Although he was unable to turn around fast enough, the attack was just too obvious, so Raiden turned his body while raising his head for a roundhouse kick as well. Somehow, Javier lowered his stance and avoided the attack and then tried to punch Raiden’s stomach... but he moved his fist, and both fists connected at the same time.

"... Ugh," Javier grunted in pain.

Although Javier was a bit more skilled with his new technique, Raiden had more brute strength thanks to his level-ups. Stopping him felt good, but not that much since that was thanks to his hidden power. Still, there was no point in worrying about that since he used his power to make sure his family would be fine in the war.

Javier stepped away and tried to recover from the pain on his fists, but that didn’t happen any time soon, he could tell that the bones of his fingers had cracked, so he couldn’t use that hand anymore.

In the next moment, he began to run again around Raiden, but he didn’t move this time... Raiden decided to conserve his energy and wait for the moment to counterattack.

Raiden realized that his eyes alone couldn’t keep up with Javier’s movements and crossed them momentarily. This unusual action was a tactic to focus his Aura Force more acutely. By crossing his eyes, Raiden was able to blur his visual perception and sharpen his other senses, allowing him to better sense the environment around him.

With his vision intentionally compromised, Raiden shifted his reliance to his other heightened senses—he could feel the vibrations in the ground, the slight shifts in the air, and the faint sound of Javier’s footsteps. This multi-sensory awareness was crucial in compensating for the visual gap.

Javier, noticing Raiden’s strange behavior and perceiving it as a sign of vulnerability, seized the opportunity to attack. His furrowed brows betrayed his focus as he charged directly at Raiden. However, as Javier closed in, the sensations Raiden had tuned into allowed him to feel the approaching danger before it fully manifested.

Raiden’s enhanced senses picked up on the subtle nuances of Javier’s approach, the disturbance in the air, the pressure changes, and the faint vibrations of his footsteps. As Javier moved in to strike, Raiden adjusted his position with precision, aligning himself to intercept the attack effectively.

Javier used his left hand to punch Raiden, but he blocked the attack with his right hand and then landed a hit on his solar plexus. At first, Javier didn’t feel much pain, but then he began to sweat cold and tremble a bit... it felt like something inside him had broken apart.

"The match is over," Altria declared.

After taking a few deep breaths, Javier recovered a bit, and then his frustration began to take over. It was annoying to feel that he was ahead of Raiden for the first time, only to have that crushed in a match.

Raiden, at the same time, didn’t feel much sense in getting happy over that. Without his power, they probably would have been evenly matched. There was also the issue that perception wins over agility to some extent when their skills were on the same level.

"I would have won if I had used my other technique..." Javier said when he sat down.

"You are probably right," Raiden said.

"... Now I feel like an idiot," Javier said and then sighed.

"You are probably right here too," Raiden said.

Javier sighed again while Ruth just shrugged. She thought that there wasn’t much sense in getting overly serious when sparring with friends, but she could understand a bit why they would need to feel ahead of the other.

The sparring match had been more than just a physical contest for Raiden; it was an important learning experience that deepened his understanding of the Path of Perception. As he faced Javier, Raiden’s reliance on his heightened senses rather than his vision revealed the practical applications of perception-based techniques.

During the fight, Raiden’s ability to sense movements and anticipate attacks without relying solely on his sight showed the essence of the Path of Perception. This approach allowed him to react instinctively to Javier’s actions, adapting quickly and finding solutions to the problems presented by his opponent’s tactics.

The intensity of the sparring session forced Raiden to hone his reflexes and decision-making skills in real time. He learned that the Path of Perception was not just about observation but also about trusting and leveraging his instincts to interpret and respond to his surroundings. The match emphasized the importance of acting on subtle sensory inputs and making quick, informed decisions based on those cues.

From that day onward, he also tried to control his Aura Force to hone one of his senses at a time, but he avoided doing that with his eyes. Naturally, he tried to do that only when he had minimal energy left in order to avoid harming himself that much.

Altria gave him some tips when she saw him doing that, but since Raiden was quite methodical and wasn’t in a hurry anymore, she knew that he wouldn’t make any mistakes that could injure him a lot. There is also the fact that his mother was the best potion maker in the village, and his sister was one of the few healers in the village.

Speaking of healers, Ruth was staying at Raiden’s home quite a lot since she was asking for some tips from Iri as well. She didn’t mention which aspect of the healing path she was pursuing, but it was still a good idea to ask a veteran about it and she looked satisfied with the results.

"What are you doing?" Iri asked when she saw Raiden with his eyes closed in front of his collection of herbs.

"I am trying to sense the smell of the plants separately," Raiden explained.

"I thought for sure that you would copy Mom," Iri furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you think that this can be used in combat?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"No, but it will help me find herbs in the wild," Raiden replied. "Also sensing the approach of enemies in order to avoid ambushes."

Raiden wasn’t still sure which sense he wanted to focus on when it came to that path, he was enjoying pretty much all of them, aside from hearing. He decided to train a bit more one night before going to bed, and then he suddenly heard his parents fooling around... since then, he had been too traumatized from using that aspect.

Still, using enhanced hearing would come in handy when collecting intel outside the village... maybe he would even hear the voices of people through the vibrations on the walls.

Improving his sense of taste was also pretty good too, he was starting to enjoy his cooking a lot more and he could tell how much he should cook and for how long to make it as perfect as possible.

"Developing an all-around perception technique probably would suit you well," Iri said. "We have too many people who are only interested in developing battle-oriented techniques, after all."

Raiden suddenly felt a shiver. Instinctively, he opened his eyes and noticed a significant change in the atmosphere. The temperature around him had dropped noticeably, and the once clear sky was now obscured by thick, ominous clouds. Before long, delicate snowflakes began to fall down from the sky, adding a layer of chill to the already cooling air.

Raiden observed the unexpected snowfall with a mix of curiosity and contemplation. The abrupt change in weather was a stark reminder of how his surroundings could shift rapidly and unpredictably. As he took in the scene, he couldn’t help but reflect on Iri’s advice about developing an all-around perception technique.

The snowfall, though initially surprising, turned out to be a valuable addition to his training. It reinforced the idea that being attuned to the environment, beyond just focusing on immediate threats, could provide crucial insights and advantages.

Raiden began to consider the importance of integrating such an all-encompassing perception technique into his skillset, one that could help him adapt to various situations with greater ease.

This realization made him appreciate the broader scope of perception, and he started to see the potential benefits of enhancing his abilities to be more versatile and responsive to both predictable and unforeseen challenges.

"I want a hot stew tonight since it looks like it will be a cold night," Iri said, smiling. "Also, is there anything that you can prepare that will last for a while?"

"Why do you ask?" Raiden raised his eyebrow.

"I will probably leave the village next week, so I don’t want to think that I will prepare my own meals along the way..." Iri forced a smile. "Even if I use that vehicle for as long as possible, I can’t avoid the fact that I will have to cook for myself eventually. That makes me feel depressed just think about it... as much as I want to avoid that, maybe I can convince Dad to come and cook for me."