Training Day

The next day.

Before the rest of the town began to rise, there was one man out. Satoru, and he was in the middle of an intense training session, from the very moment he woke up and left his cabin, in the nearby forest.

* Bang! Bang! Bang!

The continuous sound of something heavy and hard bashing against metal. That noise grew louder the closer you came to the source.

If you were a normal person, you might have believed it to be the work of some blacksmith or even a builder. And you'd right to assume that, however, it was neither of those things. Instead that noise, that sounded like the smashing of metal against metal, was the sound of Satoru's fists smashing against a post made entirely of steel. 

His early morning training regimen was quite simple.

First, he started by doing light stretches, just to make sure he didn't hurt himself, and then he immediately started on his striking post. On it, ten sets of one thousand punches. Strong, steady, and patient.

It hurt. Each strike felt his handshake and rattle. The bones beneath creaked from repeated abuse, but he would get over it.

Next up, was Ten sets of one thousand kicks from each leg. 

The skin on his hands and legs bruised and peeled from the blunt force trauma. 

By the end, it was time for the continuous striking session, a burn out for the warmup, which consisted of striking the post as many times as fast as he could for five minutes consecutively. 

The forest rang with what sounded a lot like rapid gun fire. 

Now that the easy part was out of the way, Satoru moved onto the next part of his training, a session of meditation meant to help him focus his mind. 

Satoru sat with only his underwear by a nearby river to calm his mind. 

The Shirahama style lays its core roots in self-defense. Taking the energy and flow of an opponent's attacks and directing it right back. The precision and the focus needed to not only anticipate an attack, but to be able to counter it effectively is immense. 

The use of wind magic enforces this further.

However, on this particular day, Satoru's mind wasn't as calm as he would like.

Visions blared within his mind. Flashes of memories flickering into reality only to vanish like the wind a moment later.

" Ah!"

Suddenly he jumped. Sweat poured from every inch of his being, his breathing was hitched and his skin a little pale. 

" Damn." That was the single word he muttered before standing up and putting his morning clothes back on, which consisted of a simple White training Gi. 

" Damn, I hate this time of the year, pops."

...

After taking some time to himself, Satoru continued on with his day, starting by carrying himself all the way to Magnolia, his next step was to circle the town of magnolia ten times over, while using only his hands to support his weight. 

At first it was an odd sight, but over the years the townspeople grew accustomed to the sight. Afterall things were always different with Fairy Tail. Though occasionally someone new to the town would be quite perplexed.

  " What's up with that guy?" One guy asked.

" Oh, that's one of the guys from Fairy Tail, Shirahama." Another guy responded.

" Wait, you know him?"

" Yeah, he's been in this town since he was a boy. Should have seen him back then."

" Does he do this every day?" 

" Yeah, pretty much. It seemed weird at first, but trust me, compared to some of the other things you see from that guild this is nothing."

....

A little later.

" Alright, that's done. Whew!" Satoru exclaimed. He plopped down onto the ground, covered from head to toe in sweat. " Man, I'm exhausted. I hate how big magnolia is sometimes. Now, all that's left... Is a couple laps around the town." Satoru exclaimed. He looked at the hot sun and sighed. It was hard task. His hands bled, his arms and legs ached, and he was tired. But that didn't take away from the fact that he needed to keep going.

" If I don't, then how can I expect to keep up with the others."

Satoru thought long and hard about it. It was something that bothered him every single day. 

You see Satoru wasn't born a prodigy like the Erza or Mira, he wasn't raised by a dragon, he didn't have a lacrima that could bolster his power. No, all he had was his own two hands, the dirt on the ground, and the teachings of his father. That was it.

And that is what kept him going!

Satoru took his stance and like a rocket, he took off running. Running as fast as he could. Running as fast as his might legs could carry him. 

No one was going to feel sorry for him. Not the old man, not Mystogan, and certainly not Laxus. No, if he ever wanted to surpass the old man, and all the others, he needed to keep going. To keep taking the hits. And to keep getting back up!

That's how winning is done!

.....

And then!

Satoru was back at his home in the woods, washing after a long day in a tub filled with cold water and ice. 

The sheer coldness of the water and the stinging sensation already pounding across his flesh felt miserable at first, but overtime, the sensation began to reside.

" Even after all this time, punching steel doesn't feel too good. Not using magic power to enhance my body is a pain." Satoru grumbled.

That's right, one of Satoru's few rules of training, is no magic. 

Where most wizards use magic to refine their bodies, allowing them to increase their speed, stamina, durability, and strength. Satoru trains without it. 

" I feel lighter than a feather right now." He murmured. " But oh boy, I'm gonna be feelin this tomorrow, hahahaha!" Satoru exclaimed. He laughed joyfully as his mind raced with thoughts of the future pain. " Oh well. I think I'll call it day and rest now. But still, there is something that's bothering me." He said. " I wonder how things are going for the New Girl and Natsu right."

..........

Elsewhere.

" They totally went overboard!!!" The GuildMaster's yelled collectively.

They were completely shocked at how reckless the wizards from 

" The conference hall's been destroyed!" Lucy exclaimed.

" Aye! There's also a couple of mountain tops missing." Happy stated

Poor Makarov stared at the scene in front of him in sheer shock, and suddenly it appeared as though his soul had been sucked right out of him.

" Hahaha! We really made a mess of the place, huh?" Natsu stated. 

" Please forgive us, Master!!!!!!" 

That's what Erza shouted aloud as she and the others were chased by the GuildMaster's for the destruction of their hall.