thought about the 'Sage's Eyes.' Thanks to them, he realized he was capable of using some of the Green Wolf's abilities even now.
Just above his head, a wind blade was created, and he shot it toward the sky.
*Whoosh!*
However, that alone required 5% of his 'Spiritual Mana' energy.
He withdrew from the three-dimensional space in his mind the crystal containing the Divine Wind Art.
'With this, I'll have the source of the Green Wolf's power,' he thought.
Before, he had been able to replicate the Green Wolf's attacks by expending a larger proportion of Spiritual Mana after the Sage's Eyes copied the attacks.
However, if he learned the Divine Wind Art, he would be able to use it without needing to perform that maneuver.
'I don't have a meditation technique, but I have the knowledge I copied from the Green Wolf, as well as the purple orbs. That should be enough for me to absorb this crystal orb, right?'
It was a gamble. Precisely because it was risky, he decided to do it far from home.
Placing the glass sphere in his mouth, he swallowed it.
It immediately transformed into a burst of energy that carried green wind into his body.
Unlike the energy in other orbs, this burst of energy spread slowly throughout his body, like a drop of ink falling into clear water. The gentle wind spread slowly through Rito's body.
All kinds of thoughts and sudden impulses passed through his mind. He seemed to have understood something, but he couldn't explain it.
Using the purple orb directly from the three-dimensional space in his mind, things became clearer. And when he activated the Sage's Eyes, the knowledge copied from the Green Wolf allowed him to make even greater progress.
However, keeping the Sage's Eyes activated consumed a lot of Spiritual Mana, so he also began using the red orbs.
Unintentionally, he began refining his five viscera and six entrails at the same time.
He started floating in the air, even before fully learning the Divine Wind Art, using the ability copied from the Green Wolf.
The consumption of Spiritual Mana decreased every minute as he flew in this manner.
His body, which was previously surrounded by a green wind, now had a gentler green wind that was slowly coming under his control.
Feeling like Peter Pan, Rito flew with his arms spread wide while the information contained in the glass sphere was 'read' and absorbed by him.
His mind seemed to have transformed into a gust of wind that merged with the air. He felt the invisible nature of the wind.
He continued flying while creating wind blades and shooting them toward the sky.
If before he needed to spend 5% of his Spiritual Mana to create a single wind blade, now he needed only 2%, and it continued to decrease.
His control over the faint green light flowing across the surface of his body was increasingly under his command, no longer simply being used as a kind of hang glider.
Every hour, he used a weak purple orb.
At the same time, he consumed an average of ten red light orbs.
After three hours of doing this, Rito descended to the same spot on the riverbank.
His face was calm, and a green light could be seen flickering beneath his pupils.
'I did it!'
His hands clenched into fists, surrounded by a faint green wind light.
He wasn't simply using a copy from before; he had made it his own!
With the sound of gears, he deactivated the Sage's Eyes.
He no longer needed to keep those eyes active to have perfect control over this.
He had fully comprehended the Divine Wind Art contained in the crystal orb.
'It was all thanks to the Sage's Eyes that I managed to do this without any problems…' he thought.
Without them, it wouldn't have been so easy for him.
At this moment, he only needed to fill the 'empty shell' of the abilities copied from the Wind Wolf and make them his own.
But what if he didn't have that from the start?
Without being able to meditate, he wouldn't have been able to fully comprehend the Divine Wind Art contained in the crystal orb. That was the feeling he had.
It was basically a chance that was given to him. If he had missed it, his comprehension could have been incomplete, and he would have lost a good part of what was in the crystal orb.
It would be like transferring water from one tank to another with a leaky pipe. It might still get through, but a good portion would be lost in the process if the leaky pipe wasn't fixed.
Another thing… He no longer needed to limit himself to just creating wind blades.
Rito raised his left hand in front of him. Then, a gentle breeze passed between his fingers and began to form a small whirlwind in the palm of his hand.
This was something he was unable to do before because he could only produce what he had copied from the Green Wolf. He didn't have the source of the wind like he did now.
In the end, no matter how incredible, it was merely a copy of the abilities created by the Green Wolf.
It was like that saying: What isn't seen isn't remembered.
Without seeing and copying, he wasn't able to shape it on his own.
Now, the green wind seemed to have become a part of him. This ability to control the wind seemed to have become natural to him.
With a thought, the wind intensified.
The whirlwind grew to 30 cm in size without slipping out of his control.
The feeling of having this under control was indescribable, and his Spiritual Mana consumption was minimal.
Oh yes, another thing that changed…
His power had practically tripled. Now he possessed three times more Spiritual Mana than he had initially.
Thanks to what happened earlier, he successfully refined his five viscera and six entrails. On top of that, he managed to open 10% of the 12 main meridians.
The consumption of red orbs was significant; he used 87 red orbs, but it was worth it.
He only didn't progress further because he ran out of purple orbs.
Without them, his progress slowed down considerably.
'Let's head back home…'
Although he still wanted to play a bit more with the wind… It was already very late. Even though he didn't feel the need to sleep, nothing guaranteed that Lala hadn't invaded his room again in the middle of the night. If she noticed his absence, she might get worried.
==
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