Chapter 161- Learning (Part 2)

Chapter 161: Chapter 161- Learning (Part 2)

Chapter 161- Learning (Part 2)

Rize stared at the man in silence for a few seconds, his eyes serious as he took in what Baragon had just said. He already knew learning cultivation was a very hard task that took the protagonist years to master, even with his monstrous learning speed. The story didn’t mention that it was a deadly thing to do, but he assumed that with such power comes a very great risk, naturally.

However, the fact that Baragon warned about this decision only further made Rize realize that this man knew what he was talking about.

’The fact that there is a way for someone as weak as I am to learn such an advanced technique... Do the stronger powers of this world know of the existence of this? Or are they as unaware as I am? Perhaps they hid it so no one could reach their level fast enough?’ He thought to himself as he contemplated for a moment.

If such a thing was true, then he would understand why they hid it. After all, it would break all the scales of power, and everything would become chaotic. Baragon was an ancient being from a time that even history books cannot recount in great detail. There were countless techniques, fighting styles, and other things that disappeared with time, and everyone forgot about them before they could reach their time.

"So, what is your decision, human? Are you willing to take that risk?" The man asked as he watched Rize’s expression carefully, almost as if he was anticipating something. Rize blinked before he looked down at Venera, and his eyes were lost in thought immediately.

Rize wanted to save Venera, she was the closest person to his heart in this entire world. The idea of what he could even do against the mist plagued his mind this entire climb, and he tried to ignore it, but as he got closer and closer to their destination, he had to figure out a way to fight for his life and defeat this mist to restore her soul.

He cannot do that at his current level, not when he is so weak and pathetic. Even with all the risk, he cannot simply ignore such an opportunity if it means his chances of success increase.

’She will be very upset when she learns about it... But I don’t care; I need her to wake up.’ He clenched his fist. ’I want her to be mad at me... At least that tells me that I saved her life.’

Rize knew his decision from the very moment Baragon told him about this, he only needed another reason to take that step.

"Yes. I want to learn it. I am ready to face the consequences if I fail." Rize said as he turned to Baragon. "Please, grant me the power to save her life."

Staring into the boy’s eyes, all Baragon could see was a quiet fire, a fire that burnt brightly and seemed to wrap around Rize’s entire body. His will was something that fascinated Baragon greatly. He had never seen someone with so much desire to be stronger before. Even those who are power-hungry don’t hold a candle to this boy’s will.

’For a human like him to possess all this... How could he not be the one I’ve been looking for?’ He asked.

"I see." The lava man said as he floated toward Rize. The boy watched silently as he sucked a deep breath.

"I will be protecting these two while you do this. It might take a lot of time, depending on your talent and your learning ability. If you can face the struggle and break through, you will learn how to cultivate, and it will make you a completely different person. However, I will warn you again, one mistake and there is nothing me or you could do. You will die."

"..." Rize nodded.

"I will be touching your forehead with my finger to bestow the knowledge on your mind directly. You have to dissect and absorb it and do exactly what it says you must do." He said. "You will feel the burn of my finger and a great pain due to the sheer amount of knowledge you will receive right now. Close your eyes."

Rize looked at Venera for one last moment, almost as if he was saying farewell in case things went to hell. Then, he finally sucked a deep breath and closed his eyes. A second passed with nothing happening, then... Rize felt a sharp, burning pain assaulting his forehead.

His face scrunched as he clenched his teeth, trying to stop the groan from leaking out of his mouth.

"Focus. Don’t break your concentration." Baragon said. "We shall begin."

Upon saying those words, suddenly, Rize’s entire world went completely blank for a second. Everything around him became completely white, almost blindingly so. He was confused as he was about to open his eyes and check. However, before he could, he felt his entire body get swept out of its place as if some sort of force was pulling him in.

He flipped, twisted, and turned before he was sucked into the darkness again rapidly. Everything occurred in a split second.

Then, a flood of information assaulted his brain all at once. The amount was so great that for a second, Rize felt as if his entire being froze in time and space. Then, things resumed and... The pain he felt at that moment was unlike anything he had experienced before.

"Agh!!!!!! AGH!!!!" He screeched at the top of his lungs as he grabbed his head. He felt as if someone was splitting his skull open with an ax while a billion needles were poking his skin. It was a sensation he couldn’t even describe in words.

’It hurts... It hurts... It hurts so much... I can’t breathe... I can’t think... My brain is melting...’ The last embers of his consciousness said loudly as he screamed and cried against the pain. The sensation was the worst he had experienced in his life, even though he had just experienced the most arduous climb of his life. This mental pain was a whole different beast that he didn’t expect would be this bad.

Through that hellish pain, Rize’s will faltered as he squeezed his head tightly, and his heart was almost about to stop from the sheer rush of adrenaline. However, for a split second, Rize saw the image of Venera in his brain... That split second was more than enough to remind him of what he was doing and why he was experiencing that pain in the first place.

So, instead of giving up, Rize tried to start dissecting the knowledge slowly. It was almost like trying to shovel down an entire mountain, but Rize decided to do that anyway. He started with one piece of information, absorbing it and understanding it, before he slowly moved to the next one, and the one after.

He tackled the humungous task with careful deliberation while fighting the hellish pain and trying to keep his embers of consciousness awake. It felt horrible... Utterly horrible, to the point where Rize threw up several times in a few minutes. He emptied his entire stomach before he started puking blood and mucus.

But he didn’t stop as he did what Baragon told him. He used his monstrous learning speed to try to absorb the information. What felt at first like an impossible task slowly became more possible with time. Each piece of information he absorbed decreased the pain subtly, but as the number grew, the pain started subsiding faster and faster, making Rize focus better and better.

It was a cycle that fed itself. The more he absorbed, the faster he became, and vice versa. Time passed for Rize very slowly, unaware of what was happening around him. He was stuck in that dark world, trying to organize this giant library of knowledge all alone.

Meanwhile, Baragon watched with wide eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. The look on Rize’s face, his aura that stabilized rapidly, and his focused state. Rize was starting to absorb that knowledge... Within minutes of receiving it.

’Even the best of talents who have learned cultivation at an early stage needed days to finally bear the pain and try to focus on absorbing the piece of information.’

Yet, Rize did that thousands of times faster and more efficiently. Baragon could tell that Rize had already tackled a good chunk of the learning process, and they had barely been there for half an hour.

This was unheard of, even amongst the most ridiculous talents to ever grace this world. Baragon’s hand shook, and his mind took a second to try to calm down.

He then focused on Rize’s every action, trying to understand what this human is truly about. He cannot be some sort of coincidence; this boy was truly the chosen one, and Baragon took that as the truth now.

He was standing before the person he was told about thousands of years ago.