Forward [7]

I had learned a lot from Ms. Lee's lecture on magical skills but I had still not been able to understand a big part of her lesson. 

More or less it went like this: Magic can be used by everyone as long as they have the competence and the mana to conjure the specific spell. Skills, on the other hand, are either granted organically in relation to which class one had, or one could learn new skills by training, although you could only learn skills that were in line with one's class. 

Once a skill was learned, it became a lot more natural for the body and mind to use it, with the caveat that one still needed to have the concentration, as well as the physical and magical preconditions met. 

There was also a difference between magical skills and physical skills in that magical skills often had a larger consumption of mana, whereas physical skills had a lower or, in some cases, no consumption. Physical skills also often had a higher requirement of certain specific stats like strength or agility, whereas magical skills often needed a higher intelligence stat. 

Naturally, there also existed skills that could be argued to be somewhere in between as well as it was a spectrum.

After that, she went on to explain how the calculation of effectiveness was done concerning skills, and how the math behind it had been made... at which my concentration completely crumbled. It was to the point where I couldn't even remember the last part of the lecture, nor how I had made it back to my room, and then to now, where I was walking into the gym for another training session. 

My whole body was at this point screaming at me to lie down, that I needed to rest, but I already knew that that sort of thing wasn't an option for me. Because I was too scared to do so. 

Thoughts like 'If I fall here, I won't be able to get back' and 'I don't have time' were continuously running through my head making me terrified of the prospect of falling. Therefore, I kept on going. No matter how foggy my head was and no matter how painfully numb my body became. 

As my mind was already gone, my body was moving fully on instinct, and grabbed two dumbbells, both feeling impossibly heavy in my hands, and found some space to do my exercises. Almost falling, I got to the floor and began the same motion that I always started with, pushups and rows.

'One more step... one more step...'

****

[Celine's POV]

'He's here again...' 

Having already done more than enough strength training for the week, I had decided that for today, I would only do some light running on the treadmill in the gym. Even if I wanted to give it my all to get stronger, some degree of moderation was still important. 

Something that Ray didn't seem to agree with as he somehow kept going at the same pace as always. The only difference was the incredibly apparent fatigue and exhaustion that had now settled in both his face and body. Just like yesterday he was doing pushups again and alternating those with one-handed rows, and similarly, he still had good form despite his arms shaking like leaves every time he pushed himself up or dragged the dumbbell off the floor. 

However, he still kept going. On and on and on. Endlessly, he kept pushing himself up and down, up and down.

As it was Friday, we were the only ones present in the gym, as most people enjoyed having their Friday night free from training.

'Crazy bastard.'

Then, at some point, my feet stopped. Because I began to realize something. 

'How many reps has he done now?'

Normally a set didn't consist of, at most, twenty reps, but Ray was continuing with the same set without stopping, doing rep after rep. And so, I began to count. 

'1, 2, 3, 4,...'

The further I counted, the more I felt my stomach turn.

'15, 16, 17, 18...'

The man still wasn't stopping. 

'28, 29, 30, 31...'

And that's when I noticed something. 

*Drip*

Something bright red had begun to stain the dumbbells that he was holding, slowly making its way onto the white floor. 

'That's... blood?'

Still confused, it took a while for me to comprehend what was happening, but after a couple of moments, I finally understood what was going on. 

'He's bleeding!'

Before I got the chance to think, I jumped off the treadmill, ran to his side, and put my hand on his bare shoulder, as it wasn't covered by the black tank top.

"Ray! Stop!"

Yet, he still didn't stop, nor did he respond. 

"Ray! What are you doing?!"

My mind was in turmoil as I had no idea what to do, derived from the fact that I had never experienced a situation like this in my life.

So, in the end, I simply grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around...

*Thud*

... which resulted in him falling on his back fully unconscious. 

'What the fuck...?'

As he lay unconscious, I finally got to see the state that his body was in. Not only were his muscles spasming to the point where I could visibly see the movement in his arms, but his palms were completely covered in blood due to the skin on his palms having been ripped to shreds. 

'This.. stupid bastard!'

****

[Rays' POV]

"Where... am I?"

I woke up to the sight of a white panel ceiling, having no idea of where I was or how I got there, resulting in a sense of panic quickly emerging in my head. 

'Training! I need to get back to the gym!'

Though it felt like getting stabbed by knives, I still put some strength into my arms to lift my upper body off the bed. Yet, as I tried to do so, a soft hand found its place on my chest and pushed me back down. 

"...what do you think you are doing?"

A bit confused, I turned my head only to find a very annoyed expression belonging to a certain female classmate. Her thin brows were creased as she crossed her arms after pushing me back, pushing her larger-than-average chest up a bit.

"I'm getting back to training. I still have..."

"No, you're not, you idiot! Why do you think you were brought to the infirmary in the first place?"

'Ah, so that's where I am. Makes sense, I guess.'

An age-old tale it was, of someone trying to push past their limits and failing. Frustration once again filled my soul and I was unable to stop my hands from turning into fists.

*Clench!*

'I fell... and I couldn't take that one step...'

After only a few days, my servitude to the three sacred pieces of improvement had already fallen apart. Logically I knew that I had been acting recklessly, even if my new body was a lot more potent than my old, but logic wasn't able to dispel the raging emotions inside of me. 

*Smack!*

Out of nowhere, my shoulder was slapped and as I looked up at the perpetrator, she looked just as surprised as me in regards to what she had just done. It also didn't take long until her somewhat chubby cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment.

In the end, she decided to run away as she quickly got to her feet and walked toward a door that I assumed led to the rest of the infirmary.

Weirdly enough, this little event did manage to expel some of the dark thoughts in my mind, likely due to how unexpected it was.

"Anyway, the nurse told me that you weren't allowed to leave until she gets back to check on you!"

Just as she was about to open the door, however, I had a very important favor to ask of her. So with a throat as dry as a dessert, I managed to squeeze out some words with a hoarse voice.

"Please don't tell anyone about this."

My words got Celine to completely stop in her tracks, as well as make her turn back to me.

Still dressed in her casual gym wear and with her hair a bit disheveled, her whole aura told the story of someone whose patience was just about to run out. But instead of raising her voice at me, she asked a very simple and straightforward question:

"...why shouldn't I tell anyone?"

It was a fair question to ask, and there was also no reason for her to accept granting me this favor as there was nothing for her to gain. 

Therefore, I could only beg.

"Please, Celine."

A long pause was created with none of us saying anything. Me, because I had nothing else to say, and Celine as she was currently making a decision.

In the end, she released a large sigh before putting on an expression that I could have never predicted in this situation. She was wearing a small and complicated smile as she gave me an answer.

"You are a real bastard, you know that?"

"I've heard the rumors, yes."

Shaking her head, it didn't seem like she found my joke that amusing.

"Rumors, huh? But fine, I won't tell anyone. In return, however..."

"Huh?"

Celine opened the door, preparing to leave as she finished her sentence.

"I want a rematch. But this time I want you to give it your all."

And just like that, she was gone.