Chapter 8. Training arc

The Express "Time" arrives at the station "Two months later"...

The beginning of October is a gray, I would even say gloomy, period of autumn. The wind pierces to the bone, the gray clouds seem to weigh you down with their presence, and in all this depressive atmosphere, you have to get up so early that darkness still reigns around you.

"It's at times like this that I miss my past life..."

However, even at such an early hour, I was running circles around the academic stadium like a madman. It was already my hundredth lap on the 400-meter track, but even now my breathing was steady and my back was straight. When I first started exercising, I couldn't even handle ten laps. And after the first day of training, it was so bad that the remnants of my dinner involuntarily "went for a walk."

"Damn Coney Island! Even being thousands of kilometers away from America, it still decides how I will spend the next half hour after training... and it was Dinner!"

However, no matter how bad I felt, I had to put my acquired knowledge into practice and temper my body, which I had been systematically training for two whole months.

"So... the hundredth one!"

As soon as I finished my hundredth lap, I instantly fell to the ground, propping myself up with my palms on the frozen ground, and started doing push-ups. Did I try to repeat the so-called One-Punch Man workout? No, of course not... My loads are already four times higher.

"I work on my abs, then do squats, then run, and finish with pull-ups. It's not life, it's a fairy tale!" - feeling my hands shaking from the tension, I thought about why I was doing all this.

It all started when I absorbed Nagi Springfield's memories.

According to the philosophy of 'Sagitta Magica,' a spell is an arrow, and a mage is a bow. A mage not only needs to hone their magic application technique but also train their body. I remembered well that Nagi Springfield's body was practically no different from the strongest inquisitors and exorcists. Thus, it became clear that for me to withstand the recoil and powerful side effects of releasing magic, I needed good physical training.

And yet the Thousand Master was not inferior in battle to high-class demons and angels with four pairs of wings. Far from the level of Archangels and Demon Lords, but these beings are in a completely different world.

Since then, physical exercise has been added to my already routine life. And although my body initially screamed with pain and broke down, I just gritted my teeth, used magic to increase the effectiveness of my training, and started eating a lot more... I'd even say, simply destroying food.

"Three hundred and ninety... four hundred!" Having completed the planned norm, I collapsed exhausted.

Running forty kilometers at a constant speed of forty kilometers per hour, four hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups... You say it's impossible, that all I have is prayer. Fool, I don't need anything else. If that prayer reaches the right person, not just Forman but even the mountain will fall... In the fall, I definitely miss the old world much more.

Such training is certainly insane and impossible for an ordinary person, but who said I'm sane and an ordinary person?! The body of a mage recovers much faster than that of an ordinary person, and that was sufficient in the early stages to allow me to get out of bed in an acceptable condition the next day, rather than being half-dead. However, this is only at the initial stage.

After the first week, I made the crazy and very bold decision to break myself. Thank God, I was already a 2nd Circle mage then and could afford not to die from such strain. The 2nd Circle spell [Restoration] allowed me to reduce recovery time by several times, and the 2nd Circle spell [Uniform Distribution of Friction Force] allowed me to increase the intensity and effectiveness of my workouts.

And when I became a 3rd Circle mage just over a month ago, I was able to use the spells [Acceleration of Regeneration] and [Lamarck's Closed Circle]. Both spells increase the body's regeneration, but [Lamarck's Closed Circle] also forces the body to adapt at a crazy speed, that is, to undergo mini-evolution after each workout or battle. Thanks to this basic set of Spartan training, two months of constant workouts were equivalent to one and a half years of training for ordinary mages.

"Oh, yes. Compared to this, studying is the easiest thing you can encounter in the academy."

However, as many of my "fellow students" have already noted, I am training as if I am crazy. Every time after training, I feel so bad that I am turned inside out, and without magic, I cannot get up. Why am I going crazy about training? I have already said that I want to break myself, or rather my body. There is a reason for that called fear.

Among the knowledge and wisdom that I absorbed from Nagi Springfield, one thing struck me, namely, the true power of fallen demons, angels, and gods. What you see in anime is nothing compared to what it is really like. It was as if my childhood dreams of adulthood had jumped off the roof of my house like a stone, hit a couple of balconies, broke my entire backbone, and finally crashed on the pavement of reality

Yes! Everything is so bad. Creatures that can tear mountains apart with their attacks, move at relativistic speed, and kill you with their aura alone... and that's only talking about high-class demons and fallen angels with four pairs of wings.

So, to avoid dying in a meeting with these guys, I'd rather turn my life into Sparta on maximum power and rebuild my body. Of course, physical strength is unlikely to make a real difference against such strong opponents, but if I meet them, God be my judge... I hope I don't encounter some deity. Moreover, such training does not affect the speed at which I become stronger in the magical sphere because at the moment, I have reached the maximum rate of strength gain in this direction.

So, here I am after two months of training: instead of an ordinary mage with average physical training and only the symbolic first circle, there now stands a mage with a trained and strong physique, with three circles glowing near the heart, and my magical arsenal has increased by more than fifty spells.

"I'll have to stop by for a new batch of food for Gluttony tonight."

As I mentioned before, I became a mage of the 3rd Circle. Constant absorption of books and magical artifacts and reagents obtained as payment for appraising work for a black trader allowed me to become stronger very quickly. The total amount of magical power increased hundreds of times, which is not surprising, since the increase in the number of magician circles and the growth of their power is measured in a geometric progression. In addition, after conducting a dozen experiments, I realized that the volume of my magical power is greater than that of other 3rd Circle magicians. And if you add the number of spells I have mastered... then you begin to understand how incredible Gluttony is.

However, such a large amount of magical power also has its drawbacks. Namely, the "lack" of my sensitivity. If magic was a flame, then magical power was its fuel. I could not use more advanced spells without having enough magical power. And conversely, if my magical power is too enormous, the lack of control over the spell will lead to real chaos.

"And as befits a Shakespearean tragedy - I have only one flaw in my main strength."

And indeed, the only thing I am lacking is sensitivity. Of course, if it could be measured at 10 points before, now that number has increased to 30, but even at this level, it is still below average, meaning it's damn low. And I'm not even mentioning Nagi Springfield...

"But even so, I am satisfied with my progress," I muttered, looking at the gray autumn sky.

My clothes were sticky with sweat, and my hands and feet were so numb that it was difficult to even stand up. But nevertheless, this was nothing compared to the feeling of fulfilling my duty, as if I had not given up and won the toughest battle. This was the feeling that made me continue these training sessions, it was my drug.

"I'm starting to understand those battle maniacs... the satisfaction of the winner — it must be truly indescribable feeling!"

Moreover, every time I looked in the mirror and saw that my appearance had changed slightly compared to yesterday, it gave me even more enthusiasm. If not for fighting men, then certainly for meeting women.

"Well, I definitely had enough rest if I'm thinking like this... And now, body, get up!"

After using [Accelerated Regeneration] and [Lamarck's Closed Circle], the body heats up quite strongly, the temperature is such that steam constantly rises from my body in cold weather. Even when I stop training, this state will still last for another twenty minutes, during which I will simply not be able to move my body.

However, enough time has passed already. And after using [Recovery] dozens of times, I was able to stand up and dust off my hands from the ground. The sports suit soaked in sweat and dirt, and the foul-smelling body would make an ordinary person go take a shower and wash their clothes. But as I said, I am different.

"Purification," a magic circle immediately formed under my feet and began to move vertically upward, passing through my body.

A simple spell quickly removed all the dirt and sweat from the body. Other students often ignored this method because they lived a leisurely and comfortable life, and I also liked to stand under a cool shower, but now I was practical.

[Purification] used by a 3rd Circle mage is much better... and not just that, all my other spells have become stronger, even [Sagitta Magica]. And this was not just a feeling, but the true power of magic circles.

Any magic required magical power to maximize its effectiveness. Even 1st Circle spells, if you put more magical power into them, could become effective enough to compare with a 2nd Circle spell. Of course, no one prohibits stuffing more magical power into a 2nd Circle magic as well.

Knowing all this, one can understand that a 2nd Circle mage and a 3rd Circle mage differed quite a bit.

Not as much as a 3rd Circle mage and a 4th Circle mage... You have to understand that the difference between these two mages is not just in one circle, but in a whole sphere. That is, mages from the 1st to the 3rd Circle are considered kind of apprentices, from the 4th to the 6th Circle, they are masters, and from the 7th to the 9th Circle, they are true Archmages. And at the moment, my task is to climb to a new peak — to become a master, a 4th Circle mage.

The 3rd Circle, surrounding my heart, already felt so familiar as if it had been there since birth. I became a mage of the 3rd Circle three weeks after the deal on the Black Market, that is, after visiting the Black Trader three times and consuming about 40 artifacts.

A mage of the 3rd Circle has an enormous amount of magical power, an extensive arsenal of spells, and a strong physique. Now, I was not just at the same starting point as the other students, I had surpassed most of them and stood alongside true talents of the academy.

By the way, today's schedule includes the first combat practice after the exams. I hope everything goes as usual and everyone ignores me... What is this strange feeling in my chest?