Iri was going to participate in the program of teaching the elves and dwarves how to use Aura Force . Now that Raiden had thought about it, he started to feel uneasy about letting her stay alone for several months.

Harth and Lenore thought that she had done some growing and was more mature thanks to the addition of Raiden in the family, she wanted to be looked up to, so it made sense that she would become a bit more mature. She was more responsible now, but Raiden wondered if he truly should stay behind.

"I don’t think that she will mess up, but I guess if she succeeds, she might receive more jobs like this," Raiden rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "She can protect herself, but I guess it won’t hurt if she can have someone to watch her back at moments like this."

As he contemplated the idea, he started to justify his involvement with various rationalizations. He considered that joining the program could be an opportunity to expand his area of influence and gain more understanding of the world. By immersing himself in this new environment, he could also work alongside Iri and ensure her safety, which aligned with his protective instincts.

However, his decision is complicated by the need to complete his new technique and integrate it with his path of agility. This added another layer to his dilemma: he must balance his desire to support Iri with his personal goals and the necessity of advancing his own skills.

"This is kind of hard when this perception technique was all around," Raiden thought while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Since that is the case, I will have to make a clear point about my proficiency when I have the chance."

Fortunately, Zack had his power and he could make any new technique get a lot better as long as he had some fortune, so he had to work on making the technique be completed and accepted by the system.

Raiden decided to focus on honing his technique by training each of his senses through targeted exercises. His goal was to integrate these improved senses into his overall technique, making it more effective and comprehensive.

To improve his sight, Raiden practiced focusing on distant and near objects quickly. He set up various targets at different distances and worked on shifting his focus between them seamlessly. This exercise helped him enhance his visual acuity and reaction time, allowing him to notice details more effectively in combat and exploration. That was quite straining for his eyes, but since he didn’t focus a lot of energy on it, he didn’t risk any damage.

To sharpen his auditory skills, Raiden engaged in sound localization drills. He would listen to various sounds in his environment, close his eyes, and try to pinpoint their origins with precision. This practice improved his ability to detect and identify sounds, making him more aware of his surroundings and better at responding to auditory cues.

Raiden trained his olfactory senses by engaging in scent recognition exercises. He was already doing that before, but he did it with the same focus and intently with the other exercises. He would expose himself to a range of different scents, such as herbs and spices, and practice identifying them. This exercise not only enhanced his ability to distinguish between various odors but also improved his overall sensitivity to smells.

There wasn’t much to improve his sense of taste since he used the technique every day when cooking and eating. To refine his sense of touch, Raiden engaged in texture exploration. He handled various materials with different textures—such as rough, smooth, soft, and hard—to heighten his tactile sensitivity. This exercise improved his ability to discern fine differences in texture, which was crucial for tasks requiring precision.

All that helped a bit at a time, but what truly helped him was keeping his energy reserves low all the time to force himself to use Aura Force more efficiently. Another thing that Raiden realized was that his focus improved more when he was tired, so even though he felt exhausted doing the same exercises countless times during the next few days.

"You look terrible... are you taking breaks properly between training sessions?" Iri asked when she saw Raiden squinting his eyes while looking in the distance.

"No, I am going to take a break once I complete this technique, but for now, I will keep going until I finish it," Raiden replied while showing a tired glare that looked quite vicious without him realizing it. "It is more efficient for me this way."

"... You don’t look hurt, so I guess this much is fine," Iri said while checking Raiden’s body. "I heard that the other two are making progress as well, but you don’t have to rush it."

Raiden wasn’t trying to compete against them, but explaining that would only make Iri feel bad since it would make her think that Raiden didn’t believe her skills and judgment. They needed some work, but she had made some progress.

In the end, Raiden’s hard work paid off... exactly one day before Iri departed to the mission with other young warriors, he received a notification from the system.

(You created the skill: Sensory Surge.)

(Sensory Surge: it is a technique designed to dramatically enhance and synchronize all five senses, allowing the user to perceive their environment with extraordinary clarity and precision. When active, improves your wisdom, dexterity, quickness, and perception by five points per level. Cost: 40 MP per second.)

The technique, while exceptionally powerful, came at a high cost. Raiden found that the benefits of dramatically enhanced sensory perception were impressive, but they required significant investment to harness effectively.

When Raiden initially completed the skill, he made it to reach level twenty. The immediate effects were impressive: his senses became extraordinarily acute, allowing him to perceive the world with exceptional clarity. However, this rapid progress had a downside.

As soon as he activated the technique, Raiden was overwhelmed by a flood of sensory information. His enhanced sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch all began to absorb vast amounts of data from his surroundings simultaneously. The sheer volume of input was so intense that it started to overwhelm his cognitive processing abilities.

The overload of sensory information caused a painful strain on his brain, leading to discomfort and disorientation. Raiden realized that he should have increased the skill’s level gradually, allowing his mind and body to adapt to the heightened sensory input more slowly. The rapid leap in power without proper acclimatization proved to be too intense, highlighting the importance of gradual progression when mastering such a complex and demanding technique.

"Ugh... at least it is going to work the way I had intended," Raiden thought when he got up from his bed. "Time to show my progress to Altria and see if she can promote me to the adept level."

Raiden felt a bit bad since he would leave his friends behind on that floor and perhaps for a few months as well, but in the end, it had to be done. They had done some growing in the last year as well, so they probably would be fine without him around.

Raiden faced a dilemma regarding his upcoming plans. He realized that Ruth and Javier needed some time apart from him to focus on their own growth and development. This was necessary for them to advance and gain the experience they needed. However, Raiden felt conflicted because he was about to undertake something without sharing his plans with them.

It was a significant change from his usual approach, as Raiden typically involved Ruth and Javier in his decision-making process. The idea of moving forward without discussing his intentions with them was unfamiliar and caused him a sense of unease. Perhaps he would lose his friends...

Raiden’s internal conflict stemmed from his deep sense of responsibility and loyalty to his companions. He valued their input and support, and the notion of acting independently without their awareness was a departure from his usual collaborative approach. They were more or less his business partners too, after all.

As one would expect, they met up again in front of the tower of mastery... which had already become a habit of them, and while it was fine, it also showed that they were a bit too dependent on Raiden.

"You look worse than before. Is perception training draining?" Javier asked. "I guess I will skip on that."

"Well, that is up to you," Raiden said and then shrugged. "I apologize in advance for my decisions."

Raiden headed toward their floor while his friends looked at each other in confusion. Raiden rarely apologized for anything because he wasn’t the type to make mistakes or annoy others, so they wondered what he was up to.

When they got in the floor, Raiden went immediately to talk with Altria and explain that he wanted to be tested to reach the next level of the tower. That was unusual since Altria was the one who decided who was ready for the tests.