Chapter 62: Chapter 62: The Results of Hellish Training
Charlotte sat in a meditative pose while holding a training lance.
Crack!
Lightning flickered along the weapon as her eyes suddenly snapped open.
Without hesitation, she threw the lance.
The spear shot forward like a bolt of lightning before embedding itself into the reinforced wall of the training room.
Charlotte let out a slow breath.
She stood up and grabbed another lance from the weapon rack.
As she did, the image of Kael flashed through her mind.
It had already been a week.
One entire week since Kael had started his intensive training sessions under Miss Stella.
Charlotte still remembered the day he had challenged Zion inside the Virtual Simulation Room and ended up hospitalized after pushing himself beyond his limits.
After that incident, everything had changed.
For the entire week Kael had practically vanished.
She still saw him during classes.
Unfortunately, that was about it.
Miss Stella behaved strangely whenever Kael was involved.
Inside the classroom she acted as though Kael was just another student.
Outside the classroom however, it was a completely different story.
Charlotte had seen Stella pull Kael away multiple times.
Every single time he returned looking exhausted.
Sometimes he looked so tired that he immediately fell asleep the moment class started.
Not that sleeping in class was unusual for Kael.
He had been doing that long before Stella began torturing him with whatever training regime she had created.
Still, the difference was obvious.
Even Charlotte could tell.
The amount of pressure Stella was putting him under was abnormal.
Charlotte stretched her body.
For the past week she had continued following Kael’s instructions.
Mana manipulation.
Gravity conditioning.
Weapon practice.
Repeat.
At first the gravity room had been unbearable.
Now it felt almost normal.
Her body instinctively circulated mana through her muscles whenever she moved.
The pressure no longer bothered her nearly as much as before.
She had adapted.
Or perhaps she was finally beginning to understand what Kael had been trying to teach her.
The lances were lighter now, the mana flow smoother. Even the crack of lightning felt more controlled and less wild.
"Maybe I’ll take a break today."
Charlotte rolled her shoulders.
"Kael hasn’t given me any further instructions and I’ve completed the previous assignment."
She paused.
"Come to think of it, saying it like that makes it sound as though Kael is my teacher."
Charlotte thought for a moment.
"Well... he is."
She nodded to herself.
"Anyways, break time."
Charlotte left the Gravity Room.
Meanwhile...
Inside the Virtual Simulation Observation Room.
Almost every staff member on duty was staring at a single screen.
"Are you seriously telling me this kid has been fighting under these conditions for the past week?" one staff member asked.
"Well, I did catch glimpses," another replied.
"But Miss Stella normally handled the observation so I didn’t pay much attention."
He pointed toward the screen.
"Everything you’re seeing happened during the last seven days."
A female staff member stared at the footage.
"But he looks completely unaffected."
"It doesn’t even seem like he’s feeling the gravitational pressure."
"That’s because he got used to it," another staff member replied.
"And it’s not just that."
"Every single day he comes here."
"Every single day he starts from Rank Twenty and works his way upward."
The room fell silent.
Everyone continued watching.
The footage showed Kael moving through one battle after another.
Some of the recordings were from earlier in the week.
Others were from only a few hours ago.
The differences were frightening.
At the beginning of the week Kael had struggled.
He had lost repeatedly.
Especially against Roy.
Several staff members still remembered watching that battle.
Five-times gravity.
One hundred kilogram weight bands attached to both wrists.
One hundred kilogram weight bands attached to both ankles.
Roy had beaten him over and over again.
Most students would have stopped.
Kael hadn’t.
Instead he kept challenging Roy.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until eventually he began adapting.
Then improving.
Then winning.
"He shouldn’t even be able to move properly under those conditions."
A staff member shook his head.
"But he fights like it’s normal."
"That’s the scary part," another replied.
"He doesn’t complain at all."
"He just keeps pushing forward."
The footage switched.
Kael was currently fighting Rank Five.
Several staff members leaned forward.
The battle ended moments later.
Kael won.
The room became silent.
"He won again."
Someone swallowed.
"He’s moving up."
"He’ll challenge Zion today."
One of the staff members immediately shook his head.
"I highly doubt he’ll win."
Another nodded.
"Zion is still different, it’s just a bit hopeful for Kael to defeat him under these circumstances."
"But compared to a week ago..."
Nobody finished the sentence.
Because they all knew.
Compared to a week ago Kael had become an entirely different person.
The door suddenly opened.
"Well, it seems you’re all interested in our little Kael Draven."
Every staff member froze.
Professor Ralph stood at the entrance.
His smile looked friendly.
Unfortunately everyone in the room knew better.
"Oh, Professor Ralph."
One of them laughed awkwardly.
"We were just worried."
He immediately turned toward the others.
"Right?"
"Yeah."
"His conditions in the simulation pods are a bit extreme."
"So we wanted to make sure he was safe."
Several people quickly nodded.
Professor Ralph held his chin thoughtfully.
"So you’re trying to tell me that everyone in this room should be observing one pod while ignoring the others."
Nobody answered.
"It seems like an awful lot of observers for one observation don’t you think."
Still nobody answered.
Professor Ralph raised an eyebrow.
"It’s almost like you’re all watching a movie marathon of your favorite series?"
The room became painfully quiet.
Professor Ralph sighed.
"You know what."
"I’m tired."
"You all get back to work."
The staff immediately scattered.
Before leaving, Ralph paused.
"Where’s Miss Stella?"
One of the staff members pointed toward the door.
"She said she was done observing Kael."
"Something about him being ready."
Professor Ralph frowned slightly.
Then left the room.
A few minutes later.
He arrived outside Stella’s office.
Knock.
Knock.
"Come in."
Professor Ralph entered.
Stella was buried beneath a mountain of paperwork.
"What exactly do you mean by ready?, and why leave the observation room?" Ralph asked.
Stella glanced at him.
Then returned to her paperwork.
"Since you seem so interested, or plan on acting oblivious, I’ll explain."
She placed her pen down.
"Ever since the first day Kael entered the Virtual Simulation Room, there has never been another instance where he blacked out or had been in grave danger."
Ralph remained silent.
Stella continued.
"Even after the intense gravity and weight bands."
"I expected him to remove them."
"He didn’t."
Ralph frowned.
Stella leaned back.
"After two days he adapted to the weights."
"By the third day he was moving almost normally."
"By the fifth day he was defeating opponents while mimicking their techniques blow for blow."
She shrugged.
"Not the mages obviously."
"But everyone else."
Professor Ralph stared.
Even he hadn’t known everything.
He knew Kael was improving.
He knew the boy was climbing through the rankings.
But he hadn’t known Stella had forced him to train while carrying hundreds of kilograms.
Nor had he known Kael had simply accepted it and continued moving forward.
"I think he’s prepared for the upcoming tournament."
Stella picked up her paperwork again.
"You should be looking forward to it."
Professor Ralph remained silent for several moments.
The tournament.
He suddenly remembered where Kael had started.
Rank One Thousand.
A student almost nobody had cared about.
Now?
The academy staff were practically watching his training sessions for entertainment.
Ralph slowly shook his head.
"You really are insane."
Stella smirked.
"Maybe."
Professor Ralph turned around.
But before leaving he stopped.
"Just don’t kill him before the tournament starts."
Stella didn’t even look up.
"We both know that’s not going to happen. He would have died a week ago if that were possible."
Professor Ralph wasn’t entirely convinced.
Still, he left the office.
As he walked down the corridor, only one thought remained in his mind.
If Kael’s growth continued at this rate...
The upcoming tournament was going to become very interesting.
And for the first time in years, Ralph found himself genuinely curious to see just how far a Rank One Thousand student could climb when someone refused to let him quit.
...The upcoming tournament was going to become very interesting.
He turned the corner, passing the empty sparring hall where the morning light cut through tall windows in sharp, dusty beams. A few lower-ranked students were already there, practicing footwork with wooden blades, their movements clumsy compared to what he’d just seen on the screen. Ralph’s mouth twitched. A week ago, Kael would’ve looked just as rough. Now he moved like someone who’d been fighting under a mountain for years.
His thoughts drifted back to Stella’s words. _He didn’t take the bands off._ That alone said more than any progress report. Most students would’ve complained, bargained, or simply "forgotten" the weights after day three. Kael had just... kept going. It wasn’t talent. It was stubbornness sharpened into something dangerous.
Ralph exhaled. The academy loved prodigies, but prodigies burned out. What Stella was building in Kael looked less like a prodigy and more like a weapon that refused to break.
