Rogue Villain-Chapter 174: Seaside Training

Ackster put Mio on the ground next to him. He didn’t mind Mio’s presence, but he felt that it would be easier on Mio if he wasn’t on top of Ackster when he was doing dumb things.

Mio didn’t mind and started exploring the nearby area now that all the monsters and beasts in the surroundings had died and became a pile of food slightly further up on the shore, where rock turned to grass, so that the blood didn’t attract a bunch of aquatic beasts and monsters.

Ackster saw Mio wobble away, but he wasn’t concerned. Sometimes, it felt like Mio was smarter, or at least more clearheaded, than he was. They knew what they were doing.

Instead, he focused on himself.

According to Wilma, a lot of Houses, families, groups, or whatever else had their own method of Last Stand, which would bring out potential specific to the mana training methods they had trained in. But Last Stand was also a natural survival mechanism, so it was entirely possible to learn how to do it on one’s own.

It was just that the easiset way was to almost die, but Ackster had already tried that multiple times, and it didn’t work.

However, he already had his own Last Stand.

Since he wasn’t sure, he asked Wilma about it. Surprisingly enough, Limit Breaker and Last Stand weren’t the same. They were similar, but Limit Breaker was, in short, better. The backlash wasn’t as severe, and Ackster didn’t need to be on death’s door to activate it.

While Last Stand unleashed the safekept strength of the human body, Limit Breaker did that and more.

However, Limit Breaker didn’t consume life force the same way Last Stand did, so it wouldn’t do the trick, at least not in its current state.

Wilma and Ackster had discussed and agreed that it would be difficult to learn Last Stand off the bat, even if that would be easier than learning how to sense and control his life force. But what would be easier than that would be to use Limit Breaker as a stepping stone and either modify and change it or develop Last Stand from it.

Most importantly, the process for Ackster to do something like that was simple and straightforward, right up his alley.

He just had to overuse Limit Breaker until it and the successive backlash started wearing on his body and life force. It was the method most likely to work in Ackster’s current state and with his previous experiences.

However, there were two risks. It could elave him with permanent damage that Strong Body and Stubborn Well-Being couldn’t handle yet. And if it failed, and Ackster didn’t learn Last Stand or something similar, he would have sharpened his life force even more. He would leak even more vitality and become even more attractive as a snack to those who could sense it.

But if there was one thing Ackster was good at, it was taking foolhardy risks. So, he sat down and concentrated.

Usually, Limit Breaker activated when Ackster had reached his limits. That was also almost always the minimum requirement for Ackster to activate it on his own. He had to at least be close to his current limits in terms of strength, endurance, or speed to manually trigger Limit Breaker.

But now, he was sitting still and admiring the ocean. He wasn’t doing anything strenous, much less enough to reach his limits.

However, he needed to be calm, collected, and concentrated on his body and the acitavtion of Limit Breaker in order to learn how to control and master the skill. He couldn’t do that if he was lifting enough weights to shatter his spine or fighting with his life on the line.

Wilma had also said that this kind of mediation would be good for when he finally decided to learn to start sensing his life force properly and for when he would start training his mana. So, although it was the most tedious training Ackster had done, he didn’t complain.

Ackster had to admit that it felt weird to have an urge to complain about not putting his life in mortal danger. But at the same time, it was a slight eye-opener. He didn’t have to walk on the thin line between life and death to grow stronger. There were other methods as well.

Of course, almost dying and being reckless came with its own kind of growth as the rewards were equal to the risks.

Ackster stopped thinking useless thoughts and focused on his body as he tried to activate Limit Breaker.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t as simple as merely wishing it active when he was in a calm and non-stressed state. Nothing happened.

Ackster didn’t give up, but not seeing any kind of progress made him reluctant to continue this impossible path. He still tried, though, as he thought about what else he could do to force Limit Breaker to activate when he didn’t need or had a use for it.

Without anything else to go on, Ackster thought to the times he had used Limit Breaker in battle or tense situations that required his body to give an extra gear. Maybe he could find a clue or a hint by remembering the sensations of previous activations.

However, most of those situationas had been tense, and Ackster had been too busy thinking about or doing other things to perceive the detailed sensations of when he activated Limit Breaker.

Most of the time it just felt like his body was reinvigorated or perhaps like he had consumed performance enhancing drugs.

But, as with everything, there were exceptions.

Ackster faintly remembered a feeling of liberation—as if a pair of shackles had loosened around his entire body. Like a weight had been removed and he could freely move his body the way he wanted and needed.

He wasn’t quite sure when that had been since most of those sensations and feelings melted together in his memory. But that didn’t matter.

Ackster had a visualization to go on and keep in mind as he tried to activate Limit Breaker. Remove the shackles. Break the Limits.