An Unexpected Breakthrough

"You didn't leave me any hot water! You didn't leave me any hot water! You..."

In the room, Karl, full of indignation, was applying a rear-naked chokehold from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on Hopp.

His entire body was now wrapped around Hopp from behind, his legs encircling Hopp's body and using his feet to brace against her hips, spreading her legs apart so she couldn't close them.

His arms were fixed around Hopp's neck, and with every word he muttered, he'd exert force, stretching Hopp's body.

Every time Karl applied pressure, Hopp, held in his arms, would roll her eyes and open her mouth, sticking out her tongue.

Her hands weakly grasped Karl's arms, less in an attempt to stop him and more like she was trying to tickle him.

This continued for a long time, until Psionic energy began to radiate from Karl, and he finally released his grip.

Hopp and the wooden cabin instantly dissolved into phantoms, and the surrounding environment reverted to the default state of the second layer of the Dream World.

"Hoooh, I can't believe I did that in the Dream World just like that. It seems my consciousness is still easily dominated by emotions without Psionic control. I really need more training!"

Clutching his forehead, Karl stood up from the ground, reflecting on his actions like a normal man who had just achieved a sage-like state.

The moment he entered the second layer of the Dream World, the lingering resentment he felt towards Hopp from before bed projected the scene he had just experienced, giving Karl a chance to "get back" at Hopp.

Karl could have directly used Psionic energy to calm himself, but he didn't.

"Next time I enter the Dream World, I should probably adapt in the first layer before venturing deeper. My self-control isn't strong enough yet to resist the temptation of doing whatever I want."

As the master of this Dream World, Karl could always make his wishes come true within the dream.

Anything within his perception could be manifested by him.

Especially in the second layer of the Dream World, where the realistic physics engine made everything incredibly lifelike.

If he wanted to, he could even create the famous actresses from his past life here and live a life of debauchery every night; it wasn't impossible.

It easily caused users to become addicted and degenerate in the dream; this was probably the only drawback of this cheat-like ability derived from a Mind Flayer Tadpole.

No, perhaps saying that was a bit like shifting the blame. A cheat was just a cheat.

The one with the flaw was actually Karl.

"It looks like I need to focus on training my state of mind. How did those monks at the monastery do it?"

Muttering to himself like this, Karl manifested illusions of Hopp in the dream, preparing to begin his combat training.

Perhaps influenced by the previous scene, the two newly appeared Hopp illusions were very enthusiastic about close-quarters combat.

They even abandoned their hand axes and instead used the very techniques Karl had employed against him.

"Hand-to-hand combat, huh? I remember there's a specific feat for that too."

In just a few seconds of distraction, the illusion opposite him seized the opportunity, ducking down and charging at Karl.

An undisguised straight punch aimed for his face was blocked by Karl's left hand.

Just as Karl was feeling smug, thinking he was no longer the man he used to be, another illusion directly raised its long red leg and hooked it around Karl's neck.

Holy crap! Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu!

The thought had barely formed in his mind when the Hopp illusion twisted her waist, using her thighs clamped around Karl's neck to perform gymnastics on him.

The combined forces of centrifugal force and inertia directly caused Karl to lose his balance. By the time he reacted, he had already been thrown away.

Can these illusions level up using the combat techniques I know?

Rolling on the ground, Karl quickly got back up.

Arm guards and chest armor materialized on him, and he used the hand armor to grip the ground, stopping his backward momentum.

A strange feeling surged within him. He had a premonition that if he could defeat these two illusions, he would gain enough Psionic energy to advance to level 3.

"Why are you looking at me like that again?"

The next morning, Karl stared blankly at Hopp, who had just woken up, with dead fish eyes.

Glancing down at her current attire, Hopp cautiously adjusted the edge of her undergarment.

"Hopp, the rain outside seems to have stopped. How about we go out today and see if we can hunt something?"

Scratching his hair in annoyance, Karl tried to persuade Hopp to go hunting.

"No! We don't encounter prey every time we go out. If we don't get anything, the whole day will be wasted."

"Besides, didn't you say you were going to make some spare clothes for us? Since it's not raining today, let's dry the remaining leather outside."

Shifting her body a little awkwardly, Hopp frowned and opened the door.

Ever since she had ripped her leather armor before, she had been waiting for Karl to make new ones.

Perhaps due to changes from regular meals and sufficient sleep, she felt her body was developing rapidly lately.

Especially her hips. Because they had to support the weight of her tail, she felt they were becoming more and more shapely.

If this keeps up, my current underwear might not fit anymore.

Looking at her four-cornered shorts that had gradually become low-waisted due to her own development, Hopp felt her face getting hot.

"Sigh, alright then."

Since Hopp didn't agree, Karl had no choice but to give up on the idea.

Every outing for a hunt carried risks, and before their life-saving abilities were sufficient, they really should have reduced the frequency of going out.

*'But I'm so unwilling. Being hit like that by Hopp's illusion, I was so close to advancing to level 3...' *

Skillfully taking out the lizard steak, Karl and Hopp prepared breakfast as usual.

Seeing Karl's dejected expression, Hopp sighed and proactively suggested:

"How about we go outside for some practical combat practice later? Since you feel that normal training accumulates Spirituality too slowly, let's switch to actual combat. But if your clothes get dirty later, you have to wash them for me!"

Similar to training, practical combat that doesn't aim to kill the opponent can also allow one to gain Spirituality.

Hopp's suggestion made Karl's eyes light up, and he immediately nodded in agreement.

If he were still far from level 3 in Spirituality, Karl wouldn't be in such a hurry.

But he could clearly feel that he was just a step away from level 3.

That was the most torturous part.

After the meal, Karl and Hopp stripped down to their undergarments, preparing for some full-contact practical combat training.

The surface of the Petrified Mushroom hadn't become slippery due to the recent rainfall; on the contrary, when the two stepped on it, it felt like walking on concrete.

As both sides simultaneously shouted "Begin," Karl, leveraging his advantage as a spellcaster, made the first move.

No spell was needed; a Mage Hand was directly released with the help of Psionic energy.

Hopp, who was flying towards him, was slightly pulled by the invisible force field forming a large hand, causing them to deviate from their initial target.

Seeing this, Hopp grunted and activated their berserk state.

Just as she was preparing to attack again, with a tearing sound, her clothes were ripped apart by her own body.

Her body shape rapidly grew, reaching over three meters tall, becoming as tall as an Ogre before finally stopping.

Looking at the stunned Karl, Hopp quickly covered herself.

Feeling the surging power within her, she said somewhat hesitantly, "I think... I've reached level 3."