"Because why not?

Why not?!

" ~Tayin Laughlap

Shallies didn't intend to torture her mentees for the entire day. There would be no point in overwhelming them for that long. She had only wanted to give them an idea about how a certain situation would turn out.

She wanted them to experience facing overwhelming power without any of the advantages that she, as the Godkiller, could provide. She had also placed them in a situation where their ability to unleash devastating surprise attacks wouldn't work.

In short, she wanted them to experience what a normal adventurer would eventually face throughout their careers.

The reasons for this were two-fold. First and foremost, the upcoming duel they were about to face would put them exactly in that same situation. It wouldn't be against a Favored Class holder, but a Hero Class holder would still pose an overwhelming challenge for the group.

Secondly, Shallies felt like she had been spoiling her students a little too much lately. Defeating an Advanced Dungeon Boss with just the three of them, while a worthwhile feat, was something that could just as easily get into their heads. She didn't want them to feel overly confident and start looking down on other people.

Once they knew that their goals were still far away, it should reel down their confidence back into something useful. And keeping enough to be useful was why she didn't want them to go through such a harsh thing the entire day.

After two hours of what was essentially a brutal beatdown, Shallies instructed her students to look into what they'd learned from it and start coming up with ways to improve their weaknesses. Even if only a little.

Ren immediately did explosive inverted sit-ups, hanging upside-down on a tree. Tayin sprinted around Catelyn Road while whispering her invocations and aiming her Spells at targets that Apple provided. And Grace meditated with Chippy, who had managed to keep quiet the entire time, on the tavern's roof.

In the meantime, Shallies brought out lunch for Yoshelle, Phey'lan, Valor'el, and Arun'dul, who all sat together in the dining area.

"I can still feel my hand trembling, Shallies," Phey'lan said after they were done eating. "Their stomachs are all so soft. It's like punching a sack of cotton."

"I just heard it from Val," the Godkiller said, pretending that it wasn't her idea in the first place. "He said that Godkiller Bernadette trained him that way. So I thought I'd include those lessons into my own teachings."

"It's not one I particularly enjoyed," Valor'el commented.

"Yeah, I bet."

"I get the idea behind it, though," Yoshelle said, joining the conversation. "Do you mind if I ask what other sort of training did Godkiller Bernadette put you through?"

"Umm…" The seraph couldn't help but send a hesitant gaze towards Shallies. "I'm not sure if I…"

"Yeah, Val," the pretending Godkiller interjected. She placed an amused elbow on top of her bar, resting her head on her hand while teasingly smiling at the seraph. "I want to know too."

Arun'dul widened his eyes and immediately caught himself. He had just realized what was happening and didn't want to get involved, or to reveal that he had realized too late about Yoshelle not knowing about Shallies' identity.

Phey'lan jumped in on the effort, nodding enthusiastically towards Valor'el.

"Well, there was the brutal training of constantly controlling my mana-flow with The Perpetual Method," Valor'el started.

"That technique's actually real?" Yoshelle asked. It garnered everyone's looks, and she immediately tensed up. "Sorry. People I met said it was a fake thing that Godkiller Bernadette's fanatics fabricated to make themselves look superior."

"Oh yeah…" Phey'lan mused, sipping from her teacup. "There's a whole thing about something stupid like that. Did you believe it was fake, Yoshelle?"

"I stayed neutral around the whole thing," the Guild Princess admitted. "I didn't have any real authority on the subject to deny the people claiming it was fake, but I didn't have any evidence to prove its existence until now."

"The training is harsh, Yoshelle," Valor'el said. "It's not overexaggerating when I tell you that it's not for everyone."

"What's it like?"

"You lose yourself in the flow," Phey'lan started. "As adventurer's we're naturally inclined to output our mana whenever we take control of it. That's how we're usually trained. But being able to fully take hold of your entire mana reserves… It just gives you an overwhelming feeling."

"Most people who train it give up because they couldn't tame themselves after the first step," Valor'el continued. "You envision yourself as your perfected self. Your confidence shoots through the roof, enough that your thoughts can become your own undoing.

"You'll feel so powerful that you'll think you can defeat gods. But in reality, you're mana-flow gets out of control. Eventually, you'll run out of mana and fall unconscious. Your mana-channels will close up, and you'll feel like drowning. It might take days, or weeks, or months for them to open up again."

"And the entire time you can't train or even do anything," Yoshelle commented, trying to analyze the hardship people who trained the Perpetual Method would go through.

"There's that," Phey'lan started. "But really, it's the fear that'll break most practitioners."

"How so?"

"During that time when your mana-channels close up, there's a real chance that they might never open again," Shallies said, taking everyone's attention.

She had originally planned to let Phey'lan and Valor'el do the explaining, but the answer resonated with her a little too strongly. She had seen many promising adventurers abruptly stop their careers after trying to learn the Perpetual Method.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Do you know how to do it, Shallies?" Yoshelle asked. Her tone was curious, not condescending.

Right on the spot, the Godkiller pretending to be a normal adventurer found a good way to utilize the situation. She leaned in closer to the Elemental Archmage.

"Don't tell anyone, but yes, I can do it. It's how I got into raids with these guys."

"Oh!" Yoshelle brightened with surprise, nodding at the information. "Okay, I won't tell anyone. Not even your students?"

"Oh, they know about it."

"Ah, is that why they asked you to be their mentor?"

Shallies tried not to think too much about how the conversation suddenly shifted towards her. Yoshelle still having suspicions about her being the Godkiller didn't really matter, as far as she was concerned.

"No, they asked me because I was the new Hero Class holder in town," she explained. "Amabelle declined them, but I had no reason to do the same. I did my fair share of teaching during my short career."

"What's the trick to The Perpetual Method, then?"

In response to the question, Shallies presented a hand towards Valor'el.

"There's no trick, Yoshelle," said the seraph. "Even in my long years, I have not mastered such a thing. But Shallies here was able to learn it as soon as she became a Hero Class holder. I think it's a matter of determination and hard work."

"How do I start learning it, then?"

At this, Valor'el and Shallies stared at each other. The Godkiller insisted with the same presenting hand, in order to make the seraph answer the question.

"Before we tell you, Yoshelle, I would strongly caution you to make sure you have someone to keep an eye on you when you train for this method."

The Elemental Archmage gave a nod. "Yeah, I don't want my mana-channels closing."

"Alright." Valor'el raised an arm, showing it towards Yoshelle. "There are three main functions in The Perpetual Method. First is to constantly run your mana-flow at high speeds. It increases the power when you invest them in your Skills and Spells. The faster, the better.

"Second is to purify your mana. While we can generate our own mana, we also subconsciously absorb the mana from the environment. But the mana from there is mixed with various elements and aspects. Before we can use this environmental mana into our Skills and Spells, we first purify it and turn it into our own. When you attain The Perpetual Method, it'll be as if the environmental mana is no different from your own in terms of purity. The more pure the mana, the better.

"The third function is to incorporate this state of your mana-flow while tapping or engaging your Attributes. This combination is absolutely devastating when mastered. Arguably, in terms of power, if you're able to do all of these things together, you'll be able to take advantage of your Attributes as if you're multiplying them by a thousand."

Yoshelle observed Valor'el's mana-flow by tapping into her Mana-Affinity. Shallies did the same. As far as the Godkiller was concerned, the seraph's Perpetual Method could still do some work before she could consider him fully back into his peak. Nothing a constant practice couldn't fix.

But for the Elemental Archmage, what she was looking at was otherworldly.

"You're meditating!" she exclaimed.

"Yes," said Valor'el. "The first step to attaining The Perpetual Method is to meditate while moving. Ideally, you should be able to keep your meditation even while asleep, but that's been my pitfall for a few centuries now."

"After that, what next?"

At this, the seraph smiled. "I think it would be better if you try to accomplish this first step, before I tell you the rest, Yoshelle. We'll be here until Thrush'ven Alir. If you're able to do it by then, I'll be happy to teach you more."

"Provided you must be my students' opponent for the upcoming duel," Shallies interjected.

"What she said."

"Deal! I'll tell my dad!" Yoshelle hopped to her feet. "Thank you! I'll go get training right away!"

Just like that, she was gone.

"I should probably try and learn it again…" Phey'lan mused. "If Yoshelle ends up learning it, heck if either Grace, Ren, or Tayin learn it before I do, I'm going to feel really bad."

"I can help you," Valor'el said.

"Are you able to create Great Miracles now, Phey?" Shallies asked. "Your mana-channels might still be a bit strained, if you can't yet."

"Oh, right… I'll check tonight."

That left one other person in the room unaccounted for, Shallies realized. She turned to Arun'dul.

"Wish I could even meditate," he said, after realizing everyone was looking at him.

"How's that going for you?"

"The last time I saw my mana-channels was when Grace channeled her mana into me. I can't do it on my own."

"You seem to be doing fine, in terms of using your Skills and whatnot, right?"

"I can't gauge my own mana reserves, so I just limit myself with the amount of Skills and Spells I use, and check how tired I get. Seems to be working fine in that aspect, yes."

"Good." Shallie stood and took the cups to clean. "If Val and Phey will take you, you should be able to participate in the raid, then. Just make sure you know your limits."

"Oh, I thought that was already a given," Arun'dul said, tilting his head in confusion.

In response, Shallies smiled while going back to the bar. "I like this kid. Already so confident, even with his struggles."

Valor'el stood. There was worry on his face. Shallies understood right away what he intended to do.

"Yeah," she started. "I think it's better if you monitor Yoshelle. If something goes wrong, The Gaiamaxims might blame us for ruining their Guild Princess."

"I'm coming with!" Phey'lan said.

After the two disappeared, Shallies peeked from the countertop of her bar to look at Arun'dul.

"What about you?" she asked.

He sighed. "I think I'll try and meditate."

That night, rather than let her students rest, Shallies gathered them back into their training field.

"More training?" Grace asked. Her friends had the same curious expression. "Not complaining, just wondering."

"Yep," Shallies replied. "We're going to improve your meditation. As it turns out, Val gave Yoshelle some pointers on how to learn The Perpetual Method. So we're doing the same."

"I don't know how to feel one of our friends helping the other participant of the duel," Tayin commented.

"He did it because I told him to," the Godkiller rebutted.

"Oh, that makes perfect sense, then." The halfling sighed. "Why am I not surprised anymore?"

"You've grown accustomed to it," Ren said, smiling. "It's not like we'll back away from the challenge just because of that."

Tayin sighed a bit more. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

With that, Shallies gave the same lecture Valor'el gave to Yoshelle. But this time, she encouraged her students to actually practice.

"Start really slow," she began. "Even things like blinking or breathing, do those as slowly as you can. If you can feel your mana pulling you into a dream of sorts, then go even slower. The one problem most people encounter during this stage of learning is their heartbeat.

"You can't exactly make your heart rate go slower in the same way you can control your movements. But you can regulate it. Take deep, slow breaths. Calm your thoughts. Relax. Don't rush, but don't stop moving."

She instructed them to start with blinking and breathing. For Ren and Tayin, they stretched out their normal blinking into three seconds. For Grace, it was five.

The half-orc lasted for a minute before she completely broke concentration and fell to her knees. Her disruption caused the other two to lose focus as well and fall to the ground as well.

"Sorry," Grace started, noticing what had happened.

"That's alright," Shallies said, helping back up. "Breaking your concentration on your own is already a good sign. At the very least, we won't be expecting any of the same thing that happened to you back then."

"It's so tempting," Ren said. "I can feel so much power, just from holding all my mana and pushing it."

"Do you deal with this all the time?" Tayin asked. "Grace said you're always using The Perpetual Method. How are you not in a trance?"

"The temptation goes away after you've broken through. It's only in the first step. You just need to get used to it, and you just need to keep in mind that the temptation is superficial. You've always had that power from the very beginning. And so did Valor'el, who beat you all up this morning."

Her students made an exasperated groan.

"That reminds me," Grace started. "Are we going to do that again tomorrow?"

"Of course!" Shallies clapped her hands. "Now, go again."

The groans that followed, she was sure, was because of what would happen to them tomorrow morning, not because of their current training.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.