Chapter 26 — The Boundless Growth Technique
One month later.
'Now that I have some practical experience with spells and techniques, it's about time to turn my vision into reality.'
Ren had spent eleven years preparing for this moment.
For eleven years, he had devoted himself to studying magic theory, principles, techniques, spells, and countless other aspects of magic. He had spent nearly all his free time researching and developing the technique he had envisioned.
In fact, the theoretical framework of the technique had been completed years ago.
The only thing he had been missing was the ability to actually test it.
Before becoming a mage, Ren couldn't practice the technique.
Now that he was a Rank 1, Level 1 Apprentice Mage, he could finally put his creation to the test.
'Let's see if it works as I envisioned.'
Ren immediately immersed himself in the process.
The initial testing went smoothly.
After all, he had spent eleven years preparing for this. He had already thought through nearly every aspect of the technique countless times.
But theory was still theory.
The final adjustments had to be made through actual practice.
And that was the most dangerous part.
"Damn it... that hurts."
Blood seeped from Ren's pores as an experimental adjustment went wrong.
He gritted his teeth, pulled an expensive healing potion from his storage ring, and chugged it down.
The injuries quickly began to recover.
Ren didn't stop.
He continued testing the technique, carefully observing the results and making adjustments whenever something didn't work as expected.
Another attempt.
Another adjustment.
Another injury.
He simply healed himself and continued.
The technique itself wasn't being created from scratch. Ren had already completed its theoretical design years ago.
What he was doing now was calibrating it through practical use.
A single mistake could cause serious injuries, and there was no way for him to know whether an adjustment was correct until he tested it on himself.
It was dangerous.
But Ren didn't care.
He had spent eleven years preparing for this moment.
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There was no reason to hesitate now.
As he focused entirely on the final adjustments, Ren temporarily put his normal training on hold.
Another month later.
"Fuck. I finally succeeded."
Ren couldn't help but feel relieved.
He immediately chugged down another healing potion before using his Cleaning Spell to clean the blood and sweat from his body.
The final adjustments were complete.
His technique was finally ready for practical use.
Ren called it the Boundless Growth Technique.
Currently, it was only a Rank 1, Level 1 technique.
Its ability was simple.
It could convert resources into Talent Fruits.
After consuming a Talent Fruit, the user would obtain the corresponding talent.
Ren checked his current talents.
'Let's see... Tier 2 Low-Grade Fire Element Talent, Tier 2 Middle-Grade Technique Talent, and Tier 1 High-Grade Strength Talent.'
'Not bad. Not good either.'
His talents weren't particularly impressive.
But Ren had never intended to rely entirely on his innate talents.
'Now, let's test out the new technique.'
Ren took several items out of his storage ring.
He had prepared them beforehand.
There were body parts from Tier 1, Level 1 magical beasts, several less expensive Tier 1 Low-Grade potions, a few Tier 1 Low-Grade fruits, and various other resources.
There was a reason Ren had specifically prepared Tier 1 Low-Grade resources.
Anything lower than Tier 1 Low-Grade wouldn't work.
'Let's see.'
Ren activated the Boundless Growth Technique and touched a monster claw.
The claw began disappearing.
It gradually broke apart into wisps of light that gathered above his palm.
Ren then touched a potion.
The potion disappeared in the same manner, transforming into more wisps of light.
He continued doing the same with several more resources.
As more resources were converted, the wisps of light gathered together above his palm.
'The mana cost is really huge.'
Ren felt the enormous drain on his mana.
'Fortunately, my current mana regeneration is fast enough to support it.'
The wisps of light slowly began to solidify.
Eventually, they formed a fruit.
It looked like an ordinary apple.
However, Ren immediately recognized what it was.
'A Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent Fruit.'
Ren examined the fruit for a moment.
Comprehension Talent — covered learning, understanding, mastering, and modifying techniques and spells.
His Tier 2 Middle-Grade Technique Talent was also covered by this talent.
However, Ren had deliberately kept the two talents separate.
There was a reason for that.
For now, he didn't want to loose his Tier 2 Middle-Grade Technique Talent.
Instead, he could acquire a separate, lower-grade Comprehension Talent and use it for other purposes.
'Let's see.'
Ren bit into the fruit.
It tasted surprisingly sweet.
As he swallowed, the fruit melted into wisps of energy that traveled through his body and merged with him.
Ren quickly ate the rest.
'I can feel some change, but it's not enough for a qualitative leap.'
Ren wasn't satisfied.
He began converting more resources into Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent Fruits.
After producing several more, he consumed them one after another.
Eventually, the changes within him settled.
Ren immediately checked his talents through the Boundless Growth Technique.
Sure enough, he now possessed a Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent alongside his other talents.
'It worked.'
Ren thought about it for a moment before consuming one more fruit.
Then he stopped.
'That's enough.'
Although he could continue consuming low-grade Comprehension Talent Fruits and potentially push the talent to a higher grade, the efficiency was simply too low.
He would need to consume a huge number of fruits to turn the quantitative improvement into a qualitative change.
And there was another problem.
The Boundless Growth Technique was currently only a Rank 1, Level 1 technique.
At this level, it could only create Rank 1, Level 1 Talent Fruits.
Even though he could continue using Tier 1 Low-Grade resources to create more low-grade fruits, doing so would be extremely expensive.
Just acquiring this Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent had already cost him around 3,400,000 Astra.
'That's far too expensive.'
The cost was especially high because his Boundless Growth Technique only had Beginner proficiency.
If his proficiency were higher, the conversion would be more efficient.
To create a higher-grade Talent Fruit, he would first need to develop the Boundless Growth Technique into a Rank 1, Level 2 technique.
That would require time.
Even then, he would need the appropriate resources.
A Tier 1 Middle-Grade Talent Fruit required Tier 1 Middle-Grade resources. Tier 1 Low-Grade resources wouldn't be enough.
Just as he had needed Tier 1 Low-Grade resources to create a Tier 1 Low-Grade Talent Fruit, higher-grade fruits required resources of the corresponding grade.
And with Ren's current strength, gathering Tier 1 Middle-Grade resources himself wasn't possible.
He could theoretically purchase them.
But he didn't have enough money for that.
And even if he did, he wouldn't.
That would simply be throwing money away.
For now, he could continue using Tier 1 Low-Grade resources to push his Comprehension Talent higher, but the cost would be far too great.
'I'll leave it at this for now.'
Ren had obtained what he needed.
That was enough.
'Now, let's test it out.'
Ren left his apartment and booked a private combat training room.
After entering the room, he stood in front of a practice dummy.
'Let's see.'
Ren focused his mind and cast Fire Spear.
A spear of flame appeared in midair before shooting toward the practice dummy.
It pierced straight through the target.
A moment later, the spear burst into flames.
Ren currently had Intermediate proficiency in Fire Spear.
However, he had encountered a few problems while practicing it.
The Boundless Growth Technique had another function besides creating Talent Fruits.
It could temporarily burn through a talent and enhance its effects.
This was one of the reasons Ren had deliberately kept his Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent separate from his Tier 2 Middle-Grade Technique Talent.
He could afford to burn through the low-grade talent.
If he lost it, he could simply create another Talent Fruit and obtain it again.
Ren activated the Boundless Growth Technique and began burning through his Tier 1 Low-Grade Comprehension Talent.
His comprehension was temporarily enhanced.
The problem that had been troubling him suddenly became much clearer.
Ren's mind quickly processed the information, and he understood where he had been going wrong.
'So that's the problem.'
He immediately understood the flaw.
Ren quickly stopped the burning function.
There was no reason to waste the talent after he had already gotten what he wanted.
A faint smile appeared on Ren's face.
The Boundless Growth Technique was proving to be even more useful than he had initially expected.
And this was only the beginning.