The Training Room 4

"Change target to legs."

{Confirmed}

{Target area will be changed to the legs}

{Swing the sword 10,000 times to complete the trial}

Chris got into position, and began to swing his sword at the legs of the dummy. After a few hours of practice, he was drenched in sweat. His entire body was aching, every time he changed a target area, it was as if he were starting anew, his entire body was riddled with aching muscles.

Chris groaned in pain.

He could barely keep his body standings upright.

After weeks of practice, he came up with the idea of dropping to the floor and swiping hard at the enemies legs in order to catch them off guard, he aim was in making them lose their balance, as no one would expect that. He perfected the move as much as he could, in order to be able to use it from different angles.

While it was unexpected, no one would think he was making a dangerous move, they would think he had no idea what he was doing, and let down their guard, the idiot would probably think he was pleading for mercy. Then he would slash at the ankle, or the feet, the leg, the thigh, the hip, he slashed everywhere.

He, he, he. 

He decided that he would use it in a dangerous situation to catch the enemy, if he couldn't go for the head that was the top most of the body, then he would go for the feet.

Furthermore, he had a mischievous smirk on his face, as he swung his sword even harder than before.

Like this, his monotonous training continued until he felt confident enough in himself. He had even started to combine two different targets together.

The sword attacked the shoulder, and the neck.

Then the torso and the head, soon the legs and the head, eventually he began to swing at all the target locations by the 6th month, that was when it finally happened.

{You have greatly improved your ability to hit at the target locations}

{You have unlocked the next stage of the trial.}

{Swing your sword 30,000 times, follow the paths directed by the system.}

"Alright, I'll follow the paths, you fucker," Chris held his sword confidently.

If Chris had learnt one thing, it was that he had to stop complaining, as the results would always be out of his expectations. He had to admit, this place was out of the ordinary. Common sense wasn't applied here, but he didn't make it here through common sense, he had to be able to adapt.

{I accept}

{Compiling your reward for the previous stage}

{Reward for completing the 1st challenge of the Beginner stage has been complied}

{Restructure - most of your stats are not optimised}

{Your stats will be restructured to compose of the barest minimum}

{Most of them will be combined, and if deemed unnecessary erased}

{Time until completion 24 hours}

{All stats have increased by 5}

{You have earned the skill sweep attack}

{By repeating the action of dropping down like a beggar, you sweep away at your opponent's legs, leaving them as easy picking}

{Be careful when performing, as you will be vulnerable to attacks, especially from stronger opponents}

{Access to system setting granted}

It was unbelievable, he could finally access the system settings, and alter it to suite his taste, maybe even make it a bit more respectful and responsive.

"Ha, ha, ha." Chris chuckled delightedly, now that's what I'm talking about, he opened the system setting.

{Reset available – 3/3 slots remaining}

"That's it?"

"Ha! Why do I even bother," this was turning into a bad case of stupidity.

Chris vigorously swung his sword at the dummy to pacify his anger, while trying his best following the sword patterns displayed by the system.

◇◇◇

"Huff, huff, huff."

He had started to struggle at the 12,000th swing. It was starting to get more and more difficult. The fact that he had to follow the direction of the lines, to land the strike at the exact mark, made it even more difficult.

Swing.

"Huff, huff, huff."

That was the 13,000th swing.

He decided to rest for a while, "if I keep this up I might just die from exhaustion," it had been hours, he needed to rest.

The sheer pressure, made his hand tremble. "Damn it, should I just quit, and work the punishment." It was better to be punished than this, he couldn't take it.

It was hard, "what am I supposed to do?" He was panting. The problem wasn't swinging the sword, he also had to make sure that they followed the patterns.

"Sigh."

 The pattern had to turn gold to show that he had been successful, 8 to 9 out of 10 blows were unsuccessful, so in reality he had struck the dummy about 100,000 times. It wasn't unusual for him to feel frustrated and annoyed, it was a miracle that he hadn't snapped. He continued to swing his sword in earnest, hoping that he would somehow meet the deadline, since he was already half way there.

He continued to swing his sword endlessly. Not only that, but he could barely sustain his consciousness. He looked gaunt and frail, his hands were full of blisters, and the pain he was experiencing was unbearable. Even when he dislocated his shoulder, he had no choice but to continue.

"Damn it."

He was at the 20,000th swing, and there were 10,000 more to go, he had a little less than 4 hours to work with. He knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere if he went on like this.

"I guess this is my limit," he took out a mid-grade elixir, and drank it. As soon as he did, his entire body felt cool, and calm like he had dived into a cool river, after a hard days work which involved trampling about a harsh desert, on a hot sunny day. His muscles were repaired, and his mind was calmed.

{You have taken a mid-grade potion}

{You have experienced the effects of your unique growth potential}

{You have recovered 60 percent of your health}

{Your growth potential has increased}

{Every time you take a potion, under the right conditions  your growth potential will slightly increase}

Chris immediately picked up his sword, there was no need for words. He would find out as soon as he tried anyway, if what he was told was true, or not.

He immediately began to swing his sword faster than ever, he had acquired more precision. He had to catch up to the deadline. He would rather not experience god knows what in the middle of a no where at the hands of an unreliable system.

{💔}

"Don't you dare."

His miss rate had gone from 8 or 9 to 7, he could focus a lot better. He decided it would be worthwhile studying fatal points on the body, so that he could do more damage for less cost.

'If I manage to find a library, that is.'

But that was a worry for the future, now he had to focus on not being sentenced to death by the system for missing his morning exercise.

After swinging his sword 70,000 times, he finally managed to finish the trial with 5 minutes to spear.

Sim came wagging her tail around him, she seemed to be checking his condition, "come on girl, we have to eat and go to bed early. Daddy has to do this all over again tomorrow."

Chris picked her up in his arms, and carried her back to his room, below the dungeon.

Chris fed Sim some pork, it was cheaper than processed dog food in the store.

For some reason she seemed to prefer meat, and foods, to processed dog food or other doggy supplements.

It might have been less expensive than the dog foo, but Chris was happy that Sim was happy, she was growing well, and her intelligence had increased by 5 since the last time.

"Sometimes it's the small inexpensive things in life, that give people happiness." Chris said, as he watched Sim eat.

Chris on the other hand been more frugal.

He had made earthenware out of the mud, and his newly acquired fire explosion skill.

"It's a good thing I learned pottery."

He had made pots, plates, spoons etc.

Furthermore, he brought out a plate, and purchased a few things from the store.

{Grapefruit purchased 1 nickel has been spent}

{Cabbage purchased 1 nickel has been spent}

{Oil and sauce 5 gold has been spent}

{1 Red onion 1 nickel has been spent}

{1 spring onion 1 nickel has been spent}

{5 yellow peppers 5 nickel has been spent}

{1 Raw Chicken 1 gold has been spent}

{1 banana purchased 10 nickels has been spent}

{1 orange purchased 5 bronze has been spent}

{1 pineapple purchased 5 bronze has been spent}

{1 apple purchased 1 silver has been spent}

{Note prices change based on the season}

{Milk purchased 1 gold has been spent}

"Time to make a fruit salad." Chris put on a white apron.

He boiled some water in the earthenware,  and boiled the Cabbage, along with the meat he had purchased, then the onions and pepper. He had yet to unlock salt and sugar, as they were VIP goods, but he had to make the most of what he could.

"I just wanted a bit, yet it's so expensive, damned money grubbers. I don't see the need to spend a hundred gold for a few bottles of health hazards!" He yelled, fuming with fury. "I should know, since my mother suffered quite a bit from them."

"Hmm."

He was getting emotional, recalling his mother.

He proceeded to chop the fruits, and coat them in milk until he filled the bowl.

He sprinkled a bit of pineapple juice in the pot containing the meat, and added a bit of oil and sauce.

The smell wafted across the room, Sim left her bits of meat, and looked at Chris longingly.