Start of training [part 2]

After the nanny said that I would start training tomorrow, I decided to spend the rest of the day gathering mana.

Indeed, initially, one must fill the 3 mana cores until they become saturated, in order to trigger their awakening.

To fill and saturate those 3 mana cores, one must create a fourth core. Named the vital core, it takes time to form.

This additional awakening occurs when the energy one has accumulated within oneself enters their cores, converting and crystallizing them.

As the cores are transformed by pure energy, they reach the point where one should create a focal point for mana.

A focal point will connect their cores and their entire being to a particular or set of mana elements.

The vital core crystallizes completely after the creation of the focal point and begins to flood the body with mana.

And once the crystallization of the vital core occurs, if the transformation is successful, it will become a mana core.

From the moment the body accepts mana, it begins to change and evolve.

And when it accepts it, the pure mana in the blood permeates every single cell, enhancing each of them.

It strengthens the cell wall and organelles. The mitochondria evolve into something capable of metabolizing mana efficiently.

Various law fragments in the blood also activate.

Along with it comes the awakening of lineage and its racial ability, adapting and changing it based on the laws one has affinity with.

But if your body is not willing to survive with mana, your core will never be able to crystallize.

This is because the purity of mana necessary to bring about change will be lacking.

This is where elemental affinities also come into play.

The more mana elements you bind to your core, the faster you regenerate, which means the stronger you will be and the more options you will have for mana increase.

All the changes made are positive but also influence the body, mind, and soul in what can be considered negative ways.

Indeed, healing becomes easier, and regeneration becomes possible. Mana will form a blueprint of your body that will make all this possible.

But this means that it will hardly be possible to become stronger through exercise because the new cells that will be created will be created in the image of the old cells.

Your existence becomes rigid.

Rigidity brings with it structural integrity but also a lack of adaptability.

Your cells become inflexible. Habits become difficult to change due to changes in nerve cells.

The body influences the mind and soul in more than one way.

How you walk and your posture add to the blueprint of your life.

If your arm regenerates, it will not regrow like a child's arm but like your adult arm complete with years of training and muscle memory.

And if the body is not strong enough, it cannot bear the weight of the soul, causing your existence to collapse.

After the mana body, there is the mana soul.

What happened next was the turning point of his spirit, allowing an awakening at the core of the soul.

When someone becomes a mana entity, the core of the soul expands further, becoming something called the soul space.

It allows for divine sense, which is the language of the soul.

Once divine sense is obtained, you are also able to use memory crystals, thanks to the support of the mind core awakening.

Memory crystals allow for a rapid influx of knowledge through an explosion of knowledge that enters the mind.

Once mental infusion is accepted, which can vary from instantaneous acceptance to some time, the information must be organized and claimed.

This way, memory dissociation due to the influence of the knowledge explosion is avoided.

It is a very important step because mind management is very important.

Our memories make us who we are, and in extreme cases, accepting external memories can lead to the creation of an alternate personality.

And the last awakening is that of the mind core.

With it, your senses are heightened, and you gain greater calculation speed.

When someone becomes a mana entity, the core of the mind expands further, becoming something called the mind space.

With mind space, you are able to store a larger amount of information without forgetting anything, and it enhances divine sense.

Allowing you to identify and feel things as if it were an extension of your body, solidifying it.

Due to all these changes being made, most people usually make the breakthrough once they have reached the limits of their body and have acquired the necessary knowledge and resources to break through to the best.

Since this way they manage to increase their strength more efficiently.

Because using a few years to have better growth is not a waste, but an investment.

So the next day arrived.

"Your training will start from today," said the nanny.

"So, when do we start training?" I asked eagerly.

"You can't wield a sword with your puny hands, so let's start with body training."

"Oh, I guess you're right," I thought as I examined my body.

In truth, my hands were quite good considering they had been enhanced and strengthened with mana, but it seems they are still too weak by her standards.

So, even though my body had been strengthened with mana, it's still very lacking.

Meanwhile, the nanny had her thoughts.

"Even though I said so, he's actually quite good, but if he's like this now, after being born only 59 days ago it just means he has much more room to grow."

"I'll make sure to squeeze every bit of potential out of him. Looks like I'll have a lot of fun training him."

Her eyes sparkled with a dangerous light as she looked at Schadet Oporitorco.

*Shiver*

"This shiver... it's definitely the real deal. I don't need further clues to be sure."

"All right, little one, your training starts now."

"Follow me to your new training ground," she said, getting into a running position.

"Eh? Aren't we training here?"

It seems my new teacher is determined to prove me wrong.

"Of course not, if I want to bring out all your potential, we'll have to go to a genius training field."

"I suppose?"

"All right, then try to keep up," she said as she ran out of the training ground.

"Let's do it!" I said enthusiastically before running after her.

------------------

I lay on parched ground with my chest rising rapidly.

I'm dead tired at this point.

At first, I was excited when we started running, but my enthusiasm quickly faded as we kept running everywhere.

At first, I raced at high speed, but after almost two hours, I slowed down as we continued to run, and I started conserving energy.

This made me move a bit more slowly, but I managed to catch my breath, which had its drawbacks.

It took all my concentration not to lose sight of the nanny while gathering small pieces of mana, which in turn made me exhaust my stamina at a very fast pace.

An hour later, we finally reached our special training ground.

Yet, I fell on my back the moment the nanny stopped.

"I thought he would collapse or want some break along the way, but it seems it wasn't necessary, even though he was also gathering mana."

These were the nanny's thoughts, but she said:

"You did quite well to follow me all the way here, now I'll grant you a 30-minute break."

So, I nodded and thanked her, saying a simple:

"Thank you very much."

I was exhausted, and I really needed a break. So, I used those 30 minutes to recover as much as possible by absorbing mana.

Mana indeed allows the body to recover more quickly.

When I gather it, I usually am in a stationary position and assume the lotus position, but it's possible to absorb mana even while moving, it's just more challenging and requires more concentration.

So, it's definitely possible, but I'm not at the level where I can do it effortlessly yet.

Once the 30 minutes passed, I got up, and the first thing I did was to survey the training ground in its entirety and...

"What the heck is this?" I exclaimed with a dry throat, taking in the scene before me.

It was a ramshackle wooden fence enclosing a piece of land roughly the size of a lord's manor?

I wasn't sure because my eyes couldn't see the end of the fence.

Though all this wasn't actually very surprising, it was an eerie silence akin to that of a graveyard that caught me off guard.

It also raised the question...

"Why don't knights train here?"

This was the most baffling question on Schadet Oporitorco's mind.

Even though there are certainly better quality training grounds, it's certain they would be only half the size of this one.

"And if it's about renovation, I highly doubt a Noble family lacks the money."

Seeing that I couldn't do anything about it, I pushed these thoughts aside as I slowly entered.

*Creak*

The door squeaked as I pushed it open, but I didn't think much of it.

I looked inside and found it just as I imagined, large but empty, to say the least disappointing.

Everything seemed old and worn out.

Sacks of various kinds hung on the wooden fence, looking like they would fall at the slightest touch.

Training dummies and archery targets were covered in dust and cobwebs, as was the weapons shack on the right.

The ground itself was darn dusty, making me cough several times, but surprisingly, no leaves or plants grew on the ground.

As I surveyed the place, a voice I knew all too well spoke to me.

"I see you've finally arrived, you were 1 minute late, so your training will be tougher."

It was the nanny, to be honest, she didn't even know if Schadet Oporitorco had actually been 1 minute late, but she wanted to justify the task she was about to give.

In fact, her hands were full of cleaning supplies as she beckoned me to approach.

Then she dropped the cleaning gear at my feet and continued speaking.

"All right, boy, it's time to start training in earnest, and your first task I have for you is to clean the entire yard before returning to the manor, any questions?"

"I have three questions," I began slowly before continuing.

"How much time will I have? Why can't someone else do it? Will I have to continue training in this place in the future?"

"As for your first question, you have 3 days to clean every corner of this place. Regarding the second and third, your family, the Ryushins, want to build a new training ground, so in the future, you'll have someone else overseeing the work, but I don't know if they'll send someone".

She took a pause, giving me time to absorb the information, then continued, saying:

"This is because I told them I would have you build this place as part of your training, and since they previously said I could train you however I wanted, to make the most of your potential, they granted me permission."

At that point, I furrowed my brows, as I thought she would train me in a real training ground and not by building one.

"Also, how can my family truly agree?" I thought.

"Even though they save labor and money for construction, wouldn't it be better for them to bring in professionals and have me trained in more traditional ways?"

Even though it was another world, I doubted that the methods used for physical training were very different.

But if what she was telling me about my family agreeing... it's far better to ask more questions.

So I asked, "What benefits will this training have on me and my body? How much time will I have to build the entire structure? Have the foundations been laid?"

As I asked these questions, the nanny was impressed. She expected him to complain and throw tantrums. But instead, he went straight to the point, asking questions about construction.

"I don't know if he's extremely stupid or very intelligent," was her conclusion.

Indeed, building a training center is a Ryushin family tradition that every member, both direct and collateral, undergoes.

In fact, it served to determine the attitude of the family members.

A sloppy construction would be associated with little dedication to work and low commitment.

While a well-done construction would be associated with great dedication to work and a great deal of commitment.

Though it wasn't too decisive for access to resources, it somehow decides the family's opinion of you.

Additionally, this training center they are building will be the one they will use after the training they will do together with recommended candidates from the outside or vassal families.

In addition to the direct Ryushin line together with the collateral ones and the various academies where they will be sent to compete with other peers.

In fact, they will have more access to other training centers only if they have enough merit points or if the organization they join is willing to provide them with one.

And the nannies were prevented from talking about this, except after the construction was completed.

So the nanny answered the questions asked by Schadet Oporitorco:

"The foundations have been laid, and you will have a maximum of 10 years. And regarding the benefits you will gain from this training, well, it improves physical fitness, dexterity, concentration, enhances accuracy, improves adaptability and continuous learning, enhances stress management both physically and psychologically, and problem-solving skills."