Healing System

"No!" Kai's reluctant shout rang out as Michael brought him to the nearby mountain he had been on earlier.

The only issue was the training plan—it was a bit old-school, to the point where he was unsure of its effectiveness.

But since he didn't have anything else in mind, the system's training method would have to do.

It was a simple climb-up-the-mountain-while-being-attacked type of training—not particularly difficult, but the sheer scale of the mountain was enough to put doubt in the hearts of some.

And it seemed like Kai was a part of the reluctant some, as he was struggling to get away, only being held back by Michael's strand of mana.

"Look, Kai, it won't be that difficult. I'll throw boulders at you—I won't actually attack you." Michael tried his best to convince him, but it seemed to have the opposite effect as Kai began struggling even more.

"You wanted to get stronger, no? Do you expect to do that by being a wimp?"

Just as his words resounded, Kai froze before looking back at Michael.

"But..." He tried fondling his brain for an excuse, but none came.

In reality, this type of training was not difficult at all—nor dangerous, for that matter.

If the worst came to pass and he slipped and fell, Michael would catch him with mana. If his head got busted open by a boulder, a heal would fix it right up.

But by this point, Kai was likely underestimating himself as well, since his durability would quite literally split the boulders in half upon contact.

However, Michael would not mention that, since the training would lose its effectiveness without any stakes.

"You can use the sword to climb, you can use it to split the boulders in two, and lastly, you can attack me if you get to the very top." Michael set some ground rules before placing Kai at the very bottom of the mountain.

"If you want to improve, climb up there by the time the sun sets. If you manage to do that, I'll give you a reward."
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With those words, Michael flew back up, watching as Kai reluctantly stuck the golden sword into the base of the mountain, slowly climbing up.

'That's the spirit...' He couldn't help but chuckle before looking to his right.

He had prepared a few boulders, but for the most part, they were just slightly giant rocks—some of which would not do much aside from scare Kai.

But in the end, this was vigilance training. If he could see it coming and dodge, Michael would have done his job.

Therefore, without waiting further, he picked one of the nearby rocks and threw it down.

However, despite his high expectations for Kai and his improved abilities, he did not manage to spot the falling rock, which impacted his arm and sent him hurtling back down the mountain.

Just before he plummeted to the ground, Michael secretly used a tiny amount of mana, completely reducing the fall's impact—as though he had fallen onto a cushion.

But Kai quickly stood back up and tried again, this time taking a different approach: climbing with a single arm and holding the golden sword in the other.

While Michael could agree it wasn't a completely terrible strategy, how would it help him in any way?

Therefore, he sent down two medium-sized rocks.

Kai managed to slice the first, but due to the way his body was positioned, the second hit him straight on the shoulder, causing him to fall once more.

However, with each fall, his strategy improved, and his constitution had grown even greater.

Added to that was the fact that Michael could now tell his Dantian Core was practically in the upper levels of Tier 1—a great feat.

But a breakthrough still seemed a few ways away; therefore, he would not let up the training at all.

The rocks came plummeting down, now in heaps of ten or more, and Kai successfully managed to deflect them all. However, since he was nearing the midway point, an increase in intensity was only natural.

Therefore, instead of the little rocks, Michael decided to throw down an actual boulder—one the size of Kai himself.

He reacted swiftly and dodged, a panicked look on his face.

However, before he could get excited at the prospect of dodging, Michael sent down another one—and then another one.

Kai dodged the second one but was unprepared for the third. It collided with his body, sending him tumbling down the mountain once again.

Michael rolled his eyes as Kai quite literally managed to crack the boulder slightly with just his body and proceeded to catch him on his way down.

'This is pretty good training. Why didn't you tell me to do something similar?' he couldn't help but ask with amusement.

You were too weak. Honestly, if you fought Kai at Tier 1, you would have probably just barely won. The system gave an odd response, which caused him to raise his brows.

'You do know the kid literally tripped on nothing, right? I was already a seasoned fighter back then.'

If you fought the current Kai at your previous level, you would have lost. No doubt. The system continued trying to argue with him.

Michael's eyes widened before he let out a sigh. 'You're just jealous because you can't come out and play. Is that it?'

Upon not receiving the system's response, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Taking off the halo, he immediately infused 45% of his total mana into it before putting it back.

'Have fun,' Michael remarked before sitting down leisurely.

You sure have a funny way of dealing with things... but I suppose I'll indulge. I am getting a bit bored, after all. The system's words resounded as it suddenly appeared in its humanoid form to his right.

"Chil—Kai! I will be increasing the intensity a little! Good luck!" Mikhail shouted, infusing his voice with mana to make it travel further.

Since their voices were exactly the same, Kai did not suspect a thing.

However, when a slightly mana-infused boulder began tumbling down the mountain, Michael knew he might have made a tiny mistake.

"Are you trying to kill him?"

"Nope." Mikhail shook his head before picking up another boulder.

"This is actual training."