Chapter 49

This is how Yuria described the physical enhancement training:

“It feels like turning my body inside out like a sack, emptying everything out, then scrubbing it with rough tree bark, boiling it in a pot, taking it out to pound it thoroughly, cooling it in cold water, shaking it vigorously, and then stitching it back together.”

In other words, it was truly painful.

Physical enhancement training was a regimen designed to thoroughly challenge the body’s limits.

A bitter, fishy taste filled my mouth.

The extreme pressure made it feel like my eyes would pop out.

The pink powder (officially called “Cell Powder”) I’d swallowed seemed to dissolve my throat, stomach, and intestines as it traveled through them. No. My entire body just felt like mush.

I didn’t notice when I first swallowed it… but once it mixed with the liquid filling the barracks (officially called “Fluid”), it became nothing short of a lethal poison. Was this what it would feel like to down a shot of potassium hydroxide, the substance used to dissolve corpses on Earth?

But the most terrible thing about physical enhancement training wasn’t the pressure squeezing my entire body, nor the pain and helplessness from the pink powder.

[Next. Scorpion position. Extend limbs fully and lock them in place, then move only the muscles in the indicated area 30 times.]

The image that appeared on my retina was visible only to me. In the demonstration, a person spread their limbs wide and lifted only their hind legs to create a shape resembling a scorpion’s tail.

Lift slowly, lower slowly. The muscles that needed to be used—back, sides, rear thighs—were highlighted in red.

It required exceptional flexibility and strength, but as a mage, it would have been easy for me. If not for the torturous environment.

The No. 1 barracks was filled with a transparent liquid called Fluid. Normally, it comfortably enveloped the entire body and supplied nutrients, but during physical enhancement training, it transformed completely.

That once-gentle substance became sticky and heavy. Calibrated to match my mana user-enhanced physique, it constricted with much greater pressure than normal. Worse yet, random currents flowed around my legs. Lifting them was difficult enough, but maintaining proper form was even harder.

On top of that, I had taken Cell Powder, which made my entire body feel like it was melting away.

Rather than exercising, I just wanted to lie down immediately from the overwhelming fatigue, but in the midst of that, I was expected to perform precise movements… the epitome of stress. According to the auxiliary ego, failing to maintain proper form at the right time would cause cellular collapse. Forget enhancement—I’d suffer serious damage requiring a week of recovery, with excruciating pain as a bonus.

There’s no greater evil than this.

Levels 1 and 2 had been manageable… but once I reached level 3, it suddenly became horrifyingly difficult. I questioned whether it was even humanly possible.

Perhaps that’s why the ancient warriors generally completed their training at level 1 or 2. From level 3 onward, even in ancient times, it was territory permitted only to battle-hardened, hero-class soldiers.

Even for me, the difficulty was high enough to make me sweat bullets.

[Next. Switch feet and repeat 30 times.]

Curses involuntarily sprang from my throat, but I forced a leisurely smile.

It was because of the magical powers watching me with that ‘Is this really challenging you?’ look in their eyes.

If I showed even the slightest sign of struggle here, it was clear that the disappointed magical powers would abandon me en masse. Even though my back and thigh muscles felt like they would burst… no, they were actually bursting and being rebuilt in real-time, I was careful, extremely careful not to let a single spasm occur. That made the effort even more strenuous.

‘I never anticipated this side effect…’

The interest that magical powers had shown in me recently was extraordinary. In less than two months, I had progressed from a mana beginner to a proud mage who had achieved 2nd Circle and 1-star. An insane achievement not even found in storybooks.

Was that why?

The magical powers overestimated me excessively.

‘Surely he wouldn’t struggle with something like this?’

‘No. He might be just like the others. They all were.’

‘He definitely won’t be.’

I could feel the chattering magical powers’ emotions clearly. Those who believed in me unconditionally, those waiting to catch me making just one mistake… either way, the pressure was immense.

Unfortunately, my actual abilities didn’t match their expectations, but… what could I do? I couldn’t take it back now. The situation was already established. Endless growth was my only path to survival. If I work hard enough to the point of death, maybe someday I’ll become exactly who these magical powers imagine me to be?

Though I have no idea what they’re imagining.

[Level 3 physical enhancement complete.]

The enhancement process that seemed endless finally came to an end. What initially took just an hour or two now consumed an entire day at level 3.

Whoosh—

The sticky, heavy liquid loosened and dispersed like a gentle breeze.

And what followed was exhaustion and fatigue like having one foot in hell. I wanted to float and rest immediately, but… sadly, that wasn’t in the cards for me.

Pretending it was nothing, as if I even had energy to spare, I energetically moved my body and circled around the barracks once.

When I first cleared level 1, I immediately rested, citing drowsiness as the reason. At that time, some magical powers questioned, “What? Is he struggling with just this?” Though they were very few… they abandoned me, and since then, I’ve always put on this facade.

‘See? I told you he was the real deal.’

‘Tch…’

‘Of course he should at least manage this much.’

The magical powers, unaware of my true feelings, were satisfied with my pretense.

But that didn’t increase my magical power. To these magical powers with overly high expectations, this level of achievement was now merely “expected.” The penalties were severe while the benefits were minimal.

Yet I couldn’t deliberately lower their expectations either. Once magical powers lost interest, it was extremely difficult to regain it. Looking at Teacher Sena, who lost her circle after being a 1st Circle mage and then spent seven years in vain, made that clear. If she hadn’t killed that orc, and if she hadn’t diligently spent those seven years, she probably would never have recovered her circle.

To maintain ultra-high-speed growth without stopping, I had to accept these various burdens.

‘…I’m dying here.’

I’ll just suffer in silence.

Today marked the nineteenth day since starting training. With the five-fold time acceleration, that meant four days in real time.

This No. 1 barracks was the ultimate training ground.

The Fluid supplied nutrients and regulated bodily functions, eliminating the need to eat or use the bathroom. The three of us exchanged only essential conversation as we trained relentlessly.

“You’ve enhanced to level 3? I was nearly dying just doing level 2, and you’re overflowing with energy?”

Yuria’s perception of my overflowing energy was a misunderstanding, but I didn’t bother to correct it. To maintain my facade to the end, I had to deceive even myself.

“It’s easy. This level is nothing.”

Even as I said that, I mentally decided:

‘I should avoid physical enhancement for a while.’

I would eventually have to do it again, but I’d wait until I’d gained more training and felt confident enough to try again. In the meantime, I could adapt to my level 3 enhanced body.

“What’s the occasion?”

She hadn’t spoken a word for days, focused entirely on training.

“I finally cleared basic training level 5!”

Yuria flashed a V-sign with her fingers.

Oh, already?

The clearance condition for basic training level 5 was to withstand “Deus’s Strike” and absorb over 200 points of damage.

Of course, I absorbed over 1,000 points and cleared it in one go, but that was because I was a Ki-blood mage. Yuria had to rely solely on the power of the Ten Battle Gears, which was quite a disadvantageous condition.

The Ten Battle Gears’ output was governed not by mana or magical power, but by a value called “assimilation rate.”

Assimilation rate tended to increase with stronger desire and more accurate imagination, but that wasn’t everything.

To simplify, it was like suddenly growing an extra arm and having to train it. Strong will and imagination might help you move the arm faster, but that’s not enough. Ultimately, you need time to “adapt” by using the equipment countless times.

Yuria didn’t have enough of that time, so she had been stuck in the 160-point damage absorption range for a long time.

“In the end, I couldn’t get the assimilation rate above 70%. I even started thinking, what’s the point of raising assimilation for the full-body suit and helmet when I’m not going to use them anyway. So I used a trick! Enhancing my body to level 2 somehow let me withstand it. Damage absorption: 217 points! I died instantly, so I didn’t have time to feel that monster certificate, but… anyway, I cleared it!”

Just raising the enhancement level by one stage increased absorption by over 50 points… physical enhancement was definitely efficient.

Regardless of method, Yuria had succeeded in graduating from basic training as she had pledged to herself, and now she only needed to create a 1st Circle to fully fulfill her covenant.

‘That shouldn’t be difficult either.’

I could see her magical power growing day by day.

“Graduating from basic training in less than twenty days… Auxiliary Ego! What’s the average time required to graduate from basic training?”

-Manufacturing time for Ten Supply Items. Average 205 days. Based on 5x acceleration, 41 days in real time.

So she had cut the average time by a factor of 10.

When I looked at her with an ‘That’s impressive!’ expression, she replied.

“Of course! I even earned some magical power from this!”

She boasted proudly.

Yes, creating a 1st Circle shouldn’t be a problem.

At that point, I glanced sideways at Monggu. He was floating in the middle of the barracks with his eyes closed.

He had been training without exchanging a single word for over ten days, even reducing his sleep. But he still seemed to be struggling with level 3.

That was still fast by normal standards… but fell short of my standards.

‘Well, he’ll figure it out himself.’

I planned to just observe for now. I turned away, uninterested, when Yuria asked casually.

“So, what’s the level 1 promotion evaluation like?”

Having graduated from basic training, she apparently wanted to break through the promotion evaluation too… but that won’t be easy.

“The difficulty suddenly increases. You have to fight five orcs alone.”

“W-what? Five orcs?”

“Yes.”

“How am I supposed to win that? Even if I choke one, the others will rush in! Are they saying I must enhance my body to level 3 no matter what? How did the ancients pass the promotion evaluation? Were they all monsters who could easily handle level 3 physical enhancement?”

Yuria unleashed a torrent of questions filled with indignation.

She had good reason.

A regular warrior who completed level 2 physical enhancement and wore the Ten Battle Suits, or a mana user who completed level 2 physical enhancement, would have increased physical abilities enough to face a charging orc with bare hands. But even such capabilities would be useless against five orcs.

Even a warrior with exceptional skills would need to complete level 3 physical enhancement to have a chance at victory. But level 3 enhancement was… having experienced it myself, truly hellish. Even as a mage, I only dared to attempt it after failing in simulation several times.

I comforted Yuria, who was nervously biting her lip.

“Don’t worry. It’s not that kind of approach. Even in ancient times, warriors who enhanced beyond level 3 were considered heroes.”

“Then… is there another method?”

“Yes. After all, the strength of ancient warriors ultimately came from their equipment, right?”

“Equipment? Ah, is there new equipment?”

“That’s right. It’s called a ‘Cuff.’ It looks like a circular ring, and if you throw it accurately, it can restrain even an orc. If you use it well, you can clear the test. It’s essentially an evaluation of your proficiency with the ‘Cuff.'”

By this point, Yuria’s expression had already turned sour again.

“So that means I have to raise the assimilation rate again, right?”

Ah, now I understand her concern.

“Yes… it looks like you need to raise the assimilation rate to about 60% to clear it. But… since it’s not one of the Ten Battle Gears but one of the Nine Battle Gears, the assimilation rate seems harder to increase.”

“Forget it, then. Equipment I can’t even use in reality—what’s the point of raising the assimilation rate? I’ll either enhance one more time or hurry up and manifest the mana sword.”

This was Yuria’s stubbornness. If she just raised the assimilation rate, the Ten Battle Gears would show output that surpassed even mana users. But she wore only the Beam Hilt, removing all other equipment. Something about not wanting to rely on weapons that don’t exist in reality.

However…

I smiled slightly and told her.

“Don’t say that, just practice for now. I think there might be a way.”

“…You say there’s a way? But you said we don’t have authorization to open the armory.”

“Even so, I think there might be a way.”

“What is it?”

When Yuria asked again, I just vaguely told her to follow the head’s orders.

The reason I couldn’t give a proper answer was that I wasn’t 100% certain… but I was over 90% confident.

The weapons in the arsenal.

I believed there was a way to retrieve them.

<Transportation>

I rolled that spell, which had no other ability besides amplifying magical power, around in my mouth once.