BUILDING MY OWN EMPIRE - My Journey from Nothing to Overwhelming Power Chapter 64 – Training Arc (Ali)

It was ti to advance to the third rank.

Inside the training space, everything was as usual... a vast arena, cold air, a towering mountain overlooking the void.

But the opponent had changed.

Before stood a monkey nearly two ters tall.

Its body wasn’t real flesh... but a dense mass of black shadow.

The only exception was a pair of glowing crimson eyes, long arms, and even longer legs—like shadows that had taken on a sharpened form.

I stepped toward it steadily.

My pulse was calm.

My breathing steady.

No fear in its eyes... nor in mine.

If it possessed sothing that could harm , then I possessed sothing that could harm it.

It moved suddenly.

Its shadowed feet dug into the ground as it launched itself toward with heavy speed—like a massive boulder hurled in a straight line. It wasn’t the size of a natural catastrophe beast, but it carried the sa decisive force.

It closed the distance in an instant.

Its eyes flashed.

Its fist rose.

At the mont it threw its forward punch, I noticed sothing fleeting.

The shadow covering its fist vanished for a fraction of a second—as if the fist had beco real.

I raised my arm to defend.

Boom.

I was blasted backward violently, sliding several ters across the hard ground.

"So that’s how it is..." I whispered, regaining my balance.

Only when attacking... does its fist beco real.

I dashed toward it.

I filled my fist with Fla Art energy.

It didn’t retreat.

Instead, it smiled—a sly smile on a faceless form.

I leapt forward, drew my left arm back, then unleashed a direct strike charged with energy.

Boom.

I passed right through it.

My fist cut through its body as if striking smoke.

No damage.

Quickly, I summoned two wind blades and hurled them.

They pierced through without effect.

It turned and attacked again.

This ti it raised its right.

Boom.

I was pushed back once more.

"It wasn’t an illusion..." I muttered slowly.

Its fist manifests only at the mont of impact.

I reinforced my defense with greater energy.

It attacked again.

No difference.

The recoil was the sa.

I was thrown back like before.

"Three attacks... I’ve lost twenty portions of Fla energy."

This ti I leapt aside and avoided the blow.

"I won’t waste my energy on pointless defense."

I concentrated energy in my right hand and extended my left, summoning a condensed wind blade.

It charged.

At the instant I expected the fist to manifest... it struck.

And passed straight through like a shadow.

I froze.

"What...?"

I dismissed the blade.

It attacked again.

I summoned the blade.

The punch passed through .

I dismissed it.

It attacked with a real fist.

I stopped moving.

I understood.

So...

As long as I display wind blades, it won’t reveal its real fist.

I stepped back.

Canceled everything.

I filled my fist with fifty portions of energy.

It lunged.

At the last mont, the shadow vanished and the yellow fist appeared.

I raised my right arm.

BOOOOOOM!

I was hurled ten ters back.

"Damn it..."

Even with fifty portions, nothing changed.

Defense strength didn’t affect the outco.

What’s happening?

I tested again.

This ti, I waited for the exact mont of contact.

The instant its fist struck my right arm, I hit its left with concentrated energy.

Boom!

We were blasted apart.

Finally... I hit it.

But when I looked, there was no visible damage.

Its shadow remained intact.

Thirty portions.

Fifty.

No result.

The fight repeated.

Until my Fla energy was depleted.

And the battle ended.

---

Outside, I sat thinking. I also ate. This ti, I decided to cook.

What did I cook? Dolma—so of you might know it, others might not.

It’s simply minced at mixed with sheep tail fat, chopped onions, diced tomatoes, other vegetables, and spices.

Does the system contain all of that? Well, no—so it was incomplete.

Still, it tasted sowhat good. It lacked the sourness of pogranate molasses.

Don’t be surprised. How am I supposed to think properly on an empty stomach? As the poet says—

A sound mind resides in a full stomach, haha.

Back to the battle...

The shadow monkey was immune to Fla.

But not to wind. That much was clear.

That made think... perhaps each opponent requires a different thod.

Today the monkey was immune to Fla Art.

Tomorrow there may be one weak against it.

So the solution is clear...

I must strike the yellow fist with a wind blade.

The problem is the fist doesn’t appear if the blade is active.

Day three...

Another failure.

Then I understood.

This is training.

Just as previous rounds trained to accelerate Fla activation...

This one trains blade activation speed.

I repeated the rounds.

21...

22...

Up to 30.

All training for faster summoning.

But the yellow fist appears only for a fraction of a second.

And blade formation takes longer than that.

Ten days passed.

Failure...

Repetition...

Attempts without success.

I realized...

The problem isn’t activation.

It’s blade completion.

One day, lying still, a simple idea ca to .

Who said I need a complete blade?

I returned to the arena.

The beast charged.

The yellow fist appeared.

I summoned the blade.

Boom!

I was pushed back.

The blade didn’t complete again.

But...

I felt sothing different.

Another blade ford... very small.

Just a thread.

And the beast didn’t cancel its attack when the thread ford.

I tried again.

And again.

It grew slightly larger.

Until—

It reached the size of a finger.

I fired it at the mont the fist appeared.

For the first ti...

A scratch appeared on the yellow fist.

I smiled.

I repeated the process.

The blade grew slightly.

Damage repeated.

Not large damage.

But it accumulated.

Raindrops don’t seem harmful...

But they create a flood if they persist.

Dozens of small blades, launched precisely at each appearance.

The shadow weakened.

Until—

It fell.

The shadow monkey, minor catastrophe... finally collapsed.

{ Mission Completed Successfully }

Blue light appeared before .

I exhaled slowly.

Ti for the third rank.

---

Outside, the Deception Beast waited.

Above a stone rested the cube of light containing my points.

"Did you reach the required number?"

"Forty-three points."

I smiled.

"Give them to ."

The cube glowed brighter, shattered into fragnts, and a dense strand of light shot toward .

When it reached , dizziness struck briefly.

I closed my eyes.

When I opened them—

{ Ding... Ding... Ding }

{ Rank advancent conditions fulfilled }

I smiled faintly.

"Finally..."

"It’s been a long ti without a single system notification."

{ Yes }

Of course.

{ Ding... Ding... Ding }

{ Third Rank Achieved }

I smiled...

But suddenly—

I collapsed.

My vision blurred.

"Aaaah!" I scread.

Severe pain struck .

"What’s happening?!" I shouted.

"Natural. Endure it," the beast’s voice echoed from afar.

Natural? Damn it.

The pain was sharp—like a burning substance flooding my body.

I shut my eyes.

Minutes later, light returned faintly.

I opened them with difficulty.

The pain had lessened.

"You’ve awakened," said the beast. "Fla Art... and the White Flower. The higher the rank, the more their power manifests. Your body is reacting to their potential."

I knew that... but the pain was unbearable.

I tried to stand.

Another shock of pain hit.

I fell screaming, writhing.

I don’t know how many days I lay in bed.

But eventually, I regained my composure.

I went to the water. My eyes drifted toward the screens.

Everyone was progressing remarkably.

The lowest had reached round fifty.

The highest... sixty.

Truthfully, I missed them.

Outside, it might seem a day or less had passed.

But here... more than a year.

Minutes later, I went out.

I t the Deception Beast and agreed on sothing.

Then I returned inside.

My climb began again.

This ti, I decided the end of the rounds would grant rewards—not developnt points.

Why?

Because the Deception Beast’s warning was decisive.

My mastered weapon, Fla Art, will reach its peak at the fourth rank.

But since my rank advancent was extrely fast, my ntal capacity hasn’t risen equally.

I need to strengthen my ntal power far beyond its current state before attempting to receive the dormant power of the mastered weapon.

The other danger lies in the White Flower.

It affects my body the sa way.

If my body isn’t ready, the damage will be imnse.

The beast’s voice was firm. Not joking.

I decided not to risk it.

The third rank is magnificent enough.

I won’t cross it before extracting every possibility from it.

In the following days—

Missions flowed smoothly.

Months passed.

I reached level forty.

More months, and difficulty increased.

I truly began to understand the limits of the third rank.

Training.

Thinking.

Refining movents and strategies.

The advanced rounds were no longer about brute strength.

Even normal rounds required planning.

Then—

More than two years passed at level sixty.

And the effects of loneliness began to strike within my mind...

Longing for the city... for everyone... started to rise.

The training journey had truly beco exhausting.

Not physically...

But ntally.