9 Improvement

It's been a week since his training had started. Zeus was subjected to brutal physical training and in just a mere week, he could already feel the improvement.

Together with his physical improvement, his skill 'Enhanced' also got upgraded into level 2, further increasing the overall boost and reducing the stamina consumption.

'Fortunately, I can rest today.'

Today, Sera gave him a day off which he really needed right now as his muscles needed rest to grow as well. Not only that, he could feel it numbing and if he pushed it forward, it hurt like hell.

Step—, step—

Hearing footsteps behind, Zeus turned his head. It was Sera.

"How's your body?"

Zeus smiled bitterly, "I just want to sleep all day."

"Hahahaha, that just means that your training is finally paying off. You're already proficient in using 'Enhance'."

"I guess, no pain no gain…"

"Indeed…" Sera walked forward and sat on a fallen tree trunk. He raised his head and stared far away as he reminisced about his past. "You must endure hardships to become strong. All of us, even me, fought the toughest of opponents and withstood against the hardest of challenges. One day, it will happen to you too."

Zeus stared at his master, wondering if he had a screw loose in his head. All he would say would sometimes become a life lesson just like what happened just now.

Sometimes, he doesn't even want to talk anymore.

But, the feeling of having someone care about you, just felt soothing.

"Can you tell me about what the world outside this mountain looks like? I don't want to be ignorant in the future."

"The outside world huh?" Sera sighed and continued, "To be honest, I like being here. No pressure and just solitude. You can live a normal life and enjoy the blessings of nature. But I can't deny that the outside world has a lot of fun as well."

"I bet you have your own adventures too."

"Well, yes. The world is more fun than you could imagine. Once, we visited an island made of chocolate. There's also a floating city where you'll find exotic and bizarre attractions…"

A smile bloomed on his face as Sera described places he had visited. Although the explanation was somewhat lacking, Zeus didn't complain. In the future, he would visit those places too and see them with his very own eyes.

Just thinking about it, Zeus felt a tremor of excitement.

…

A month had passed since he started training.

Every day, Zeus pushed himself to his limits. Jogging while pulling two large boulders and pushing up while under the pressure of gravity magic was only a glimpse of his full training regimen.

If it's a normal 5 year old child, they might have complained by now or even quit. Unfortunately, Zeus' mentality wasn't that of a child.

Day and night, like a training machine, Zeus resisted all muscle aches and cramps.

And in just a month, Sera told him that he's already prepared for weapon training.

As Sera is a swordsman, the weapon he also chose was a sword. It's not like he had an option anyways.

"For the basics, swing the sword 10,000 times. Only the right sword swinging posture counts as 1 and anything other than that counts as 0. Understood?"

Just like that, Zeus began his sword training. In the morning, he'd wake up before dawn, and do a little body training before swinging the sword 10,000 times. At night, he would perceive the physical mana to increase his proficiency in using the 'enhance' skill.

Although the process takes time and the improvement advances like a snail, it's better than nothing.

However, on the 10th day, since he practiced swinging the sword, Sera came up to him together with Limuel and Mari. They wore mining clothes and they each held pickaxe. With their clothes full of mud, it looks like they just exited from underground.

Swish—

Zeus continued to swing his sword, but this time, he had an audience.

At that moment,

"Zeus."

Sera's voice entered his ears.

Zeus turned his head and asked. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you try other weapons?"

Baffled, he glanced at his wooden sword before he shook his head. "No, I think I'm liking the sword now. Maybe I'll try next time, master."

At first, Zeus was reluctant to use a sword. What he preferred was something like a spear or a lance.

However, as a native of Earth, he had seen animations and movies where people who used swords looked badass.

Sometimes, he dreamt of becoming an amazing swordsman too!

Imagine having to fight hundreds of enemies when suddenly their heads fall off and the only thing they saw was you sheathing back your sword. They didn't even catch how you drew the sword!

How cool was that!? Although it sounds unrealistic, come on, this is a fantasy world. Everything is possible.

But before his thoughts got out of hand, Mari's words woke him up to reality.

"Boss didn't mean to say he's allowing you to switch weapons. What he wanted to tell you is that you 'need' to switch weapons." Mari said while emphasizing the word 'need'.

"But why? I'm doing just fine."

Mari sighed. "To be frank, it means you have no talent."

"Huh?"

"Boss means your sword talent is trash and you should quickly change weapons or else you're just going to waste your time."

Crack—!

As if a glass falling down on hard concrete, Zeus heard a crack inside his body.

On that day, his dreams of being a renowned swordsman shattered into pieces.

…

Time flies…

A year had passed since he started to practice with Sera's guidance. Many things happened in the course of a year.

Aside from his normal training routine, Zeus began to help with the team's mining works. Although he didn't know what these three wanted to find, he was completely certain that it was something priceless.

Of course, he tried to ask questions like, 'Why don't you just bombard an area?' or, 'Can you just use your senses to perceive what's underneath?'

But Sera answered that the thing they were finding cannot be sensed by any form of sensing techniques. Bombarding the mountain would make it even harder as they may damage that particular item.

In the end, Zeus eventually stopped asking. The mining works already became a part of his training so he never really complained.

A year had passed and his biggest improvement was his height and physical strength. Zeus was a little over 1.4 meters tall now.

However, this also made him doubt.

His father was only 1.7 meters tall and his mother as far as he remembered was surely not as tall as his dad.

Sometimes, he's beginning to doubt if Abel Walton was truly his father. He didn't even want to think about it.

Hence, Zeus attributed it to his grandfather's genes. Maybe they were tall?

"Let's not think about it. I should continue practicing."

He picked up an iron bo staff the same size as him and began his daily training.

"Haaah!"

As he had no talent in swords, Zeus learned how to fight with an iron staff. According to Sera, he was more suitable for using heavy weapons rather than light ones.

He tried a hammer, a club, and many other blunt weapons but in the end, he chose an iron staff.

And just as expected, in just a month of repeated practice, a skill appeared in his system.

< You created the skill, 'Basic Staffmanship.' >

[Basic Staffmanship]

[Passive Skill.]

[Level: 5]

[Description:a unique fighting style created for a person versed in the art of staff.]

[Proficiency: 84%.]

Through constant practice, he managed to upgrade it to level 5. But the higher the level, the difficulty in upgrading the skill gets higher as well.

Sera suggested fighting monsters and ferocious beasts but according to him, his state is not enough to even fight the lowest rank of them.

Aside from this skill, his 'enhance' skill also got two upgrades.

[Enhance]

[Passive / Active Skill.]

[Level: 4 / 10.]

[Description: A physical art that increases a person's overall physical attributes.]

[Proficiency: 46%.]

This skill was somewhat special as it's both an active and passive ability. However, the only downside is its max level was only up to level 10.

'Now, it's time to find out how strong I am.'

[Enhance.]

Shu—

His body reddened.

Zeus positioned himself and held the iron staff above his head. With his eyes aimed toward a rock the size of a normal car, the muscles on his arms bulged.

At that moment, Zeus slammed the staff.

"Haah!"

The rock trembled, before exploding into tiny bits.

BANG—!

Feeling the numbness on his palm, Zeus alternated his gaze between his weapon and the rocks.

"Haha, damn…"

But thinking back at how his master destroyed a boulder the size of a whale, his eyes regained their calmness.

'I still have a long way to go.'