1000 Miles

Eden was starting to feel as though he had hit the jackpot in Artillian. What a future King needed, more than anything else, was trustworthy subordinates. 

'Making him my student was worth it. He has just as much potential as my classmates, possibly even more. Am I even qualified to teach him?

So far I have seen archery and the fire attribute. It's almost as if the boy is working with Apollo himself. But that's ridiculous. There is no way such a high-ranking deity would be with an ordinary mortal, even if it was a small portion of his soul. Then what minor deity is this? And from which pantheon?'

Countless thoughts whirled around in Eden's mind as it raced to figure out which divinity Artillian had as a spirit.

As a nation that focused on rearing Spiritualists, Atley was a haven for those of Artillian's vocation. Thanks to that and the Cattermoles' vast collection of knowledge on spirits, Eden considered himself quite knowledgeable on the subject.

'Alas Phios is large, and there are many divinities from many different lands. I will just let things flow as they are.'

"Don't worry about why his weapon mastery is increasing with time, I know why. Just keep reporting what you see to me as always. Don't miss out on a single detail. This may a bit premature to say, but this boy could be a key figure in our family and nation in the future."

Eden's words caused his soldiers to nod heavily. They were of the same mind as their master. Talents were heavily respected in Phios, and hard-working talents were even more so.

According to Kane, Artillian was a bit humble and somewhat friendly. He did not put up airs nor did he make any unreasonable requests. He was also quite hardworking. 

Many a time he would finish training covered in injuries from mishandling his bow or from training. Kane had also sparred a lot with Artillian, injuring the latter many a time. But the young man did not even so much as utter a complaint.

By now, Kane was confident that Artillian had spent 65% of his time awake in a state of combat. The only reason the value was not higher was to account for time spent eating, relieving himself, or cultivating his energy. 

Cultivation took up 30% of the boy's time, but Artillian was not hasty. He follows Hestia's advice and focused on refining his energy. Increasing its quality rather than quantity.  

As Artillian moved the Spiritual Energy through his Energy Pathways, he focused on slowly compressing it and filtering out the impurities. World Energy absorbed from the outside world was heterogeneous and contained many impurities that could contaminate his Pathways. 

The knowledge of cultivation the Cattermoles had collected had been thoroughly analysed by Artillian and Hestia through the Medici Matrix. Artillian could only access all this information while the matrix was active but Hestia was different. The information had permanently become a part of her and she could simplify many things for Artillian.

She now understood this world quite well from a theoretical standpoint and gave Artillian a lot of guidance. The duo were no longer clueless regarding the continent and Atley. But Artillian still had to feign ignorance. Hestia had warned him about the consequences of arrogance.

"The tallest tree gets damaged by wind the most. If you stand out too much you will attract a calamity to yourself. Revealing your cultivation talents is okay, but never reveal your ability to take in information to anyone. The capabilities of the Medici Magics are too frightening. Eden would not hesitate to kill you and examine your body if he knew what you could do. 

The presence of the Olympic Patheon is also there in this land, I can't use my abilities through you often otherwise it could garner unnecessary attention. At least not until you reach a certain level of strength. Never forget, caution sails a ship for ten thousand years."

Hestia liked to nag, but she was wise and did not speak nonsense. She was a wisdom-type deity and knew human nature down to its core. 

With painstaking cultivation, patience, and tolerance, Artillian had not only managed to improve the quality of his body's energy, but he had also strengthened his Pathways. He had also gotten used to the body that he had been gifted. The Pathless Origins body was a work of art to the young man from Earth. Elevating his martial talents to heights he never imagined possible.

Artillian's hard work, talent and personality had pleased Eden's servants greatly. They were happy that their master had a worthy student. And at such a young age at that!

"Young Master, it is this humble servant's opinion that this boy be sent to gain experience after a few more weeks of training."

Kane's suggestion was met with quite a few grunts of approval. 

"First, he has to be able to do what you asked of him. Reading 1000 books does not equate to walking 1000 miles." Said Eden with a solemn tone. 

There was a reason they had all gathered like this. Kane was a soldier who specialised in using spears but Archery was his secondary field of expertise. When Artillian had revealed that he was training in archery, Kane had messaged his master. He was then tasked by Eden to come up with an exam to properly show Artillian's strength once he felt that the boy should go back to the battlefield. 

A few days ago Eden had switched off his mobile device, Kane sent the proposed exam. It was quite difficult but was exactly what was needed to see the boy's true mastery.

'Shooting down 1000 Ironclaw Vultures in an hour without any protection or assistance. Kane sure thinks highly of the boy.'

Kane had been a soldier who led many archery units across many battlefields. He was a capable general and an even more capable trainer. Eden valued his opinion so he agreed to this somewhat dangerous exam.