Visualization

Will was not unconscious as everyone thought. No one present had the ability to check if he was awake but they believed he was, because performing a Guided Strike was no easy feat. Especially for one who was under Negative Feedback Adjustment.

As soon as Will collapsed, his mind shook as he felt the void of energy within him. Will was rarely in a situation where he was fit and empty of energy. Usually, if he became empty it would be when he was riddled in injury, this made it difficult for him to truly sense what was happening within his vessels.

As soon as the fall occurred, Jingsung Ha appeared next to Will's collapsed body, his eyes roaming over Will with a pleased expression, "I am surprised. You took to this better than I thought you would."

Will responded via Intent, "I didn't expect my mind to feel so free." Jingsung found it amusing that Will did not care about his face's union with the ground.

Jingsung Ha snickered, "Of course. Your mind is always driving your soul which in turn drives your body. That means in simpler terms your mind carries the burden of moving two vessels. Guided Strikes greatly drain your body of energy and while using any form of The Breath drains your soul of Soul Force. So your vast Mental Energy has suddenly lost all those burdens it always carries. Now you can work on stagnating and condensing your Area.

Ignore your surroundings for now and let the other mortals sort out what's left. They can deal with the rest for now. You need to quickly master your Mental Energy."

Will nodded in spirit and continued to practice. He had not forgotten his purpose in coming here. Although the rewards for the trip were great, he was more interested in strengthening his mind. Since his mind was his greatest weapon and Solitary Sword Sovereigns were Mental Energy Masters it was important for Will to tread on this path.

Will had struggled to condense his Area to the 10-meter mark before, but now that his mind was free of the burden of energies, he was able to condense it further to 5 meters after a few minutes of struggle. Will was still under the adjustment but he was not as affected as everyone thought. Although emptying one's energies normally lengthens an adjustment, for Will that was not a bad thing as this was what he actually desired. As this adjustment improved his sensitivity.

"One is almost most sensitive to light just before dawn. The same applies here. The longer the adjustment period, the more sensitive one is to energies after the period is over. Unlike with light sensitivity, this is not a temporary change." Added Narcissus telepathically through Intent. He was still absorbed in his own reflection but he did not hesitate helping Will reflect on his own actions.

Thus Will laid down like a log and continued this action of shrinking his area. No one present had the ability to accurately detect one's Area but they could still feel odd fluctuations from Will's corpse-like body.

Time moved on as Will remained in that state. The others continued to move about and things continued along in the same manner until an hour had passed. As time went on and the adjustment started to disappear, Will began to understand what Jingsung meant.  His mind became far more sensitive to the energies around him. So much so that even though he was still under adjustment, his mind's current sensitivity was almost the same as before he arrived in the dungeon.

'Once the adjustment is over, my sensitivity will be at least 30% greater.' Will surmised as he felt the Area.

"Don't forget to stagnate your Area using the pond visualization method I taught you earlier. Since you are a water-type cultivator you may struggle with this as water is an element free of form, but this is only in its liquid form. That should be a good enough clue for you." Added Jingsung.

Will's eyes gleamed as he realized the hint he was being given.

'Jingsung said I should imagine my area as if it's a pond I'm submerged in. The water must be as still as possible. It's a bit hard to perfectly picture still water. But ice is also still water!'

Will took this advice and tried to imagine his Area as ice, and he sensed an immediate change. His Area did indeed become more tangible, in fact, Will could subtly sense that the space around him had stabilized a bit more. But there was a side effect. All energies in his Area became a bit sluggish!

Jingsung Ha smirked and continued to lecture, "Ice is solid, but conversely, it is not a good medium. Nothing can enter or leave ice. Hence picturing it as ice helps you solidify your Area and makes it more tangible, but it also becomes harder for energies within to move. If your mind was strong enough, no energy would be able to enter your Area in this state. If you imagine your Area as a metal dome, this effect will be exaggerated, but right now you will benefit more from using the visualization methods of water as it's easier for water to change states."

Will had to admit that Jingsung Ha knew what he was doing. There was an odd science to this, so he could somewhat understand but there was still a long way to go.

"You mortals always jump to advanced skills but it is missing basics such as this that damns you to mediocrity. I am sure no mortal in this dungeon has gone through this process. Be grateful for the opportunity to learn from us." Narcissus did not hesitate to throw in lines like this once in a while. He was trying to sound like a wise elder lecturing a junior, but to Will, this was just another form of veiled arrogance.

"Now keep practicing. If you come across a threshold and fail to condense your Area further, focus on stagnating it. If you fail to stagnate it further use the ice visualization method. Then after getting used to a completely stagnant Area switch back to trying to condense your Area. Rinse and repeat. Do this until your Area is a 3-meter radius in all directions."

Another hour passed and Will had gone through many cycles of stagnation, condensation and visualization. His Area was just about to reach the 3 Meter mark and his Adjustment was about to end. Towards the end, Will suddenly felt his stupor disappear. He regained mental clarity at a much faster rate as time went on. This in turn allowed him to complete his exercise in a shorter amount of time until his Area finally reached 3 meters!

Will's mind shook as a feeling of pleasure and release wafted through his mental space. The moment Will's mind was now free of the Negative Feedback Adjustment, his Area was able to stagnate itself under the liquid pond visualization. Will was stunned just by how sensitive he was to his environment.

'This changes everything. Even the way I applied my skills before will change.'

Will stopped pretending to be unconscious and shakily stood up. He was now ready for the next step of the plan, and it seems that he was just on time.

'Just in time.'

His body was being carried on a stretcher that was levitating thanks to a spell by the archer deity. Narcissus had stood by him as his guard and had watched over him but Will was well aware of what was happening because his other senses were still working.

"Now you will notice that your control over Intent, Soul Force and other energies has improved. You can now cultivate faster with less effort. But do not relax, as your mind is a reflection of your effort. If you release your Area wantonly this progress will become meaningless. So keep trying to condense your Area as best as you can. You have reached the first level of Mental Energy Cultivation and can thus be called an authentic Mental Energy cultivator."

Jingsung Ha unceremoniously disappeared after his monologue allowing Will to feel these for himself. As Will sat up, he took note of his surroundings and grinned.

'The quality of my yuan has also increased. Now I can definitely show those pricks on Earth a nasty surprise.'

As Will plotted his next moves, Lydia's voice sounded out next to him.

"Your Highness, the Bellingham Crew is being excessive, please allow us to move out and take care of these fools."

"Lydia, you need to calm down. Michael is no fool. He is annoyingly crafty. If Ulysses is a prodigy of cultivation then Michael is a savant of strategy. I hate to admit this but he is a smarter tactician than I. He knows more about us than we know about him. So let's be a bit more patient."

Mercedes' voice was clearly incensed and the situation was indeed dire. Will knew exactly what was happening because he had been paying attention.

'It seems there is trouble in paradise.'

Will squinted as he looked at the crowd of people arguing in the distance.

'Seems like Will-sama still has to save the day.'