Setting Out!

"What should I do?"

There was... a way!

Tetsu no Sosuke took a deep breath. "Slow down!"

Once he used Breath of the Sun, a relentless storm of motion was inevitable.

But he had to slow down. With his blood racing and his heart pounding like a drum, he had to force his hands and feet to slow down.

This would inevitably create a discord within his body, like the opposing extremes of ice and fire.

Fire in his heart, ice in his hands.

"No matter what, I have to try! I can't let all my efforts go to waste!"

He drew in a sharp, deep breath and activated Breath of the Sun again. The next second, he raised the Forging Hammer high, but did not bring it down.

He had a strange feeling that the moment it fell, it would be like triggering some mechanism. Then a relentless storm would follow, impossible to stop.

"Control it! I have to keep it under control!"

He could feel the blood inside him boiling and roaring, as though a savage beast in his heart was about to break out of its cage!

"If I can't even... tame you, what can I possibly save!!!"

Tetsu no Sosuke's eyes turned bloodshot. The Forging Hammer slowly descended, as though something were blocking its path.

Roars and howls rang out one after another within him. At some point, a trickle of blood had seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, the Forging Hammer crashed down.

Clang!!

[Toughness +10]

[sunblaze +2]

[Strength +5]

[Constitution +3]

As the notifications sounded, something seemed to shatter, its sound echoing in his ears.

"What... broke?"

Confusion filled Tetsu no Sosuke's eyes.

Chapter 14: Setting Out!

Even at the very end, Tetsu no Sosuke never learned exactly what that hammer blow had shattered.

All he knew was that after that blow fell, his body, which had been almost impossible to control whenever he used Breath of the Sun, suddenly obeyed him.

He could sustain it longer, too. When he wanted the Forging Hammer in his hand to move fast, it moved fast; when he wanted it to move slowly, it moved slowly.

And ever since that hammer blow, the length of time he could use Breath of the Sun had increased greatly.

It seemed that even Constant Concentration was no longer beyond his reach.