One month had passed… but Christian, who had thought his plan to raise Eva and his sister's strength was already set in stone and wouldn't take much time, ended up disappointed. The talent-detecting technique he had assumed he would master in no time was taking far longer… a really long time!
It was still at level two, after all.
Level two, even after an entire month, despite his increased comprehension and all the unassigned points he had later poured into it.
But still, level two!
At first, Christian was beyond shocked at this snail-like speed. Even though he naturally understood the reason behind it, thanks to the knowledge he was gaining… he just couldn't accept it!
But after a month of deepening his understanding of the talent-detecting technique and after his conversation with Olivia… things finally became clear.
And he was forced to accept reality.
Talent wasn't meant to be tested by someone still unranked like him… it was supposed to be assessed through a device, a special orb, or something similar.
And if it was done through one's ability alone, things would naturally be different.
Then, why was it so difficult?
Because when done professionally, it was simply meant to be that way.
The real problem lay in how he would detect talent in the first place!
The crude method used by ancient families was actually correct. It was just that they were far too crude in their approach.
But channeling essence, was the right answer.
… And here was the real difference. It wasn't just about channeling essence; it was about the level of control over it while "circulating" it inside the body, something the ancient families had been unable to do.
It was about detecting the body's subtle reactions to minimal amounts of essence. But even that essence had to be introduced into the child's, or adult's, body in a different way.
Something he had already discovered at level two… was the attribute of essence.
Just as he had thought, it was an important factor.
But through Olivia, he discovered that he was wrong. Most people actually had a talent for essence in general… it was extremely rare for someone to be talented in just a single attribute.
So rare, in fact, that Olivia had never seen anyone like that in her academy, and she had to ask one of her teachers, someone from another world, to learn this specific piece of information.
But then, why did his research conclude that attributes were an important factor as well?
Today, he finally found the answer.
It wasn't about giving essence an attribute.
It was about stripping the attributes away, turning it into something closer to pure energy… or attributeless essence.
But then, with this new information and his ability, he should at least be able to test his sister's talent, right?
After all, it couldn't be that both his sister and Eva had unique talents… even more something related to this specific attribute, right?
But once again, things weren't that simple.
First, he still wasn't proficient enough at handling essence, which meant there was a safety issue. Second, there was another problem, one he hadn't considered, or even knew of before.
Even if someone had a general talent for essence, there were still things they were naturally suited for and things they weren't.
But this time, it wasn't about training in an essence, as in gaining it… but, it was about the power system itself.
Because apparently, there were many!
And the one he was currently training in belonged to one of the mainstream systems.
…Due to that, he was forced to return to square one.
He had to learn to wield essence.
And that was far more difficult than he had expected. It was something that was supposed to come naturally as he grew stronger… reaching the first mastery stage, then the second, third, and beyond.
It was like reaching for something beyond his current ability, and naturally, that made things even harder.
People normally wouldn't dedicate time exclusively to something like essence manipulation, since it wouldn't directly make them stronger too… or so he assumed, at least.
Anyway, his point was that things would take time… and he couldn't afford to wait that long. His sister and Eva weren't exactly young anymore.
He coughed, glancing around as that thought crossed his mind. He definitely couldn't say it to them outright… that they were already considered "old" for gaining essence.
After confirming he was alone, Christian returned to his previous thoughts.
His sister and Eva had already started doing some exercises based on his advice from before… though, in reality, not much had changed. His sister had already been training on her own and had only slightly increased the intensity. As for Eva, while she wasn't as active as his sister, she still made sure to maintain her body's condition.
So, as Christian reached this point, his thoughts turned to a skill he had trained before, Kinetix Body Building, and the difficult exercises he had learned through it. Back then, he had aimed for a perfect body, something that still seemed out of his reach.
Kinetix Body Building had never touched upon essence; it had only focused on researching how to attain a better body through purely strenuous exercise. How much would that help when it came to essence? He couldn't be sure.
Especially when it came to whether it would have a positive effect once they reached the true learning phase, the point where they would finally start training in an essence technique.
…But there was something else that had crossed his mind a few days ago.
The System had upgraded.
And with it, the Idle Practicing feature had also upgraded.
So, would the skill remain the same when he practiced it again?
His initial goal had always been a perfect body. Previously, he hadn't achieved that, but instead, he had gained a skill that seemed to lead him toward something close to it… eventually, when it advanced a lot though.
Now that he had already touched upon essence.
Now that research materials were far more abundant.
Now that the Idle Practicing feature had been upgraded.
It was a question worth pondering. Because the implications of what he might be able to achieve through this skill now… had expanded in ways he hadn't considered before.