Chapter 187: Mastery Through Obsession
After an hour of observing the wind, Tyr attempted another try at catching the petals.
This time, he managed to get four successfully, but that looked to be the new limit.
He took a step back. 'One hour is not enough. I need to go all in and master each movement these petals could ever have, and ensure a 100% success rate.'
When he said this to himself, a thought appeared in his mind which made him chuckle slightly.
'This doesn't really feel like the correct way to go about it... there is probably a much easier way. But... as long as I pass this test, it doesn't matter. My way will be the right way all the same.'
Deciding to not take any shortcuts, Tyr spent some time wandering around the monastery with hopes of finding a pen and paper that he could use.
Being a place of scholarship, it didn't take long for Tyr to obtain what he was looking for.
He got multiple notebooks and headed back to the plum blossom garden, where he then proceeded to take almost all of his clothes off except for his undergarments.
'If I want to feel the wind, I shouldn't block out most of my body. The reason for small hairs on an animal's body, including the human one, is for sensory purposes. This way, I will be able to feel the wind around me at a much higher volume.'
And so, he began his studying again.
To not forget, he wrote down how each petal moved according to the wind.
He did this for several hours, filling up dozens of pages with intricate notes.
Monks made their way past the garden, able to see Tyr continue his training from afar as they passed the hallways that connected one temple to another building.
Some laughed at the seemingly lunatic young man, who was naked for some reason and standing still with a fierce look of focus in his eyes.
Others were simply bewildered as they saw the young man write obsessively in a book every few seconds.
Tyr wasn't bothered by any of this. In fact, he was so concentrated that he didn't even notice anyone else.
Soon enough, the day stretched late into the afternoon.
To test whether his studying was working, Tyr gave another go at catching the petals.
Not a real attempt, but a simple experiment.
After conducting it, he realized another flaw in his method.
He balanced 8 petals this time, but he noticed that he still couldn't advance.
The reason for this became obvious to him instantly. After all, up until now, he had made sure everything was taken into consideration.
So, whatever was missing was going to stick out like a sore thumb.
Some petals still didn't follow the pattern of the wind.
Tyr gathered all of these together on the floor and stared at them intensely, noticing that each one of them had slightly deformed curves.
While others had naturally separate curves from their counterparts—which would make perfect sense as to why they would react differently to the same wind flow.
Tyr grinned upon realizing this.
'Perfect... this is why I did the test in the first place. To find errors like these.'
He was happy, seeing another obstacle he could overcome through sheer practice and perfection.
As night soon eclipsed the horizon, Tyr decided to lean more into studying the shape of the petals instead of focusing on the wind.
This was mostly due to the fact that he couldn't see the petals at night, but also because it was something he had put less studying into.
'I think I like this routine. As long as I can see, I will study the petals' movement according to the wind. And when night falls, I will study the shape of each petal formation this damn tree can give me.'
Tyr was honed in like a hawk, not willing to stop until he succeeded.
'There won't be a single petal that will elude me.' Stay connected with mvl
And so, he gathered every petal he could find, carefully sketching their unique patterns in another notebook.
He continued this through the night, eventually filling up the entire notebook with unique petals.
The next morning, he tested out how many petals he could catch again.
Remembering everything he had been working on for the past 24 hours, he didn't waste any movements and successfully caught 13 petals on his finger.
Tyr smiled as he caught that last petal. 'I don't even have to try. I know that's my limit for now. But as I expected, my progress has gone up significantly...'
"What... in the world?" a voice came from behind Tyr.
Tyr turned, allowing all the petals to fall to the floor. "Oh, you're back. Good... I was getting a bit hungry," he said to the young monk who had come to give him food the day prior as well.
"I-I... h-how many petals... what?" The monk was at an utter loss for words.
Tyr smirked, walking toward the monk. "That ain't nothin'... just a few thousand more petal formations and a couple hundred more wind reactions to master, and I will capture every petal on this damn tree..."
"What?" The monk was puzzled as to what Tyr was saying. "What in the world are you talking about?"
"Don't worry about that... I think you will see in a few days what I'm talking about."
...
The monk left the basket of food and exited the garden with his mouth still slightly agape, his gaze void of any real thought.
To him, seeing Tyr catch that many petals was like witnessing a miracle. It was simply impossible, and something that each monk aimed to perfect over many years. Despite this, Tyr seemed to be somehow rampaging past this test as if it was nothing.
However, Tyr wasn't just passing the test with talent and ease. He was working as hard as possible, forcibly erasing all possibilities of failure through sheer perfectionism.
Speaking of forcibly, Tyr managed to stuff the disgusting, bitter food balls down his throat.
After that, he got dressed, took the two S Grade pills, and headed to the temple to cultivate.
Before arriving at the temple, however, Tyr decided to make his way into the center of the monastery—where the market was—to see if he could find a good cultivation technique for the assets that he possessed right now...