Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 473: Pulse. Rest. Pulse.

When Asher was done creating an Astra-infused micro-fatigue, he immediately got to work. He already had a basic idea of how to reactivate his muscles using lightning; all that remained was to put it into practicality, and he understood this would be anything but easy. Although his lightning control was good, excellent even, at the end of the day, it still wasn’t at the same level as his Astra energy control.

Ultimately, that was precisely why he was here: to train.

He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as he immediately got to work. Lightning answered his call at once as he activated it, not with full force, but as a gentle streak under tight control. Lightning was restless by nature, eager and eager to surge forward, violent and unrestrained, but he held it back with practiced ease.

The first step was restraint. In this particular moment, if he could hear lightning crackle, if he could feel its biting sensation at the edge of perception, then it was already wrong. Lightning used for destruction announced itself loudly. Lightning used for the body had to be silent, subtle, and forgettable.

Lightning flowed into the muscle he had fatigued earlier. They were not damaged nor sore, merely heavy, in the same way stone felt heavy after being held for too long. He guided the current through the nerves, allowing it to spread and flow upward with a natural, silent ease, as though it belonged there from the very beginning.

The response was immediate.

The sudden tightness in his muscles loosened at once, not all at once, but one layer at a time. The muscles released their grip, allowing blood to flow through them freely once more. Warmth followed, gentle and even, as if that particular muscle had been placed near a hearth rather than subjected to electricity.

Seeing that he had succeeded on his first try, a knowing smirk appeared on Asher’s face. He was happy, who wouldn’t be? After all, he was carving a path toward infinite stamina... Okay, infinite stamina was a bit of a stretch, but still, he was carving a path forward, something tangible and revolutionary for himself.

But he didn’t let his excitement get to his head. He had only completed the first step; he couldn’t relax now. He immediately refocused once more.

He adjusted the rhythm of his lightning and muscle rejuvenation. Pulse. Rest. Pulse. It became a mantra for several minutes, echoing silently in his mind. The entire idea was not to force the muscles through a lightning current, but to remind them how to relax on their own. Within a few minutes, the muscles had rebuilt themselves and were now perfect, as though nothing had ever happened.

Asher exhaled again. He had started with a small group of muscles because he didn’t want to dive into something too large too quickly. But now that he had achieved perfect success, on his first try, no less, he decided to take it a step further.

He created the same fatigue in his legs, then in a few other parts of his body. After that, he began again. Lightning current flowed up his calves, but he was slower this time. Larger muscle groups required more patience; they were clusters of muscles, after all. One wrong move and the entire process would end badly for him. He slowed the lightning flow further, broadening it slightly so it could reach deeper fibers without concentrating too heavily in one place.

His calves responded with an immediate tremor, but it was a soft one, not strain, but something closer to realignment. Another smile broke across his lips as he felt the lingering heaviness in his muscles fade, replaced by a sense of readiness and balance.

With that, he let the lightning climb to his knees, then his thighs, following the natural pathways of his nervous system. Whenever a muscle had been overused, the lightning current lingered longer, coaxing circulation and smoothing tension left behind by the induced fatigue.

Suddenly, Asher felt his control slip as the sensation of rejuvenation vanished entirely. The gentle lightning current still flowed, but the muscles ignored it, remaining unchanged. Still, he didn’t panic. He understood that he had entered a more dangerous territory of control. Failure was normal. Trying again until success was also normal.

He corrected his breathing and tried again without hesitation or pause.

His lightning current continued its flow through his body as it reached up onto his hips. His lower body felt lighter, more balanced, as though his weight had been redistributed more evenly. Without hesitation, he rose briefly to his feet to test the recovery, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He met no resistance of any sort. Everything felt natural. He nodded in satisfaction and sat again, now directing the lightning upward.

The abdomen was trickier. Too much stimulation here immediately disrupted his breathing and balance. But, as usual, he learned from his mistakes. He kept the current shallow, brushing along the nerves rather than sinking into the muscles themselves. The effect was subtle, a deep sense of ease, the kind that came after long rest rather than exertion.

Asher didn’t waste time celebrating his success. He moved on to his chest. With each breath, each inhale, lightning aligned itself with the expansion of his ribs. With each exhale, it withdrew slightly, encouraging full release.

His breathing deepened naturally, without conscious control. This was another sign of success. When lightning worked properly, the body took over on its own.

With that, Asher continued the rest of his training, guiding lightning to his chest, then his neck. He didn’t rush the process. Yes, he had paid for three hours, and it was costly, but that didn’t mean he would rush himself just to save time. That was how training backfired on someone to begin with.

Within the hour, he was done rejuvenating various parts of his body. When he withdrew his lightning, there was complete silence within him, a silence that felt profound. Not emptiness, but readiness.

He stood again. His body didn’t feel stronger in any noticeable way. It didn’t feel faster. It simply felt available for use, every muscle responsive, every nerve clear, no lingering tension left behind to steal effort from the next movement.

This was stamina. Not endless endurance, but the absence of literal internal friction, and he had achieved that absence. Without wasting a moment, he took a step, then another, testing the flow of motion. The result was immediate. Movement required less thought and less effort.

Although he had achieved his goal, Asher knew it couldn’t be used readily in combat yet. In a battle, nobody would give him the time to rejuvenate his muscles so slowly and carefully. At the same time, he understood that now wasn’t the time to build proficiency. Instead, he would go through the entire process twice for now. When he returned to his personal training chamber within his room, he would build his proficiency there.

But at the same time, Asher wasn’t a fool. He knew he couldn’t use this method continuously and forever without adverse effects. As someone who had read a great deal of biology, he knew what would happen if he overstimulated his muscles or abused this new control he had gained. Although he could cheat biology to a degree, he couldn’t push it to its extreme limits without consequence.

With that thought, he sat down again in a lotus position and began from the very beginning. Slow but steady, with no need to rush. He wasn’t pressed for time.