Chapter 4 A Hero In Training

A few days had passed since Merlin found Ais. Ais's body had finally recovered to a healthy state. During this time some important things had happened. One, the Loki familia had returned from their expedition into the dungeon. This caused some big waves as evilus couldn't act as freely as before. But the most important thing was that Merlin finished creating her ultimate training plan for Ais.

Merlin applauded and praised herself for its creation. And so, one day, early in the morning Merlin was walking with Ais through the streets of Orario. For now, she decided to train outside the city where there was plenty of space and not many annoying eyes watching them.

'Whys is this bag so heavy?' Ais wanted to ask Merlin the reason but before they left Merlin told her not to ask unnecessary questions since it would affect her future growth. That quickly shut Ais's mouth.

They exited Orario and went to an open area near the city.

"Alright you can put the bag down"

Ais was relieved to finally set down the bag. She looked at Merlin and asked.

"What are we doing?"

"First thing we do is put some meat of your bones" Merlin gently pinch Ais's right arm. "You can't swing a sword with these arms"

"Every day you will be doing the most reliable workout plan ever created. 100 pushups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats and a 10km run but since I don't know how to measure out 10 kilometers, I just cleared up a path for you to run around a few times"

"See this dirt path, it's just a giant circle, when you pass this tree right here that means you completed one lap. So, let's see, run 5 laps I guess, that she be enough. Any questions"

"Teacher, did you do this every day to become strong?" Ais asked.

"Of course not. I'm a mage and also, I'm just naturally strong. Now get running!"

Ais nodded and began running around the track that Merlin had created. Merlin simply sat under a tree and pulled out a book and a pen. In this world the most common way of writing was with a quill but due to Merlin absolutely hating writing with it she found a skilled craftsman and gave him the details to create a pen. This revolutionized writing as the pen quickly became popular and was exported all around. Merlin didn't care about this that much except the money generated from it which she certainly made sure to get her share.

This book was used to record the training plans Merlin had for Ais as well as to record Ais's progress. Merlin decided to make some slight changes to the plan since she had come up with a few new ideas.

'Wait if I remember correctly wasn't proto-Merlin's parameter for strength and endurance both at E-rank. If I trained, wouldn't I be able to raise those parameters?'

She shrugged her shoulders at the thought.

'Eh, I'm too lazy to test that theory out'

After an hour had passed, Merlin was asleep with the book resting on her face. 

"Teacher...ha... I'm done... ha..."

Merlin woke up and took the book off her face. She looked at Ais who was breathing heavily and was drenched in sweat.

"Good work, here's some water. You can take a quick break before we continue"

Ais quickly downed the glass of water and sat down. After 5 minutes had passed Merlin continued the training. Merlin was a bit impressed that Ais sprinted the entire run and was still able to continue the training despite the fact that she was still a young child.

"All right now 100 pushups, sit-ups and squats. To make things a bit easier first you will do 20 pushups then 20 sit-ups then 20 squats then it's a minute break then repeat. Simple right?"

Ais nodded.

"Great now. Get up in pushup position! Now down! Up!"

...

Another hour passed had passed, Ais was laying down on her back looking up at the sky. Her eyes were hazy, breathing heavily and further drenched in sweat.

"Excellent work Ais, you will be doing this every day and I will be adjusting it based on how well you are doing. I'll start training you to fight once I think you're ready"

Ais could only weakly nod her head.

"I'll let you rest for a while before we start walking back"

'Wow she didn't pass out! Maybe the training wasn't as intense as I thought. Hmm maybe I should increase it but she's still a child. Hmmmmm, oh well I leave it as is for a few days'

Ais had finished her rest and now the both of them were walking back to Orario. Ais was carrying the backpack again.

"Teacher how come we brought the bag if we weren't going to use anything in it?"

"Aren't you using what's inside right now?"

"Huh?" Ais was confused by Merlin's answer. Merlin seeing her confusion moved to open the bag and pulled out a rock.

"This bag is filled with only rocks! Honestly your endurance and resilience is amazing! How you haven't collapsed yet is beyond me!"

This revelation broke her concentration, and she fell over.

"Oh, looks like I spoke to soon! Oh well!"

Merlin easily picked up Ais and the bag and carried them all the way back to Orario. 

...

Back home Merlin had sat Ais down at the table that was filled with cooked meats and some vegetables.

"These foods are jam packed with protein and nutrients that will help you become strong! How much protein and nutrients is there I have no idea but the more the better right! I will be- and you aren't listening"

Ais had begun to devour the food set on the table. Merlin watched with a smile.

'She reminds me of Artoria... Wait a minute!'

Merlin looked at Ais closely.

'She's not an Artoria 2.0, right?'

'Naw'

And with that, weeks passed. Every day was the same thing. The only change was the increasing in the amount of exercise Ais had to do. As time passed Merlin decided it was time to train her to use weapons.

Back out in the open field that Ais was familiar with now, Merlin pulled out two wooden swords. Ais had always wondered where Merlin pulls out these items. She has seen that Merlin only has a small bag, yet she always has a variety of items.

"Today we shall begin weapon training!" Merlin said as she gave the sword a few spins. Merlin gave the other wooden sword to Ais.

"Now come at me! Don't worry about hurting me because you can't"

In the next few weeks Ais would train her swordsmanship right after her workout then when they went home Merlin would teach Ais strategies that can be used in different situations and the many different monsters that roam the dungeon and the surface. She would quiz Ais on these things to make sure she knew.

As the months passed Ais progressed rapidly in her training. Merlin had to admit that Ais was talented with the sword. Merlin had taught Ais with many different weapons that she used during her travels, but Ais truly shined with the sword. 

Now Merlin was using her illusions in Ais's training. She would create illusions of different monsters in the dungeon and have Ais fight them. She would even make these illusions of these monsters do things that they shouldn't even do like a sudden burst in strength or speed or a sudden skill in combat in order to throw Ais off so that she can prepare for sudden changes in battle. 

Merlin was quite proud of the progress Ais was making. And of course Merlin was proud of herself for being the one to train Ais. At one point Merlin did have an idea she wanted to test. To see if healing potions and healing magic could help muscle growth. Since muscles build up when the body repairs muscle fibers that are damaged or stressed, wouldn't healing magic or potions accelerate this?

She was reminded of a manga she read in the past where the MC was a healer and would use healing magic as he trained to make him have monstrous strength and speed.

And the result was that it worked which further accelerated Ais's growth. Now Ais is always drinking potions or Merlin is using healing magic on her. The only downside to this is that Ais's appetite had increased in order to deal with the rapid growth. 

But food wasn't a problem and neither were potions since Merlin was loaded with money from her travels. 

Now after a full year of training, Merlin decided it was time for Ais to go in the dungeon to get some real experience. Merlin had equipped Ais with standard leather armor and a steel short sword and dagger as a secondary weapon. This would be Ais's first test to see how well she can do in live combat. So Ais had to make her own preparations, she had to find and pack all the supplies she would need all by herself with no help from Merlin. 

With everything ready both Ais and Merlin walked to the dungeon entrance. On the way there they were both stared at. Two people, a beautiful woman and a young girl with what looked like high quality robes and gear walking through town without a care in the world. Many thought that they were new in town and thus easy prey. Until they finally recognized Merlin, and then they swiftly turned their eyes away. Why? Well lets say that Merlin ended up creating a reputation for herself after getting drunk in a bar because a dwarf challenged her to a drinking contest. Merlin was banned from the bar, and many people were injured that night. 

Now they finally arrived to the base of the Tower of Babel where the entrance to the dungeon was.

"Alright we're here! Remember Ais that I will only be observing you. I won't step in unless I think that you will die. Do you understand?"

"Yes teacher"

"Good now lets descend!"