Training To The Very Last Breath
Kai was awake the whole night after dinner. He was given the room on the top floor of the house.
It was the attic. Contrary to what he'd thought it looked like, it was rather neat and tidy.
There was already a bed prepared with a closet and drawers for his use. On the other side were boxes neatly piled on top of each other, forming a wall.
He started training his core like his usual routine. Running out of breath ever so often while clutching onto his shirt in pain.
It wasn't healthy to overwork one's core but he wasn't aware. Even if he was, he wasn't interested in stopping anytime soon.
He soon stopped after 5 hours, realizing he had 3 hours left before training with Mr. Walton.
Hesitantly, he checked around the room for any type of hazards. He stood up from his bed and walked to the window on the roof. He pushed it open and a loud creak was heard.
Snow started falling into the room. Kai slowly put out his hand in the air and the snow began to come towards him as if attracted by a magnetic force.
He lifted his hand and led the snow the way out. He then peek out of the window and created a small ice shield that covered the range of the whole roof.
After that was done, he stepped on the cabinet and pushed himself up on the roof. He then took a small break from all the climbing.
With two hands held out, he closed his eyes and imagined ice building up from the ground at an incredibly fast rate. He waited for something to happen but nothing did.
Kai successfully obtained the secondary elemental state of water a few days ago. It was unstable but definitely much more useful than mere water that didn't do much.
He had decent control over the ice and could summon it at will but not a large amount. It used up a lot of mana that he did not have.
And even with the ice element there was not much he could do without a spell book that contained proper offensive and defensive spells made by magicians.
People would normally create their own spells if they didn't have a spell book on hand. But only people with creativity and are innovative could do that. Kai wasn't either of that. He wasn't talented in the arts. Just booksmart at best.
Kai sighed and moved his index finger around in the shape of a snowman. He watched as ice formed at his fingertips. Once he stopped, the chunk of ice fell.
The ice man laid on the roof and accompanied Kai in his sight seeing.
The water shield Lithia created could be seen where he was on the roof. It stretched far and wide. It continuously used up mana just to be there even if nothing was harming the shield. The shield even let snow enter to keep the Christmas spirit alive.
A large shield that could only be created by a mage with a ton of experience and training. The mana Lithia has was impressive to even keep the shield up for the last few weeks. It almost seemed infinite at this rate.
Kai looked at his measly shield that sheltered him from the snow and thought of ways to improve it but he soon gave up.
He then produced fire in his hands and moved it away from the ice man. He looked at it closely and frowned. Should he start working on another element seeing as how there was nothing left to do with his ice?
Soon after, Kai produced a ton of fire and attempted to envision a rainy day with light flashing on the word and the rumbling sound that struck after. He tried a ton of times but all he produced was a red flame.
Kai could feel himself sweating despite the cold. The thinking and concentration had worn him out. He was tired and exhausted but couldn't sleep at all.
The man kept appearing in his dreams. Terrorizing him and made Kai felt a fear towards sleeping.
Even if that person was dead, he still lived in Kai's mind as if it was part of him. It was frustrating and scary.
No matter how far one runs, they'll never be able to escape from their nightmare unless they have truly overcome it. Kai hasn't.
Soon, Kai heard sounds of loud heavy thunderous footsteps and someone yelling out his name from below his room. He jumped back inside the attic and slammed the window shut while removing his shield.
A part of the floor was being pulled down and turnt to a ladder. A head slowly revealed itself from the square hole.
"Woah! You're awake? At least make some noise kiddo." Mr. Walton jolted back a bit when he saw Kai staring straight at him.
"Sorry." Kai apologized before making his way down the ladder when he saw the coast was clear.
"You didn't sleep?" Mr. Walton asked, scratching his back and yawning.
"No. I did." Kai lied, looking around.
"Come downstairs with me to the yard." Mr. Walton said, walking away while stretching. "And tie your hair up with those red rubber bands."
They both soon made it to the yard. It was humongous, even larger than the house itself. The grass was covered thoroughly with snow to the brim. At one corner, there was a large stack of tree trunks that took up plenty of space. Weren't they meant to be logs normally?
"We're going to run 12 rounds around here with no breaks. If you miss a round I'll get you to run another." Mr. Walton tied his shoelaces while he heard a small groan from Kai.
They both started running, Mr. Walton seemed to be breezing through the field as if it was nothing. Just like a daily grocery run. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it. His feet sunk in the snow, he pulled it out and continuously did so effortlessly with each step.
Meanwhile, Kai was losing his speed by the fifth round. His legs felt like they had just gained 100 pounds and became a rock that was incapable of moving. He had never been so worn out in his whole entire life.
Kai dragged his feet but still continued on, while Mr. Walton was 2 rounds faster than him. Everytime Mr. Walton overtook him, it made him doubt his athletic abilities.
Soon, Mr. Walton had finished his twelfth round. He stopped and jumped on the spot while breathing out heavily. He was sweating inside his jacket. He notices Kai still running with random bursts of energy.
"I honestly thought he'd faint in the sixth round, he was breathing so heavily too. That kid is a rather hard worker. Sturdier than I thought." Mr. Walton praised. He squinted and nodded to himself.
"And stronger than I thought. He is at a red gas stage core. That's quite impressive for someone so young." Mr. Walton could see the core level Kai was at because he was at a higher stage than the child. He didn't bother checking before but now that he did, it was shockingly impressive.
"Did Argenetia train him?" He speculated while wiping sweat off his face with the back of his hands while watching Kai forcing himself through the last round.
Kai had finally finished. If he could, he would've fallen onto the ground and laid there. But he couldn't with Mr. Walton watching him.
"You did decently well for the first time. Very good!" Mr. Walton gave Kai a thumbs up as a reward. "Now, we're going to chop all the logs of wood over there!"
"Mr. Walton. Those aren't logs. They're tree trunks themselves." Kai stated, he was incredulous. Mr. Walton ought to be joking.
"Oh really? Didn't know. Well, it doesn't matter! Let's get started!" Mr. Walton skipped and hopped over to the warehouse to grab axes.
Christmas was a rather excellent time for him to get some good training done and what better than a companion? The more the merrier.
They both immediately got to chopping.
Mr. Walton's swing was precise and wasted no unnecessary energy for each chop. It was always sliced perfectly into half. These were the work of a skillful and experienced lumberjack.
On the other hand, Kai almost lost balance a few times while attempting to swing the ax. Once he did manage to swing the ax, the tree trunk was never cut through thoroughly. Forcing him to hack through it like a woodpecker.
It didn't help that he was still exhausted from the run. Mr. Walton wasn't joking when he said that he'd work the boy till his limbs fell off.
The training was so tough that Kai had to pause and take a break but he was soon forced back to work.
Soon, they were finished with all the chopping and swinging like a maniac.
Mr. Walton had done more than half of the work, 12 tree trunks to be exact. While Kai had barely finished 5.
The empty early morning sky had disappeared. Now only clouds covered the sky.
"That...must be all. Right?" Kai asked, breathing heavily while feeling all the open wounds on his palms from the rough handle of the ax. His hands were terribly blistered. It hurts everytime a cold wind blows by.
"Eh? No way!" Mr. Walton collected the axes and placed them back in the warehouse before coming out with two swords of the same size. "Swordsmanship is an essential to every true man. Even for blacksmiths. Now catch!" He threw the sword with no consideration.
Kai was still tired from all the running and chopping but his eyes gleamed with anticipation despite his stamina being sucked out of his soul. He reached out for the blade and catched them in his hands.
"Now I'll show you how to swing it, first-" Mr. Walton's was cut off by a blade being shoved in his face.
"No need. You can get to sparring with me." Kai said, pointing the tip of his blade elegantly right in front of Mr. Walton's surprised face.The blade felt just right in his hand rather than a shortsword.
"Getting cocky now, aren't you?" Mr. Walton stated while using his other hand to push the blade away. He smiled in hopes for a great spar, seeing as how Kai was awfully confident all of a sudden.