Jason was completely oblivious to the dangers that were about to pass through Canir and the Archipelago, but his masters weren't!
If they wanted to make the best out of their current situation, they would either have to become stronger by themselves, which would take decades with their diminishing potential, or nurture someone who was able to change the tides.
Their small disciple was the most talented youth they had ever seen in their whole life and it would only be a matter of time until he would become stronger than anyone else.
However, time was what they were lacking!
As such, Shane and Dalia tried many different tactics to give Jason more resources every now and then.
After they figured out that Jason was about to establish his second sub-area, Dalia wanted to give him more resources openly, without demanding anything in exchange.
It might sound dumb to others, however, Jason accepted the resources only in exchange for handing out favors because he felt that it was necessary.
He didn't know why exactly he felt like this and couldn't describe his feelings either, however, Jason knew deep down within him that every little help he receives was necessary.
As such, he accepted their offer to acquire a brain protection treasure with which he could refine his brain before splitting it once again.
Taking a deep breath, Jason pondered about the most efficient way he could take to improve his overall combat prowess in addition to his soulbonds, in merely two months at that.
"Should I stay inside the abandoned lands for two months?" Jason mumbled to himself, which was heard by Shane who said
"That's probably the best for your soublonds in order to strengthen their perception and combat awareness. Your own progress shouldn't slow down there either...Maybe Dalia or I should protect you or I can summon one of my soulbonds to act as your bodyguard.
With that, you shouldn't have any problems in the abandoned lands!
The only thing we would have to take care of might be that you would need to have enough cultivation resources and that we can transport the goods you forge and concoct from the abandoned lands to your little Golden-Soul shop."
Dalia also nodded her head and Jason smiled, thinking that everything was concluded as Shane suddenly asked
"Do you want to go immediately?"
Hearing this, Jason couldn't even think of suppressing laughing out loud.
It seemed as if he was not the only impatient person and when Shane noticed Dalia glaring at him, he just said
"If he starts with everything right off the bat, he has a few hours longer to improve his strength!"
This sounded logical but both Jason and Dalia knew that making preparations was also important to work efficiently.
As such, Jason shook his head before he said
"I want to make some preparations first before going to the abandoned lands again. With enough preparations, I wouldn't need to stop cultivating at all and everything will be much smoother that way."
Shane nodded his head, smiling drily
"Just take the content of one spatial ring and we'll purchase a few high-grade medical solutions. That way you shouldn't need to make any preparations, right? There is not much you need either way. Maybe a few miscellaneous items, food, and other necessities, but the cultivation resources should be the most important."
Jason didn't really understand why Shane became so impatient...It was so sudden but he also felt the urge to depart as soon as possible.
Since they found out more about the Mythic Garden, and that the Jual clan was behind the mysterious addictive cultivation drug, Jason and his masters felt restless.
Thus, Jason nodded his head without saying anything else before he transferred a bunch of high-grade mana stones out of one of the three spatial rings into his own.
Taking a look into his spatial ring to see if he had enough food for himself and specialized food for his soulbonds, Jason was ready to depart as he said
"I'm probably only lacking in more medical solutions. Other than that, I should have everything I need to depart directly."
Dalia could only sight at the two men's behavior when she said "I'll stay here and take care of Emily….Her soulbond will also hatch soon and she will need every little help one can give her. I just hope that her soul amplification is not too high…"
Shane and Jason nodded their head before Shane manifested a spatial portal in front of him through which he jumped without wasting another second.
Jason followed suit and they emerged above the abandoned lands only a few more jumps through spatial portals later.
Enveloped by Shane's mana, Jason was able to levitate and he manifested Artemis' wings to fly through the sky before descending to the ground.
Searching for a good area to stay for the next two months didn't take that long because Shane simply terraformed a place to make it the most suitable and comfortable for him to stay.
At the same time, it was a good place for Jason to absorb mana, refine his body inside a basin with the help of the Netherworld's fort technique, increase his proficiency with his affinities.
Maybe it was even suitable to learn a new martial art technique which might come in handy inside the Mythic Garden.
Setting up everything necessary, Jason was glad that Shane followed him who suddenly said with a sly smile.
"Now that we have two months, I'll coordinate your training and show you how terrifying I can't be!"
He sounded happy and wicked at the same time which caused Jason to furrowed his brows as he thought
'His training won't kill me, right?'
*[2 months later]*
Jason was not sure what he expected from Shane's training, but that he was even too tired to sleep soundly was enough for him to understand that it was on a completely different league than the training he underwent before.
Almost two months passed and Jason couldn't help but feel relieved that it was finally over.
He was currently laying on the ground, giving his utmost efforts to breathe while Shane stood above him in sparing clothes as he said
"Is that already everything you can do? We only spared a little bit, and you already look worse than an undead being!
However, not only Jason was exhausted but also Artemis and Scorpio laid next to him on the ground, giving their best efforts to stay alive.
'Ugh, why did I even follow Shane?' Jason asked himself for a moment before disregarding this thought.
Thanks to his master's efforts, he felt that his, Artemis and Scorpio's combat prowess and perception heightened by a large margin which was the reason they even departed to the abandoned lands.
During the last two months, he sparred with Shane almost every day while his soulbonds were out hunting Unblemished beasts, trying to adjust themselves to their strength, which was easier said than done.
Only in the last few days, Jason and his soulbonds began to fight against Shane together, only to be beaten into a pulp every single time.
Shane only stopped the spar when he noticed that they could be seriously injured or after sensing that the recuperation process might take longer than a day.
Other than that, Jason tried to improve his proficiency with the three affinities he possessed.
He even learned a new martial art technique, called [Devious Swordmaster].
It was a Tier-2 technique that focused on swift attacks and the utilization of faints to distort the opponent's perception.
The best weapon to use this technique with was a light longsword which was also the weapon Jason was practicing with during the last two months.
After he figured out that daggers had their limits, Jason tried to find other solutions to fight someone without having to lose out on speed.
Searching for a few martial art techniques he was interested in, he also found the [Devious Swordmaster] technique which recommended a light longsword.
Thus Jason forged himself a pseudo-grade-2 longsword after the two months passed, which was a feat he never imagined to achieve in such a short time.
However, Shane's detailed explanations, his accurate control over mana, the help of his black origin flame's innate traits, and the existence of his mana eyes allowed him to succeed.
Jason didn't even know how many times he failed, but in the end, he forged a light pseudo-grade-2 longsword which filled him with pride.
Unfortunately, this pride was easily smashed after Shane demonstrated to him how weak he and his soulbonds were as he used only one hand to defeat them without much effort.
Furthermore, it looked like Shane was happy to see his pride being shattered which was even worse for Jason to see!!
Jason was completely oblivious to the dangers that were about to pass through Canir and the Archipelago, but his masters weren't!
If they wanted to make the best out of their current situation, they would either have to become stronger by themselves, which would take decades with their diminishing potential, or nurture someone who was able to change the tides.
Their small disciple was the most talented youth they had ever seen in their whole life and it would only be a matter of time until he would become stronger than anyone else.
However, time was what they were lacking!
As such, Shane and Dalia tried many different tactics to give Jason more resources every now and then.
After they figured out that Jason was about to establish his second sub-area, Dalia wanted to give him more resources openly, without demanding anything in exchange.
It might sound dumb to others, however, Jason accepted the resources only in exchange for handing out favors because he felt that it was necessary.
He didn't know why exactly he felt like this and couldn't describe his feelings either, however, Jason knew deep down within him that every little help he receives was necessary.
As such, he accepted their offer to acquire a brain protection treasure with which he could refine his brain before splitting it once again.
Taking a deep breath, Jason pondered about the most efficient way he could take to improve his overall combat prowess in addition to his soulbonds, in merely two months at that.
"Should I stay inside the abandoned lands for two months?" Jason mumbled to himself, which was heard by Shane who said
"That's probably the best for your soublonds in order to strengthen their perception and combat awareness. Your own progress shouldn't slow down there either...Maybe Dalia or I should protect you or I can summon one of my soulbonds to act as your bodyguard.
With that, you shouldn't have any problems in the abandoned lands!
The only thing we would have to take care of might be that you would need to have enough cultivation resources and that we can transport the goods you forge and concoct from the abandoned lands to your little Golden-Soul shop."
Dalia also nodded her head and Jason smiled, thinking that everything was concluded as Shane suddenly asked
"Do you want to go immediately?"
Hearing this, Jason couldn't even think of suppressing laughing out loud.
It seemed as if he was not the only impatient person and when Shane noticed Dalia glaring at him, he just said
"If he starts with everything right off the bat, he has a few hours longer to improve his strength!"
This sounded logical but both Jason and Dalia knew that making preparations was also important to work efficiently.
As such, Jason shook his head before he said
"I want to make some preparations first before going to the abandoned lands again. With enough preparations, I wouldn't need to stop cultivating at all and everything will be much smoother that way."
Shane nodded his head, smiling drily
"Just take the content of one spatial ring and we'll purchase a few high-grade medical solutions. That way you shouldn't need to make any preparations, right? There is not much you need either way. Maybe a few miscellaneous items, food, and other necessities, but the cultivation resources should be the most important."
Jason didn't really understand why Shane became so impatient...It was so sudden but he also felt the urge to depart as soon as possible.
Since they found out more about the Mythic Garden, and that the Jual clan was behind the mysterious addictive cultivation drug, Jason and his masters felt restless.
Thus, Jason nodded his head without saying anything else before he transferred a bunch of high-grade mana stones out of one of the three spatial rings into his own.
Taking a look into his spatial ring to see if he had enough food for himself and specialized food for his soulbonds, Jason was ready to depart as he said
"I'm probably only lacking in more medical solutions. Other than that, I should have everything I need to depart directly."
Dalia could only sight at the two men's behavior when she said "I'll stay here and take care of Emily….Her soulbond will also hatch soon and she will need every little help one can give her. I just hope that her soul amplification is not too high…"
Shane and Jason nodded their head before Shane manifested a spatial portal in front of him through which he jumped without wasting another second.
Jason followed suit and they emerged above the abandoned lands only a few more jumps through spatial portals later.
Enveloped by Shane's mana, Jason was able to levitate and he manifested Artemis' wings to fly through the sky before descending to the ground.
Searching for a good area to stay for the next two months didn't take that long because Shane simply terraformed a place to make it the most suitable and comfortable for him to stay.
At the same time, it was a good place for Jason to absorb mana, refine his body inside a basin with the help of the Netherworld's fort technique, increase his proficiency with his affinities.
Maybe it was even suitable to learn a new martial art technique which might come in handy inside the Mythic Garden.
Setting up everything necessary, Jason was glad that Shane followed him who suddenly said with a sly smile.
"Now that we have two months, I'll coordinate your training and show you how terrifying I can't be!"
He sounded happy and wicked at the same time which caused Jason to furrowed his brows as he thought
'His training won't kill me, right?'
*[2 months later]*
Jason was not sure what he expected from Shane's training, but that he was even too tired to sleep soundly was enough for him to understand that it was on a completely different league than the training he underwent before.
Almost two months passed and Jason couldn't help but feel relieved that it was finally over.
He was currently laying on the ground, giving his utmost efforts to breathe while Shane stood above him in sparing clothes as he said
"Is that already everything you can do? We only spared a little bit, and you already look worse than an undead being!
However, not only Jason was exhausted but also Artemis and Scorpio laid next to him on the ground, giving their best efforts to stay alive.
'Ugh, why did I even follow Shane?' Jason asked himself for a moment before disregarding this thought.
Thanks to his master's efforts, he felt that his, Artemis and Scorpio's combat prowess and perception heightened by a large margin which was the reason they even departed to the abandoned lands.
During the last two months, he sparred with Shane almost every day while his soulbonds were out hunting Unblemished beasts, trying to adjust themselves to their strength, which was easier said than done.
Only in the last few days, Jason and his soulbonds began to fight against Shane together, only to be beaten into a pulp every single time.
Shane only stopped the spar when he noticed that they could be seriously injured or after sensing that the recuperation process might take longer than a day.
Other than that, Jason tried to improve his proficiency with the three affinities he possessed.
He even learned a new martial art technique, called [Devious Swordmaster].
It was a Tier-2 technique that focused on swift attacks and the utilization of faints to distort the opponent's perception.
The best weapon to use this technique with was a light longsword which was also the weapon Jason was practicing with during the last two months.
After he figured out that daggers had their limits, Jason tried to find other solutions to fight someone without having to lose out on speed.
Searching for a few martial art techniques he was interested in, he also found the [Devious Swordmaster] technique which recommended a light longsword.
Thus Jason forged himself a pseudo-grade-2 longsword after the two months passed, which was a feat he never imagined to achieve in such a short time.
However, Shane's detailed explanations, his accurate control over mana, the help of his black origin flame's innate traits, and the existence of his mana eyes allowed him to succeed.
Jason didn't even know how many times he failed, but in the end, he forged a light pseudo-grade-2 longsword which filled him with pride.
Unfortunately, this pride was easily smashed after Shane demonstrated to him how weak he and his soulbonds were as he used only one hand to defeat them without much effort.
Furthermore, it looked like Shane was happy to see his pride being shattered which was even worse for Jason to see!!
