Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

"About two hours," a young man named Doug said in a deep voice.

"And you? Arturo"

The young man named Arturo's face turned slightly red as he said, "Half a day."

Suddenly, everyone's gaze fixed intently on Rein, in complete silence!

"Very good, faster than I had anticipated. You have passed the first training task."

"Now, take these tough seaweeds to Bask, and then come with me." Master Ganther, rarely showing a hint of a smile, led Rein into a stone hut.

"Sit cross-legged on the stone slab," Master Ganther pointed to a large stone slab in the middle of the stone hut and said.

"Yes, Master."

"Now I will teach you a set of Underwater Breathing Technique, which is actually called Inner Breathing Technique, a kind of auxiliary method handed down from ancient times that can integrate with the Knight Breathing Method you have been cultivating to further transform your body."

"No matter what breathing technique you practiced before, this Inner Breathing Technique is compatible with it."

Huh?

Wasn't he supposed to be learning swordsmanship?

Why is he suddenly learning this Inner Breathing Technique?

However, learning something useful is always a good thing.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Rein found the sound familiar—it was Bask's footsteps.

Sure enough, someone outside the door said, "Master, I have ground the tough seaweed juice."

"Bring it in!" said Master Ganther.

Bask brought in half a barrel of green liquid that emitted a strong fragrance of vegetation mixed with a hint of the sea.

Rein knew this must be the tough seaweed he had cut down, but he still didn't know what purpose the juice served after being pressed.

"To learn to breathe through your skin rather than your mouth and nose will be quite difficult at first," Ganther continued speaking.

"Breathing through the skin is a concept that's hard to grasp for the average person. If you apply the fresh tough seaweed juice on your skin, it will help you accelerate the understanding of this Inner Breathing."

"However, the juice of the tough seaweed evaporates very quickly in the air, about half an hour later, its effect in aiding understanding will begin to weaken."

"This is the second training task. I hope you can master this Inner Breathing Technique within three days. If you need more tough seaweed juice, go back to the sea and cut some more." After finishing speaking, Master Ganther left the stone hut.

Meanwhile, Bask muttered to himself in confusion, "Huh, strange. Wasn't it always within seven days? How come it has changed to three days for Rein?"

"Could it be that Master Ganther sees something in Rein? That shouldn't be it...."

After hearing Master Ganther's words, Rein suddenly had an epiphany.

So that's it.

He now understood the significance of the first training task.

The first step was challenging, demanding a high level of the Knight's Breathing Method and swordsmanship from those being tested.

Even for a seasoned Knight, it would probably take several hours and multiple attempts to complete the task, and even more difficult for a full-fledged Knight.

But it was a threshold, only by meeting this requirement, the subsequent training content would have meaning.

It turned out that the tough seaweed was meant to speed up the understanding of this Inner Breathing Technique.

Clearly, if you take a long time just to barely complete the 'cutting tough seaweed' task,

then the subsequent task—'master the Inner Breathing Technique within three days'—without the help of the juice, it almost becomes an impossible task.

Therefore, Rein had come to understand that these training tasks were likely interconnected.

Rein took off all his clothes and smeared the pale green seaweed juice over his skin.

Soon, he felt a slight cooling substance seemingly seeping slowly into his skin. Rein held his breath, focusing on the sensation.

Half an hour later, the system prompt rang:

[You have trained in the Inner Breathing Technique, insights increased!]

[You have comprehended a new skill—Inner Breathing Technique]

[Your skill Inner Breathing Technique has been enhanced, Experience +1]

...

Excellent!

Looking at the new skill that appeared on the Knight (Transcendent) panel, Rein had now learned the Inner Breathing Technique, although it was just at level 1 (1/100).

Rein glanced at his attribute panel:

Name: Rein Carlan

Occupation: Wizard Apprentice (Transcendent) lv4 (345/1000) / Knight (Transcendent) lv4 (277/1000) / Beast Tamer (Transcendent) lv5 (64/2000) / Armorsmith lv1 (17/100)

Constitution: 21

Strength: 19

Agility: 17

Spirit: 25

Remaining attribute points: 2

Remaining Skill Points: 6

Although he had six remaining Skill Points, after a brief consideration, Rein decided not to rush into using them but to enhance step by step as per Master Ganther's instructions.

After all, with three days' time, if any issues arose, he could still solve them by using the points then.

Because Rein vaguely felt that every step arranged by Master Ganther had some purpose behind it, which ultimately was likely meant to help the apprentices comprehend something.

After Rein finished using the bucket of rugged seaweed juice, he went back to the seaside.

This time, when Rein arrived at the rocks, seven or eight young people all looked his way, because they knew that Rein wasn't just any noble progeny, but a mighty force to be reckoned with.

However, Rein had no desire to chat with them at that moment.

Having just continuously used the rugged seaweed juice, he had a vague enlightenment about the Inner Breathing Technique, so he needed to hurry and harvest some more rugged seaweed to strike while the iron was hot and speed up mastering the Inner Breathing Technique.

Rein's burly figure slowly submerged into the seawater.

Instantly, Rein felt the coldness of the seawater and the pressure coming from all directions.

And unlike last time, Rein could vaguely sense that his skin was "breathing."

The magnitude was very slight, but he could faintly perceive it thanks to his keen senses.

If previously, his mouth and nose breathing accounted for 99%, and skin breathing for 1%,

now, his mouth and nose breathing accounted for 95%, skin breathing from 1%→5%.

Rein closed his eyes, carefully sensing and experiencing this change.

After a while, Rein began to swing the Glimmering Greatsword, harvesting the rugged seaweed!

And comprehension of the Inner Breathing Technique allowed him to slightly extend his stay in the sea.

....

When Rein dragged a bucket-sized bundle of rugged seaweed and slowly walked up to the shore rocks, the setting winter sun splashed over the sea and Rein, bathing him in light.

For both the young people around the white lighthouse and those practicing swordsmanship on the island, the sight of Rein was aglow with brilliant golden light.
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And as Rein boldly stepped onto the shore, for a moment, he seemed like a deity descending to earth.

Youthful Bask muttered to himself as he watched the scene: "The gap between people does exist."

"But it shouldn't be this vast!"

Suddenly, he realized something and quickly ran towards Rein.

From his posture, it looked like he intended to take the rugged seaweed from Rein's hands and volunteer to grind it...