Lax had just opened his mind; He was feeling a purge of pain. His body was still shaking. His upper body was above the level of the pool, but still his whole body was wet. If some other leader had seen this, he might have rewarded the member, but Lax was not worried about the reward; he just wanted to rest.
'Clap', 'Clap', 'Clap'
Lax's confused mind heard the sound of the claps. He turned back and tried to see with his half-opened eyes. His eyelids appeared heavy, but his laziness blew away as he saw the person behind him looking at him with a strange smile.
"It looks like I have underestimated you, Lax; I should reward you," he said as he rubbed his chin. "Right, why not give you an extra core?" Rishi laughed as he took out one more core.
Lax's body twitched; he felt like he was about to die. He tried to escape, but he could never escape the clutches of the Demon behind him, even when in his prime condition. How could he escape now when he could not even move properly?
The cold hands of Rishi touched his back; his other hand appeared before his chest, carrying a strange black-colored orb that shone violet. In a world where everyone craved more power, Lax wanted to become a saint and give up on this opportunity. Soon he realized he had no choice but to accept what life threw at him. He closed his eyes, and his hands stretched apart.
He raised his chest as if accepting his fate. His actions did not affect the Demon behind him, who inserted the core inside him. He felt a sudden burst of pain. He had given up, but soon he realized something was different. This time, the pain was much less than before, instead of getting relieved by his Boss showing mercy.
Lax was even more scared of him now. This was pure torture, but he didn't complain; he heard the voice of Rishi. "You are wondering why I didn't make it easier for you all? Listen well, Lax; the pain you are feeling right now is nothing compared to what I have experienced. If you want to become stronger in the future, you all will need to build tolerance to pain or you will perish."
When Lax heard it, his eyes opened in surprise. He never thought there would be such a great reason behind Rishi's actions; he would have changed his opinion if he could have looked at the expression of the person standing behind him.
Rishi asked someone to bring them all back to their beds. He then started his training. Soon the night passed by, and the sun had risen again; pity its rays never reached here. The five members grouped together again, and Rishi asked, "How are you feeling? Isn't morning more refreshing today?"
They didn't know how to answer him, so they decided to remain quiet. Yesterday was very tiring.
The others agreed, nodding their heads, but their expressions changed when they heard, "I am talking about myself, idiots. You all slept beside the pool. How did you get tired? I had to spend so much effort and energy to insert those cores inside you."
"Can you believe it? I trained more after it, and still standing before you guys? It would be best if you learned how to work hard from me," said Rishi as he pointed his thumb toward himself. All five looked at him weirdly, and some of them thought, How would you know how tiring it was? It was we who went through that Agony.
"Let's not talk about the past; I have called you here to make you even stronger." He looked at them with a smile on his face and said, "If you don't train by yourself and become stronger, I will need to assist you all personally. Don't worry, I am very kind; I never force people under me to work hard," he said, rubbing his hands.
The bodies of everyone, including Lax, shook. They have barely recovered and are not mentally prepared to face similar pain again. Boss, you don't need to worry. We will work all day and become stronger by ourselves. "We don't want you to waste your precious time on us," said one of them, hitting the other boy around him with his elbow.
The other boy heard what he said before looking at his face; he understood what the other party was signaling. "Yes, Boss, he is right. You might have gotten tired yesterday; we can't let you suffer because of us."
Rishi laughed as he looked at them supporting each other, saying, "You guys are too much; I am not talking about physical changes. Remember, I tested you before and asked for your way of fighting; that was all to give you suitable techniques."
Everyone calmed down instantly. Their tragic expressions changed to those of joy. They were ready to work extra hard to never face a situation where they needed to face similar pain again. When Rishi looked at their motivated expressions, his belief in his way of teaching increased.
He first called Lax. "Shadow number Zero, Lax, your fighting style is about using a Sword and Knife as weapons. You like using poison; the technique I have developed for you is 'Shadow Poison,' by using it, you can convert the poison inside your body into a stronger poison."
The others couldn't believe a technique like that existed. "This poison is traceless, odorless, and colorless. It can be controlled from a distance. It will also get mixed up in your Shadow energy and poison your opponents when you attack them."
"Next, you, Shadow Number 1, You like to fight from a distance. You will like this technique of mine called 'Animate Shadow.' With it, you can turn dead creatures into shadow soldiers. I will teach you other techniques for Shadow Slave, which would help you make them your summon."
He introduced each of them to the techniques and explained how they worked before teaching them separately. Each one of them was interested in the techniques they were taught. They started training day and night to learn them faster.
One more week passed, and they all learned the techniques but were still not proficient enough. They needed to train for months to master them. That had nothing to do with Rishi, so he was not concerned about it.
At last, he granted all of them the cuboidal 'Shadow Space' with a length, breadth, and height of two meters. He explained to them how to use this, and the more they listened, the more astonished they became. He also gave them multiple rechargeable Shadow weapons and explained how to use them.
When they received these things, they were once again reminded of how much Rishi had provided for them. They were now even more motivated to work harder and be useful to him in the future. Rishi saw their determined expression, and a smile appeared on his face. He said goodbye to them and left.
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