The Training

He raised his index finger. A flow of mana gathered at the tip, swirling upward. In a blink, the mana compressed, heated, and burst into a red hot flame flickering from his fingertip.

Marc’s eyes lit up in pure amazement and admiration toward Bell. “Woaaaaa you can really do it! That’s amazing! You’re also really good at magic, Bell!”

Bell laughed awkwardly. “Yea…”
But in his thoughts he muttered, “It’s not just magic that I’m good at…”

The flame on Bell’s fingertip slowly vanished, turning back into a smooth, swirling glob of mana. He looked at Marc and said, “Alright, now you try it.”

Marc nodded with full determination. He pointed out his index finger just like Bell did and took a deep breath. He focused on gathering the mana in his body, guiding it slowly toward his finger. A faint glow began to form at the tip.

Marc concentrated so hard that he didn’t even notice the sweat rolling down his forehead. The flow of mana slowly thickened and started shaping itself. The pale glow deepened, its color becoming richer and more saturated. Soon Marc could feel heat gently rising from the tip of his finger.

His eyes widened a bit as the warmth grew stronger, a sign that the mana was beginning to transform.

As the heat gathered, the mana finally took the full shape of fire and burst into a small flame on Marc’s fingertip. His eyes opened unbelievably wide and his mouth dropped in shock. He quickly turned to Bell and shouted, “Bell! Look! Look! I did it! I did it, Bell!”

Bell nodded with a proud smile, fully approving Marc’s achievement.

Marc stared at the flame, admiring every bit of it. He lifted his hand closer and inspected the fire from different angles. Then he grabbed a fallen leaf from the ground and gently dropped it onto the flame. To his surprise the leaf instantly burned up and turned to ashes.

Bell watched him with a thoughtful look. In his mind he muttered, “This kid is really something. He can maintain that flame for more than thirty seconds. Even if it is small, forming a proper flame like that still requires a lot of mana.”

Marc suddenly got an idea. He dispersed the fire on his fingertip and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and let mana creep into him again. The glow slowly engulfed his eyes and then wrapped around his hands. As he exhaled he opened his eyes and they were once again engulfed in mana, bright and alive.

Marc chuckled. “Hehehe what if I try doing mana formed magic while I’m in this form or mode?”

Marc looked down at his index finger, preparing to try it, but before he could do anything Bell told him to point his finger upward toward the sky and move his head slightly away. Marc looked confused but followed Bell’s instructions.

As he pointed his index finger up to the sky, the moment he willed the mana to gather on his fingertip a massive surge of mana blasted upward. Then boom, a fire large and tall enough to reach the height of the orphanage rooftop erupted from his single fingertip. Marc’s eyes widened in panic as he watched the surge of heated mana burst upward. “Woaaaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaa!”

He quickly dispersed the mana, and the huge flame instantly dissolved into flowing loose mana that scattered in the air. That scattered mana was then rapidly absorbed back into Marc’s body.

Marc stared at his trembling hand, still shocked, then looked at Bell. Bell smirked and said, “Your welcome.”

Marc let out a tired breath as his body relaxed and returned to its normal state. The moment he returned to normal he suddenly felt heavier, sluggish, and tired. He sat down on the ground and leaned back against the stacked wood, resting his head for a moment.

As Marc rested, Bell observed him and formed a thought. “Hmm.. he used that form two times in such a short time and even used an excessive amount of mana when he created that mana formed fire magic. The fire reached the height of the orphanage rooftop. He still has a long way to go but he is making progress way too fast.”

Bell looked around for a bit before sitting down. He focused on absorbing mana. As he expected, most of the mana in the area was automatically being pulled in by Marc. Fortunately for Bell, he had already weakened Marc’s automatic absorption, so the mana around them was much thicker than before.

After gathering enough mana, Bell stood up and walked toward Marc. He saw Marc sleeping, resting after doing so much earlier. Bell nudged him awake and started talking to him about his form.

Marc said, "Hmm, what should I call the form I have?"

Bell replied, "Yeah, most mages give their forms or modes a name. It's not required, but it adds a nice touch."

Marc thought for a moment. "Hmm... I haven't really thought about it... hmm... oh! I got it now. I'll call that form ZEN."

Bell repeated, "Zen?"

Marc nodded. "It's because the name is part of one of the greatest spells the Greatest Mage ever cast. The spell was called ZENITHTRUST. Everyone described it as a spell so powerful and so beautiful that it protected the entire continent of Demanas during the War of Apocalypse. Even the books I read call it one of his top creations."

Bell looked at Marc with a hint of pride as he listened to his own past being spoken about. He smiled and said, "That's a great name."

Bell glanced around before adding, "Looks like we still have some time before Jenna comes back with Nelly. Let's go ahead and train for a bit, shall we?"

Marc’s eyes burned with determination as he trained with Bell. They started with push ups.

Marc’s limit: 15 push ups
Bell’s limit: 30 push ups

Next, they did pull ups using the door frame.

Marc’s limit: 6 pull ups
Bell’s limit: 15 pull ups

They moved on to sit ups.

Marc’s limit: 20 sit ups
Bell’s limit: 50 sit ups

After that, they did squats while holding a log.

Marc’s limit: 10 squats (with log)
Bell’s limit: 23 squats (with log)

Lastly, they did a plank hold.

Marc’s limit: 1 minute and 40 seconds
Bell’s limit: 3 minutes and 02 seconds

Marc dropped to the ground, exhausted, breathing heavily with sweat covering his face. Bell stayed standing, but he bent forward with his hands on his knees, also breathing hard. A serious and frustrated look formed on Bell’s face as he thought, “Damn.. I’ve seriously gotten way weaker.. but it’s fine.. a person like me will always make fast progress.”

Marc, still lying on the ground, looked up at Bell and tried to suggest something. “Hey Bell, couldn’t we use water magic to hydrate ourselves?”

Bell shook his head. “No, we can’t. That water would be filled with mana, and we’d get mana intoxication. Our bodies are still weak and not adapted to that.”

Marc pouted. “Awweee man.”

Bell added, “Although we can purify water magic to make it pure and safe to drink.”

Marc sat up a little. “Really?? We can??”

Bell nodded. “Yeah, we just need to concentrate and individually remove the mana flow from the water without disturbing the magic form. If we mess up, the water magic will disappear.”

Marc’s excitement faded into disappointment. “Haha.. individually you say.. at that point it’s much faster to just get up and drink water from the orphanage.”

Bell nodded. “Yup, and that’s what we’re gonna do right now. Hurry up and get up. We still need to do some cleaning before they get here or else we’ll get scolded for doing nothing.”

Marc pushed himself up. “Aye aye.”

As they walked, Bell drifted into his thoughts. “Although my past self could just cast normal water magic and chug it since my body is enhanced and can automatically purify water magic… Wait. I don’t even need to use water magic. I have a skill that straight up gives purified water already…”

After drinking water, Bell and Marc started cleaning the orphanage slowly and steadily. While they worked, Marc thought to himself, “Bell’s such an amazing person. He knows so much about magic.. I admire him. Just like my idol, The Greatest Mage. I wanna learn all kinds of magic and spells and explore the world just like him. And one day, I want to help Jenna and Nelly move into a bigger house, a better orphanage, so kids can have a real second chance at life.”

Bell was also lost in his own planning. He thought about how he should progress next, and how going outside the village from time to time would let him gather more mana and grow faster. He also thought about Marc, and started forming a training schedule made only for him. Bell look through his memories filled with millions of spells, trying to choose the best ones for Marc to learn. He also considered unlocking new powers for himself, something he could rely on in emergencies.

“I should unlock a new source of power.. just in case. I don’t want to be unprepared. But I’ve got a strange feeling.. like something’s about to happen in this village… Augh.. these instincts of mine are rarely wrong. But hopefully this time.. just this once.. I want them to be wrong…”

As Bell and Marc cleaned, somewhere outside the small village, a dark figure stood silently on the branch of a tall tree. The figure watched the village from above, unmoving and hidden in the shadows. Then, without making a sound, it jumped down from the tree and disappeared.