Ethan immediately lowered his gaze and carefully began reading through the newly revealed instructions.
The title alone made his heart race.
The Compression Method.
Below it, Saint Aster’s familiar handwriting calmly explained the final stage.
Once your Mental Sea has reached its current limit, do not allow it to expand naturally.
Instead... compress every strand of spiritual energy within it.
Imagine your Mental Sea as an empty container. Ordinary Guides continuously pour more spiritual energy into it until it naturally stretches over months or even years before reaching a new capacity.
That method is inefficient.
My method is different.
Do not enlarge the container.
Increase the density of everything inside it.
Using your mental will alone, force every strand of spiritual energy toward the very center of your Mental Sea. Continue applying pressure until the scattered spiritual energy collapses into a smaller, denser mass.
Every successful compression creates room for even more spiritual energy without increasing the size of your Mental Sea.
Repeat this process countless times.
Eventually, your Mental Sea will no longer be able to withstand such overwhelming density and will be forced to expand on its own.
That expansion is permanent.
And unlike ordinary Guides... it will happen long before your second awakening.
Ethan stared at the page.
...You’re actually a genius.
Or perhaps...
Completely insane.
Maybe both.
The academy spent years teaching Guides to patiently wait for their Mental Seas to expand naturally...
Meanwhile Saint Aster had apparently looked at that concept and thought...
"Nah."
Then proceeded to bully his own Mental Sea into growing.
"...You really were a madman."
Ethan muttered under his breath.
Still...
He couldn’t deny how brilliant the idea sounded. Taking a deep breath, he crossed his legs once more before slowly closing his eyes.
Moments later...
His consciousness descended back into the familiar darkness.
Then...
The tiny lake appeared before him.
Golden spiritual energy floated peacefully beneath its surface.
Exactly as he had left it.
Remembering the instructions, Ethan extended his consciousness toward the lake.
"...Okay..."
"So..."
I just have to squeeze everything together...
...How hard could that possibly be?
The instant he attempted to push the spiritual energy inward...
Nothing happened.
"..."
"Huh?"
He frowned before trying again. Still nothing.
The countless strands of spiritual energy remained peacefully drifting throughout the tiny lake as though they couldn’t care less about his existence.
"...Seriously?"
"You little bastards..."
"I literally spent days gathering all of you."
"And now you won’t even listen to me?"
Naturally...
The spiritual energy ignored him.
Ethan refused to give up.
Again.
And again.
He repeatedly focused his mental will onto the lake, trying to force every strand toward its center.
Minutes passed.
Sweat gradually covered his face.
His head began throbbing.
The pressure inside his mind became almost unbearable.
Yet...
Nothing moved.
"...Fuck..."
His breathing gradually became heavier.
Just as frustration was beginning to overwhelm him...
He suddenly remembered something.
Mental will.
Not physical force.
His consciousness itself...
Was his will.
Closing his eyes within his Mental Sea, Ethan stopped trying to forcefully shove the spiritual energy.
Instead, he began imagining countless invisible walls slowly moving inward, pressing gently yet relentlessly against every strand of golden energy
For a brief moment...
Nothing happened.
Then...
A single strand moved.
Ethan’s eyes immediately flew open.
"It worked!"
Encouraged, he continued.
More strands slowly drifted inward.
One became ten.
Ten became hundreds.
Before long...
The entire lake began trembling.
Golden spiritual energy collided against itself again and again as Ethan continued applying relentless pressure.
The deeper the compression became...
The greater the resistance.
His entire Mental Sea violently shook.
An unbearable pain erupted throughout his consciousness, making it feel as though his head was being crushed from every direction.
Blood vessels bulged across Ethan’s forehead. While his teeth clenched so tightly they nearly cracked.
"...Come on..."
"...Just a little more..."
The resistance suddenly reached its peak.
For one terrifying second...
Ethan genuinely thought his Mental Sea was about to explode.
Thankfully, the countless strands of spiritual energy compressed into a brilliantly glowing sphere barely a tenth of their original size.
For several seconds, he simply stood there in disbelief.
Then...
A loud laugh escaped him.
"Hahaha!"
"It worked!"
"It freaking worked!"
His excitement exploded all at once.
He practically jumped around inside his own mental sea like an excited child who had just discovered treasure.
Although he couldn’t see any obvious difference yet, that didn’t matter.
He had completed it. He had actually completed the third step.
"Hah!"
I really can’t wait to see the principal’s face.
The thought alone made Ethan grin from ear to ear. "I wonder what expression he’ll make after discovering that the F-Rank Guide everyone wanted to throw away actually ranked up."
The image alone was satisfying enough to make him chuckle.
Unfortunately...
He never even got the chance to imagine it properly.
Without the slightest warning—
Everything went black.
...
...
...
When Ethan finally regained consciousness again...
Sunlight was already pouring through the dormitory window.
"...Morning already?"
He groggily sat upright.
Then immediately froze.
"..."
Something warm slowly dripped onto his hand.
Ethan instinctively looked down.
Blood.
"..."
He slowly touched his nose.
More blood.
His ears.
Blood.
The corner of his mouth.
Blood.
Even his eyes had thin trails of dried blood running down his cheeks.
"..."
"..."
"...Fuck."
If before he had complained about dying...
Then he sincerely apologized.
Because this time...
He had practically seen his ancestors standing in the distance, enthusiastically waving at him to come join them.
It was honestly a miracle he was still alive. After forcing himself to calm down, the very first thing Ethan did was reach for his phone.
Just as expected...
There was another academy notification waiting.
Only...
This time...
He didn’t even have the chance to read it.
The very instant he picked up his phone...
A deafening voice suddenly exploded through the speakers.
[Attention all students!]
[You have FIVE minutes to leave your dormitories and TWO minutes to arrive at the academy training grounds!]
[And I promise you... if you think staying behind and missing today’s assessment is an option... then you are officially giving consent to being tased by academy security the moment you’re caught.]
[Now... GET MOVING!]