Chapter 147: Chapter 145 - Wind ArmorStep after step...

I walked inside the training dimension.

It was a vast green open space...

Similar to the tournament arena.

The air was calm...

And the grassy ground stretched endlessly into the distance.

I stood in the center.

Summoned several blades.

Then...

Tried once more to create the smallest number possible.

The smallest blade I had managed before...

Was five centimeters.

But my current plan...

Required something even smaller.

I continued trying.

Again and again.

Then...

Within a short time, I succeeded in creating a blade only three centimeters long.

"Not enough."

I whispered.

"It has to be smaller."

I kept trying.

An hour passed...

Then another.

Nothing changed.

The smallest size...

Remained three centimeters.

Considering how quickly I achieved the three-centimeter blade...

I had assumed a bit more time would make further progress possible.

So I continued.

Suddenly...

A headache began taking hold of me.

The unmistakable warning sign.

I tried again...

Then changed the shape of the blades.

Circular...

Star-shaped...

Rectangular.

Every single time...

The limit remained three centimeters.

The headache worsened.

The image of failure slowly began forming inside my mind.

"Damn it..."

I muttered.

The blades around me vanished.

I sat down on the ground.

Placed my hand against my head.

The pain was sharp...

As though something were pressing against my brain from the inside.

"Why?"

I whispered angrily.

It didn’t seem impossible.

Rather...

It felt as though some invisible limit was stopping me.

I closed my eyes.

Reconstructed a blade inside my mind.

Smaller...

Sharper...

Less consumption.

But...

The moment it reached that size...

The structure collapsed instantly.

Suddenly...

I stopped.

My eyes narrowed.

"Collapsed?"

I whispered.

I slowly raised my hand.

Formed another blade.

Three centimeters.

I observed it carefully.

Then...

Gradually slowed its rotation.

Little by little.

Until the blade became nearly motionless.

And in the next moment...

It shrank slightly.

My eyes widened.

"There it is."

I whispered quickly.

But...

Poof!

The blade vanished immediately.

Silence filled the area.

Then...

I began laughing softly.

"So that’s how it works."

I stood up again.

Excitement returned to my eyes.

From the very beginning...

I had been trying to shrink the blade while maintaining the same rotational force.

But that was the mistake.

The smaller the size became...

The harder it was to maintain stability.

That was why...

The current limit was three centimeters.

"If I want something smaller..."

I whispered.

"Then I need to change the nature of the rotation itself."

The image of success slowly replaced failure inside my mind.

I formed another three-centimeter blade.

Slowed its movement little by little...

Then...

Began shrinking it.

It shrank for a moment.

I smiled.

Suddenly...

It vanished again.

"Damn it!"

I cursed.

"One moment of instability... and everything collapsed." 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

I started trying again.

The process was slow.

Simply slowing the blade’s rotation...

Took time.

But—

I closed my eyes.

Extended my hand.

Created a small stable blade from the very beginning.

Then attempted to shrink it.

It actually shrank.

2.5 centimeters.

Then disappeared.

"Hahaha... good progress."

I whispered.

"I understand now."

I said.

"Before, I was creating large blades and shrinking them afterward... maybe that prevents them from becoming smaller."

After understanding the principle...

I tried again.

Two hours later...

I threw myself onto the ground in exhaustion.

My accumulation was completely drained.

My mental abilities had reached their limit.

And the headache still remained.

I raised my hand over my face.

Then slowly sighed.

"2.5 centimeters."

I whispered.

"After all that effort."

But...

Despite the exhaustion...

A faint smile remained on my face.

Because I had realized something important.

I hadn’t failed.

I had already broken the previous limit.

Before...

Three centimeters had been an absolute wall.

But now...

I had reached 2.5.

Which meant the path itself was correct.

I closed my eyes.

Replayed everything inside my head.

Every time the blade collapsed...

The reason was always the same.

Instability.

The smaller the blade became...

The more terrifyingly sensitive it grew.

Any slight disturbance in rotation...

Any fluctuation in accumulation...

Any mental distraction...

And it would instantly collapse.

"This is like..."

I whispered.

"Balancing a needle on a moving thread."

Slowly, I stood up again.

Despite the exhaustion.

I extended my hand once more.

But this time...

I didn’t create a blade.

Instead...

I created a tiny point of wind.

No rotation.

No sharpness.

Just...

A condensed mass of air.

The tiny point trembled above my palm.

Then...

Vanished.

But I wasn’t annoyed.

Instead, my smile widened further.

"So this is where it begins."

I whispered.

Previously...

I had always thought of blades as weapons from the moment they were formed.

But now...

I was beginning to understand.

First...

I needed to learn how to create stable microscopic wind structures.

Then...

Turn them into blades later.

My eyes slowly widened.

"If I succeed..."

I whispered.

"I’ll possess thousands of blades at minimal cost."

Then suddenly...

My thoughts halted.

My eyes narrowed.

"No..."

I whispered slowly.

"Maybe..."

I immediately sat upright.

Excitement returned to my exhausted mind.

"Maybe I don’t need blades at all."

I quickly exited the dimension...

Then instructed the cave to prepare a fast-rest dimension.

I needed to restore my accumulation before continuing.

After an entire day...

Inside the accelerated rest dimension...

I emerged.

Then immediately returned to the training dimension.

I extended my hand.

Summoned wind.

Then pushed it outward.

It multiplied rapidly.

Then...

I guided it to surround my body.

Like a transparent shield.

The wind began rotating around my entire body.

Then something resembling an air armor slowly formed.

Grass scattered around me.

Transparent currents spun around my arms...

My chest...

My legs.

Slowly...

The air grew denser.

Until its distortions became visible.

"Good..."

I whispered.

I extended my hand forward.

Launched a small wind blade toward the shield.

Swoooosh...

The blade collided against the rotating air.

Then...

Deflected.

My eyes widened.

"It worked?"

I whispered.

But...

In the next instant—

The shield completely collapsed.

Poof!

The wind scattered in all directions.

And pain slammed into my head once more.

"Damn it."

I cursed.

The success lasted only one second.

But...

That single second was enough.

A slow smile spread across my face.

Because I had felt it.

The moment of impact.

The blade...

Hadn’t pierced the shield.

Instead...

It had been pushed aside.

"Not solid defense."

I whispered.

"But a change in trajectory."

Excitement immediately returned.

From the beginning...

I had thought of defense as a wall.

Like the Puppet Lord’s shell.

Or an ice barrier.

But wind...

Wasn’t a wall.

Wind...

Pushed.

Deflected.

Changed direction.

"That’s why..."

I whispered.

"I won’t need overwhelming density."

I raised my hand again.

This time...

I didn’t attempt to surround my whole body.

Instead...

I focused the wind around only my arm.

The air began spinning.

Then...

I compressed it further.

The air became thinner...

Faster...

And more stable.

I extended my other hand.

Released another blade.

It struck the rotating wind.

Suddenly...

It deflected again.

But...

Much more violently this time.

Even the blade itself...

Lost its rotational balance and dispersed.

My smile widened.

"There we go."

I whispered.

If I could...

Change the trajectory of attacks...

And disrupt their balance...

Then maybe...

I didn’t need to fully block attacks at all.

And in the next moment...

Another idea appeared in my mind.

One that made my heart pound.

"If the shield moves with my body..."

I whispered slowly.

"Then maybe..."

I raised my eyes.

"I can make the wind rotate around the attack itself."

"This is incredible."

I whispered.

"But I shouldn’t think about that right now."

For now...

I needed to master the shield first.

It didn’t need to stay active for long.

But...

It definitely had to last more than a single second.

I returned to practicing again.

The air shield surrounded me.

The instant I focused on anything else...

The shield collapsed.

I tried again.

And again.

Hours later...

I collapsed from exhaustion.

Unable to move.

I still couldn’t maintain it for more than one second.

But I understood...

This wouldn’t be easy.

I left.

After another day inside the accelerated rest dimension...

I restored my accumulation and returned once again.

I tried again.

And by the end of the day...

Nothing had changed.

After five days...

I finally succeeded in maintaining the shield for two full seconds.

Only two seconds.

But to me...

It felt like opening an entirely new door.

I stood in the center of the training dimension.

The wind rotated around me.

Transparent distortions wrapped around my body.

The grass beneath my feet...

Bent continuously under the pressure of the air currents.

"Two seconds."

I whispered.

Then...

Poof.

The shield collapsed again.

I placed my hand over my face.

Then began laughing softly.

Before...

I couldn’t even stabilize it while thinking.

But now...

It could remain active...

Even while I moved slightly.

"So the problem isn’t formation."

I whispered.

"It’s continuity."

I sat down on the ground.

Took a long breath.

Closed my eyes.

Then began analyzing everything carefully.

The shield...

Didn’t consume massive amounts of accumulation.

Which was good.

But...

Maintaining balance between the rotating wind layers...

Placed constant strain on my mind.

Every part of the air...

Moved at different speeds.

And any tiny mistake...

Caused the entire structure to collapse.

"This is like..."

I whispered.

"Controlling hundreds of tiny blades simultaneously."

Suddenly...

I stopped.

My eyes narrowed.

"Hundreds?"

I quickly raised my head.

Then extended my hand.

Created one extremely tiny blade.

Then another.

Then a third.

Until dozens of miniature blades rotated around my arm.

They weren’t offensive.

Instead...

They were merely stable rotating blades.

I observed them silently.

Then...

Pushed them to expand and connect together.

Suddenly...

Part of the shield formed much faster than before.

My eyes widened.

"There it is."

I whispered quickly.

"I’m not building the shield from wind."

I immediately stood up.

Excitement returned to my eyes despite the exhaustion.

"I’m building it..."

I raised my hand.

Dozens of tiny blades rotated around my body.

"From stable blades."

"This is incredible... now..."

I whispered.

"I can finally say I possess two wind armors."