Chapter 77: Not Enough Intelligence Value

Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Not Enough Intelligence Value

The Personal Guard Bureau, Vili’s quarters.

After returning from Olay’s recovery room, Vili quickly washed up, then began to sort through the Frost Knight Breathing Technique in his mind.

’Stimulate the body’s Qi Sensing through a specific combination of movements, then guide it into an internal cycle to produce Fighting Spirit.’

Vili mulled it over and felt a little lost.

The specific combination of movements was easy enough to imitate. The difficult part was coordinating them with a specific breathing rhythm.

Though human bodies are similar, every individual is different. Perfect synchronization of breath and movement could only be achieved through constant self-correction. To do that, the most important thing was to fully grasp the essence of the Frost Breath Technique.

’Time to give it a try...’

Vili took a deep breath and began to practice, following the sequence of movements in his mind.

He focused his mind, moving at a steady, unhurried pace. He was trying to generate Qi Sensing as soon as possible, guide it into Fighting Spirit, and achieve a leap in power. According to the Title Attribute Panel’s usual bullshit, he wouldn’t trigger a title unless he cultivated the Knight’s Breathing Technique to a certain level.

This strange cheat of his would grant him more rewards after he achieved something, but it wouldn’t let him get something for nothing, improving from scratch without any effort.

Vili’s movements proceeded slowly. But soon, they came to an abrupt halt, and a look of regret appeared on his face.

His first attempt had failed. It seemed he had mismatched the breathing frequency with the duration of the pauses in his movements.

Undeterred, Vili continued practicing.

Olay hadn’t told him how long it would take to master the Frost Breath Technique, but judging by the difficulty, Vili knew that even someone with decent talent would need at least several years.

Vili kept trying to figure it out, but half an hour later, he still hadn’t managed to complete even one-tenth of the full sequence of movements and breathing, let alone generate Qi Sensing.

’The relationship between the breathing rhythm and the combination of movements is chaotic. I can’t grasp the pattern at all.’

Vili suddenly felt a headache coming on.

At this rate, just generating Qi Sensing would take him at least half a year. Even if he got a title after that, the critical period of the war would have already passed. He’d probably be caught deep in the flames of battle by then.

’Huh?’

Suddenly, Vili thought of his Intelligence Value.

The Intelligence Value was related to IQ, but the correlation wasn’t particularly strong. In the original game, this value represented comprehension and Mana Value.

With a thought, his attribute panel appeared before his eyes.

[Vili Ferren—Constitution: 3.6; Intelligence: 1.2; Remaining attribute points: 0.3]

’Add point!’

The next moment, Vili’s attribute panel refreshed.

[Vili Ferren—Constitution: 3.6; Intelligence: 1.5; Remaining attribute points: 0]

In an instant, Vili felt his mind become much clearer. His previously groggy head now felt sharp and lucid.

He briefly reconsidered the combination of movements from before and suddenly noticed some of the flaws in the details. It was still a bit fuzzy, but much clearer than before.

’Good thing I saved some attribute points last time...’

Vili tried again.

This time, Vili lasted much longer than before. He completed a full one-tenth of the entire sequence, perfectly executing the part where he had previously gotten stuck.

However, Vili didn’t feel any joy upon accomplishing this.

The difficulty of coordinating the breathing rhythm and movements would only increase as he progressed. He would probably have to spend even more effort to complete his advancement to Knight. Still, Vili was a little grateful that his 3.6 Constitution made performing these movements a bit easier.

Even though he hadn’t fully mastered the Fencing of a Middle Level Knight’s Squire, his physical fitness was already at 3.6, far exceeding the requirement for a Senior Knight’s Squire, which was twice the constitution of an ordinary person. Fencing was just a combat skill, so it didn’t affect his cultivation of the Knight’s Breathing Technique.

’If my Intelligence Value were a little higher, my training speed should increase. Looks like I’ll have to hurry up and finish learning Fencing from Morion tomorrow. I never expected to run out of Intelligence Value so quickly...’

Vili considered this, shook his head, and continued to practice.

No one knew when the war would break out, so he had to complete his advancement to Knight as soon as possible.

Another hour passed, and his coordination of the movements and breathing rhythm had only improved by the slightest margin.

Vili was already starting to pant slightly. If not for his 3.6 Constitution, he never would have been able to practice for so long.

’What a grind...’

Vili stretched his body and was about to go to bed when he suddenly noticed a strange change in his body.

It seemed his strength had increased slightly. It wasn’t much, just a tiny improvement. Ever since he got the attribute panel, he had been keenly aware of every subtle change in his body.

With a thought, the Title Attribute Panel reappeared before his eyes.

[Vili Ferren—Constitution: 3.7; Intelligence: 1.5; Remaining attribute points: 0]

’This...’

Vili was stunned to discover that his Constitution, which had been 3.6, had risen to 3.7!

This was the first time Vili’s Constitution had increased naturally.

When Vili first arrived in this world, his Constitution was only 0.8. With normal development, it would have reached about 1 by the age of sixteen. But because of the boosts from the Title Attribute Panel, his Constitution had grown all the way to 3.6, so his natural growth had been basically negligible.

After all, with a constitution more than double that of an ordinary person, further natural growth was basically impossible. But now, he had pushed himself to his limit.

’Was this increase from the Frost Knight Breathing Technique?’

Vili thought about it and concluded that was only part of the reason. From his memory, the Frost Knight Breathing Technique was mainly for guidance and provided very little physical stimulation. This change likely occurred because his previous, continuous training had just been given a final push by the Knight’s Breathing Technique.

Having figured things out, Vili didn’t do anything else. He got into bed and quickly fell asleep.

「The next day.」

Morion had just finished drilling the first squad of Personal Guards and was about to deal with some administrative tasks when Vili found him.

Vili didn’t beat around the bush and directly explained that Olay had asked him to be Vili’s instructor.

Vili had originally considered bypassing Olay and having someone else teach him Fencing. However, he realized that if word of this got back to Olay, it would give the impression that he didn’t trust his teacher, so he never went through with it.

Now he didn’t have to worry. Olay was injured, and this time, the order had come directly from him.