Two weeks later.
The group was gathered again in the middle area as they had finished their training camp. Major Sam was giving his last speech.
"Seventy percent of you haven't given up as of now. However, your true training has yet to start, eliminating 99% of you, leaving only six to represent our country to the grand stage. That's why I won't congratulate you today. The next training will start on Friday or the day after tomorrow. And yes, you can return today. Use today and tomorrow to rest your body. For now, pack up your stuff and we will go back in three hours. That's all."
Hearing his speech made many people relieved since the training was tough.
Theo only looked at them and shook his head helplessly, recalling what had happened in the past two weeks.
Because of the incidents, there was no big movement from both the trainers and the trainees. Theo got the replacement for his weight. Due to becoming an Elite Rank Fighter, Major Sam became even more merciless and gave him the body armor he was required to wear all time.
It was yet another hell. His master also stepped up their training.
Theo managed to grasp his Awareness, though it was very weak because it was the hardest one so far. As for his breathing, Theo managed to master the breathing rhythm and maintained his calm for one hour of continuous stress.
His Master taught him Control by hiding the dummies behind the trees where he needed to use his eyes to find them before using his Magic Bullet to hit them. She even forced him to shoot two or more different targets in separate directions.
She also asked Theo to control his body and his clone at the same time while sharing the vision. In the latter stage of the training, he ended up fighting with his own clone.
After that, Theo's understanding of the footwork was complete. His body only needed to remember it to the instinctual level to make the movement even more fluid. The same applied to the spear technique.
Last but not least, Stamina. Theo had been enduring all this kind of training without even a break from his teacher. In addition to the constant mental pressure to keep up with Alea during the weekends, it was pretty harsh even for him.
Despite getting all those "tortures", Theo didn't slack even once and kept maintaining the same discipline even if his legs were to give up or his consciousness was to go blank.
During the second last day of training, specifically after Theo completed his Master's training, his master said one thing that stuck in his mind.
"Although you have learned all five aspects, it doesn't mean you have gotten enough strength to fight all the people… You understand that, right?"
"Yes." Theo's expression was calm and collected, fully knowing that his current self was still weak. Well, with his teacher showing him the real "power", there was no way that Theo would consider himself strong even to his peers.
"That's good. Hence, I want to seal your Magic Bullet and Clone once again. With your current skill sets, I believe you have more than enough to win. Only when you have lost once in the second stage of training will you get my permission to use your Clone and Magic Bullet. Will that be okay?"
"I know that Master wants me to break free from my dependency on the two skills, but I'm perplexed this time. I feel like I don't rely on them that much after getting all the skills."
"My reason remains the same. Only in the face of adversity will you find a new way of fighting. Refine that rationality of yours and your fighting style. Unlike the second and third years, no one has information about you yet since you're not popular. Using that to your advantage, I want to polish you as much as possible to make you a secret weapon. Of course, if you still don't understand my real reason by the end of the training, I will explain it to you."
"Since Master is so confident in me getting the quota, I shall follow Master's wish." Theo took a deep breath and nodded. "I can see that the reason why Master wants me to be that way is because if we fight against international teams, they may have two or even more Geniuses like Alea Eilric in one team, right?"
"You know me well, but that's not all. Anyway, go rest your body for three days. Don't train physically."
Theo agreed and returned to the camp, packing his stuff and returning to the other side.
…
This marked the end of the training that exhausted him both physically and mentally. He looked at his status to check the result of his training.
Name: Theodore Griffith
Status: Elite
Level: 69
EXP: 754/4318
Blessing: God of Mischief
Skill: Pierce (F), Clone (D), Monkey Fist (F), Magic Bullet (E), Haste (E), Focused Charge (E), Blink (D), 3 Slots Remaining
Attributes: Strength 115, Endurance 68, Agility 77, Vitality 59, Magic Power 110
Free Attribute Points: 0
In total, Theo had gotten around ten levels worth of points in the training camp and twenty-five levels in this one-month training camp. This was truly a game-changer for Theo, considering he had gotten so many points from the God of Mischief. He could even compare himself to a normal Level 90 fighter and understand that the gap would become even bigger the moment he reached Champion Rank or above as Alea said previously.
To his surprise, that same Alea suddenly went into his vision and signaled him to meet her. Since the other party went all her way to give this hint instead of coming to him, he decided to answer her properly and pointed at the dense forest.
The moment he saw her disappear, he also sneaked out of the group and headed to the dense forest.
As soon as he arrived, Alea turned her head and smiled at him. "You've come…"
"Yeah. Do you need anything from me?"
"The next training camp will be held in two days, right? It means that tomorrow is our day off."
Theo nodded as he thought about going to this place again to increase his level.
"Are you free tomorrow?"
"No. I still need to hunt for levels."
"…" Alea's eyebrows twitched and she ignored his answer. "I see you're free."
"Like I said, I need to—" Before he finished his words, she covered his mouth and pouted. Theo was confused by her actions.
"You should know how to rest your body as well or it will start screaming at you. I know that you try to work hard, but I can see that your muscles are screaming, so please…" She shook her head helplessly before grinning, changing the atmosphere around her entirely. "So, tomorrow, let's go out with me. Hihi…"
"Ehm… No."
"…"