A small amount of fog escaped my lips, filling my nostrils. I could feel my strength increase by many folds as mana surged through me.
The simulation of the one-eyed queen lunged toward me, her fist outstretched.
I ducked slightly, twisting my waist just enough for my fist to connect with her side.
The face of the hologram twisted ever so slightly as her form flew to the side. She used her feet to stabilize herself, and before I could even process what was happening, she rushed toward me, throwing a straight jab at my nose.
I could not even call this a hologram since I could somehow still feel the pain of each attack.
I staggered backward from the punch. My nose felt like it was already dislocated, but that was not a problem.
All awakened in this world, as long as you had mana, had increased regenerative capability. That meant as long as my mana did not run out, my injuries would heal in seconds.
I lunged toward her again, my stance lowered, one foot ahead of the other. Just as it seemed like I was about to throw a punch, I spun on the tip of my foot and threw a kick straight toward her neck.
However, the attack did not connect, her glitching arm grabbing hold of my leg.
'Shit.'
With little effort, she threw me toward the wall and lunged at the same time to stomp me even deeper into it.
I rolled off the wall, grabbed her leg, spun with my back, and forced myself up, bringing her down at the same time.
A wide grin formed on my face as she landed on her back. I was holding one of her legs, leaving her nowhere to go.
Channeling mana into my arms, I twisted her entire leg brutally. Just as brutal, she twisted it the opposite way to fix it, the force of it throwing my arm off her leg.
My eyes widened as the simulation seemed to grin before nudging her body off the floor with her arms and kicking my gut with both legs.
I landed on the floor with a loud thud, my back cracking against the reinforced surface.
"Damn," I cursed, covering my face with my arm as my injuries healed.
The gap was too much. Even though she was not human and I knew most of her patterns, I could not cover the difference in strength.
I let out a frustrated sigh.
Still, I had gotten far stronger than I was at the start. If it had been a level one I was fighting, I doubted I would have lost.
Losing all interest in continuing the fight, I stood on my feet and deactivated the simulation.
I did not know how the awakening would be or whether we would have to fight, so it was to my disadvantage to overexert myself.
Mana could heal my physical injuries, but it could not give me infinite stamina or heal mental fatigue.
I let out a yawn as I opened the door leading out of the training chamber.
The weather was quite good, and I was alone again.
I could watch movies to pass the time, but there were more important things.
I headed to my room and removed the box hidden beneath my bed. It was filled with all sorts of dismantled gadgets.
"I think I have not checked this yet." I pulled out a shoe from the box. This was no ordinary shoe. In fact, it was a limited edition model that could increase speed by 0.01%.
The main reason I had bought all of this was initially to learn more about runes. Now that I knew enough, it was time to use it for other things.
I sat cross-legged on the bed, placing the shoe on my lap. The sole of the shoe was loose around the edges, and on it was a certain set of runes I had already studied.
I had been thinking about what the special ingredient for using runes on the body was. Even after several experiments, I could not get any results. But there was a theory I came up with.
"Not all things can accept runes."
That was the only viable explanation. Technologies, and even clothing brands, had runes on them that increased human comfort. That meant one of the materials used in making them could accept runes and utilize them.
Fog escaped my lips as my mana began flowing again. I concentrated much of it into my fingertips and eyes, then began writing the runes on the side of the shoe.
Since writing a lot of runes was not as stylish as novels made it seem, I found a way to make them look better by writing them around each other to form a symbol.
This time, I arranged them to resemble a black tattooed bear. "Doing all this is really draining."
However, I had achieved my goal.
I channeled mana into the symbol and threw the shoe toward the door.
In the blink of an eye, the shoe disappeared from where it was and appeared back in my hands.
My face brightened instantly with a sick grin. "So I was right."
The code I had written on the shoe was for it to return to the safe point after ten seconds of being a few meters away from it.
It was something used in most basic games, but seeing it happen in real life sent an electrifying feeling coursing through me.
I stretched lightly on the bed, the glow in my eyes disappearing as I stopped using mana.
"So I just need to find something that would allow my body to accept runes."
Seeing my efforts come to life, I smiled and fell back onto the bed.
The sound of the alarm I had set rang in my ears, making my body jolt upright just as I was about to fall asleep.
I stood up with groggy eyes and opened my phone.
It was two o'clock now, just two hours away from the awakening. Taking a breath, I stood to my feet and headed for the bathroom.