The morning’s rays shone over the training camp. It was a high-elevated area, so the views were breathtaking as the sun rose over the mountains.

Temperature also rose as the sun got higher and higher in the sky. It definitely wasn’t long-sleeved shirt day.

"...Ah!"

At that moment, a sudden yelp sounded from the resting quarters. It sounded surprised and a little bit uncomfortable.

Inside Raon’s chambers, a young man was sprawled on the floor, and he was silently staring at his health bar.

[HP: 695/700]

"...Ouch."

Fang Raon rubbed the back of his head and sat up.

As he just logged back in, he spawned, for some reason, right at the edge of the bed, and since he was standing and didn’t expect that, he fell off the bed.

And since his head collided with the wooden floor, he actually lost some health, even if it was just a little bit.

"...Damn, it’s really warm!"

He finally noticed the rising temperature, and he quickly walked to the window and opened it to let in the wind to cool down the room.

He then quickly changed into blue shorts and a tanned t-shirt with sandals, finishing up the summery look.

He thought about putting on a white t-shirt, but he believed that he was going to sweat today a lot, so he decided against it.

’Today’s the start of the actual training, and of course it has to be scorching hot temperature. Why can’t it be cloudy and cooler for once?’

Fang Raon complained inside his mind.

He had to settle with only complaining inside his mind as he made a promise to Rock that he wouldn’t complain about the training, no matter how hard it was.

And he was going to respect that promise.

Fang Raon wanted to get stronger. Desperately. He was done being a weakling.

In that moment.

He checked the time and saw that it was about time, and he quickly ran out of the room and out of the resting quarters.

Then.

Over at the strange pyramid-looking hill, he saw Rock and Della already waiting for the start of the training.

However.

They weren’t alone.

Accommodating them, there was also a green-haired woman, whom Fang Raon saw with Rock last night, and he assumed that she must be the dancing teacher.

"Took you long enough!"

Rock angrily shouted with his arms crossed.

"Sorry, I’ll be up sooner next time."

Fang Raon replied like a good little soldier and stood at attention with his back straightened and chin raised.

"Hmph!"

Rock just scoffed.

He didn’t have anything to badmouth him about after seeing his eager attitude.

If he tried to make an excuse about why he was almost late, there were nearly a hundred things that Rock would’ve liked to say.

"Good morning, Raon."

Della said with a smile.

She always seemed happy, chirpy, and just full of joy.

Just seeing her made Fang Raon’s morning a little brighter, and he replied with a smile and, "Good morning."

"This is the one, huh?"

Maquella said.

"Yes. Raon, this one here is Maquella, and she will be your dancing instructor. It wasn’t easy to get her in here, so be fucking grateful!"

Rock said.

"...Nice to meet you. My name is Fang Raon."

He bowed respectfully.

In that moment, Maquella walked circles around him and checked the state of his muscles, the back posture, and even the flexibility of his fingers.

"Tch, tch."

Maquella just clicked her tongue and walked back to Rock.

Nobody was quite sure whether she liked what she was seeing or whether she was extremely disappointed.

"...Well?"

Rock raised an eyebrow.

"Men simply aren’t suited to learn the Selevian Waltz. His muscle density will make his movements too heavy and jerky, and he lacks flexibility that a woman would have."

She said.

"He doesn’t have to become the greatest dancer in the world. Just good enough to use Dance Extinction without completely humiliating himself.

"If somebody can teach him that, it will be you."

Rock said.

"Your sweet talk won’t work on me, Rock. But you are paying me well, and I gave you my promise to try my best, so I will do exactly that."

Maquella said.

"Who is she?"

Fang Raon whispered to Della.

"Hehe, Maquella is a world-famous dancing instructor over in the real world. She has been visiting Black Online to learn the dancing styles that the locals have created.

"She made a book about the dancing locals, and in that book, she wrote quite a bit about the Selevian Waltz."

Della said.

"I thought that since this is, in the end, just a video game, the different dancing styles would all pale in comparison to the real deal, but I was wrong.

"Every dancing style has its own grace to it, own culture, and own story to tell, which inspired me to make a book about it.

"I am also teaching these dancing styles that I’ve learned from the tower in the real world."

Maquella said, as she was able to hear them whisper quite clearly, as they weren’t exactly being quiet about it.

"You’ll be spending the morning with Maquella. I’ll be with Della, and around afternoon, I will come pick you up for the second round of your training."

Rock said.

"Okay, master."

Fang Raon nodded.

"Yippee..."

Della sarcastically celebrated.

She wanted to be the one doing some dance training, but instead, she was going to suffer in the hands of her grandfather.

"Follow me."

Maquella whipped her hair back and then started walking towards the open pavilion over at the end of the garden.

She was planning to use it during the training sessions with Fang Raon, as it was open on all sides, allowing for the fresh breeze to help cool them down.

Because of the increase in the temperature, it would be quite a torture to be training inside.

And she liked outdoor air, so it was quite perfect, especially since the pavilion was quite spacious with a sleek wooden floor.

Fang Raon followed right behind her.

Meanwhile.

Once they left, Rock turned his gaze towards Della, and he smirked with evil intention.

’C-Could it be that he is still mad about yesterday? It wasn’t cheating. It was smart!’

Della sweated with an awkward smile on her face.

"Deplete all of your mana till nothing is left. Not a single drop. Till your head feels like it is splitting in half."

Rock said.

"W-Why?"

She asked in surprise.

"NO QUESTIONS. DO IT!"

Rock screamed.

With a scared "yes," she summoned her beautiful golden-yellow grimoire and started shooting spells at the skies.

She only used spells that cost most mana, and after a short while, her head started pounding with a headache.

And soon enough, she had no mana at all, and she wasn’t even able to cast spells that barely cost any mana! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Haaah... haaah... haaah..."

Della’s face drooped, like an ice cream melting, and she looked like she was about to pass out while standing!

"Cast one more spell!"

Rock shouted.

"I-I-I can’t!"

Della shouted.

She tried to create Fireball on her hands, but she was only able to create a few sad-looking sparks.

"DO IT!"

Rock screamed.

With her nose bleeding, Della gritted her teeth and forcefully tried to create a Fireball between her two hands.

Yet...

Just a few sparks, once again.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Della screamed with blood gushing out of her nose, and then her eyes rolled up to the back of her skull, and she started falling backwards.

But before she could fall to the ground.

Rock quickly caught her and slapped her cheek a couple of times to wake her up, and she groggily opened her eyes.

"Within a Mage’s body, there is a reserve tank of mana that only the strongest Mages can access during times of crisis.

"You need to go beyond your limits if you want to harness the true power of magic."

Rock said gently to his granddaughter.

"W-W-Why does my head actually hurt?"

Della asked with a scared tone.

She was actually feeling a lot of pain. As if her head were actually splitting in half. It was a scary feeling.

"When you push past your limits to try to access that new realm of strength, you will start to feel actual pain. The pain suppression setting cannot handle that much pain at once.

"If you manage to access that reserve tank of mana, your magic power will also increase significantly. During the training camp, I will make you push your limits.

"It will be painful, but I know you can do it, Della."

Rock said.

"I... I’ll do it..."

Della said with tears brimming in her eyes, and with the help of her grandfather, she stood back up to her feet.

"We will distract Maquella and Raon if we stay here because of your screams. Let’s head to the forest."

Rock said, and with hands inside the pockets of his shorts, he walked out of the gates of the training camp.

After wiping the blood off her face, Della looked over to where Raon and Maquella walked off to.

And then, with a determined look in her eyes, she followed her grandfather out of the training camp.