Chapter 188: Mia’s Training
A week later, Felix was seen sitting outside of the Obsidian Wing while Mia was meditating several meters away from him.
Mia sat quietly with her legs crossed and her eyes closed.
The surrounding Abyssal Energy slowly gathered toward her.
Unlike before, there was no violent reaction when the Abyssal Energy entered her body.
With every breath she took, a small amount of Abyssal Energy was absorbed into her body.
The energy passed through her pathways and was immediately separated from the impurities contained within it.
The harmful parts of the Abyssal Energy were rejected while the remaining energy continued deeper into her body.
Mia's breathing remained steady.
She did not need to consciously control every movement anymore.
Her body had already become accustomed to the process.
The refined Abyssal Energy began circulating through her major energy pathways.
One complete circulation.
Then another.
The process continued without interruption.
There was no accumulation of Abyssal Energy in a single area, nor was there any sudden surge that could destabilize her body.
Everything continued to move in a continuous cycle.
As the circulation became smoother, Mia gradually increased the amount of Abyssal Energy she absorbed.
The surrounding Abyssal Energy began flowing toward her at a noticeably faster rate.
Yet her body remained stable.
Even when more Abyssal Energy entered her body, the same process continued.
Absorb, refine, circulate, and suppress.
The Abyssal Energy that threatened to overwhelm her only a week ago had now become something she could control.
Mia remained completely still as the energy continued circulating through her body.
Her body occasionally trembled slightly as the density of Abyssal Energy around her increased, but the disturbance quickly disappeared.
Her Abyssal Suppression automatically activated, preventing the excess energy from spreading uncontrollably.
Mia continued cultivating.
She no longer needed to stop after every circulation.
The process had become continuous.
The longer she cultivated, the smoother the circulation became.
Felix watched from nearby without disturbing her.
In just a week, Mia had already reached the third level of each technique of the first stage of the Heaven-Devouring Abyss Scripture.
Despite Felix being at the late part of the Commander rank, Mia's Abyssal absorption was no lesser than his.
Felix was extremely satisfied by Mia's progress.
At the same time, he marveled at her growth.
Only a week ago, Mia had been struggling to withstand the Abyssal Energy invading her body.
Now, she could sit within the Abyss and absorb it on her own.
The energy that once threatened her life was gradually becoming a source of strength.
Just as he thought his growth was already beyond the human capabilities, Mia proved him wrong.
Felix even thought for a second of an idea of Mia reaching Lord's rank while being a teenager yet.
Although Mia will be stronger than anyone at that time, she's still a child.
I must always keep her in check in case something will happen on her again.
Felix thought as he recalled Guide's words.
[Fast growth doesn't mean a good progression. If she can't keep up with her strength, she would be swallowed by it and soon endanger others.]
It was why just yesterday night, Felix had decided to not to continue the exploration first until Mia reached the bottleneck of her cultivation.
Doctor Eleanor supported his decision.
Sky Marshal Kaelor assured him that Doctor Eleanor's team would still continue, telling him that he always has time for himself and his family and no beast tamer would be dissatisfied with it.
Which made Felix extremely grateful.
Of course, it didn't mean he doesn't feel bored.
He would always itching for a fight and it was precisely why he always practice with his sword and bow whenever he trained with Mia together.
At the same time, with Guide's help, Felix had imparted Mia with a martial art.
The Heaven-Devouring Abyss Martial Scripture.
The Martial Path of the Abyssal Devourer.
If Mia's cultivation technique focused on devouring the Abyss, the martial scripture taught Mia how to fight with what they devour.
The fundamental principle was "What enters the body becomes power. What becomes power becomes weapon."
Unlike a conventional martial art, the techniques don't depend heavily on weapons. Mia primarily fights with her hands, feet, body, and condensed Abyssal Energy.
When Felix imparted the martial art to Mia through injecting the knowledge with his fingertip, with Guide mostly doing the work, Mia fell asleep for hours outside of the Obsidian Wing.
To Felix's surprise, Mia's unconscious body remained to absorb and devour the Abyssal Energy, assuring him that the Abyssal Energy in their current world posed no threat towards her now.
He had imparted the martial art three days ago and Mia has already mastered the first level of the techniques.
Hours has passed since they cultivated, Mia opened her eyes and said, "I'm ready to practice now, brother!"
She was filled with vigor.
Suddenly, Ember and Ashen's spirit levitated around her, bringing laughter and smile to her.
Felix couldn't help but smile as well, watching her filled with spirits.
He could also perceive the gazes of his parents intently watching them.
Felix stood up and said, "Alright. We train now then."
Felix's training with Mia was simple.
It was a straightforward training where Mia would be attacking Felix with her martial arts while the latter would simply defend.
Felix was always satisfied whenever Mia would grow frustrated whenever she failed to breakthrough his defense.
Whenever Mia was extremely frustrated came with exhaustion.
She would not stop until Felix was injured, forcing the latter to stop the training whenever Mia was overworking herself.
Hence, today, Mia would attempt once again to defeat her elder brother, which was why she was very enthusiastic as well.
Felix stood up and Mia followed him.
Ember and Ashen's spirit flew outward and intently stared at their battle that was just supposed to be a training for Mia.
Felix and Mia stared at each other.
Felix opened his mouth and was about to speak when Mia crouched and burst towards him.
It was her movement technique, Devouring Step.
A movement technique derived directly from Devouring Circulation.
By reinforcing her legs with the Abyssal Energy for sudden burst of speed, she ran multiple times faster than her normal run.
At the same time, she raised her palm and gathered Abyssal Energy inside.
When she arrived in front of Felix, she used the momentum of her speed and struck Felix's chest with the Black Pulse Strike.
A concentrated burst of Abyssal Energy released upon impact, forcing Felix to slide backward.
But he did not take a single step.
At the same time, the impact did not land on his chest.
But on his barefist.
Mia appeared to be shocked, but suddenly, she closed her open palm to grip at Felix's fist, while reinforcing her fingers and hands that could penetrate against ordinary armor.
It was the remaining martial art technique, the Abyssal Fang.
She would concentrate Abyssal Energy around her fingers and struck like claws.
Of course, it was not yet an Abyssal Energy comparable to Sword Energy.
Her fingers were simply strengthened by the Abyssal Energy, with no Abyssal Energy extension around her fingers like the sword energy.
But according to her knowledge, she could manifest an extension of Abyssal Energy around her fingers even when she was not at the Commander rank yet.
As her fingers gripped Felix's fist, her fake frustrated expression turned out real when she discovered her fingers could not penetrate through Felix's fist.
She grumbled. "You said you won't be using your Energy."
Felix chuckled. "I am not. Do you see my Energy coating my fist?
That's just how tough my fist is."
Inwardly, Felix was stunned.
Of course it did not mean his fist was tough.
If he did not strengthened his fist by circulating more Energy inside, Mia might have wounded him already.
Felix simply lied and teased her.
Mia growled in vexation as she continued hitting Felix with her Black Pulse Strike and Abyssal Fang.
That was then Felix began teaching Mia how to fight.
"Stop hitting me non-stop. It won't work.
Instead of going at me directly, why not try encircle me and attempt to hit my blindspot?"
Mia was stunned.
As if she was enlightened, she performed Devouring Step again and again.
But this time, it was not for starting a momentum to strike at Felix.
It was to moving around Felix and appeared to be hiding her intent where to strike.
Felix was amused.
He had been suggesting that kind of battle style for her over the past few days, but she was so stubborn that she believed that being straightforward and direct would work.
Only now that she was finally willing to explore other battle style.
Max smiled.
Over the course of the few hours, Mia was attempting the new battle style.
There were times that they would take a rest by cultivating for half an hour and continued.
After four hours, Mia's training finally bore fruit.
Felix suspected it was simply possible after she changed her battle style.
Her Devouring Step reached level 2.
Instead of reinforcing her legs for a sudden burst of speed, which was only highly effective for bursting forward, she could now absorb loose Abyssal Energy beneath her feet to accelerate her movement.
Every step was way faster than level 1 and at the same time, it was not energy consuming anymore.
Though, it came with a cost as well.
Her stamina and physical exertion.
She could not maintain the Devouring Step for few hours.
She needed to rest her muscle.
Nevertheless it was a significant improvement for Mia…