Time always passed especially quickly when you were focused. By the time Kraun's growling stomach forced him to end his training, the sun was already sinking in the west.
He glanced at the Gold Wall and saw that after more than two hours of nonstop training, Flame Breath had gained fourteen proficiency points.
He had acquired many skills by now and had worked out the general curve of proficiency growth. Broadly speaking, it was a downward-opening parabola.
When first learning a skill or advancing through its early stages, proficiency did not increase rapidly.
That was because the body had not yet adapted to the new way of training. After a period of adjustment and insight, proficiency gains would enter a rapid-growth phase.
Once this growth phase reached its peak, it would gradually taper off. The last few points of proficiency needed to advance a skill were generally the hardest to grind out.
This pattern was especially apparent in combat skills, while knowledge-based skills were relatively easy to advance.
Kraun estimated that once his Breathing Technique reached three or four hundred proficiency, it would enter a period of rapid growth. There was no need to worry that his progress was slow at the start.
After giving his training some thought, he headed toward Nick, who was standing at the edge of the field.
He had noticed Nick standing there twenty minutes earlier, but he had been in the zone, and Nick hadn't interrupted him, so he had simply kept training.
"Come with me to the square. I didn't see you in the study, so I'm guessing you've finished reading all the books, right?"
The priest looked a little worried, but his tone was friendly.
"Yes. After reading for so many days, I feel like I've gotten rusty all over. It was