Chương 106: 103. Full Focus Technique

Adolin took a few steps away and analyzed the second room. It was much like the previous one, except there were no apples. The trees were also different, their bark darker and their leaves a green with a hint of blue. The air smelled grassy, with a hint of mud. It was weird, as there really wasn't too much grass. The ground was mostly bare, with a few patches of moss around the trees. There weren't any rocks, just cold, hard earth. The room was silent, as no one spoke.

Clay looked confused as he kept glancing at everyone, even at him. Adolin just ignored the whole situation. He had no clue what to say or do. So, the next best thing, as he usually did, was to ignore it. It had never failed him before, so hopefully that wouldn't change that day. After a few long seconds, Eury was the first to break the silence.

"Did you find anything new?" he asked, his gaze wandering everywhere but toward the people in front of him. Adolin, for the first time, glanced at them. One was a young man in his early twenties, with chestnut hair, a spear, and a shield in his hands. The other man looked a bit younger than him, with long black hair tied back, and carried a long sword that rested on the ground with its sharp edge down. The last one was a girl. He guessed she was around the younger man's age.

She held a staff in her hand, bright brown with a small gemstone on top. Her hair was black, a shade lighter than Revel's, and it looked as if it almost shone in the bright sun above. Well, it was probably mana, but it did look and feel like a real sun. She reminded him of Ellen somewhat. Though he was probably wrong.

"Yeah, li… Eury," the girl said.

"The first room was the same; there were only three goblin nests spread throughout the forest. We took them down and entered the second room. The second room had a village of kobolds in the center of the forest." Eurynomos still avoided her gaze and nodded. It really was awkward. Adolin felt his skin prickle just from witnessing the whole thing. He really wanted to escape from the whole situation, but that seemed wrong somehow. When did he even start caring about that? He frowned…

inwardly, and counted the leaves on one particular tree that had caught his interest. Well, there were probably better things he could focus on, or he could just leave. Yet, he felt that if he left, he would only make things even worse. Clay, on the other hand, was doing better. He still glanced from person to person, but this time his gaze lingered more on Eury. He didn't really blame him. Adolin, too, would be confused if he hadn't guessed what had happened between them. Forty-one, forty-two… sixty.

There were a lot of leaves...

"So… umm…" Eury began.

"What's happening here?" Clay asked. Adolin returned to counting the leaves.

"Nothing much," Eury said.

"Just a slight misunderstanding that happened a few days ago…" Clay didn't say anything for a few moments and sheathed his sword.

"Well, get it cleared up if you want us to go deeper into the dungeon. Misunderstandings could get someone killed," Clay stated and strode away from the group. Adolin nodded. The boy was right. He had also broken the awful atmosphere and given him a chance to escape. Adolin strode behind Clay, nodding every other step. He had to admit, Clay was a genius for getting them out of it. He really appreciated it. Maybe teaching him an additional technique or skill would be enough to repay him for this.

Eury and his party didn't say anything at that and just stood in silence. At least, that's what happened until they were out of earshot. What happened after that, Adolin didn't want to know. A hundred meters later, Clay stopped by one of the bigger trees. Its crown created a perfect patch of shade on the ground. Adolin didn't really need shade, since his robe—the dungeon artifact—regulated his body temperature. Wherever he was, it felt like he was constantly in the shade.

He was beginning to like the artifact even more as the days passed.

"What's up with them?" Clay asked. Adolin just shrugged. He didn't escape that situation just to talk about it a few minutes later.

"That's not really an answer."

"True… I'm not sure what their problem is, so I can't help you there." That wasn't a lie, as he had only guessed what had happened earlier. He could also be wrong about the whole situation.

"Who's the boy, anyway?"

"I found him in the woods when we came to the city, and the little brat has been stuck to me ever since."

"Like the kitten?"

"No," Adolin said, shaking his head. For one, he had started enjoying the company of the little kitten. The Demon King was just an annoying old man… demon, stuck in a young boy's body. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. How did Clay even know about how he found the kitten? The only people he'd told were Revel and Lira. Ugh. An awkward silence followed, which was broken by Clay a few minutes later.

"Thanks." Adolin tilted his head.

"What for?" He hadn't really done anything.

"For taking me out of the estate and into a dungeon. I really needed that. I was beginning to think that I wouldn't have the courage to go back into a dungeon." Adolin slowly nodded.

"Did you have any trouble entering?" Clay chuckled softly.

"Well, let's just say that if I were entering with anyone else, I might not have gone in." Adolin just smiled. Well, his guess was probably correct, and Clay was aware that he was much stronger than he had ever revealed to him before. Or could it be something else? No. He was overthinking it again.

"You're not going to ask?" Clay said after a minute of silence. It seemed he had escaped one drama just to be offered the chance to learn about another. There was a very small part of his mind that was interested in what had happened with his party. But that was just a very small part of his mind, and the rest really didn't want to hear it.

"No," Adolin said. He hoped it would be enough to spare him all the details Clay wanted to share. The boy just nodded, and silence returned. The silence was pleasant to his mind, but he really wanted to start his… apology. He had no idea what kind of skill Clay needed, but he was pretty sure the boy needed a breathing technique for calming his mind and sharpening his instincts. The technique he had in mind wasn't hard to learn; the hard part was using it in combat.

The technique required a clear mind and his full attention on what was in front of him. It wasn't created for combat. It was created by a monk in the Bellien Monastery to help the new monks with meditation. After a few people learned it and spread it, it wasn't long before warriors discovered how useful the technique was in a fight. Small adjustments were made to make it more useful in combat, which led to the creation of the Full Focus Technique.

The name was lame, but it did describe what the technique was best at. Focusing all of your attention on a battle. Now, how was he supposed to teach Clay? Hey Clay, breathe like this. Why? Because I said so! The small conversation he had in his head really made him cringe.

"I've been meaning to say… back in the dungeon. Though, after everything that happened, I didn't really have any time to do so," Adolin started, hoping it sounded much better to Clay's ears. Because every word he said felt wrong or something… Clay just nodded, waiting for his next words.

"Well, don't get this wrong… I watched your battles against the murder rabbits and the beasts that came after. So… ummm… it's not that you performed badly per se. It's just that you took quite a bit of time to focus your mind on the battle."

"Yeah, I'm well aware of that. My mentor tried his best to train my mind, but he always said that I needed more. Finding a party to adventure with was also his idea. To experience more battles and train my instincts or something like that." He chuckled.

"Well, he wasn't wrong, but the whole thing did help me train some other instincts that I didn't really think I would need." Other instincts? Was that Clay's way of bringing back the drama?

"Good for you," Adolin said.

"You know what breathing techniques are?" Clay nodded.

"Yeah, my family has a few."

"Awesome! I won't have to explain that part. Now, the technique I think would help you improve in combat is meant to clear your head and focus your mind only on the battle. A side effect of the technique—well, maybe it was intentional, which I don't really think so—is that it sharpens your instincts. You can react much faster and move better than you can now. It's a really good technique a friend taught me."

"A friend?" Adolin just nodded, refusing to expand on it. Now, he needed to somehow convey his knowledge of the technique in terms that Clay could understand easily and precisely share the breathing steps Clay would need to practice, and perhaps use the technique effectively before they left the dungeon. At that, his mind went blank. He knew how to perform the technique instinctively since it had been a long time since he'd learned it, and he often used it when they faced a great number of enemies.

The technique was useful against a small number of enemies as well, but he had better-suited techniques for that. The best way his mind could come up with was to use the technique himself and study what he did, then somehow share that with Clay. Training… well, sharing a technique with Clay seemed much more difficult than he'd thought it would be. He didn't waste any time and used Levitate, floating in the air as he went into a meditative pose.

It might have been a bit too much, but he really didn't want to dirty himself. Even though he had Cleanse. There was no reason to use the skill for something so trivial. The skill was better suited for cleaning himself after the battles that would come in the dungeon. Adolin closed his eyes and cleared his mind. His mind didn't remain clear for too long, as he found the first step he would need to teach Clay. Clearing his head. He had no idea how to teach that. It would be Clay's job to learn it himself.

He cleared his mind again and focused inwardly on his core. The way his friend had taught him back in the academy was to focus on his mana core and imitate its pulsing. Every pulse would be a quick breath, while the longer pulses would be deep breaths. Explaining that would be the hardest part, as the only way to learn it was to meditate on your core for a few hours, learning how it pulsed and when. Adolin still had no idea how or why the technique worked. His best guess was that the monk had found it by accident.

The monk's original version was a lot less complicated and easier to explain. But after warriors modified it, the technique became much more effective in battle—and much harder to teach. The pulsing of the cores was different for every core, so his guess was that it had to do with the rhythm of the mana flowing through his core, or something similar. Once, he had even thought about experimenting and learning more about it, but now he really didn't care why a random technique worked.

His time was valuable, and there were hundreds of different things he wanted to focus on.

"Now," Adolin said as he opened his eyes and felt ready… well, ready was not a word he would use. He still had no idea if Clay would even be able to focus on his core, as he still didn't understand how magic worked in the new world.

"Sit down in a meditative pose." Clay chuckled but sat down on the cold ground. Soon, he was in a meditative pose with his elbows on his knees.

"What now?"

"Close your eyes and focus on your core." Clay took a deep breath and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he nodded. That did make Adolin feel better. Clay had probably managed to focus on his core, and the nod was reassuring. Since he didn't ask how to do it, Adolin was sure the boy had figured it out.

"Now, can you explain to me what you see? More specifically, the pulses of your core."

"It's… It's kinda difficult to explain," Clay said.

"True… well, a quick pulse is a quick breath. A larger pulse is a deep breath. The pauses between the pulses are the time you hold your breath."

"So, I need to watch my core every time I want to use the technique?" Clay asked.

"Well, not really. The rhythm at which the core pulses is always the same. As soon as you learn the rhythm and can replicate it during a fight, that's when you know you've mastered the technique."

"That's all?"

"You also need a clear head. Like, really clear. The only things in your head should be the rhythm, and after you manage to get into it, your focus should be on your enemies." Clay simply nodded and didn't say anything else. His breathing changed. A few quick breaths followed by a few seconds of holding it. Then, he took a deep breath. If Adolin didn't know what was happening, he would have guessed that Clay had forgotten how to breathe. A few minutes passed as Adolin studied Clay.

The boy hadn't said anything and kept his focus on his breathing. Then, a small smile appeared on his face before it disappeared.

"What happened?" Adolin asked.

"The blessing acknowledged a new skill. And just as that happened, my focus fell off…" Clay stared into empty air for a few moments before his eyes widened.

"Four… four freaking levels..."