Dismissing his information panel, Richard alternated between practicing Sephiroth's skills and his Repulsion power while waiting for his magic to regenerate.
His current arsenal included eight distinct X-gene powers.
Five of these—Plunder, Super Strength, Enhanced Durability, Accelerated Healing, and Mental Shielding—required no particular practice.
Of the remaining three—Blinkstep, Mental Charm, and Repulsion—only Blinkstep and Repulsion demanded immediate attention.
Though Mental Charm also required practice for mastery, he lacked suitable targets.
More importantly, Mental Charm offered limited utility in direct combat scenarios.
After brief consideration, Richard prioritized Repulsion practice.
He'd already demonstrated proficiency with Blinkstep in actual combat.
Even without dedicated practice, it would serve adequately.
Without hesitation, he began Repulsion exercises.
He started with egg-sized stones, progressed to fist-sized rocks, and eventually graduated to boulders weighing dozens of kilograms.
Beyond solid matter, he practiced repelling river water and atmospheric air.
As he repeatedly activated Repulsion, surrounding rocks, water, leaves, and air particles continuously ricocheted away from him.
After approximately thirty minutes, he discovered that compressing air before repelling it offered optimal versatility.
Air existed everywhere, and its repulsive force could be precisely calibrated to specific needs.
Time passed imperceptibly.
Several hours elapsed in focused practice.
Glancing at the setting sun, Richard opened his system panel to check his magic reserves.
[Mana: 19]
Five points restored per hour?
Finding his Mana regeneration rate aligned with his predictions, Richard smiled with satisfaction.
At this recovery rate, he could potentially upgrade Octaslash to Level 2 by tomorrow.
Though his mana hadn't fully replenished, he summoned the Masamune again to continue Octaslash practice.
"Octaslash Proficiency +1"
"Octaslash Proficiency +1"
Soon, all nineteen recovered mana points were expended.
After depleting his newly regenerated mana, he checked his current proficiency.
[Skill: Octaslash (Level 1, 55/100)]
Over halfway there!
Excellent progress.
After returning the Masamune to his system space, Richard used Blinkstep to exit the forest.
Several Blinkstep brought him directly back to his RV.
After a quick shower in the RV's compact bathroom, he prepared his evening meal.
Soon, he'd produced a serviceable steak with pasta.
Though far from gourmet quality, it satisfied him completely.
As a culinary novice, achieving even this standard exceeded his expectations.
After dinner, he rested until his magic fully recovered.
When his reserves were complete, he flashed out of the RV, returned to the forest, and resumed Octaslash practice.
By noon the following day, familiar system notification appeared.
"Octaslash Proficiency +1"
Accompanying this was the long-awaited upgrade notification.
[Octaslash has been upgraded!]
[Octaslash (Level 2, 0/500)]
Finally!
Richard mentally celebrated the achievement.
He immediately tested his newly upgraded technique.
"Octaslash Proficiency +1"
Though the system didn't explicitly detail Level 2 improvements, a single execution revealed the differences instantly.
Faster and more powerful!
Additionally, the mana requirement had increased considerably.
After performing just one Level 2 Octaslash, Richard found his reserves depleted by three points. However, the upgrade had substantially increased his maximum capacity.
[Mana: 18/50 (regenerates 8 points per hour)]
His Mana reserve had risen from 30 to 50 points.
Beyond the increased maximum, his regeneration rate had improved from 5 to 8 points hourly.
Despite the expanded capacity, the number of times he could perform Octaslash had effectively halved.
Level 1 Octaslash consumed only one mana point, allowing 30 executions at full capacity. Level 2 permitted only 16.
In combat, he could freely choose between Level 1 and Level 2 versions.
As his skills continued advancing, he would eventually gain precise control over mana output.
For instance, he might channel two mana points into Octaslash to produce an effect between Levels 1 and 2.
That capability remained beyond his current skill, however.
Skill proficiency advancement followed strict protocols—only using techniques at their corresponding level could increase proficiency.
Put simply, performing Level 1 Octaslash thousands of times would never advance its proficiency beyond Level 1.
Further advancement required using the appropriate level.
After brief consideration, Richard decided to pause Octaslash practice.
With 50 total mana points, he could increase Level 2 Octaslash proficiency by at most 16 points.
However, if he practiced other Level 1 skills—Gravesong, Zanshin, Skyshatter, and others—he could gain fifty proficiency points.
His revised strategy: Upgrade all skills to Level 2 first, thereby continuing to increase his total mana capacity.
Once all skills reached Level 2 with sufficient total magic, he could resume advancing Octaslash specifically.
Having established his training plan, Richard began practicing Zanshin, which projected crescent energy waves.
"Zanshin Proficiency +1"
"Zanshin Proficiency +1"
"Zanshin Proficiency +1"
Time continued its relentless advance.
Three days passed in dedicated training.
Throughout this period, Richard alternated between practicing Sephiroth's skills and his Repulsion power.
[Skills: Octaslash (Level 2, 1/500), Gravesong (Level 2, 1/500), Skyshatter (Level 1, 0/100), Zanshin (Level 2, 1/500), Shift Slash (Level 1, 86/100), Thundaga (Level 2, 1/500), Blizzaga (Level 2, 1/500)]
[Mana: 54/150 (regenerates 25 points per hour)]
Compared to his initial cross-dimensional arrival, he now possessed five Level 2 skills and quintuple his original mana capacity.
Beyond skill advancements and increased mana reserves, other changes manifested.
In just three days, his silver hair had grown to shoulder length.
Though not yet matching Sephiroth's legendary locks, it qualified as properly long by male standards.
While the rapid hair growth surprised him, his template fusion improvement proceeded as expected.
[Current Template: Sephiroth (fusion degree 10%)]
As his skills and magical capacity increased, his template fusion had doubled from 5% to 10%.
Though still far from complete fusion, this progression rate satisfied him completely.
"Shift Slash Proficiency +1"
"Shift Slash Proficiency +1"
[Shift Slash has been upgraded!]
[Shift Slash (Level 2, 0/500)]
After consuming sixteen mana points to advance Shift Slash to Level 2, Richard prepared to conclude his morning training.
Except for Skyshatter—the aerial combo technique—all his skills had reached Level 2.
This represented remarkable progress for someone who had crossed over mere days ago.
Just as he prepared to test his newly upgraded Shift Slash, unexpected system information appeared.
[Mission: Son of the Devil (I)]
[Mission Content: Eliminate all mutant agents in the RV campground]
[Mission Reward: Judgement Cut End]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
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