CHAPTER 38 – Training plan (Part 3)

*CRISTOPHER'S POV*

Right now, I was dropped on the couch, looking at the ceiling, while thinking how I will start working out tomorrow.

"I mean… I could actually train inside the gravity chamber… It should make it possible for me to increase my physical power there, I won't need to increase my magic power for a while, but physical power should be an easy shot there."

Increased gravity is always a great way for training. It is basically the same as putting up weights on your body, but better, as it will not only exert your muscles but your entire body.

For normal humans it could be dangerous, but for superhumans? That's perfect. It increases agility or speed, strength, and even your durability or vitality in this case.

"You could even train your magic power and magic power control in there… A perfect machine for training."-I say while sitting up. "Maybe I should go today? I mean… It's Sunday, but… It wouldn't hurt to test that machine, that way I could make a better plan for my training."

Right as I was thinking if going or not, I received a message.

[Olivia: Are you coming today?]

[Cristopher: Dunno. Why?]

[Olivia: Well… I thought that maybe you could, you know, help me again. I'm getting ready for training.]

[Cristopher: … You know what? Sure. Even more. I'm training with you today.]

[Olivia: What!?]

[Cristopher: Starting tomorrow I'm using the gravity chamber. I wanted to test it today. So you'll help me. You'll be my guide in there. What do you say, Psycho?]

[Olivia: Sure! I'm almost ready! I'll be there at 11:00 PM!!!]

"Wow, she's excited. Didn't say anything about me calling her Psycho. Ow man. Not funny…"-I said before answering.

[Cristopher: Sure, I'll be there at that time. Don't worry.]-I finished the conversation.

[Olivia: Don't be late!]

Or not…

[Cristopher: Aha…]

"Well, better get ready fast, it's almost 10:50 PM."- I said while standing up from the couch to get changed.

Clothes for the day? Black jogger pants, black running shoes, a white t-shirt, and a black open sports jacket with a hoodie.

"Yup. Black is better."-I said while grabbing water bottles and a tower and putting them inside my sports bag. "Ready to go. Let's do short jogging there."

I finally leave the dorms with a small run towards the training center.

***

Bad idea. It was a truly bad idea to come here today.

"*sigh…* Why are all these guys inside…"-I said outside the door.

In the training center, there were still a lot of cadets. They're all training, who knows why. They usually don't use this place so late at night…

"What are you doing there without going in? You're not having seconds thoughts, right"-A familiar voice asks behind me.

"Yes… I am. There are too many people inside."-I answer while turning towards Olivia.

"Of course, there is… Midterms are close. People are training as much as they can… And Sunday is perfect, though everyone does stuff on the day, so they only train at night and late-night, at least during the midterms."-Said Olivia as it was some matter of fact.

"… My tranquility… It's gone… Well, good to see you. I'm leaving."-I said while going back.

"Wait!"-Only for Olivia to grab my arm.

"Mmm? What?"-I answer while glancing at her.

"What do you mean what!? You're coming with me! You told me we were training together, remember!?"

"That was before I knew that there were a lot of people inside here. Now? I don't want to."

"Come on! Don't be that petty! Let's train! No one will pay attention to you!"-She says, trying to drag me in there.

"Precisely. And I want it to stay that way."

"*sigh…* Come on!! Let's go!"-She now tries to push me instead of dragging me.

{For fuck's sake… If it wasn't for the fact that I'm already here…}

"Fine, fine! Stop. I'm going in."-I said while going towards the door.

"*sigh…* Finally…"-She murmured from behind me. I'll just ignore that.

[Rank 915, Cristopher D. Lamas, Confirmed.]

[Rank 400, Olivia V. Ruiz, Confirmed]

"Oh, so your name was Olivia V. Ruiz? Huh, curious, sounds from Spain."

"It is. And didn't you know my name?"-She answers without looking at me, just walking straight towards the Gravity Chamber. On a curious note. I saw Rachel training in one corner of the place, she was sweating a lot.

"Of course not. I thought you were called Olivia the Psycho or Crazy Girl Olivia. What's the V for?"-I said to her while looking around to see if I find Hajin training as he should.

"Valentina. And I'm not crazy, nor psycho. Stop that already, would you? Also… What's the D for? Dick? Dork? Dumb?"

"Neither. David. Nice name by the way. Knew a couple of Valentinas. They were mostly insane."

"Mmm… Gladfully, my name's Olivia. Valentina is just my middle name."

"Sure, whatever you say."-I said as we finally got to the Gravity Room's section.

A funny thing is Hajin training. He's really making a hard effort right now. He should probably be a little bit stronger than in the novel. After all, even if the time's short. Hardcore training, mixed with mana and Natural Energy, can actually make miracles.

"He's stronger."-Said Olivia beside me while also looking at him.

"I know."-I answered. "I've been helping him, remember?"

"Of course I remember. I was angry for that for almost three days."-She says while glaring at me.

"What's the grudge for? It's not like I'm obliged to train you or something. Come on. We're going in this one."-I said while walking towards one of the gravity rooms.

"What? Are we going at the same time?"-She asks.

"Sure. That's the plan? What did you think I referred to when I said we'll train together?"-I ask her while lifting an eyebrow.

"Well… Kind of like you go first, then I go, and then you again, and so on… With, like, time to rest in between…"

"…"- I stare at her as if looking at a dumb animal.

"Wh-what?"

"You're so dumb sometimes you know? This thing is big enough for both of us to enter, so there's no problem if we use it at the same time."

"I-I'm not dumb! It's just…"

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's go!"-She said as she went inside.

"See. Valentina = Crazy."-I said as I followed her.

I'll be honest. I was impressed. I haven't been inside this place before. But it is more spacious than I thought. Maybe thanks to some kind of spatial-expansion magic. Looking all around, I could see things that seemed like lightbulbs, screens, and some things that seemed like a solar cell.

"*whistle~* It sure is incredible."-I said while still looking around the place. All in all, it looked like a spacious black dome with all kinds of magical circuits around.

"You've never been in one of these?"-Asked Olivia while going towards some kind of control panel.

"Nope. Not even once."-I said. Partially truth. As I haven't been in one of these exactly, but more like other types of gravity chambers.

"Well, you can leave your things over there."-She said while pointing to some kind of small locker without a door beside the control panel. "Also, the training space is limited to that big circle you're in."

"Mmm… It's spacious enough."- I said while going towards the small locker.

"For what?"-She asks while looking at me from the control panel.

"Training."-I answer shortly.

"What kind…?"-She asks again with a little wariness.

"You'll see. But you'll surely love it."-I smile at her while putting my bag in the locker.

"…"-She just stares at me. "HEY! Why are you taking off your sport jacket!?"

"…"-I stare back at her blankly. "I'm not using this to train."

"But you always use it! Why do you take it off now!?"-She said averting her eyes.

"Why not? You've already seen me, right? What's the shouting for? Geez!"-I said while finally taking off my sport jacket and putting it in the locker.

"…"-She stares at me for a moment. "By the way-"

"No questions."-I interrupt her.

"Then why do you show it to me again!"-She shouts at me.

"*sigh…* Whatever. Let's see how are you training like."

"I've been training in difficulty 4, but yesterday I tried 5, and I think I can actually keep training there thanks to you helping me. I'm in my best condition."

"Mmm… Let's keep it at 4 for now."

"Mm? Why?"

"Sometimes, it's better to train for more time than with more intensity. You should usually regulate it taking into account the kind of training you want to do. And right now. We're looking for resistance, not for intensity."-I said to her while putting the difficulty at 4. "That way you'll also able to absorb better the benefits from the Natural Energy."-I said, finally looking at her.

[Difficulty level: 4]

[Number of enemies: 0]

[Difficulty of enemies: 0]

[Type of training: Running.]

"Wait, are we running?"-Olivia asked.

"Nope. But I didn't find the type of training I wanted, so I just used that one."

Right as I said that, the circle platform suddenly lighted up, revealing some kind of running track, guided with lights.

"*whistle~* Look at that, so pretty. Well, let's go."-I said while stretching, right before going in.

*tremble*

"Mmm?"-Right after entering the circle, I felt my body weight going up. Feeling a little bit, I could sense that the gravity increased 100%. Which means. My weight doubled. {Mmm… Each level is like what? 25% in the increase? Also… It seems more like an increase in the weight than anything else.}

"What? Something's wrong?"-Asked Olivia while going inside the circle.

"Nope. Just thinking about the increasing rate."

"Oh, that? I don't know. It just goes up for me."

"Such a genius you are."

"What!? I'm sure you don't even know it!"-She shouts back at me.

"25% per level. Right now. It's 100% more, that is, twice the normal gravity."

"…"-She just stares at me. "How do you know that? This is your first time in one of these…"

"Well, you see. I have perfect control over my body. Of course, I'll know when my weight is doubling."

"…"-She just stares at me.

"Come on. Let's start. Go over there. We're sparring.".

"Wh-what? We're… sparring?"-She asks with a dumbfounded face.

"Yes. Move there. We'll be using just hand-to-hand combat. Nothing more."

"…"-She's white. Completely white.

"What?"

"… I can't. I won't hold it. Just running gets me too tired. I don't want to spar."

"Come on. You'll be fine."

"*sigh…* Fine… But please… No throwing moves… I don't want to fall while in this place…"

"Sure. Also. No mana."

"You're kidding… I'm going to die…"

"Nope. You won't. Don't worry."-I said while preparing myself with my arms up to guard.

"…"-She does the same, still afraid of sparring in here.

"I'll go first to show you a couple of easy moves, and then you repeat them, okay? I'll go slow, so you can imitate them."-I said while going towards her. "Remember. Stay quiet. I'm not hitting you yet. This is still practice."

I first go in with a low stance. Using a zig-zagged step while moving in short horizontal moves with my guard up. Once at the range, I throw a punch at her stomach, without actually hitting. I then lift that same punch towards her chin stopping 1 cm in front of it. After that, I turn my arm so my elbow goes straight to her face, it should be her neck, but I didn't connect the hits.

"Ok, did you see that? You'll be repeating it. Again, and again. With both arms. Understood?"- I ask her as I go back to my initial position. "Also. I'll be stopping each attack. So, don't get scared if I do something. I won't hit you. Just stop your attacks, you just keep repeating the moves, without caring if I stop you or not."

"Okay."-She says while putting the same posture I did, and replicating the moves.

Right when her first hit is close to me, I put my palm in front of my stomach to stop the hit. She then went for the upper-cut, which I stop with my other hand close to my chin, then, she went for the elbow hit, which I stopped with the back of my left hand.

"See? That's easy, right? You just have to repeat those movements again and again."-I said to her. "Also. Do it faster, and with real intention to attack me. Don't stop the hits as I did."

"But… What if I hurt you?"

"…"-I stare blankly at her. "Haahahahahaha!!"-Right before laughing my ass off.

"…"-She just glares at me.

"Wait. You meant it!?"-I ask. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"-Before laughing even more loudly this time while grabbing my stomach and hunching my back. I almost dropped myself on the floor, but that would be too much.

"…"-She is still glaring at me. "FINE! I'll do as you say. I don't care if I hit you."

"Hahahaha… Ha… Sure, whatever. Just come at me with everything."-I said while getting in position.

It seems she's really angry. Because she came at me as if she was trying to kill me. Each hit she threw at me was at full force. Of course, it was worse each time he used her right arm, as it was her dominant one. Not like I couldn't stop her. She couldn't do anything to me, even in these conditions.

That way, we kept training again, and again, and again. At least until the 6 minutes mark.

"huff… huff… huff… I… Can't… Move… Any…more… Huff… Huff… Huff…"-So she said.

{I'll give it to her. She increased her time while not using mana.}

"It's okay. Let's leave now while you still can walk. I'll help you recover."-I said while walking towards the control panel and turning off the training.

"*SIGH…*"-She let out a big sigh this time, and started walking towards me.

Meanwhile, I took my towel and dried my sweat, while taking a bottle of water and giving it to her.

"Drink some. You need it. Keep yourself hydrated."-I said to her.

"Thanks…"-She said while grabbing it.

I also took my own bottle to drank a little bit. I wasn't all that tired. But still, this could work. I just need to increase the level of training and enemies.

"So… Are we doing this tomorrow too?"-She asks.

"No. I'm training alone starting tomorrow. This doesn't help me at all."

"Just how strong are you… really?"

"Why would you care? Now let's go out."-I said as I wore my sport jacket once again.

"Also… Why are you hiding it? Cube doesn't have regulations against tattoos. If you don't want to show it, why did you make it in the first place?"-She asks while looking at my right arm.

"That's my problem."- I answered while taking my sports bag. "Now, let's go. I still have to help you recover." I finally went towards the exit.

"…"-She slightly glares at me. "*sigh…* Asshole."-She said while following me. Once again. I ignored it.

***

Outside, we went to a bench. I also told Hajin to come here once he finished. I helped both of them recover before finally going back to my room to took a shower and sleep.

For the record. We received weird glances from all around. Especially from Shin Jonghak's minions, who were kind of glaring towards Hajin, and then towards me.

{I swear. If they try to bully me directly. I'll mess them up.}-I thought while dropping myself on the bed.

"Well. Now I know how to actually use the Gravity Chamber. Tomorrow I'll start training. I'll see how my stats grow with that, and in case it gets hard, I'll use old methods."-I said before falling asleep.