grasping the use of mana!

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"So here's the deal: before I start training you all on the use of your weapons, you'll have to go through the following exercises. It will strengthen your body and allow you to use mana. Lilian and Stephen are both exempted. They'll be training their weapons with me," Chris said with a calm voice, his hands crossed over his chest, apparently not surprised by the dumbstruck looks on their faces, except for Garmond.

"I'm still too far from reaching..." 

"100 push-ups, 100 squats, 100 jumping jacks. You do it daily for the next week before we get into practical training. You get a day off if you can do more than the required amount in a day for each exercise..." Chris continued, his expression remaining as usual, showing no signs of emotion.

"Failure to complete the task for the day... You'll get a hundred strokes instead," Chris stated, his eyes narrowing into slits, with a flash of malicious intent.

"Well, I guess that's the only way to make us do it, and he doesn't seem to be bluffing," Garmond said, his expression turning grim.

"What connections does body training have to do with all of this?" Garmond was slightly confused, and he voiced his thoughts to Ariana.

"As a host, to build up your strength, you need to strengthen the body enough to take in the world's energy. The more you do this, the stronger you become, and at a faster rate," she simply explained.

"So you mean if I can train my body to its peak, I can become stronger within a short range of time?" Garmond asked.

It was a new discovery. Even back in the days, when he went through a lot of physical training, it took him days to see a reasonable increase in strength. 

But with Ariana's words, she was implying that he would become stronger immediately after the training!

"But it won't be your normal and usual training," she quickly added, her voice carrying a hint of mystique, sounding more like a warning.

"Okay, so what type of training?" Garmond asked eagerly.

"You have to destroy your body and allow the world's energy to repair you. With consistency, you'll become accustomed to it. It has to be hardcore training to get you anywhere," she quickly added to avoid any misunderstanding.

"A rigorous training?" Garmond pondered. How was he meant to do something like that? That would probably mean wrecking his whole body.

"So I can get as powerful as Azazel just with some little pain? Then I'm doing this," determination glowed in his eyes. His whole focus was shifted towards the new training.

"This strange power Azazel has introduced into this world will be his downfall," Garmond thought, tightening his fist.

"Your training starts today, after which, the preceding week will be study on the different weapons you have all chosen," Chris said with a stern face.

"Use these; they'll keep track of your work. I'll be checking on it from time to time." He handed a blue handband to the two.

As they placed it on their wrists, it shone with a blue hue and a number was displayed on it: "0."

"It increases by a count of three hundred each time you complete the given task. You can start now. Lilian, Stephen, you follow me." He added, and immediately Garmond, along with Hendrix, went off to start the training.

"Ahhhh..." Hendrix pouted, lazily carrying his body. "Now I have to start doing push-ups. This training isn't as fun as I thought it'd be," he complained.

"Hendrix, tell me, if you're given the opportunity to make this empire better, would you take it?" Garmond asked with a stern expression on his face.

"No, I won't."

Garmond's mouth twitched hearing Hendrix reply.

"Well, honestly I would, but what I really want is to give the stupid Emperor a solid punch to the face," Hendrix said, his voice carrying a hint of rage.

"If he wasn't so carefree with the management of the empire, then certainly the masses wouldn't be suffering like they are. There's hardly any food to go around for them," he added.

Garmond glanced at him for a second; he could understand exactly why he felt that way.

'At least you should have said so in the first instance,' Garmond smiled wryly, really taken aback by the first reply.

"Then you can't punch the Emperor with how weak you are. You have to become stronger so one day we can both punch him, okay?" Garmond's face brightened with a smile as he turned towards Hendrix.

"Ye... yeah," Hendrix stuttered, shocked by Garmond's words. 'Punch the Emperor in the face?' That sounded like a far-fetched dream, but for some reason, looking at Garmond made him feel like he could achieve it.

Garmond stood a bit further away from Hendrix, stretching his body in preparation for his workout.

"It's been a while since I did this... I don't know if it's because of the body, but it kind of feels foreign," Garmond said, somewhat reminiscing over his past self.

"Yes, it's an effect from the body. It's something new since you've never experienced it in this new body," Ariana replied.

"I see... Guess it's time to get to work," he said, mentally preparing himself for the training.

Garmond decided to go all out with his training; he had the willpower to actually train his body until even his tendons snapped.

"If that's the case, then I'm not just going to do a hundred; I'll do more than that," Garmond thought, gritting his teeth as he continued.

Of course, he had never done something like that before, since it was somewhat stupid beyond belief to do that.

Destroying one's body to become more powerful? Wasn't it meant to be the opposite? Garmond was unsure if it would work, but he was willing to take the risk.

"Hopefully, it works," Garmond looked at the empty field with a conflicted expression.

As he continued his training, he felt some kind of primal feeling.

He had to do nothing but train; training was his only responsibility. Nothing else mattered.

If he couldn't do this much, then there was no way he could defeat Azazel.

There was no work to go back to.

No mission from the emperor.

There was no money to worry about. He didn't have to wake up and assign duties to people or occasionally send reports to the emperor.

He just had to grow powerful to reach the peak!

In Garmond's mind, the training had taken a drastic transformation, from an exercise into some kind of spiritual cultivation.

Garmond felt like that was the most primal and fundamental truth of the world: the will to grow stronger; nothing else.

All through the time, the sensation and burning passion to grow stronger had become hypnotic. So much so that he unconsciously neglected his aching body.

He kept on with his training until the night sky covered everything in darkness.

"That should be enough," Garmond took a deep breath as he slowly cooled down from his training, standing up.

Then it hit him like a bullet.

A burning sting of pain shot through Garmond's muscles as they violently cramped up. Garmond winced as his back met with the grass-covered earth.

While he lay on the ground, he looked up into the bright blue sky.

"I think I messed up big time." He had pushed his body so hard that he couldn't even move the slightest part of his body without pain.

"Well, the sky's really beautiful tonight." Since he couldn't move his body, what other option was there than to appreciate the beautiful, natural scenery before his eyes?

"....." Ariana started, but she quickly decided it was best to keep quiet. 'Breaking his concentration now will really affect him, and everything would be a waste.'

Garmond closed his eyes, allowing the moon to cast its glow on him. The wind whistled past him in the silence.

It gave him a wonderful sensation, one that let him get in tune with his surroundings.

After some minutes passed, Garmond felt a kind of mysterious force in the air, and he was sure he had never felt anything like this before.

This was new!

It had to be the strange power Ariana mentioned: the one Azazel brought to their world!

Garmond increased his concentration and tried to pull at it with his mind.

It took him some time to get used to it, but after around half an hour, he quickly got the hang of it. He imagined himself as a sort of magnet that pulled everything in its surrounding to itself.

As soon as the force entered Garmond's body, he felt his muscles become warm. It came with a feeling that washed over his body in relaxation, similar to taking a warm bath.

He stood up slowly, and as soon as he did, his eyes widened.

Garmond looked at his body with wonder.

'My muscles, they feel fine!' Garmond thought in shock, flexing his arm to be certain.

"Indeed! Congratulations, you've become an Adept host."