A month of my tortures, which by misunderstanding are called training, had passed. Why didn't I leave immediately? Honestly, I had such a desire, and I even voiced it on the third day. Furinji simply shrugged calmly at my multi-story indignant speech, where only prepositions were censored, and said that no one was keeping me here.
Black expressed himself even more laconically: "You need this, not me."
I understood that there might not be a second such chance, and I didn't see a queue behind the door of masters wanting to teach me. There were only two choices - endure or lose the opportunity to learn something new.
So when I calmed down and thought with a clear head, we resumed training, which kept getting harder and more sophisticated. I couldn't check my progress because I was forbidden to use yoga under threat of death. And not from Hayato himself, but from myself - supposedly I couldn't yet, my body wouldn't withstand it.
And so I learned that their fears were not groundless.
However, I wasn't only doing physical exercises, but also theory of ki control, which differed from what I knew, and after lunch Black taught me. Ritualism, charms, runes, numerology, and everything related to artifacting. In these classes, I rested both soul and body.
I also had weekends once a week - we went by portkey to Beauxbatons, where I walked with friends, talked with Ariel, and generally had a good time. Bright days in my harsh routine.
And then, one fine day, after another torment in the form of a march in enchanted bracers, leg guards, and a belt that I had enchanted myself, which together increase weight and create resistance to any movement, an interesting event happened to me.
When I removed the equipment and the cold iron bracelets, my body began behaving strangely, absorbing magical energy. I only managed to gorge myself on potions, shout for help, and sit in a meditation pose, absorbing as much external ether as possible, because I was scared shitless and afraid that my own body would drain me dry.
***
A young man in training clothes that didn't hide the relief muscles beginning to appear sat on the bed with a tense face. His light hair fluttered in an invisible wind, when suddenly two dissimilar men appeared in the room — a thin old man and a muscular giant. The first appeared with a pop, and the second seemed to move silently.
"Has it begun?" — Black asked tensely.
"Yes, he broke through his limit. Finally, his body will be able to contain all his ki." — The giant, on the contrary, was quite calm.
"Will he be alright?"
"Believe in your student, Phineas. Everything now depends only on him."
***
I didn't notice how I fell into a trance, watching my cells absorb mana and become... stronger? No, wrong word, rather more correct, as if this is exactly how it should be. I didn't try to interfere with this process, instinctively feeling that I would only mess things up.
As if now everything was happening naturally, as laid down by nature, gods, or the universe itself. The only thing I could and did do was absorb as much ether as possible and convert it into my own mana.
Suddenly I saw how many cells simply couldn't withstand the loads and began bursting like corn kernels. Converting part of the magical flow into prana, I distributed this life-giving energy throughout my body and compensated for the constant destruction.
I'm afraid if this continues, Ryozanpaku will become a magic-depleted place for a long time, so much ether am I absorbing.
Finally, after an indefinite time, my cells were saturated, and I literally felt how my body and other shells became more strongly connected. Opening my eyes, I saw Black and Furinji standing next to me.
"Hello, teachers. What just happened to me? Judging by your appearance, you know everything."
"I told you, Arthur, that you learned to run before you could walk," — Sitting in an armchair I had created, like everything in the room, next to the bed, Hayato answered me. — "Your body couldn't withstand the level of enhancement you possessed. You were only getting damage, and if you weren't a mage and didn't use that healing of yours on yourself, you'd be disabled by age 16."
"I'm afraid your training would have made me disabled much earlier," — I chuckled nervously.
"So it would have been," — he said without the slightest embarrassment, — "if not for the potions and your healing. Do you think I would torture you like this if you didn't have such support? Ordinary masters train from childhood and approach their limit at best in adolescence, or even later. You were already well-trained, and you yourself are from a magical race, so you just needed a push."
"What's next? Are the trainings over?" — I asked.
"Yes, now there's no point in exhausting yourself with physical training in bracelets. But if you want to become physically stronger, exercises are still necessary. For example, your training artifact will be perfect for improving your enhancement abilities. After all, as I understand, it's adjustable?" — Referring to the leg guards, belt, and bracers, Furinji asked.
"Yes, the more mana you put in, the heavier it becomes for you."
"You see, you'll also improve your control, even though it's already good, but there's no limit to perfection. And when you get used to it, we'll begin your real training."
"Eh? Haven't we been training?"
"What are you talking about? We were correcting your deficiency. But you don't know a single technique. How do you think we fought mages? Just hit harder? Any shield against physics and you can't do anything to an opponent with fists."
"Enough," — Black intervened. — "Let Arthur rest today. You said yourself that rest..."
"Is no less important than training, I know. Well, I won't bother you today, but tomorrow I expect you in the morning at the training ground in uniform." — After which he simply evaporated. Though actually he just moved at a speed my reaction couldn't follow.
Black disappeared with a pop after him, relief clearly visible on his face. I didn't rest though - my body was overflowing with energy, so I went out to the yard and transfigured myself a wooden makiwara.
Out of habit, I began strengthening my body, but the more mana I poured in, the more shocked I was - there seemed to be no limit to enhancement! Now I understand what limit I broke through.
Although, most likely there's no limit at my level because my reserve, while higher than an average magic school graduate, is ten times smaller than Goyle's or Black's.
I didn't put much into my first strike for safety reasons. But even so, after a loud clap, the makiwara scattered not into splinters, but into dust. And only after a couple of moments did it dawn on me that the clap was breaking the sound barrier.
True, my hand now ached and hurt, but minor healing immediately cured it. Pure prana is more expensive and less effective in this regard.
I entertained myself for a long time, jumping thirty meters up or running at the speed of a race car, crashing into everything, then fixing the broken things with magic. And only after a couple of hours did I come to my senses and cleared my consciousness with mind magic.
Yeah, apparently a large amount of prana and mana in the body has a good effect on the brain. But it was fun, especially when Pixie joined me, frowning and puffing her cheeks when she couldn't catch up with me.
***
The next morning I got up early and did exercises in armor myself, because without cold iron it wasn't painful or exhausting, but rather created a pleasant load. It was especially amusing to watch how I sank into fairly dense soil, leaving deep tracks. And when I ran, I also created small craters.
I had to clean up after myself again - I should ask Hayato how he manages to move at huge speeds and jump without leaving destroyed roads... houses... cities... yeah.
"As I see, you've already played enough?" — Hayato asked with a smirk, twirling his mustache. — "However, I understand you, I was the same. Also, don't forget to strengthen yourself to the limit at least once a month."
"Why?"
"Your ki will continue to grow, and for your body to keep up with it, you'll need to release all your strength, otherwise you'll be in the same position as a month ago." — I shuddered. Go through that purgatory again? God forbid! — "However, today we'll start studying techniques and practicing strikes. You haven't grown up to serious things yet, so we'll continue developing the basics."
"Excuse me, sensei, but why do I need techniques?" — I didn't understand.
"Ohohoh, you mean that since you're so strong, you don't need techniques?" — He smiled good-naturedly, and I got goosebumps.
"No, I understand that I'm much stupider than you in this regard, so I want to know."
"Commendable, commendable. Otherwise at first you said, well, I don't need all this, I want to go home, wave my wand," — well yes, that happened. I shrugged. — "Well then, it's better to show once than hear a hundred times. Attack."
"Just with hands?" — I clarified.
"With whatever you want."
And here I unleashed a whole fan of spells - stunning, paralyzing, cutting, igniting, and other charms from my wand. The giant easily and even with some predatory grace dodged all of them, letting the charm beams pass literally millimeters from himself. Occasionally he stepped back if area charms were coming.
Transfiguration fell away at the very beginning - I couldn't create a rope, vine, or throw some stone before Furinji was already in another place. And created living creatures were destroyed by one poke. Even steel and titanium-tungsten ones.
Then I decided to launch my trump card - I managed to stuff "Bombarda Maxima" into one of the wand's crystals, and now, while there was enough mana in the crystal, I could shoot it like a machine gun.
And here I saw the real manifestation of Hayato's ki or mana for the first time - he simply put out his hand covered with a shimmering veil of magical field and blocked all my charms with his palm, neutralizing them. Like catching mosquitoes.
Realizing that the wand was useless against this monster, I strengthened myself to the limit and rushed forward, leaving earth explosions behind me. Never before had air seemed so dense and viscous as now, like jelly.
He caught my first hand strike on his palm. As well as the second, third, and subsequent ones. He seemed to know in advance where I wanted to hit, and when I tried to kick, he easily caught me by the leg and lifted me above the ground.
"Do you understand your mistake?" — he released me, and I rolled over and, dusting myself off, stood up.
"That you're too strong?"
"No, I fought at your same level of reaction and strength. What you lack is skill and experience."
"Teach me, sensei," — I bowed slightly, knowing that he really only needed one strike not just to defeat me, but to grind me to dust.
"Hohohoh, what a flatterer. Well then, let's start with your stance..."
So they began teaching me the basics that any student should know. I'm apparently unique because I control my body almost like a weak master, but without his skills.
We started with stances, then continued with basic strikes, which I practiced even during the hellish month, then all this was reinforced by combat experience. Moreover, not only with Hayato, but also with Phineas, who also constantly rolled me with his charms, thanks to his shield against physical impacts.
And there was nothing to say about combat magic — a couple of seconds and I wake up in bed. As said earlier, you can't do shit against him without special techniques.
***
Another two weeks passed in this calmer style. After the breakthrough, both my yoga and metamorphism improved. Thanks to this, as well as mind magic, I memorized techniques and stances quite quickly - it was enough for me to repeat them a couple of times, correcting mistakes, and sparring sessions hammered these skills into me permanently.
We were fighting with Furinji once again. Well, fighting? I was trying to hit him with hands, feet, elbows, head, and generally my whole body, while he fended me off like a cat from a mouse. That is, without straining at all. He even demonstratively did this with one finger while sitting on the ground and sipping tea.
This might have angered someone, but not me. I had long understood that he surpassed me many times over.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Hayato disappeared. And in a few minutes he approached together with a young, handsome, and muscular man with the same light hair and blue eyes as the giant. He was dressed in a cheerful Hawaiian shirt and shorts.
Next to him walked a smiling brunette girl with green eyes and a full chest. Her belly clearly protruded from a fitted blue dress, indicating her pregnancy. Furinji Saiga and Shizuha, the son and daughter-in-law of the head of Ryozanpaku.
After which he disappeared together with Hayato, and somewhere in the distance sounds of thunder were heard.
"Boys," — Miura snorted.
"The first forty years of childhood are the hardest for a man," — I answered, after which the girl burst into ringing laughter. — "Let's go into the house while they don't return. There's no truth in standing."
"Don't think that because I'm pregnant, I'm also a martial arts master." — She importantly raised her finger, following me, however.
"Even martial arts masters need someone to show care for them."
"Your words to Saiga's ears." — She sighed heavily but didn't continue the topic.
And then the two fighters returned, absolutely clean and smiling. They only lack scuffing their toes on the ground. And I decided to look at our guests with true sight, because something was bothering me.
And I wasn't wrong — Saiga was stained with darkness. Not like Goyle, but still noticeably. In contrast to him, Shizuha was absolutely pure and bright, especially a small clot of light stood out against her background slightly below her belly.
However, I had nothing against darkness - maybe he kills villains and doesn't like it? In general, at that moment this didn't alarm me much, though I did tell the thoughtful Hayato about my observations.
But who knew what this would lead to?
***
[ image Saiga ]
[ image Shizuha ]
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Thank you for the help with the power stones!!!