A Weapon

As his Strength and Stamina reached 20 points, Azrael felt his physical capabilities increase dramatically.

If not for the fact that he had already mastered the Force Utilization technique over the past few months, it would have been difficult for him to properly control the surge in strength.

Thanks to Lia's guidance and his diligent training, he had reached a level where he could control every ounce of his strength to perfection, without any waste.

"Previously, I couldn't use force beyond one hundred percent because of my weak body. But now that I have 20 points in Stamina—which greatly enhances my endurance—maybe I can attempt to go beyond that threshold," Azrael muttered to himself.

The Force Utilization technique was all about using the full potential of the body's strength. However, using one hundred percent of one's power was not the limit.

By combining it with combat techniques or other specialized methods, one could unleash power that surpassed their physical capabilities.

Azrael had previously tried using more than one hundred percent force.

The result?

A dislocated shoulder and nearly getting spanked by Ashara.

At the time, his Stamina stat had been at 16 points.

Now, having reached the mid level of the breathing method and gaining the ability to use cosmic energy to protect his body, he felt confident enough to attempt it again.

"I will test it out against Lia later on…" He said and turned his attention to the system notifications that had appeared after reaching mid level in the breathing method.

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> (You have successfully completed the task.)

(Reward: One Despair-level token of Eonrift, One hundred task points.)

(Despair Token has been placed in Inventory. Because the Inventory is locked, please take out your reward within twenty-four hours or it will disappear.)

====

Azrael looked at the notifications without much surprise and decided to retrieve the token after returning to his room.

As he stepped out into the open field of the training ground from the room, he noticed that no one was present.

Kael usually trained in the afternoon, and since Azrael had informed Lia that he wouldn't be training with her today, she wasn't there either.

He walked to the area where several dummies were placed and stood about ten meters away from them.

Pointing a finger toward one, he began circulating cosmic energy through the pathways he had created via the breathing method.

The energy gathered slowly at his fingertip.

As it was his first time attempting to control cosmic energy externally, sweat quickly began forming on his forehead.

"Controlling it is harder than I thought…" He muttered, concentrating as best he could to stabilize the energy.

After a full fifty seconds of effort, he finally gathered enough energy to control. His fingertip began to glow with a pale blue light, and a flicker of excitement appeared in his eyes.

With a thought, he released the compressed cosmic energy.

Swish!

A sharp blue laser beam sliced through the air and struck the dummy.

Boom!

A muffled impact echoed, and the white training dummy instantly turned yellow.

Azrael's mouth twitched slightly at the sight of the yellow-colored dummy and silently lowered his still-outstretched hand.

"I will need a lot more practice if I want to use cosmic energy effectively in battle."

The dummies placed in the training ground weren't ordinary. Depending on the seriousness of the impact, they would display different colors—yellow representing the lowest level of damage, equivalent to a minor skin injury.

"Well, using pure cosmic energy wasn't part of my actual combat plan to begin with…" Azrael encouraged himself.

"This cosmic energy will reveal its true worth once I use it in conjunction with a deadly weapon."

Thinking about weapons, Azrael fell into deep thought.

Over the past few months, he had focused mostly on close-combat training with Lia. He'd also practiced using weapons like daggers, needles, hidden blades, and other easily handled tools that could shift the outcome of a close-combat battle in an instant.

Of course, he had also trained with swords, spears, axes, and a few other standard weapons, but only on the surface level.

Even with the Infinite Comprehension trait, he knew that trying to master everything in a short amount of time would dilute his overall progress.

That's why he had decided to perfect his basics and reach the mid level of the breathing method first.

Now that he had accomplished that, and his close-combat skill was significantly improved, he could finally focus on finding a weapon that suited him best.

"A weapon suitable for me, huh…" Azrael muttered and decided to consult Ashara about it as she was an expert when it came to combat and weapons.

He continued practicing with cosmic energy for another hour and managed to use it to slightly boost his movement speed.

Feeling satisfied with his progress, he took a long shower and left the training ground.

When he reached the living room, he found Ashara and Silas chatting. It was the weekend, so Silas was home as well.

As soon as they saw him, both immediately noticed that he had reached the mid level of the breathing method.

Though Ashara already knew he was close to reaching it, she still felt speechless seeing it with her own eyes.

Most people couldn't even reach entry level before awakening, but her son had reached mid level.

Silas, too, stared at Azrael in a daze, unsure what to say.

Azrael smiled at their reactions and casually sat down on the sofa across from them.

"Congratulations, Azu. How about we go shopping to celebrate your success?"

Azrael's face stiffened the moment he heard Ashara's suggestion.

He had the Infinite Comprehension trait, but even with it, he couldn't comprehend why women loved shopping so much.

What baffled him even more was that they didn't just shop for themselves—they loved shopping for others as well.

'I am glad we have plenty of money, otherwise we'd already be sleeping on the roadside with how much she spends every time we go shopping.'

"Let's talk about shopping another time, Mom," He quickly changed the subject. "I wanted to ask you something."

Ashara clicked her tongue in annoyance, as if she'd just lost a golden opportunity.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Weapon…" Azrael asked in a low voice. "What kind of weapon do you think I should use?"