Chapter 59: Let Me Reiterate, Winterfell is a Mage Academy
If the Ultimate Essence of Technique represented mastery of all martial arts and proficiency in a thousand methods, then the Ultimate Essence of Force was even simpler.
It was pure strength, strength that surpassed all limits.
The idea that every training session would yield results, that as long as one was willing to work hard, one would definitely become stronger—this was naive, a misconception only held by warriors who had just begun learning how to train and enhance their power. In reality, the opposite was true.
Not every training session would yield results. In fact, overtraining could lead to a decline in physical function. Hard work did not necessarily guarantee results. It was entirely possible to struggle all day only to see one's condition regress rather than improve. Grueling, painstaking effort might at best maintain one's current state, and even after training so hard that sweat soaked through one's shoes and the soles of one's feet, one might still be unable to become stronger.
All of this was possible, supported by countless real-world examples. This was precisely the reason the word "talent" was invented—everyone had a limit, and once that limit was reached, one could not become any stronger.
But the Ultimate Essence of Force was the existence that shattered this barrier, that broke this shackle.
As long as one trained, there would be results. With sustained effort, one could become stronger—this fantastical supernatural ability, like a dream, was the truth of the Ultimate Essence of Force: power that had surpassed its limits.
Unlike the Ultimate Essence of Technique, which required honing oneself, mastering a hundred martial arts, and continuously learning new skills to gradually comprehend, and unlike the Ultimate Essence of Soul, which was a purely idealistic concept dependent on spiritual awareness and strength of will, the awakening of the Ultimate Essence of Force demanded persistent, unyielding training.
Hard work, never slackening. Even if there were no results, one had to persist daily. At the same time, one needed to supplement this with battles that forced one to unleash their full power. Then, it would naturally awaken and descend.
Of course, those with good luck could break the shackles of their limits by running ten kilometers, doing a hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred squats every day. Those with bad luck... those with bad luck could spend their entire lives unable to break those shackles. It was impossible to even give an example.
Joshua didn't know if he was lucky or unlucky. In his previous life, he had walked the path of the Ultimate Essence of Technique, and in this life, he had successfully awakened the seed of an Ultimate Essence. As long as he completed the trial mission, he would successfully obtain the Ultimate Essence of Force. This should count as good luck. But the number of battles he had fought was more than an ordinary person would experience in a lifetime.
"Let me see, what kind of trial this is..."
Shifting his gaze, Joshua eagerly looked at the lower half of the light screen.
The trial missions for an Ultimate Essence were always characterized by their strangeness and complexity. They weren't necessarily difficult, but they were absolutely disheartening. In his previous life, the trial mission for awakening the Ultimate Essence of Technique was to defeat twenty-five different Gold High-rank enemies using twenty-five different methods. Whether they were magical beasts or humans, the weapons could be swords or bows, even chopsticks or forks. Poison was allowed, sneak attacks were fine, and even ganging up on them wasn't considered wrong, as long as each method was different.
This kind of mission sounded simple, but only when one actually tried to do it did one realize how difficult it was. Any expert who had advanced to Gold High-rank was a powerful being with exquisite skills and rich combat experience. Fighting with a familiar weapon and combat style was one thing, but using an unfamiliar or unskilled method would only allow the opponent to see through one's flaws and knock one down in a single blow.
"Damn, it's this kind of trial again!"
With a sweep of his eyes, Joshua slapped his hand against his face. He sighed helplessly and said leisurely, "Can't you give me something more difficult, but something I can finish in one go? Like killing an Ultimate Wild God or something. This kind of mission is going to drag out my advancement time indefinitely."
The mission that appeared before him was short in content, but by no means easy.
**[Trial of Glory – Monster Hunter]**
**[Defeat, kill, or capture thirty different Gold High-rank creatures in a direct confrontation.]**
**[Mission targets include, but are not limited to: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, Lizardmen, and Dragons.]**
**[—Only victory can prove strength, and only strength can achieve victory.]**
The fierce blizzard raged wantonly, and the bone-chilling wind, sharp as a blade, struck the warrior's body.
The reason Joshua sighed was that while this kind of mission offered high freedom, its difficulty was indeed considerable. Although it didn't restrict the race, any creature that could reach Gold High-rank was extraordinary. Even the most common flower-eating worm, if it advanced to the Gold Rank, would become a massive swamp devourer, seven or eight stories tall.
Defeating and killing thirty different kinds of Gold High-rank creatures, even counting one type of dragon as one, was a very arduous task. Joshua felt that if he didn't deliberately go out to search, he might never find thirty such targets in his entire life. It was uncertain whether the entire Northern Lands even had thirty types of magical beasts capable of advancing to Gold Rank.
"I clearly remember that some people just had to climb a mountain or dive into the sea."
He complained somewhat regretfully, recalling the scenes from back when he browsed the forums and watched others undertake their trial missions. "Although one had to climb the Dragon Island Holy Mountain, and the other had to dive into the Far South Bottomless Sea Abyss, no matter how I think about it, they were much easier than my mission."
With a casual swipe, he dismissed the system. Joshua turned around and shouted loudly to the knights behind him, "Today's training is over. Dismissed. Return to the training camp before evening. Anyone who is late will have no dinner."
"Yes, my lord! Understood, my lord!"
Hearing the dismissal, the exhausted men subconsciously shouted in response. But then they immediately began to complain, "But my lord, we're deep in the snowy mountains! We've been running all morning and we're completely exhausted. Isn't evening a bit too..."
"You're right."
Hearing this, the warrior thoughtfully glanced at the group, then chuckled lightly. "Training is meant to push you to your true limits and then try to break through them. In that case, evening is indeed a bit too late. You can make it with a little more effort... So, let's do this. You must reach the training camp by four in the afternoon. Otherwise, prepare to work for free at the construction site halfway up the mountain—and no dinner. Dismissed!"
As he finished speaking, accompanied by a barely visible, translucent shockwave, a transparent vacuum tunnel appeared in the midst of the heavy snow. Only then did the piercing sound of a sonic boom belatedly arrive, and Joshua's figure vanished.
A group of stunned knights stood in the blizzard. The cold wind swept back and forth, making these Silver High-rank knights feel as if both their bodies and minds were about to freeze.
"The lord's strength has grown again."
A knight, whose hair had even frozen into icicles, praised sincerely. But his words were quickly interrupted by the person beside him: "Hey, what's the use of flattering the lord now? Stop wasting time and start running!"
This statement was met with unanimous agreement. Immediately, the group of knights turned around and began sprinting towards the training camp near Nissier Snow Mountain.
Returning first to the main city's Lord's Manor, intending to look up some information before heading to the training camp, Joshua was surprised to find Number 3 floating and drifting under the ceiling outside the study door.
The Artificial Intelligence girl seemed to be having a lot of fun. She appeared to greatly enjoy this tumbling motion. To the warrior's slight regret, Number 3 was, after all, an artificial intelligence. Her control over the projection angle was simply too perfect. As her skirt fluttered, he couldn't see anything underneath.
However, he wasn't the kind of pervert who enjoyed looking under a girl's skirt. So Joshua simply asked directly, "Number 3, what are you doing outside the study?"
Number 3 slowly turned around, hanging upside down from the ceiling like a vampire. She raised her head and said softly, "Earlier, a very powerful mage came to see you."
"A very powerful mage?"
In a thousandth of a second, Joshua thought of the only mage he knew who could be considered powerful. He nodded and said, "Master Nostradamus? What did he want with me?"
Number 3 quickly replied, "That mage said that Winterfell is almost complete. Soon, you can begin promotion and enrollment. Joshua, you need to prepare some speeches for the opening ceremony."
Saying this, she shrugged in a very human-like manner. "Good luck, Honorary Principal."
(To be continued.)