The Madness in the Method

The next day arrived before anyone was ready for it. The boys, after having run so excessively the day before, felt entirely sore and worn out.

Every move and twitch of their bodies caused them to spasm and gasp in pain.

Everyone... except for Ambrose.

Ambrose himself experienced very little pain, as a result of the training he had begun last night using the system.

--

"System, please create separate tabs with the labels: Knowledge - Body Stats - Skills - and O.A. for "Other Abilities"."

[Acknowledged. Commencing... ... ... Complete.]

"System, what is my current body development level?"

[System has determined that host has reached level one.]

"System, what is the maximum level attainable for human beings?"

[System is lacking necessary data to determine the answer to your question.]

Ambrose paused for a moment, thinking.

"System, is it possible to increase my training speed?"

[System has determined that host's training speed will increase incrementally over time as a natural consequence of the aging process. Searching for methods to increase training speed... ... ... Search complete. Three methods determined.]

Ambrose was beginning to feel that familiar excitement.

"What are the methods?"

[Method One: Body Tempering - Method Two: Spirit Tempering - Method Three: Mind Tempering.]

"System, please describe each method in more detail."

[Acknowledged. Body Tempering: The process by which the host experiences physical training so extreme that the host's body is put under extreme duress and then healed over time by the host cycling their energy through their energy pathways constantly. Speed Increase: 50%]

[Spirit Tempering: The process by which the host uses internal energy in order to temper the soul of the host. The method is excruciatingly painful, and may cause host to lose their ability to move temporarily. Speed increase: 75%]

[Mind Tempering: The process by which host tempers the mind via problem solving exercises and critical thinking. Increasing the hosts mental energy quotient will improve host's ability to focus for long periods of time. Increased mental energy may also result in the development of mental techniques such as: Telepathy, Increased Empathetic Response, Increased Sympathetic Response, Telekinesis, and Second Sight. Speed Increase: 15%]

"System... Please describe the effects of Increased Empathetic Response, Increased Sympathetic Response, and Second Sight."

[Acknowledged. Increased Empathetic Response allows host to share emotional and mental energy waves with another human being. One such ability granted by I.E.R. is detection of lying and manipulation.]

[Increased sympathetic response allows host to release pheromones that cause sympathetic reactions in the people and animals around host. One applied use of this technique is Manipulation/Crowd Control and stimulation. Effective skill for leadership position or business negotiation.]

[Second Sight is a name derived from Host's memories of characters in novels who experienced similar abilities. This ability allows host to make quick and accurate chain reaction predictions based on environmental data. For example, host can use this skill to determine what actions an individual or group of individuals will make before they make those actions, thus giving host an edge in combat situations.]

Shit... Ambrose was blown away at the possibilities of these skills. Just those three skills made him drool, as with those three skills and enough time he could potentially be the most effective politician that has ever lived.

Shaking his head to clear it of other thoughts, he referred back to the system.

"System, is it possible to combine all three training methods into one super method that trains body, spirit and mind all at once?"

[Analyzing...]

[System has determined that it is possible to do this using host's knowledge of Martial Arts from hosts knowledge database.]

Ambrose was surprised once again.

"System, what knowledge of Martial Arts?"

[Host has watched many martial arts films, documentaries, and demonstrations in Host's past life. The memories of these techniques and practices are recorded in your knowledge database. System is able to use any and all knowledge of martial arts in order to devise a training method that incorporates that knowledge as a basis to bind together the training methods of Body Tempering, Spirit Tempering, and Mind Tempering.]

Ambrose, giddy with excitement, asked it to begin doing exactly that.

[Host's knowledge of applied martial arts is limited; Recommended that host study martial arts form in depth in order to cohesively combine these training methods and include martial arts knowledge already stored in database.]

Ambrose froze. His excitement had disappeared, and was instead replaced with a frown.

"System, can I still use the regular training methods without combing them in the meantime?"

[Host can use each method separately until Host has gathered sufficient experience with applied Martial Arts.]

"System, please begin spirit tempering process then, and end the process when the other boys wake up to begin tomorrows training."

It did as instructed. Almost immediately, Ambrose felt an horrific pain. It didn't originate from his flesh and blood, but the pain made him gasp and squirm as it seemed to emanate from every single cell in his being.

The pain was so intense that his body flopped onto his rough straw mattress and he passed out completely.

The next thing he knew, it was early morning and he woke up to the sounds of the other boys moaning and groaning. Feeling the stiffness in his body, he was amazed that he did not seem to feel the pain as the other boys did.

Though stiff, he assumed that because he had endured such an incredibly intense pain throughout the duration of the night, this kind of stiffness and soreness was nothing in the face of it. Though he had passed out, he was still unable to escape the pain and spent the entire night trapped in dreams where he was being endlessly tortured in strange and cruel ways.

He shuddered to himself at the memories and called out to the system in his mind.

"System, please display my body stats."

[Acknowledged.]

[Host Body Status: Healthy (Fatigued) Mind Tempering Level: 2.0, Body Tempering Level: 0.5, Spirit Tempering Level: 10.1, Body Development Level: 1.5]

'System, please compare my stats to the boys around me."

[Detecting... System has determined that host is highest leveled being within this group.]

Ambrose grinned. Of course he was! He had a system. He estimated that he was roughly as strong as a weak soldier, now.

Before long, a uniformed soldier stepped into the room.

"Recruits! Line up! Today you begin your first drill instruction. By the end of the day today you will learn the basics of handling a weapon, as well as what types of weapons you will be expected to become proficient in using before you officially join the legion. Follow me!"

As one, the boys marched out of the barracks in an orderly line with Ambrose taking up the rear position.

They marched through the compound for a few minutes before arriving at a blacksmiths workstation.

There, a grubby and sweaty man with large muscles and a bald head was working the forge.

The man looked at the soldier leading the boys and nodded his head.

"I'll be taking them from here then."

The soldier nodded and walked away to perform other duties while the boys looked on in curiosity at the bald blacksmith.

"Any of you boys ever worked a bellows before?" Came his gruff voice.

Immediately Ambrose stepped forward. "I have, sir. My father is a blacksmith in Luguvalium."

The blacksmith stared at him and nodded. "Get at it then. The rest of you gather round."

Ambrose scrambled over to the bellows and began pumping them with all his might. The heat soared, much to the appeasement of the Blacksmith who stared at Ambrose with a surprised appraising eye.

"Stronger than he looks." Muttered the blacksmith to himself before turning his attention back to the boys.

"Metal, boys, is something even a soldier needs to have at least a basic understanding of in his life. By the time you leave here today, I expect you to be able to identify different kinds of metals and determine what forging method is appropriate for each metal. I also expect you to understand what kind of metals are most commonly used in the forging of Roman Weapons and Armor, as well as the difference between the forging methods of the local tribes people and the forging methods of the Roman empire. Is that understood?"

Ambrose listened with great interest as he pumped the bellows.

Very quickly, the Blacksmith retrieved a standard Gladius from a rack on a nearby wall.

"The design for these weapons based on a Celtic weapon. It excels at slashing and stabbing, has two edges, and is made with steel. The biggest difference between this weapon and the weapon of the Celts is the forging method. The Celts use a method of forging called "casting" where they create a mold, superheat the metal, and pour the super-heated metal into the mold and allowing it to cool before hammering out impurities, tempering, and sharpening the blades."

The boys stared at the weapon fascinated.

"The design of the blade was very effective, hence the legion has adopted it for their own use. Several hundred years ago we used a weapon based off of the Grecian Xiphos. This is part of the mentality of the Roman Soldier. Improvise, adapt, overcome. If it works, use it. If its better than your current tool-set, adopt it."

The boys nodded with looks of concentration and seriousness.

"We Romans don't use the casting method for anything but horseshoes, and even then its not the most effective method. Instead we use a method where-in we forge separate strips of metal together in a pattern before hammering them out. The strikes of the hammer cause the areas we hit to heat up on impact and welds the metal together. We call it pattern-welding. The method allows us to remove slag and other impurities from the metal as we forge it, ultimately creating stronger and more efficient weapons. A weapon with too many impurities in the metal will cause it to weaken."

Ambrose was thinking heavily about everything he had ever seen about forging weapons throughout his current life and in his past life.

"System, using the knowledge in my database, is it possible for you to devise a stronger forging method? I want to create my own weapons and armor."

[Analyzing... Analysis complete. Using your knowledge of advanced Metallurgy, the System has determined a method to create weapons of significantly better quality. Would you like to organize this method into a skill tree, or skill book?]

Ambrose smirked. This is why systems made MC's so OP. They were practically invaluable.

"Please create a skill book, with levels of proficiency associated to my ability to use the skill, and place it under the skills tab."

[Acknowledged... Complete.]

The Blacksmith had continued speaking while Ambrose had zoned out and focused on the system while he pumped the bellows.