Location: Lil. Red Storm, Seed World, Devil Merchant Code, Inter-Realm City, Sector WS9909, Infinity Library, Study Room
Seeing Wyatt attempt to apply his understanding of his mortal-level spiritual body on the run efficiently and faster, the Martial Sage Lorn's Card Intent not only
reconsidered its previous judgement about his mindset being flawed for Martial Path, but it began to ponder if he might possess the fitting qualities needed to become a Martial Scholar.
Martial Scholars were among the rarest professions in the Card World, dedicated to studying how the human body, soul energy, rule power, and how they interacted at various realms, and creating martial arts tailored to individual needs and talents.
In the current era, however, Martial Scholars were almost extinct. The profession was so demanding that even someone like Martial Sage Lorn, who had created her own martial arts to suit her needs, did not dare to call herself a Martial Scholar. Yet, her Card Intent perceived in Wyatt qualities suited to this path.
Wyatt had zero understanding of martial arts-he didn't even know how to run properly. If not for the support of their spiritual bodies's innate boundless will, they wouldn't have been able to keep up with such intense training because of their haphazard running. However, looking at him trying to find way to run efficiently faster using his understanding of his mortal-level spiritual body, the Card Intent was reminder of the early humans who were the foundation current civilization.
Nonetheless, this alone wasn't enough for the Card Intent to consider him a potential Martial Scholar.
Even if Wyatt managed to create a way for him to run efficiently and faster utilizing the limits of his mortal spiritual body and his boundless will, it wouldn't qualify him. However, the Card Intent-whose very purpose was to bring out Wyatt's potential in martial arts-decided to train him rigorously while testing him at every step, seeking to discover whether he would falter or rise to the challenge of becoming a Martial Scholar.
Talent-wise, Wyatt was more than decent compared to many card apprentices, but in a holy place for combat and fine arts like sector WS9909, raw talent hardly mattered. What truly mattered was whether he was willing to take Combat Arts seriously.
The Card Intent wasn't naive; it didn't believe Wyatt was genuinely committed to Combat Arts. It recognized that the only reason he was giving it a fair chance was so he could rightfully criticize its original body when it failed to help him step onto the Martial Path as it claimed.
Meanwhile, Wyatt's lower half suddenly disintegrated, causing him to collapse to the ground. The primordial spirit running ahead turned to look back at him. Watching Wyatt continue the race by crawling on his hands as his body was restored through sheer willpower, the spirit was moved by its master's unyielding resolve. Its own determination grew firmer-it would only stop when its master gave up or it ceased to
"Fuck! That hurt like hell," Wyatt swore internally as he got back on his feet and resumed running on them. He focused on using his understanding of his current body's limits to conserve energy by minimizing waste and creating bursts of high-intensity output only when necessary but failed.
Having run for so long, Wyatt was well aware that his running form wasn't perfect. As a result, he was wasting too much energy. Determined to improve, he corrected his posture by recalling the Olympic racers and marathon runners he had seen running in his previous life. He began to understand the difference between their running styles -learning how to conserve energy from the marathon runners and how to generate high-intensity bursts for sprints from the racers.
Once he adjusted his posture, Wyatt immediately found spare energy to utilize. If he were in his physical body, he would have needed to conserve this energy to run longer. However, in his spiritual body, fueled by his boundless willpower, this limitation didn't apply. Free to use the newfound energy, he attempted to maintain a consistent increase in speed. While the theory made sense in his mind, its implementation led to disastrous results. His leg bones fractured and vines surrounding them ruptured causing his lower half dissipated mid-race.
Yet, this failure wasn't enough to stop Wyatt. He continued testing his theory on himself, no matter how many times he failed enduring the tremendous pain that came along with every failure.
His relentless persistence began to draw attention from his primordial spirit. The primordial spirit, which had once passed him with a sneering taunt on every lap, found itself unable to maintain its mockery. It couldn't comprehend why Wyatt wasn't able to run properly and even hurting himself in such a simple, but it began to pity him. However, its resolve remained firm, suspecting that Wyatt might be employing some kind of strategy to force it to give up out of sympathy. Having experienced Wyatt's cunning firsthand, it couldn't dismiss the possibility.
Meanwhile, Wyatt, stripped of access to his Hive Mind and other abilities, had no choice but to act as his own test subject. The pain from his repeated failures made it increasingly difficult to continue. But when he noticed his primordial spirit's sneers transform into glances of pity tinged with suspicion, Wyatt's fury reignited. Fueled by indignation, he resolved to refine his theory into a working technique-not just to succeed but to turn the tables and pity his foolish primordial spirit for daring to pity him.
After countless attempts, losing track of time in the throes of pain, Wyatt finally managed to refine his theory into a functional technique. This new method not only allowed him to use his limited energy more efficiently but also enabled him to run faster.
Armed with his refined technique, it didn't take Wyatt long to catch up with his primordial spirit. Seeing him close the gap, the spirit wasn't shocked; instead, it felt a brief surge of pride, relieved it hadn't fallen for what it assumed was Wyatt's trick to win through pity. For a fleeting moment, it believed itself to be both stronger and smarter than the main spiritual body.
Unfortunately for the spirit, this illusion of superiority was short-lived. Before it could celebrate, Wyatt sprinted past it, taunting it with a wide sneer. Dumbfounded, the primordial spirit nearly stumbled, thrown off by the sight of Wyatt's monstrous grin. Although it managed to avoid falling, it lost its consistent pace. As it continued the race, it couldn't help but wonder if its own sneers looked as hideous as Wyatt's. After all, they looked the same.