As Bennett woke up, he checked his diary and wrote down his experiences from the past few days before getting ready for the day.

  "Hmm~ I almost forgot about this... sigh~"

  Bennett headed off, his first destination for the day being the blacksmith.

  Once he arrived, he greeted the man.

  "Hello sir, I was told to come back here yesterday."

  The blacksmith, who wasn’t looking at first, turned around and saw Bennett.

  "Oh hey, young lad! Welcome. And of course I did asked you to return. So please, check this out."

  He took out the three quarterstaffs Bennett had left the day before. Their designs looked completely different.

  "Ohh... the quarterstaffs look completely different."

  Bennett’s eyes looked like they were glowing the moment he saw them.

  "Haha, of course they don’t have the same design, lad. I enhanced them with beast parts and still kept their ability to minimize."

  The blacksmith handed over the staffs to Bennett.

  He inspected them carefully and unconsciously muttered, "I can't wait to apply my runes..."

  The blacksmith raised an eyebrow, then shook his head with a sigh.

  "Lads these days... decoratin’ their weapons."

  Bennett glanced at him.

  "Sir? Did you say something?"

  "Haha, nothing, young lad. I suppose that’s all, right?"

  The blacksmith wiped his hands clean on a cloth.

  "Yes, it is. Thank you. I’ll see you next time when I’ve got more materials."

  Bennett shook the blacksmith’s hand and left, heading back to his room. Once there, he began applying his runes to the upgraded quarterstaffs.

  After the runes were set, he charged each weapon and immediately felt the mana flowing within them.

  "Hmm... the staffs’ limits definitely increased. I better test them out."

  Bennett made his way to the training grounds, where he spent the next hour and a half putting all three quarterstaffs to the test.

  Eventually, he collapsed onto a bench, panting heavily after the intense session.

  "That’s such a huge upgrade... and completely worth it."

  "Just the Rank 2 beast material used to enhance my quarterstaffs boosted their timers from 13–14 minutes up to 20–25 minutes. To be exact: 22 minutes, 25 minutes, and 20 minutes. So in total, that gives me 1 hour and 7 minutes of usage without activating any skills."

  As Bennett rested, Aiko silently snuck behind him. Taking advantage of his exhaustion, she sprinkled itching powder down the back of his shirt before quickly sneaking off and hiding, giggling to herself.

  A few moments later, Bennett shot up, scratching wildly at his back.

  "Ahh what the fuck!? My back why is it so bloody itchy all of a sudden?!"

  He twisted and flailed, trying to reach the spot but failing, and stormed off in frustration never noticing Aiko giggling nearby.

  Later that day, after finally clearing his back of itching powder, Bennett used the time to practice his Savage Cinder Style until it was time to sleep.

  The next day arrived, and unlike most mornings, he was genuinely excited it was finally time for his first session in the specialized training room. Wasting no time, he headed straight to the location he’d been given.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  When he arrived, he stared in awe at the towering structure before him.

  “How did I never notice this whole tower? It’s so damn high...” he muttered.

  The receptionist nearby heard him and chuckled softly.

  “That’s because you’ve been walking downhill this whole time. By the time you reach this area, most people are surprised at the size.”

  Bennett blinked in confusion, then turned around. The slope was just steep enough to throw him off subtle, but now that it was pointed out, it made sense.

  He scratched his head, slightly embarrassed.

  “Wait... seriously? I didn’t even notice.”

  The receptionist smiled.

  “It’s fine. Most people react the same way. Anyway, you’ve got a reservation here, right?”

  “Ah, yes I do.”

  Snapping back to reality, Bennett quickly composed himself.

  “My name is Bennett. Here’s my ID and reservation document.”

  The receptionist took them, looking over everything carefully.

  “Have you done any research on how training works here?”

  “Uhh... I forgot,” he muttered, clearly embarrassed again.

  The receptionist sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “I swear, you kids have a death wish.”

  “Can you explain it?” Bennett asked, cheeks burning from embarrassment.

  “Whatever. I’ll give you the short version. There are two training methods we use here both designed to push your mental resistance and your mana control.”

  She raised two fingers.

  “The first method involves being exposed to the mana and killing intent of an instructor. It forces your mana output to stay active under intense pressure. If you stop releasing your mana, you’ll feel like your bones are breaking. Don’t worry, though since it's a controlled environment, you can shut it down by simply leaving the room.”

  “The second method involves the presence of a live beast. The minimum is a Rank 5 beast, but the rank can go higher depending on your level and who's supervising. The aura alone triggers your fight-or-flight instincts, forcing your mind and mana to adapt under pressure. We keep things under control to reduce the risk of accidents, of course.”

  She leaned in slightly.

  “As for which one you’ll get... that’s a secret. You only find out once you’re in the room. If you leave early, you waste the session.”

  She gave him a mischievous smile.

  “So make sure you stick it out as long as you can.”

  “Jeez, you’re scary... but thanks,” Bennett said with a nervous laugh.

  The receptionist rolled her eyes again.

  “Anyway, since I already answered your questions and even explained that you won’t know which method is used until you’re inside... don’t bother asking who the instructor is.”

  “Damn... would’ve been nice to know,” Bennett muttered.

  Her tone shifted, becoming firm.

  “We’re not here to babysit you. We may call you kids, but we treat this seriously. Both methods have their pros and cons, but they’re designed to simulate real-world danger mentally and magically. We don’t touch your body, but we push your limits.”

  She gave him a stern look.

  “So don’t you dare skip out just because you dislike one method. That would be a waste of your credits and our time. This academy pours resources into your training, and we instructors sacrifice our own time to help you grow.”

  Bennett nodded quickly.

  “Of course! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  The receptionist sighed and shook her head.

  “It’s fine, kid. Just don’t waste the opportunity.”

  Bennett gave a final nod before entering the training facility.

  “Understood. Thanks again.”

  Once Bennett entered the hallway, he searched for his room, feeling nervous. He wasn’t sure if he’d be lucky with the training type, but he was determined to stay and train as long as possible. After all, as the receptionist had said, it would be a waste of credits and resources to leave just because of the training method for the day.

  Bennett soon found his room, number 104, and entered. Shortly after, he saw a sign with some instructions:

  Step 1: Cover yourself with mana to reinforce your body.

  Step 2: Sit in a meditation position.

  Step 3: Expend as much mana as you can while breathing slowly.

  Step 4: Once you're prepared, please press the button, and the pressure shields will be released.

  After reading through this, Bennett put away his bag and started stretching.

  "Before I start, I better warm myself up. I'm sure I won’t be able to do that once the pressure starts."

  Once Bennett finished warming up, he double-checked the steps and did exactly as instructed.

  "Alright, here goes."

  Bennett pressed the start button, and various steel-covered vents were released and opened, releasing an immense amount of pressure and bloodlust that felt overwhelming for someone at Bennett’s level.

  “Holy fuck!!”

  Bennett almost jumped, terrified. He started forcing himself with all his mental strength to calm down, but it was a very slow process. He could constantly feel his mana draining even faster, as if it was trying to counter the pressure.

  Despite this, he had no time to focus on his mana and had to forcefully concentrate on his mental strength as he was bombarded with a constant stream of both killing intent and mana pressure.

  A few people had already left their rooms, despite the immense pressure. Through the muffled sounds, Bennett overheard some of their conversations, but due to how much focus he had to put into staying calm, he couldn’t process what they were saying.

  "It's that crazy instructor again," one muffled voice said.

  "I know, right? They're the only one that uses both a beast’s pressure along with their own personal killing intent and mana pressure. I swear it’s impossible!" another voice replied.

  Soon after, the voices faded away. But that was enough to make it clear: Bennett was extremely unlucky to have gotten a two-in-one mental training session today.

  Unfortunately, Bennett couldn’t think about it at all.

  Ugh! Bennett groaned as he noticed blood dripping from his nose and mouth from the sheer pressure of the double sources.

  On his hands and knees, Bennett groaned constantly. He made no move to leave. He held his place, enduring with all his might, even though his mana was about to be completely drained and his vision was blurry.

  But throughout all this, his mental resistance was constantly increasing, along with his mana becoming denser and growing in amount from the overwhelming pressure he was feeling.

  Soon after, Bennett started losing consciousness.

  His last thought was,

  I was so unprepared...

  A few hours later, he woke up to find himself in the training center’s receptionist room.

  "Ugh, I feel like I got run over by multiple vehicles," Bennett groaned.

  "Kid, you fell unconscious during your training. If I hadn’t been informed by the others about who the current instructor was, I wouldn’t have checked on you," the receptionist said.

  "I’m surprised, kid. Most first-timers who face his mana pressure, killing intent, and combined beast pressure would be unconscious for a few days."

  "What? A few hours? Damn it, I wasted so much training time..." Bennett muttered.

  "What are you saying? You were able to handle one of the more intense training sessions, only losing a few hours of consciousness. Did you not hear me?" the receptionist replied, sounding incredulous.

  "But still, even if I woke up earlier, I still lost essentially a whole day of training," Bennett said, frustrated with his own inability to endure longer.

  "Haha! Kid, I like you. Unlike the others, you’re more frustrated about not lasting longer, while they’d avoid training when that particular instructor is in charge," the receptionist said with a smile, a small amount of respect in her voice.

  "Still, next time, I’ll make sure I last longer. Despite the time I lost, I can tell this will be really good for me," Bennett clenched his fist, speaking his honest feelings.

  "Kid, keep that up, but make sure you know when to retreat. I won’t save you every time you collapse," the receptionist said, ruffling Bennett’s hair as she left.

  Soon after, Bennett stretched once more and left the training center, heading back to his room.

  "Ugh, now that I think about it, I was both unlucky and lucky. I can feel my whole body aching in pain, even though I wasn’t harmed physically. But my mana... I can feel it being slightly denser than before. I’ll need to train my mana control if I’m to keep training there, so I don’t end up harming myself because of my denser mana."

  Bennett soon took a shower and checked his schedule. He would be training there for another week.

  "Anyways, since that's how bad it is when combined with both the instructor and beast, it’ll be a bit easier if it's only one or the other. That’s great."

  For the rest of the week, Bennett continued to train there every day, reaching higher levels of mental resistance, mana control, mana amount, and finally, mana density.

  Chapter 12 End