Chapter 269 - Blade Mastery

Once the guild leader had explained to Julius just how the system in which a blade and its owner become in sync, je forced Julius to hold his blade and simply concentrate on a single goal. That being to kill. This was because the goal of a blade was to kill no matter the situation as that was why it was built. It's only ever purpose and the reason why it exists is to cut others down without any mercy. Seeing as such, Julius would need to learn to erase all other thoughts from his head and make it so that he can only concentrate on a single thing at a time. That being to kill. However there is a slight problem with this which Julius would notice very early on in his training.

"Wait, you mentioned that I would be only able to focus on a single thing at a time right? Does that mean the only thing I can do is attack? After all, that's the only way that I could draw out the full power of my blade?" Julius asked to which the guild leader gave a puzzled look before replying.

"Well to a certain extent, yes. You see, a blade is mainly used to kill. However, depending on how skilled the swordsman is, he can use the blade to block the attacks of others. As such, you may be able to do that, however I've only been able to see the SSS class member from my guild accomplish that a few times. However, it's been quite a while since I last saw him so that might have changed. The point is that it's a very hard thing to accomplish and will take countless amounts of hours with no break for you to activate something even remotely close to that state. Nevertheless, the important thing now is to focus on one thing at a time," said the guild master as he explained to Julius.

Hearing this, Julius began to train extensively. He knew that there were those around him who were focusing on increasing their levels as quickly as possible. After all, it made sense since they all had wanted to become the first one to reach level 100 so that they could become the emperor of heaven. They had seen the luxury which had come along with the position and as such they all wanted to get their hands on the prize. If it meant that they didn't have to work another day in their life, they were willing to play as dirty as possible and never even take a single break. However even while knowing this, Julius didn't even for a moment doubt that he was going to become the emperor of heaven. If it was due to his experience or from his sheer arrogance, it didn't matter. Only time would tell who would truly become the emperor of heaven. The rest was nothing but a waiting game as they all tried to achieve that one goal.

As for Julius though, he had been training as it was his belief that to accomplish anything, the base needs to be built first before the main part of the system can be put in place. His training now was that base which he would use to climb the ranks and become the emperor of heaven. 

Although he wasn't having much success with his training, Julius continued to try over and over again as he genuinely believed that sooner or later he would manage to achieve the task which he had wanted and as such he didn't want to take a break. Making a breakthrough in his training would mean a lot more than a few seconds of air through his lungs which was why even if it felt like he was suffocating himself, Julius continued to try over and over again.

He closed his eyes once more with rather irritation as he felt that even after a couple days of constant so called training, he wasn't getting anywhere which would have been a valid reason if Julius hadn't been failing to see the progress in himself. Although miniscule, all that mattered was that Julius was making progress.

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During og Julius' meditation sessions, he fell into a passed out state as he had been sleep deprived for so long. However the guild leader didn't wake him up as he saw that Julius needed some rest after all he had been training for what seemed like an eternity non stop.

During his sleeping state, Julius had a strange dream. Much one like the one he experienced when he was cultivating in his sleep. However, unlike that peaceful place, this one was constantly being interrupted by bubbles. They just kept making that annoying popping sound which didn't allow Julius to rest. They were just endless and as such he quickly whacked them all away which caused it to be all quiet so that he could rest.

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A few seconds later, Julius awoke from his slumber with a gasp as he had realised what he had been missing. He had finally found out what was causing him to not be able to draw out the power of his blade any longer. Although the guild leader had told hun directly, Julius needed to see it for himself and he had understood what the guild leader meant for the first time.

Julius began to close his eyes and began to meditate before quickly taking the blade on his hand and stabbing it right through his palm. Seeing this, the guild leader was left utterly shocked and speechless as he had believed that Julius had finally lost it and decided to end his own life which couldn't have been further from the truth.

As would be expected, Julius let out a cry in pain and pure agony when the blade struck him which further confused the guild leader as Julius had literally done that to himself. However before the guild leader could say anything, something strange took place.

Julius stopped yelling abruptly before closing his eyes and starting to take a couple deep breaths as calmly as possible. It was as if he had completely changed. Julius felt as if he was the king of the world.

"Blade Link 100%."

"Yes! I did it!" Julius yelled out to which the guild leader finally realised what Julius had attempted to do and somehow managed to succeed in doing so.

"You've got quite a sharp head don't you?" the guild leader asked as Julius passed out of exhaustion.

The reason that Julius somehow managed to access the state in which he was aligned with his blade was because he had forced himself into a situation where the only thing he could think about was to kill. That being which just life was in danger.

Due to the number of experiences he had with death, Julius' fight or flight instincts turned into simply fighting instincts. As such, whenever Julius ran into opponents which he could not defeat with ease and began to doubt himself, instead of running away, he went in head first as that was the only thing which he knew he could do.

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A few hours later, Julius once more awoke with a gasp however this time he was confused.

"please tell me I managed to actually achieve the link with my blade. Please

tell me that I wasn't dreaming it," said Julius to which the guild leader stopped in and informed him that he was in fact capable of doing the action of creating a perfect link with his blade even if it was for nothing but a mere moment.

"Nicely done Julius. All I would like to ask is how you managed to figure it out so quickly. Even for the most expert swordsmen in this world, this action can take a couple years to perform for the first time. Granted that it does get easier over the years, it still takes quite a long time for someone to master it which all depends on if they're even willing to put in the work for it. As such, it makes no sense as to why you were able to do this in just a couple minutes. So tell me, how were you able to do this?" the guild leader asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Well it's really not that complicated although I do have to admit that I did get lucky since I had it revealed to me in a dream. It was as if I was sleeping in a pool of water which I wanted to relax in, however there were so many bubbles around me which annoyed both my face and ears as they were obnoxious. As such, I simply whacked my hand at them and forcibly removed them. That was when I awoke with a gasp as I realised that I could apply that same concept to my blade.. I just had to forcibly remove all distractions which was possible through the use of the blade itself which I would stab my hand with to increase my focus," Julius explained.