A Bug In Fate

Before Ravenna’s eyes, Alden took a first short inhale and guided the mana to enter his body before circulating it and exhaling.

The result?

It was a failure, as the amount of mana inside his body was too little and couldn’t form a full cycle. He had to exhale earlier than he intended.

This time, he followed a method from a mediocre book, as who knew? The book might be ordinary for other people but useful for him, as everyone was unique.

He inhaled again, this time a bit longer. The mana circulated inside his body, but as he exhaled longer according to the book, the mana flowing inside his body was disrupted, forcing him to stop his movements.

He tried again, and this time he followed Ravenna’s breathing method, as she had a high-level technique.

He did exactly what was described in the book and inhaled a sharp breath. It was a quick motion, and he couldn’t even circulate the mana properly before he had to exhale in a slow rhythm.

The orb in his hand displayed a number.

35%.

The reason behind it was simple. He was slower than the technique required, causing the mana flow to lose its rhythm.

Ravenna looked at him with a smile and shook her head. Of course, she recognized the breathing method he was trying to follow.

She was a higher-ranked cultivator, so her perception of time was different from that of ordinary people. To her, a single second could be enough to decide the outcome of a battle.

"Don’t force yourself and try other methods before choosing one," she advised him in a gentle tone.

Memories of the past flashed through her mind, and a nostalgic smile appeared on her face. Back then, she had also experimented with different methods before finally settling on one.

The fact was that her technique had been upgraded multiple times throughout her cultivation journey. As a cultivator grows, so do their needs.

A method that suited her in the past might no longer be enough for her now.

Alden nodded and began experimenting with every breathing method he had read from the books.

Time passed in silence, except for the occasional interruption of Alden’s coughing and Ravenna giving him some life-saving advice, as attempting a breathing method from mediocre books nearly made him cough up blood.

Yet despite the painful failures, Alden didn’t stop. Every time a method failed, he moved on to another one, trying to remember the breathing patterns he had read and adjusting them according to how his body responded.

Sometimes the mana flow was too weak, while other times it became too unstable and forced him to stop before completing a full cycle.

Ravenna watched everything without interrupting unless she noticed something dangerous.

The sun began to climb higher and higher in the sky before reaching the middle. Then, with the same slow motion, it began to descend toward the west, while two moons circled around it in different directions.

The flowers around them slowly moved with the gentle breeze, but neither of them paid attention to the surroundings.

For Alden, there was only the mana inside his body and the breathing rhythm he was trying to perfect.

For Ravenna, there was only her student and the possibility that he might actually create something unusual.

"You should stop for now."

Ravenna said as the sun began to set in the west. Alden had tried at least 100+ breathing methods today.

She was worried about his condition. Even though his body looked fine from the outside, physical exhaustion was the least of her concerns right now, as there were other ways for a cultivator to become exhausted.

Alden opened his eyes and looked down at the black orb in his hand.

It was displaying 52% efficiency.

That number would have satisfied anyone, but Alden was different. His baseline itself was already at 65%, and he wasn’t going for anything less.

He wasn’t being greedy. He was simply refusing to waste his potential.

Alden nodded at her words. To be honest, he didn’t want to stop, but he respected the woman before him enough to consider her words.

A small smile bloomed on her face as she snapped her finger, and their food appeared on the table.

They took their seats and began to eat in comfortable silence. Alden didn’t waste any time, as he was really hungry after everything he had done today.

"You are pushing yourself too much," Ravenna said in the middle of their meal as she ate with graceful movements.

"I have to, and it’s not like I am injured anywhere, right?" Alden stretched out his arms as if to prove his point.

"Alden, you have to understand that physical injuries aren’t the only way one can get hurt." She looked into his eyes.

"I understand."

"Good."

They finished in silence. After that, Alden cleaned up the table while Ravenna took out a book and began reading beside the lake.

Alden didn’t disturb her, as he had his own things to do as well.

He had to find out what he was missing.

Was he doing things correctly?

Was there something he had overlooked?

Questions like these rang in his mind continuously, yet he had no answer to them.

But he wasn’t going to lose hope just because of some failures.

So he did what, in his place, an introvert could have done.

It was overthinking.

Yes, some people might say it’s not good to overthink, but everything is good to do with a limit.

Some exceptions included love and specific things, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

So instead of finding answers, he began to question himself.

What was he doing?

What was his strength?

Did he have something special?

What aspect of him was going to be the base of his cultivation technique?

*I have a physique.*

Alden had decided to make his cultivation technique based on his physique.

If he tried to create it based on his affinities, he had two of them, and that was going to raise the difficulty of his task. Making his cultivation technique around a single element wasn’t ideal, as he still needed to find a way to make both of his affinities coexist.

*Apex Evolution Physique.*

Alden muttered the name in his head continuously as he tried to find a way forward.

But no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t find an answer, and without him realizing it, his eyes began to close as the exhaustion finally caught up to him.

Maybe exhaustion itself was the reason why he couldn’t find an answer, as his mind was filled with all the data he had collected over these recent days.

Alden’s eyes closed, and within seconds, he was asleep on the table.

Ravenna glanced at him before shaking her head while closing her book.

What should I do with him?

She snapped her finger, and things began to change around Alden without him noticing. It was quite unrealistic to expect a tired man to notice anything while sleeping.

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