First Task

The instant before the collision, Lance felt weightless as he found himself flying in the air a few inches above the ground at the spot he had jumped in from.

He was still soaking wet but he was no longer in the pool. The problem was, he still had the same momentum as before the collision.

Thus, Lance flew for a foot before landing on the floor and skidding to a pause. Although the floor was made of wood, it seemed soft to the touch almost as if the floor was comprised of pads.

Due to the soft landing, other than a little scratch, the only thing that was hurt was Lance's pride.

"Remember:the key is to amplify the power output from certain parts of your body. I would suggest the typical breast stroke. Good luck my disciple. There are many people watching with high hopes on you. Especially your ancestor who is maintaining the chamber as we speak. I will know and appear again when you reach the other side. The method to do so can only be figured out by you."

Saying so, the Castellan gave Lance a broad smile before vanishing from where he stood. It was a peculiar method of vanishing: an after image still lingered in the air which faded after a few seconds.

Lance had just been feeling lucky that he had a master who could help him figure out the answer. Now, with just a sentence, his 'reliable' master had disappeared!

Never one to admit defeat easily, Lance sat down cross legged, beginning to analyze the situation. He decided to use the breast stroke which he was most familiar with.

It involved using the upper and lower body's movements to move forward. Thus, he had to figure out a way to maximize the power output from those parts.

He repeatedly remembered the sensation he had when hitting the robot in the reflex test. What had he been thinking then? How had it felt? Each and every aspect was broken down methodically and analyzed.

After an hour or so of brainstorming, Lance decided on a plan. Based on everything the Castellan had said, the connection could be activated with intent. The intent of destruction was chosen, as he had already succeeded in transmitting it before.

The plan was to visualize and command the parts of the body used in the breaststroke to maximize their power output.

This was definitely easier said than done, but the only way to test and implement this was to jump in the pool and fight the current again and again.

Thus began the training. Each day, Lance would jump into the pool and be flung out. Each time he was, he would sit down for 10 minutes and reflect on what had happened.

In this way, half a day would pass.

After lunch, there would be an hour of testing.

After a buzzer, 2 boxing gloves would materialize from the air and start attacking him.

Lance's objective was to punch each with the amount of force he had displayed before in his PP test. The gloves needed to be pushed back with a weight of 1000 kg to be deactivated.

At least, this was what Lance thought. Dodging always made the gloves hit harder, so he could only stand and withstand the punches for an hour. Time would tell if his guess was correct.

After the test, being flung in the air would resume. In this way, each day passed. Lance barely had the time to appreciate the comforts of the living area as he had set a very strict routine for himself. The only time he allowed himself to relax was around 20 minutes before the nightly meditation started. Those 20 minutes would typically be spent in his 'laze state', i.e just lying down unfocused as his thoughts went in myriad directions.

2 months passed in this fashion.