"Huff.. Huff... Wheeze... Wheeze..."

Fang Raon wheezed like his lungs were about to collapse, and he was drenched, as if someone had thrown a bucket of water over him.

But no.

It was just his sweat.

"Get back up!"

Maquella ordered.

She was like a drill sergeant, not allowing him even one second of rest.

With a loud groan, Fang Raon stood back up and started doing pirouettes, his legs feeling like jelly.

But he could barely do three before collapsing again, exhausted and covered in his sweat.

The skin had slightly peeled off his feet. It was covered in blood. His toenails were cracked and broken.

’T-This is... Insane... And I even have training with Rock after this... How the hell can I survive through this?’

Fang Raon thought with a sense of dread.

"GET UP!"

Maquella whipped her leg at him and kicked him across his face, and it was such a powerful kick that a couple of his teeth flew out.

"URGH!"

Fang Raon coughed blood, and he then stumbled to his feet and moved his finger inside his bloody mouth.

He traced his finger at the location of his missing teeth.

"A-Are those going to grow back in here?"

He asked from nobody in particular, but he believed that the healing potions must be capable of regrowing teeth.

It was capable of regrowing missing limbs, so teeth should be easy peasy.

"I do like teaching in Black Online. I can use violence here without getting in trouble, hehe. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve wanted to punch and kick my students.

"I couldn’t do that then, but in here, with you, hehe~!"

Maquella cracked her knuckles, looking like a demonic witch.

With an awkward chuckle, Fang Raon started sweating profusely, and he again began doing pirouettes.

Whenever he fell, Maquella immediately kicked at him, and he managed to dodge a few of them, but some of her kicks landed directly on his face.

It was constant abuse.

Because of that, he became more and more concentrated on doing pirouettes because he didn’t want to get kicked.

And he started doing pirouettes longer and longer, even reaching ten spins before eventually falling down to his buttocks.

And Maquella just watched with concentration.

...

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

In the depths of the forest, a hoarse scream reverberated throughout the woods, and the birds flew away in a frenzy.

Rock, with his arms crossed, looked at the defeated granddaughter of his, who was lying on the ground, holding his head.

Her nose was bleeding. Her eyes had turned red. And even her skin complexion, which was pale white previously, had turned red.

"Ahhhh!"

Della screamed as she again tried summoning a Fireball with her hands, but after a few sparks, it died off like a sad little ember.

...

The time passed.

The morning went by. The temperature started to drop again. Clouds started to form overhead, blocking the sight of the sun.

From the woods, Rock walked out, his sandals slapping against the hard ground, and he was carrying someone.

It was unconscious Della, her long hair hanging limply around her face, and she was covered in dirt and blood.

It was a heartwrenching sight.

"Master... What happened to Della?!"

At that moment, Fang Raon, who was waiting by the training camp’s gates, asked in a shock after seeing Della’s condition.

"The result of her training. This is a sight of her becoming stronger."

Rock said with a cold look on his face, and he then waved Mikey over, who fast-walked over like his feet were on fire.

"Take her to the Healing Hot Springs."

Rock said.

Mikey nodded, took Della into a carry, and walked briskly towards the Healing Hot Springs.

"Why were you waiting here?"

He then turned to Fang Raon and asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Madam Maquella gave me ten minutes of rest before I join you for our training."

Fang Raon said.

After seeing Della’s condition, he was honestly pretty damn scared to go anywhere with this lunatic!

"Then, let’s get going."

Rock turned around, and they left the safety of the training camp and headed for the silent woods.

’Why are we going here?’

Fang Raon wondered.

Since his feet were suffering, it felt like he was walking on hot rocks, and it didn’t help that the terrain was rough and even.

Luckily, they didn’t walk far.

A short moment later, they walked between two rock formations, shaped like small mountains, and arrived over at a small lake.

The small lake was tucked in the center of tall cliff walls, and there was even a waterfall pouring down from the top.

It was really beautiful.

Some small fish could be seen swimming in the clear water, and at the lake, there was a small rowboat tied to a wooden dock.

"I sometimes come here to relax, sit on that rowboat, and do some fishing. This place is my favorite spot to unwind and clear my mind."

Rock said.

"...It’s nice."

Fang Raon said.

"Not for you."

Rock scoffed and told him to go sit on the rock by the lake, and Fang Raon did as he was told.

"We’ll start your Five Pillars of Power training."

He said.

’Finally...’

Fang Raon thought.

He’d been waiting for this all day. As if he mastered the Five Pillars of Power, he could really become a powerhouse in the tower.

If he only knew Maxima during his fight with Raikou, maybe he could’ve stood a chance, even if defeating him was a long shot.

"Today, we will focus on Maxima and Read. I’ll be teaching you them simultaneously, as the training I’ve prepared for you will help you learn both of them at the same time."

Rock said.

Fang Raon nodded.

"First of all, Maxima. You already know what it is, but I will still give you a brief overview before we dive into the specifics.

"It is a power that allows a person to cut things that shouldn’t be cut. Such as shadows, light, and even the air. It is a power that allows you to fight against magic users more effectively.

"Also, using Maxima against weapons will also increase your attack power. If you use Maxima against an ordinary weapon, you can break it easily.

"But also, it depends on the strength of your Maxima. If your Maxima is weak, it will still be useful, but not as powerful as a stronger Maxima.

"And to use Maxima, you need to embrace an emotion. Heavy emotions. You can use anger, grief, pain, love, hate, and even fear.

"Using a specific emotion to learn Maxima is hard, so we’ll use the easiest method, and that is pain."

Rock said.

’...Pain? But how can I learn Maxima with pain if there is the pain suppression setting that makes me feel no physical pain at all?’

Fang Raon wondered with a frown.

"And then there is Read. It’ll allow you to anticipate attacks, sense hostile intent, and react to danger before it happens.

"It will also allow you to ’Read’ people, just by using a few facial clues, and understand their thoughts and emotions.

"Then, there is Reach. I won’t be teaching this to you yet, as I want you to learn Maxima and Read first.

"Reach has different names. Some call it Reach, some call it Extension, some call it Projection, and some call it Manifest.

"You can infuse ’Reach’ into your weapon and make an attack that can reach your opponent even if he is standing a hundred meters away."

Rock said.

’What the hell? How is that possible?’

Fang Raon thought in a shock.

"Then there is Skydance, and it is basically this..."

Rock started kicking the ground under him, and he suddenly leaped into the air, but he still kept kicking the air.

Pow~ pop~ pow~ pop~!

The air under his sandals exploded with each kick, and it helped him to keep afloat in the air longer.

It was like he was walking on air!

"Whoah!"

Fang Raon exclaimed.

Then, Rock started kicking the air faster, and he started climbing higher and higher into the air, like he was walking on invisible stairs!

He reached so high that Fang Raon could barely see his silhouette, and then he started falling back to the ground.

But before smashing into the ground, he kicked the air again, slowing down his fall, and gracefully landed back in front of him.

"That’s basically it."

Rock said.

’Why does he say that so casually? That is so amazing!’

Fang Raon thought with excitement.

He definitely wanted to learn that no matter what, as he also wanted to run through the air like a superhuman!

"And last, but not least, Godspeed."

Rock said, and he suddenly disappeared from his view, and Fang Raon kept blinking his eyes in a shock.

At one moment, he was right in front of him, but when he blinked, he was already gone.

He turned around, and to his shock, Rock was standing on the other side of the lake that was three hundred meters away!

He blinked again.

When he opened his eyes again, Rock was already in front of him with his arms crossed.

"What the hell..."

"Godspeed lets you travel at insane speeds."

Rock said and saw Fang Raon’s excited look, and he just smirked with, "I know that look," and then he asked:

"Are you ready to learn?"

"Yes!"

Fang Raon said excitedly.

"Alright then... Let’s disable that pain suppression setting of yours."

Rock said with a cold smile.

"..."

Fang Raon’s smile froze, and he was like, "Huh?" as he thought that he misheard him for a second.

"There is a setting that allows you to experience pain again in here. It, of course, isn’t an actual setting in the game, because what if somebody accidentally disables it? It would be lawsuit central.

"However, there is a hidden setting that allows you to experience pain again in here."

Rock said with a smile.

"T-That is absolutely insane."

Fang Raon whispered, eyes wide with disbelief.

"If you want to learn Maxima, this is the way. It is simply way too hard for me to teach you using any other emotions. I can make you feel anger, but that anger would need to be pure and extremely heavy.

"Like the emotion you felt towards Raikou."

Rock said.

’Yeah... I don’t think I’ve ever felt that much anger before in my life, so learning that way won’t work, but pain? Oh shit...’