It was only after some time before Max and Yu'er finished a series of tests and experiments.

Yu'er was surprised by the number of intriguing ideas that Max got from the guide. She eagerly cooperated with him since she also wanted to find out if those ideas work.

It has been quite a while since she had seen the beginner's guide that Max had focused his attention on.

Looking through it once again, she discovered that it was kept to date, and it included information that even she didn't know of until now.

Fortunately, all of it was not the least relevant for them though it was surprising that the number of topics included significantly increased.

Once they started testing the interesting theories and bold ideas found in the guide, time seemed to run fast, and without them noticing, a few hours had already passed.

The experiments they did ranged from theories on increasing the damage of an Elemental Skill to a variety of ways that the content claimed to be methods on improving the controls of their skill.

They would accept every method that would improve their control over their skill since the normal process was difficult and time-consuming.

For them, even the smallest benefit would still be a benefit.

There was a lot of useless information that they couldn't be bothered with, like those unrealistic methods and baseless rumors.

As Awakeneds themselves, they have a good idea of what might be possible and what might not.

After filtering through the long, comprehensive content, they were left with some insightful ideas that they think have the possibility of being effective.

In the beginning, both of them were quite excited when they thought that they found some great techniques that would help them.

However, as time passed, they slowly became disappointed and started to lose interest.

From how the ideas were listed, Max and Yu'er were convinced that at least one would work as all of them seemed plausible, realistic, and, most of all, simple to execute.

But in the end, they were left with nothing.

Each of the ideas they tested failed with barriers showing up randomly, which signaled the test to be a failure.

It was just like when they tried an idea that may save most of their energy when they used a skill, which would, in turn, allow them to last longer than most in battles.

They found out that they could not take advantage of the loophole since there seemed to be a minimum amount of energy that is required on using a skill.

Although every idea failed, Max and Yu'er were still able to learn a few more things about how skills work in general.

It was possible to have better control over their skills and prevent excess energy from being wasted; however, there seemed to be a minimum requirement.

The theory of improving their technique and understanding of their skills so that they could skillfully save most of the energy being used was not true.

Since everything was now clear, the findings they have gotten would further allow them to modify their training plans in the near future.

After that, they went back to practice fighting, which what they thought to be the best way to get better at fighting.

Weapons and skills were not included. It was because Max would surely win if skills were to be allowed, and Yu'er would win if they could only use their weapons.

That would be pointless and would not improve their fighting abilities in any way, so their fight was only limited to energy enhanced physical combat.

One good thing was that they don't need to hold back since their Reverse Time would fix every damage they did to the other.

This way, the two of them would be able to fully evaluate each other's abilities in all areas.

What they have gathered was that Yu'er had a good foundation, and her techniques were flawless, hitting the exact spot she targeted.

However, her dexterity was considerably slower than Max, which lead to most of her attacks being blocked.

Max, on the other hand, lacked experience. His selection of techniques was also limited.

Yu'er was able to take advantage of that weakness. She remembered every technique he was comfortable with and anticipated all of it to be used at some point throughout their match.

This led to Max being blocked, dodged, and countered on each blows he puts out.

Despite this, he wasn't all that bad in terms of speed and could outmaneuver Yu'er with ease.

They also found out that his reaction time was extremely quick.

Even though Yu'er had an overall advantage over Max, his fast reaction was saving him from Yu'er's weird attacks that he couldn't predict.

Max managed to cover his lack of knowledge only by reacting in time and making use of his reflexes to move away from the range of her attacks.

Their goal was so that they won't be helpless in case a time came that they couldn't use their skills.

Also, over-reliance on skills won't be good for their foundations, and training their bodies would have some advantages.

Since their skills have nothing to do with physical combat, once they were in an extended battle against a Weapon-related Skill user, they would be the first to be exhausted.

Other Awakeneds don't believe that training their bodies was worth their time, but Yu'er and Max knew the importance of it.

Yu'er learned from their parents when she was young, that strengthening the body would contribute to how powerful she could become. Sometimes it could also be as vital as saving her life.

And Max fully understood that he should improve himself in every field and knew how significant the advantages of those abilities were once he was able to master them.

Defeating an Elemental Skill user with his more powerful Elemental Skill and destroying a Weapon User with his better handling of weapons would be the ideal outcome for him. That is if they could live through his Time Stop first.

...

While they took a short break, Max leaned on one of the nearby trees with his head down, intently focusing on his phone screen.

Yu'er beside him was taking a sip of water. Pearls of sweat ran down her alluring white neck before disappearing in her shirt.

Max was watching videos of Awakeneds one after another while at the same time keeping up with the recent events.

While scrolling, he clicked on one video that was the most popular of all. From the looks of it, almost everyone was watching it, which made him curious about what it was.

The video was live. What Max noticed was the individual responsible for it. The video was from the unknown Awakened that broadcasts the big happenings all over the world.

From this, there seemed to be something big going on.

"???"

When Max finally opened it, his screen suddenly turned black.

"Hmm?"

The next second he noticed that it wasn't his phone that shut down. It was the video that was showing a black screen.

But it wasn't only that.

When he looked closer, the black screen seemed to be something else, something with large numbers and moving around with an irregular speed.

"What are you looking at?"

Before Max managed to say anything, Yu'er moved her head closer to see what he was up to. But her face changed into shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"This!? Where is this?"

"These insect swarm? I'm not sure."

"It's not insects. Those are bats."