CHAPTER 553: ISSUES TO ADDRESS

With the days that followed after his sparring match with Mabel, Liam uncovered something deeply important within himself.

Looking back on the fight, he realized there was a subtle yet significant flaw in the way he had performed. His overall Myst output hadn’t weakened—its strength was the same as ever—but there was a faint delay threaded through his techniques. It wasn’t hesitation, nor was it physical strain. Rather, it was something internal, something quietly misaligned. Certain abilities took just a fraction longer to ignite, as though the Myst coursing through him no longer traveled along a smooth, polished path. The channels that carried his affinities felt slightly constricted, like unseen conduits had stiffened during his long absence.

Using Mystsense on himself, Liam confirmed it without any doubt: his circulation was inefficient. The power was intact, vibrant and potent, but the system responsible for delivering that power was lagging behind.

Myst moves through intricate internal conduits, and even the smallest disruption can fracture the seamless link between intention and execution. For someone like him—someone who fought by combining speed, precision, and rapid transitions—such an inefficiency was more than a complication; it was a threat waiting to happen.

Realizing this, Liam immediately understood that his six months of slumber had done more damage than he initially believed. Yet he didn’t dwell on frustration. Instead, he turned his focus completely toward solutions, deciding that if this was the new obstacle in front of him, then he would master it the same way he mastered everything else—by pushing forward.

To begin correcting the issue, Liam devoted himself to rebuilding and strengthening the channels themselves. He introduced new conditioning techniques into his training: pushing controlled quantities of Myst through his narrower conduits to gradually widen them, rotating between his affinities to eliminate internal resistance, and applying rhythmic waves of Myst to dissolve the tiny blockages slowing him down. These methods confronted the structural weakness directly.

He paired that with internal resonance alignment. Through specialized breathing exercises, he synchronized the motion of Myst with each physical movement. Meditation sessions guided him into visualizing his channels smoothing out and reconnecting without friction. He quickly came to understand that this phase of training wasn’t about brute force as he had originally expected, but about restoring balance within his core.

Even so, the physical aspect could not be ignored. Myst interacts deeply with muscle fibers and nerves, and with Mabel assisting him, Liam reinforced this link through flexibility drills, detailed footwork routines, and refined motion exercises designed specifically to keep Myst circulating evenly. Sparring sequences that demanded continuous flow forced him to prioritize fluidity over aggression.

His mental framework also shifted. Rather than flooding his channels with sheer power, he began practicing fine-tuned modulation. This prevented the sudden internal resistance caused by rushing too much Myst at once. Sharpening his predictive instincts in battle helped him avoid the impulse to force energy rather than guide it.

The longer he trained, the clearer it became that this delay wasn’t merely a flaw to overcome but an unexpected opportunity. By understanding how Myst compresses and releases under strain, he could later craft controlled burst techniques or fold timed activation into more complex attacks. Strengthening his conduits would eventually deepen the synchronization between his fire and dark affinities, clearing a path toward hybrid techniques and cleaner transitions than ever before.

There was, however, another issue he uncovered—one that wasn’t nearly as dangerous as the Myst circulation problem, but still significant. It concerned his new method of fighting, the Unified Flow, the delicate merging of Reason and Instinct into a single harmonious state.

During his time within the Mind Realm, he had accessed this part of himself naturally, effortlessly channeling both aspects to defeat his Reflection. It had felt seamless then, almost like a hidden truth he had always possessed but only just learned to name. But during his sparring sessions with Mabel, he quickly noticed that he couldn’t wield it with the same clarity or sharpness as he had back there.

At first, he assumed the discrepancy came from his current limitations. Mentally, he was still a Mid-Tier Six-star, while physically, his body sat at the level of a High-Tier Five-star. He believed the mismatch between mind and body was disrupting the fluidity he once had, and coupled with the Myst blockage, it made sense why things felt off. It was true—yet not the full truth.

Through repeated spars with Mabel and ongoing work on fixing his Myst flow, Liam gradually pinpointed the real problem: the Unified Flow wasn’t flawed—it was unfinished. It wasn’t some perfected state he had unlocked; it was the beginning of an entirely new discipline. In the Mind Realm, he had merely taken the first step without realizing there were more steps to climb. He had treated the fusion as the destination simply because it had helped him overcome his Reflection.

But his time with Mabel shattered that assumption. Her relentless sparring gave him the clarity he needed. This fighting style wasn’t complete. It was like a newly learned skill—one he hadn’t refined, tested, or shaped. He hadn’t even taken the time to examine its foundations, to understand the principles behind it, or discover the starting point for training it properly.

This raised the inevitable question: how was he supposed to develop something entirely self-made? With every technique he’d learned until now, he had guidance—lessons, scrolls, instructors, examples, clear steps to follow. The Unified Flow was different. It was something he had uncovered within himself, a personal evolution with no written rules or external framework. If he wanted to perfect it, he would have to craft his own guide from scratch.

But where exactly was he supposed to begin? He understood that the foundation lay in merging reason and instinct as one, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t as remarkable as it sounded. Part of him wondered if he was overthinking it. After all, people often fought using instinctive reactions elevated by adrenaline, and others thought while moving or adapted mid-battle. Wasn’t that almost the same thing?

Yet the more he examined the idea, the more he realized it was not. Those ordinary reactions people relied on were unconscious, unintentional. They occurred in the heat of battle without thought. What he was aiming for—what he had achieved briefly within the Mind Realm—was a synchronized state where instinct surged forward with the speed of intuition while thought remained active behind it, guiding it, sharpening it.

It wasn’t ordinary at all. It was something entirely different, a technique that defied the natural separation between thinking and reacting. And because of that, Liam discarded the idea of asking anyone for help. Seeking guidance would require explaining this personal discovery to someone else, something he wasn’t willing to share, not even with the closest people around him.

So he chose to walk the path alone. No matter how demanding, how confusing, or how long it would take, he committed himself to unraveling the Unified Flow with his own hands, shaping it through trial, error, and unwavering resolve.

***

’Shadow Rend and Shadow Step are activating cleanly again.’ Liam noted as he crouched low on the polished floor of the training hall, arms resting heavily on his knees while a slow, steaming breath rolled from his mouth, the rhythm of Crimson Breathing pulsing through him.

’Same with the rest of my techniques. Everything’s functioning the way it should.’ His entire frame was drenched in sweat, heat rising from his clothes in thin, curling streams.

"Guess all that meditation paid off. Still... less than a week," he muttered, breath uneven but steadying. ’Surprising, but not really. I’m more relieved than anything. This actually gives me more time to figure out where to start with the Unified Flow. The earlier I begin, the better chances I’ll have moving forward.’

As his thoughts drifted deeper, a shadow fell across him, followed by a voice he recognized instantly.

"Don’t tell me I went overboard again?" Mabel said, though her tone held not even a hint of worry.

Liam lifted his head, finding her standing over him with that unreadable calm she always carried. She looked far less worn out than he did, though her breathing wasn’t perfectly steady either.

"You don’t need to say that every time I try to catch my breath," Liam replied, pushing himself up from his crouch.

"Actually, I do," Mabel said plainly. "I need to make sure I haven’t accidentally killed you. If I have, I’ll be forced to pay compensation with my life."

"Yeah, sure," Liam muttered, catching the teasing edge hidden behind her mask.

Mabel didn’t comment on that. Instead, after a short pause, she asked, "So, ready for round three?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but another voice cut across the hall before he could speak, drawing both their heads toward the entrance.

"Easy now, you lovebirds," Mystica’s voice chimed teasingly as she strolled in just a step behind Queen Lucy. "It’s improper to display such indecent behavior in front of Her Majesty, don’t you think?"