Mixed Blessing System

"Ouch!" A cry of pain left the silver-haired young man's throat as he suddenly fell face-first to the ground.

In trying to activate his movement technique and run down that corridor, Lothur had thought that knowing the basics of the technique was enough for him to use it properly.

With that, just before he hit the ground, he had felt a particular weakness in his legs before he finally went off balance and fell to the ground.

'Damn it!'

'This feeling is like I just finished leg training at the gym!' He felt uncomfortable, realizing that actually, the weakness in his legs was a few times more significant than it would be after a leg day.

Feeling this while still slumped face down on the ground, Lothur looked at his legs in revelation, trying to understand what this meant. 'It seems there is a physical requirement to use this technique.'

'Is my Constitution too low for that?' He pondered silently, remembering that this was the lowest attribute of his status.

But upon closer examination of the situation, he soon realized that it could not be just that. 'No!'

'If it were only for my Constitution, I would at least have been able to perform some part of the movement of this technique. But I couldn't even perform the three basic steps...'

His eyes widened in realization as he thought of these things. 'It seems that just seeing the contents of the technique is not enough. I have to understand the fundamentals of it genuinely!"

And indeed, that was his current problem. The memory crystal he had acquired had shown him the steps necessary to use those techniques as if it were a lesson recorded by a cultivator for future generations.

However, such a thing did not only have the necessary external movements and theory behind the technique. In the memory crystal, there was also some of the understanding needed to use it. But this could only be absorbed if its user tried to sense it while training with the purpose of learning and not imitating.

And Lothur thought this made a lot of sense as if just observing techniques was enough to learn them; then no one would need to fight or pay for these things. No, it would be enough for a particular person to be willing to watch fighting daily, and such an individual would naturally learn valuable things.

Unfortunately, life was not so convenient!

Cultivators could even draw inspiration from the techniques of their opponents or from people they had watched fight up close. But this was not for the visual effect itself but for the feeling regarding how that individual used the laws of this world.

But doing this was not straightforward!

A memory crystal would leave behind the method of the technique without much restriction beyond the cultivator's own understanding of it. But learning something in use during a fight was a thousand times more complex than this other means because beyond the limits of talent, there was the way the laws were used.

During the use of a technique, the laws involved would mix with the free spiritual energy in the environment, with the different laws in the surroundings, with the feelings of its users, and so on.

In short, trying to learn a technique by observing its use was like distinguishing the smell of a specific substance in an aromatic soup from many other substances. In contrast, doing the same utilizing a memory crystal was like studying the smell of a single substance.

In any case, trying to imitate the realization of a technique was not enough to activate it successfully, and Lothur had just learned that in practice.

"Sigh..."

'I have to practice this more concentratedly!" He made up his mind before finally running towards an empty area on the northernmost side of this Frost family estate.

In such a place, Lothur knew that there was a small lawn that might be useful for him to exercise on. But not only that, this place was the training area for the servants of this institution, who he knew had to be busy with their responsibilities at this time.

The Frost family had many businesses in Peters City, and it was the responsibility of these servants to perform services such as delivering messages, carrying goods, solving some minor issues, etc.

And since it was not even dinner time yet in this region and the local businesses should still be open, this silver-haired young man felt that he would not be disturbed there.

Or rather, there at least the chances of him running into anyone were smaller, as the other training areas of this estate always had people present, regardless of the time of day.

Lothur wanted to keep his training secret not only because he did not want to draw attention to the sudden change in his characteristics. But also so that he would not have to meet certain troublesome people in this place.

The first reason worried him the most. However, as long as he spent a few days away from this place, he could find some justification for his sudden evolution in terms of talent.

That was the cultivation world, after all, a place full of treasures that could perform almost any kind of miracle.

As for the second problem, he was despised by many people in this family, and it might be painful to come into contact with some of these people when he still had no control over his own mouth...

With these thoughts in mind, he soon reached his destination.

...

While Lothur was training on the north side of the Frost estate, Annaliese had just knocked on her sister's residence door.

"Anna?" Viktoria said in surprise as she came across her twin sister. "Did something happen? Why do you look so upset?"

"Big sister, let's talk inside." Annaliese clenched her fist at the thought of Lothur, ready to rat out that young man.

"Oh?" Viktoria curiously looked at Annaliese but did as she should.

She then closed the door, and it did not take long to sit face to face with Annaliese around a small glass table.

On that table, there were some books she had been reading earlier and a cup of hot spiritual tea, which she used to drink while studying her family's business.

After serving her sister a drink and seeing the look on Annaliese's face, Viktoria sighed and said. "Anna, if you have something to say, get to the point. What's so serious for you to hesitate to tell your sister?"

Annaliese bit her lower lip and looked at the surroundings of that luxurious room, where there were several tasteful decorations and art paintings. But she did not waste much time escaping Viktoria's gaze and soon began to speak.

"Sister, I don't want to get involved in your affairs, but I think you should talk to Lothur."

"Lothur?" Viktoria's eyes widened in surprise. "Why should I talk to Lothur? Has he done something troubling? Maybe..."

Viktoria noticed the slight redness in Annaliese's face and soon suspected something.

She pressed her jaw together and then asked in a worried tone. "That rascal didn't try anything against you, right?"

Annaliese and Viktoria were twins, but although they looked alike, they were not identical.

However, even though not as talented and beautiful as her older sister, Annaliese was still a rare beauty and could easily be mistaken for Viktoria in certain situations.

Thinking about this, Viktoria soon began to worry about what her good-for-nothing husband could have done to get Annaliese to come over and talk to her.

'Don't tell me that man is courting my sister?'

But Annaliese soon gave Viktoria a different answer. "Sister, you won't believe it. I caught that rascal red-handed kissing another woman!"

"To make matters worse, this is not the first time!"

"Yesterday, I smelled a woman's scent coming from his body, and then when I followed him earlier today, I finally saw the jerk acting up!" She said, clearly annoyed, still not believing Lothur's indecency.

She then proceeded to tell what she had seen. "When I saw Lothur earlier..."

"What? He did that?" Viktoria's mouth dropped open in shock as she felt surprised for the first time in a long time.

...