When I opened my eyes, I found myself back in my body, which was currently lying down with my back pressed against the grass. The white lilies surrounded my vision, their pale petals framing my sight like silent witnesses.
When I tried to sit up, an exhausting pain came crashing down on me like a collapsing mountain. When I was back in Virgil's dimensional space, and my soul was the only thing that was teleported there, it didn't carry the exhaustion from training with Arthur. But now that I was back inside my physical body, the pain returned as well, as if it had been patiently waiting for me.
"Aghhh, how great..." I said as I winced from the pain, my voice strained and bitter.
I looked at the sky, which was still dark despite spending days in Virgil's dimensional space. Virgil was right. Days in his dimensional space were only minutes here. I looked at the stars, and the Lupus constellation was still there, unmoving and eternal.
I stared at it for a long time with the expectation of it moving again and hearing it speak with Virgil's annoying voice, but unfortunately, the wolf never moved. It remained still, silent, and indifferent.
"I guess he's ignoring me," I chuckled quietly to myself.
Or maybe he had simply fallen into slumber again.
I opened my palm and said, "Let it breathe."
The cosmos responded instantly. Its cosmic latte color lit up the space around me, glowing softly yet powerfully, like a living thing acknowledging my call.
"Hehehe..." I started laughing under my breath. "I really got it, huh? It seems unreal."
I laughed a bit more like a child who had just found a new toy, amused and fascinated by what I could now do, and then slowly stopped. Since it was still night and the stars were bright, I decided to absorb the stellar energy and replenish what I had used earlier.
I got into a lotus position and started absorbing the stellar energy from the stars above. I felt the hot energy entering my cores. It was less hot than when I first absorbed it for the first time, but it was still maddeningly hot, like swallowing liquid fire. However, Virgil told me that the more I absorbed it every single day, the hotter it would become.
With that in mind, I continued absorbing the stellar energy for at least two hours until my core was completely filled and couldn't absorb anymore. From absorbing too much stellar energy, I felt like I had just eaten the biggest buffet of my life, so full that I didn't even feel hungry anymore.
But that didn't stop me from replenishing my mana as well.
After doing that, I finally stood up and started walking back to the palace. But then I suddenly stopped as I remembered something I had forgotten to ask Virgil.
I smacked my forehead with my right hand.
"I forgot about the damn cosmos spells."
I was so focused on the sword techniques that I had forgotten about it, but it was still fine since I would meet him again tomorrow. Not only that, but I already had an idea of the spells. If I worked on the individual affinities from cosmos like light, space, gravity, and time, their spells could be found in spell books in the royal library, and I could also find teachers who specialized well in those affinities. But for the spells of the cosmos itself, only Virgil could teach me.
I lifted a finger, and a small ball of light formed and hovered above my fingertip. I could now use light since I was now able to use cosmos. In fact, I had already unlocked all the other affinities, but I still didn't want to touch them yet since they were dangerous if you didn't know how to use them properly. I was not trying to get myself killed.
But still, the anticipation of speeding up my body's speed using time or teleporting through space was too great. I couldn't wait for that moment, but I still had to tread with caution. And when it came to teleporting, the current me would probably consume all my mana instantly.
"Those are all plans for the future." With a sigh, I stood up and walked back to the palace while limping slightly.
When I reached my room, I jumped straight onto my bed. I had to wake up early tomorrow to train again with Arthur, and the thought of hearing his infuriating laugh while beating the crap out of me again tomorrow pissed me off deeply.
I cursed mentally for a couple of minutes until I eventually fell asleep.
—
Morning arrived earlier and faster than I expected. It felt like I had only slept for an hour.
And guess how I woke up, or better yet, who woke me up?
It was Arthur.
And no, he didn't wake me up like a normal human being. Well, he was a vampire, but still.
He simply burst into my room and called me only once, which I didn't hear the first time.
And then he fucking electrocuted me with his lightning.
Saying that he couldn't wake me up.
How shameless could he possibly be?!
I was now sitting on my bed with my sheets and clothes burned and my hair standing up wildly in the air.
"Good morning, Prince Lucas. It's time for training," Arthur said with a bright smile on his face as he stood a couple of feet away from the bed, looking completely satisfied.
Fuck all the vampires and fuck their entire fucking generation.
I cursed in my head with curses I never thought I would ever say in my life. Both lives included.
I just glared at Arthur while he gave me the brightest, most punchable smile imaginable.
"If you're worried about the sheets and your clothes, do not worry. The maids will bring new ones," Arthur said casually.
"Why couldn't you just wake me up like a normal person?" I asked, my voice filled with annoyance.
"I tried, but you weren't waking up, Prince," Arthur said shamelessly, without even a hint of guilt.
Bullshit.
I was about to curse again, but I was interrupted when I heard a laugh.
"Pfft—"
I looked toward where the laugh came from and saw my personal maid, Evelyn, laughing. But when she met my gaze, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and looked away, avoiding eye contact.
She was definitely laughing at my hair.
"Oy, you think this is funny?" I glared at her.
"Ah, no, no, Young Master, I don't think it's funny," she said with a deadpan expression, but her lips twitched slightly, betraying her.
Ah, I'll make sure to pay ba—
Before I could even finish my thought, I suddenly found myself being dragged by the back of my neck like a cat.
"Time to go," Arthur said as he jumped with me out of the window.
"Wait, I didn't even eat yet! And why do we have to jump from the window every single time?!" I screamed as we fell.
—
I was now standing shirtless but still wearing my burned pajama pants in the garden under the same tree.
As I looked at Arthur's annoying smile, I wanted to drive a stake into his heart.
"Here, take these and put them around your wrists and ankles," Arthur said as he threw four metal-looking objects toward me.
I caught them.
They were cuffs shaped like perfect circles.
"What are these for?" I frowned in confusion.
"They are weight artifacts that you'll be wearing from now on at all times," Arthur said as he crossed his arms. "They are infused with my mana signature, which means I can increase the weight at will. I will increase the weight by five kilograms every single week. This is simply to train your body in terms of strength and speed, since that is what I need from you in order to teach you the Swift Sword."
So this was basically just like the weights Rock Lee used when he was trained by that mighty guy.
I understood his intentions. Carrying these things every single day would definitely increase my strength and speed immensely. As much as I hated seeing Arthur smiling while torturing me with those weights, I wanted to get stronger, so I had to endure his shenanigans.
I put the cuffs on my legs and arms, but something felt wrong.
"Why are they so light?" I asked as I moved easily.
"That's because I haven't increased the weight yet."
With that said, Arthur triggered his mana signature on the cuffs and increased the weight of each cuff to fifteen kilograms instantly.
I was caught mid-movement as the weight suddenly increased, and I collapsed onto my knees.
"Fuck!" I cursed as I felt my entire body become unbearably heavy. "Why didn't you warn me?!"
Arthur just smiled and said, "Now, you can start with your daily routine. First, push-ups, and then running four times around the garden, which is exactly about... ten kilometers."
Then he leaned closer.
"Oh, and if you don't start now or if you stop midway, I'll increase your training."
I glared at him before starting my push-ups.
It felt like hell.
It was like having a massive boulder crushing down on my back.
When I reached fifty, my arms were already trembling violently, but I still continued. But before I could reach sixty, I suddenly felt an additional weight pressing down on my back.
"W-what?"
Did this bloodsucker increase the weight again?
I felt a pat on my back.
"Come on, I'm not that heavy. You can do it," Arthur said calmly.
Arthur was now sitting casually on my back in a lotus position with his arms crossed.
"You're not serious?! Get off my back! You are too heavy!" I snarled in frustration.
"Ouch. Are you calling me fat? Should I increase the weight further?" Arthur smiled treacherously.
I gritted my teeth and kept doing the push-ups, which had now become ten times harder. But I still had to continue if I didn't want my so-called master to force me to start all over again.
I kept a mental note.
When I got stronger, the first thing I was going to do was beat my master's ass.
My mouth curled into an evil grin.
Arthur suddenly felt chills running down his spine for some reason as he heard me snickering quietly beneath him.
"Hey, my disciple, you're not planning something evil, are you?"
"Nope. How could I plan something evil against my ev—good master?"
Just you wait.
After completing the one hundred push-ups, I did one hundred squats and then pull-ups using the thick trunk of the tree.
Then I started running around the garden while sweating all over my body.
The maids who saw me running shirtless laughed and blushed as I passed by, while the guards simply laughed openly.
More importantly, whenever I tried to slow down or rest while running, Arthur would appear floating on a golden platform and strike me with a wooden stick he picked up from gods-know-where.
It hurt like hell.
I ran and ran, terrified of getting hit again, until I finally finished the full ten kilometers.
All that work left me completely starving on the ground since I hadn't eaten anything yet.
I pulled out a pot from my dimensional ring that was filled with roasted potatoes. Yesterday, I had asked my maid to cook a large batch of potatoes so I could store them inside my ring.
The smell filled my nose as I removed the lid, and I began drooling instantly.
The potatoes were the only thing keeping me sane in this world.
Arthur was attracted by the smell as well and asked if he could have some.
I wanted to deny his request.
But when he pulled out grilled meat from his spatial ring to eat together with the potatoes, I allowed him.
After having a great meal, we resumed training again.
But this time, it was swordplay.
The real deal.
The training went as follows.
I had to attack Arthur while wearing the heavy weights, and I was struggling immensely. The sword felt heavier than usual because of the damned weights, and the fact that I had to repeat this every single day made my stomach churn.
Not only that, Arthur attacked me as well, and I had to defend against each of his attacks using the wooden stick infused with his aura.
He wanted me to be fast.
Precise.
Every mistake I made with my slashes and cuts was punished instantly.
He struck me without hesitation.
I was beaten badly.
Arthur did not hold back at all.
Every time I attacked, Arthur would block effortlessly and counter with the stick, striking my body wherever he pleased. Leaving me bruised and covered with cuts all over.
My eyes were swollen.
I could barely see.
No matter how many times I attacked, I couldn't hit him even once.
He was simply too fast.
Too precise.
Too experienced.
The training only stopped when I could no longer stand.
Whenever I complained, Arthur would hit me even harder.
And without a doubt, Arthur was enjoying every single moment of it.
He always had that damned smile on his face.