Basil was sitting in lotus position on his bed. His palms were facing the sky, and his chest was heaving up and down. After tending to his injuries, he immediately practiced his old Body Forging Technique.
Body Forging was a technique to strengthen one's body that was practiced by Knight. It was also the foundation of Aura. To be able to use Aura one had to form a Core inside one's body.
Later, when the Core was formed, nurturing it was the next step to advance in power. To form a Core one had to gather the energy called Qi from the air in one's solar plexus.
The gathered energy would condense and formed a Core inside one's body. The Core would then started to passively forge the body, and in turn strengthened it. Of course, to be able to do this, a certain technique was required.
Basil's Body Forging Technique was called [Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder]. A very fishy name indeed. However, it was the very technique that brought him on top of the food chain. Although, it would be slow in the beginning, in the latter days, the power it gave was superb.
It was all thanks to himself. Obviously, just by the name one could judge that the creator was delusional. How long do you think it will take for wave to crush a boulder? Tens of years! Just how could one patiently wait for that long just to attain power? It would be better to be farmer instead.
Therefore, when the creator realized this fact, he gave it up, leaving it incomplete. Basil was intrigued when he had first seen it. He had been determined to complete the technique, and modified it to suit himself.
[Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder] used a slow approach on Core nurturing. Though very slow, the foundation was rock solid. The solid foundation would later be beneficial when one attained Aura. Those with solid foundation would attain an extraordinary Aura in the latter days.
It was also for this reason Basil decided to lay his hand on the technique. Of course, in the end, Basil managed to find a way to increase the speed of technique.
"Huuh..." A white smoke was exhaled from his mouth. Opening his eyes, he muttered, "Gentle Waves might crush a boulder someday, however using those Waves to create Water Jet to crush the boulder was what bright people do."
And that was how he solved the slow speed of the technique. Of course, he didn't just achieve it without any drawbacks. He had to endure the extreme pain it brought due to the extremely condensed Qi assaulting his Core. It wasn't unbearable though, he was already familiar with pain.
"Hmm... As expected, I can't form a Core in one day."
Basil sighed in disappointment. If someone were to hear what he said, they would throw up a mouthful of blood! In his past life, he managed to form a Core in 3 months. That was an unprecedented event. A genius at that time had only managed to form a Core after 2 years of intense training.
Of course, at that time no one paid him any attention. He was already twenty years old at that time, so it had been considered normal. Though, his silence regarding his achievement had also played a big role.
Because of that, combined with his experience, he was sure he could form a Core in a day. However, it seemed he miscalculated it. He, at least needed a week to form a Core without external aid.
"It can't be helped. I have to make my own Catalyst, then."
Catalyst. It was a pill created by combining some magical herbs. Its function was of course, to aid someone in core nurturing. It accelerated the Qi absorption rate and also improved one's control over the Qi in an extended period.
The better the Catalyst, the longer the time, and the better control it gave over one's Qi. With Catalyst, even the lowest quality, Basil could form his Core in 3 days. He was confident about it. But...
"How to make a Catalyst?"
He had learnt many things, yet he had never learnt how to make Catalyst. It was Alchemist's job after all. In the past, he had only had to gather the materials, and told the alchemist to do his job.
Naturally he didn't know anything about it. He could just buy it at the Alchemy Store, however he knew that he wasn't given the allowance to buy such luxury. So, it left him to make it by himself.
Just as he was about to hypothesize the method to make Catalyst, a familiar sound rang in his head.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! The Low Class Guide function is activated! Basic knowledge will be accessible to the Host!]
[Answering The Host's ignorance...]
[Catalyst is made by concocting several magical herbs with precise proportion in a pot or vial.]
'That's it! The Guide!'
He momentarily forgot his Guide due to his habit. He was an independent man. He had never asked people to help as long as it wasn't inevitable. Survive, improve, overwhelm! That was how he had lived in the past. And in this life, he didn't plan to change it.
The only one he could believe was himself. He abhorred depending on someone else. Therefore, he momentarily forgot the existence of the Guide. He simply wasn't used to it. When he got a problem, he solved it by himself.
However, this time he would utilize the Guide as much as he could. It was his anyway. So, it wasn't counted as depending on someone else, since he was depending on himself.
'Hm. As expected of I, Basil Pacifer.'
He wasn't a narcissist, he just had an abundant confidence on his self.
"Guide, tell me how to make the best Catalyst with easily obtained ingredients!"
[Crystal Clear is the best Catalyst that is made with easily obtained ingredients. To concoct Crystal Clear the Host Will need 2 stacks of Blue Petalled Chamomile, 3 liters of Clear Water, 20 grams grained Black Sandalwood...]
Just like that, every knowledge he needed to concoct the Catalyst was engraved on his mind. It felt like he was remembering something he had long forgotten.
There were total eight of ingredients that he needed. Among them, only Clear Water was a little bit hard to obtain. Clear Water referred to water that had absorbed Mana from the surrounding environment.
For Mage and Knight it wasn't hard to get such water since they literally bathed themselves with it. However, it wasn't the case for ordinary people. Those who didn't practice Magic or Body Forging would get a close to miracle effect from consuming Clear Water. Therefore, it was also called Holy Water by some of the people.
It was also due to this reason, to ordinary people, Clear Water was sold with a quite high price. With the amount of allowance he was given, he could at most afford a liter of it. However, it wasn't enough to make the Catalyst.
Luckily, he wasn't helpless. He knew where the source of Clear Water around his area was located at. However, it was in a dangerous place. There was a high chance that he would meet magical beast if he went there.
But, it didn't matter. Life is a choice. However, Basil didn't take the choice presented to him by the world. He made his own. Therefore, he would take the risk of being killed by magical beast for the better result.
"Of course, it isn't that those mindless beasts could touch me. As long as I don't encounter a dragon, I will be fine."
He was confident in his self. It wasn't just empty words though. He had years of experience dealing with magical beasts and worse things than them. If an experienced someone like him was to be killed by a mere magical beast, snow would fall in hell!
"With the help of Crystal Clear, I could form a Core in a day. Unfortunately, the process of making it would take at least a day or two. Furthermore, I have some idea to test on the formula. So, it might take longer."
He might learn something that he didn't know from someone, however he would always make anything he learned his. The formula of Crystal Clear wasn't his, since it was created by whoever knows who. Therefore, after he learned it, he would make it his by modifying some parts to suit his preference. He called it, Improvise.
It was his habit to make something better in his own way. Just like what he did to [Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder] he planned to perform the same thing with Crystal Clear.
Originally, Crystal Clear had a function of easing one's mind and body. In turn, it would lower the resistance one's body gave to Qi that was treated as a foreign substance. Therefore, it would increase the speed of Core Formation.
However, it wasn't without any drawbacks. Due to the lowered resistance, one would have a hard time to control the sudden influx of Qi inside one's body. Because of this, in turn of the fast speed of the Core Formation, the foundation would be sloppy.
It wasn't actually a problem to Basil since he had an extreme control of Mana already. However, if he could somehow solve the drawbacks, he would get an even firmer foundation for his Core with an even faster speed.
Furthermore, the formula would finally be his! That was the sole reason.
"Hm. Now that all settled, I will make a preparation to gather the necessary ingredients. I will gather all of them in a day."
He shook his head. It was unfortunate that he currently could only train as a Knight. He was a talented individual as a Knight, yet he wasn't born to be Mage.
Then, how could he be a ninth-circled Mage in his last life?
It was due to an unwanted event. He didn't train as a Mage until his late twenties. He had always been an accomplished Knight before then. It was also because of this, that an enigma called Basil, who trained in both ways was born.
Basil shook his head once again, he didn't want to remember much his past mistakes. He was living his past turned present currently. It was a waste of time to wallow in regret.
Suddenly an idea formed in his head. He wanted to try something to clear up his thoughts.
"Guide, what is the best Body Forging Technique other than [Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder] that is suitable for me?"
Yes, he was confident in his own modified technique. However, at that moment, a very shocking thing happened.
[Body Forging Technique: Star Withering is the most suited with the Host. Body Forging Technique: Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder is a defective technique that brings harm in turn of a little stronger power. Unlike Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder, Star Withering had faster rate of Core Nurturing along with a solid with foundation...]
A very detailed explanation of the advantage of practicing [Star Withering] and the negative effects of practicing [Gentle Waves Crushing Boulder] was engraved in his mind. He was left dumbfounded in the end.
At that moment, he had finally realized he, Basil Pacifer, had been practicing incorrectly in his last life. It was something so basic and trivial that it was funny and maddening at the same time.
Truly, one could never get slipped by a boulder.