Chapter 125: Hundredfold Gravity

At sunrise, golden sunlight poured over the mountaintop, casting the ancient, majestic temple complex in a divine, golden hue, as if it were the abode of ancient gods—imposing and magnificent.

Amidst this complex, the sounds of air being sliced filled the atmosphere, a clear testament to the sharpness of the weapons cutting through it.

"Nine hundred ninety-one, nine hundred ninety-two, nine hundred ninety-three..." A counting voice accompanied the sounds, urging, "Muria, just a little more... one thousand."

"Whew! Finally done." A relieved voice announced the completion as the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground and a clank of metal echoed simultaneously.

"Is it really that exhausting?" In the courtyard, Baihu Troy sat curiously watching Muria, who lay on the ground gasping for breath, his body drenched in sweat with steam visibly rising off him. A ferocious heavy sword lay beside him.

Hearing Troy's somewhat sarcastic remark, Muria, too exhausted to move even a finger, rolled his eyes. Beneath him, a yellowish magical circle faintly flickered with a dazzling glow.

"Cassio, hurry up... disable the circle." After waiting for a while with the circle still active beneath him, Muria gathered all his remaining strength to address Cassio barely managing to articulate his request.

No sooner had Muria spoken than the earthen-hued circle beneath him disintegrated, and the towering Titan youth let out a long, comfortable howl of relief.

"How do you feel?" Cassio asked, observing the faint mist of perspiration around Muria.

"Light as a feather, like I could fly off to the sky any moment." Once the circle was deactivated, Muria struggled to his feet, swaying slightly.

"We can fly anytime, actually," interjected Troy from the side.

"Big cat, you've made enough snide remarks these past few days." Still catching his breath, Muria glanced at the snow-white, winged tiger, "Why don't you try the gravity circle too?"

"Sure, I've been watching you exhaust yourself daily, and I'm curious to try it myself," Troy readily agreed, taking Muria up on his challenge.

"Cassio, set up a gravity circle beneath him."

"How much gravity?" The semi-transparent spirit looked at Muria.

"Start with fifty..." Muria pondered briefly, aiming to ease the big cat into it, but Troy cut him off.

"Cassio, give me the same level of gravity that Muria had just now."

"You're asking for it, big cat. Don't blame me then," Muria waved at Cassio, "Give him a hundred times gravity. His physique can handle it for sure."

Cassio promptly acted on Muria's command, forming a circle beneath Troy similar to the one Muria had used, imposing a terrifying level of gravity within its area of effect.

The moment the circle activated, "Boom!" Troy was instantly flattened by his own weight, rendered immobile, managing only to move his turquoise eyes.

"Sheesh, that's brutal," Muria commented, having trained under a hundredfold gravity himself, continuously wielding his sword under the immense pressure that seemed to crush him. It was his first time seeing another being subjected to such intense gravity.

Within the range of the gravity circle, even the air and sunlight seemed distorted, rendering Troy's majestic tiger form somewhat comical. Now unable to speak, the once sarcastic Troy could only growl in frustration.

"See, I trained for many days, gradually increasing the gravity through Cassio, never daring to jump straight to a hundredfold," Muria said with a schadenfreude grin as he watched the immobilized big cat in the circle. "And you had Cassio jump straight to it. How's it feeling, big cat? Comfortable?"

"Roar!" Unable to move at first, Troy now grimaced, showing his sharp, white teeth in an angry growl, then his limbs began to tremble as he slowly stood up.

"Not bad, just slower than me." Seeing Troy adjust to the gravity quickly enough to stand, Muria was unfazed; he had adapted even faster himself.

"Keep an eye on him, Cassio," Muria instructed the spirit, pointing at the irate tiger making its way towards him, "If he can't handle it, deactivate the circle."

"Understood," Cassio nodded.

"I'm off to see his lordship." Picking up his heavy sword, Muria headed into the stone temple.

"Lord Ron." Inside, Muria immediately spotted the black-haired youth meditating cross-legged on his original stone bed—the human Sword Saint, Ron.

"Have you completed today's routine?" The Sword Saint inquired without opening his eyes.

"Done. I practiced the basic sword moves a thousand times, with Cassio counting for me," Muria replied, hanging his heavy sword back on the wall.

"Hmm," the Sword Saint responded succinctly, then fell silent.

"When can we proceed to the next step?" Muria thought somewhat helplessly. Ever since the Sword Saint agreed to teach him, he had brought the Sword Saint to his Titan homeland and had him live in his residence.

After observing Muria demonstrate a sword technique with his heavy sword, the Sword Saint had taught him a set of basic sword moves—simple actions like drawing, leading, lifting, blocking, hitting, stabbing, poking, and smashing—and instructed Muria to practice them a thousand times every morning. Muria had complied.

But given Muria's formidable physique, to ensure effective training, Cassio would set up a gravity circle at his feet while he practiced. The intensity of the gravity, decided personally by the Sword Saint, reached a hundredfold—only such extreme gravity could yield the best training results.

After setting his heavy sword, Muria then picked up a longbow from the side, "Lord, I'm off to practice archery with Hester now."

Muria glanced at the three young red dragons studiously reading in the corner of the temple. Ever since the Sword Saint moved in, these usually lazy dragons had been diligently reciting from magic books, no longer slacking off.

"Go ahead." The Sword Saint had no objections to Muria learning both swordsmanship and archery; he was not Muria's full-time teacher, only responsible for sword training. He would not interfere with the rest.