Chapter 27- Training (Part 1)
For Fiona, this world was nothing short of a cruel and badly written joke. It was designed to continuously mock people, make them realize the truth in the worst manner possible. Fiona was no exception to that rule. She had awakened years ago with the goal of being a hero and proving that good still prevails.
However, she had learned very soon after that she was wrong. She was gravely wrong about her abilities and what she can truly achieve. She learned that she was simply not strong enough and would never be strong enough to save everyone.
That equation will always have a net negative result no matter how much she pushes herself. Fiona wants to protect the people from the fangs of vampires and monsters and keep the peace. Yet, she had continuously seen her efforts come short, and all she could do was watch.
'We aren't truly heroes, Fiona. We aren't the ones who carry the hope of the innocent. After all, how could we carry that hope when we ourselves hope that we could save them all?'
Words she had heard a long time ago resonated within her mind again and made her purse her lips bitterly. Bad memories took over her mind for a second before she shook them away before Elio could notice.
"Anyway, you will learn with time what to expect of yourself and what you can achieve. The more the two align, the less strain on your mind you will have."
"... One good thing about me is I never expect much from myself. Haha, all I do is try my best. I never think about what would happen." He said with an awkward smile. "My life has taught me already that I'm never going to achieve everything I want. So, I don't kill myself over it. Knowing that I did everything I could is more than enough to ease my mind."
"... You…" Fiona stared at Elio with slightly wide eyes. 'For someone so young, he sounds very wise sometimes.'
"Fiona?"
"Hm? Oh, nothing. Anyway, let's continue. What's next on the sheet?"
"Right, the sheet." Opening it again, Elio continued. "The next thing is the Physical status."
"Now this is very important. What are the numbers?"
"Ummm, strength is 7 points. Agility is 6, stamina is 12, intelligence is 11, and… Blood Energy is… 27 million." He said, stuttering at the end.
"..."
"..."
The entire place fell silent for a few seconds before Fiona spoke. "27 million, huh? Not even the 20 million I expected. There were 7 million on top of that."
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry at how absurd that was. But, surprisingly, she was not as shocked anymore. She was growing tolerant of the absurdity that is Elio.
"Mmm, and Health is 27."
"That stat has probably increased due to your astronomical Blood Energy level. As for the others, they're somewhat average or below average. But, don't worry, we will work on all of them well."
"Also, there is one last thing. The Improvement Rate." He said. "It says I'm increasing by 0.00000001% every second… Wait, does that mean I'm getting stronger by that amount every second?"
"Yes. The improvement rate is linked to the Blood Energy level, and so naturally, the more energy you have, the more you will passively get stronger. The energy is currently working on your body without you realizing it. It is strengthening your bones, muscles, organs, mind, and every other aspect of you. It is slow, but it's supposed to be a gradual change that you won't have to worry about as it will happen and accumulate with time."
"I see…"
"Ok, well, I have a rough idea of what we are going to do now," Fiona said. "The first thing we have to focus on is your general physicality. You are far too weak to be able to handle anything else, so for the next two weeks, we are going to do intensive physical training."
"... Intensive?"
"Yes, you will be running, doing push-ups, sit-ups, and weight lifting. We need to get your body into a shape good enough to be able to handle what's after."
'Why do I have a slightly bad feeling about this?' He mused as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva.
"I understand."
"Good. E, give him appropriate clothes for training." Fiona spoke. Then, before Elio could even react, his clothes suddenly shifted from the usual uniform to a short-sleeved shirt and pants for sports.
"Woah!! When did it?"
"It doesn't matter now. We shall start immediately. I want you to do 50 laps around this place."
"Wait, what?! 50 laps?!" Elio stared at the vast room around him. "That's impossible! I can't even do 10 without dying!"
Elio took pride in his own stamina, but he knew well enough that he couldn't run that many laps around this place.
"And who said I will just make you run them without some boost? E, open the Potion area."
A second later, on one side of the room, a section of the wall flipped around to reveal a long shelf filled with all kinds of glass vials with liquid in them. The liquid was multicolored and clear like flavored water.
"These are potions you will use in your training. Ones that increase stamina, recovery, speed, and even strength. Using them will boost your abilities a lot and increase the speed of the results by a lot."
"Such potions exist in this world?"
"Yes. As I said, Blood Energy is extremely versatile, and potion making is just one of those things we learned we can do with blood energy." Saying that, Fiona pulled a random vial and threw it to Elio. The latter barely caught it.
"Here, this one is for your stamina. It will make you get tired less."
Examining the magical drink in his hand curiously, Elio opened it and smelled it. It had no smell. 'To think such a thing exists.'
*Gulp*
The liquid was sweet and refreshing, like juice. Elio exhaled with a satisfied sigh. At the same time, he felt his body slowly get energized and less exhausted. He could tell his stamina was a lot better.
'So instant! I just drank it!' He smiled.
"Feeling it?"
"Yes!"
"Good. Now, get ready and start running. These 50 laps won't be the only thing you will do today." Fiona said as she crossed her arms."
"I understand!"
With his body far more active and ready, Elio felt more motivated, so he turned around and then started running along the wall, keeping a rather consistent but slow pace.
'To do this, I need to run slower and control my breathing. Control my breathing.' Focusing his sharper mind on this task, the first lap was unsurprisingly easy.
Elio's breath didn't even change that much. The second and third up until the fifth lap were all the same. He started breathing faster, but he wasn't feeling exhausted.
'Normally, I would already be barely able to run by now. This potion is magical.'
Unbeknownst to him, however, these first laps were nothing compared to what was coming ahead.
'I want to see how strong his will is. If he can't handle too much physical and mental stress, then I can't push him too much. This will give me a good idea of what to expect from him.' Fiona mused, watching him finish one lap after the other.
While this was truly a good exercise to improve stamina, strength, agility, and even mental fortitude, it was mainly a test… A test to see how resilient Elio was truly.
Deep down, Fiona wanted to know how much it would take to make him bend.