It had been a week since David showed up.

  Which also meant a week since my training began.

  If you could even call it that. Personally, I called it "torture with extra steps."

  Seriously, at this rate, my "cause of death" will be: Overexertion by Giant Idiot.

  Let me rest, dude!

  At least, Isaac took pity on me sometimes. In between David's drills, he'd sneak in little lessons about the world, which to me, meant more precious minutes of sitting down.

  And I have learned a lot. Stuff ArchonWorlds didn't bother telling me, like how there are way more countries than I thought, like kingdoms, empires and principalities. Furthermore, there were also some monsters called "Unique": special monsters with absurd abilities that even very strong guys avoid. And last but not least, the ridiculous fact that magic fibers were insanely hard for normal people to get.

  Apparently, they have to dig it directly out of a monster's corpse, and even then, it's just consolidated energy, not pure fibers. The ratio? 100 to 1. Yes, absolutely worth it.

  But of course, there are exceptions. The so-called "Awakened" can somehow absorb magic fibers straight from the monster the moment they kill it. Similar to me, even though I am a chimera and not an awakened according to the system. (An awakened was labeled as 'superior human')

  But David was one of them, so naturally I asked him to share some with me. His answer?

  > "It is inefficient and lacks nobility! True strength comes from struggle alone!"

  ...And then some other heroic-sounding garbage.

  Look, pal, if you can bend steel with your pinky, share the love.

  Speaking of bending steel… yeah, I've seen him do it. One casual punch and the airship's metal frame looked like someone had stomped on a soda can. If I had to guess, his strength stat was well over 100.

  Anyway, today's supposed to be more exciting because we're "training outside". Since day one, my "training" has just been combat drills with David to improve my reflexes and learn basic fighting stances for martial arts, so I'm curious what would be next.

  *

  Once we stepped out, my excitement died instantly.

  We're in... a cave.

  I’ve forgotten about that. Isaac already told me the ship's hidden inside a mountain, but I was still hoping for fresh air, maybe some trees.

  Instead, the air smelled faintly of wet stone, oil, and metal. My excitement died instantly.

  The cave ceiling arched high above, studded with pale crystals that pulsed with faint light. Moisture clung to the air, the walls slick and dark. The ground was uneven, a mix of gravel and patches of moss. The airship loomed in the middle, a hulking shadow against the stone, its hull streaked with faint scratches from gods-know-what.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I sighed, loudly.

  "Hey David... when you said 'outside,' you didn't mean literally just outside the airship, right?"

  He looks at me like I just asked if the sky was blue. "Of course. Best to remain hidden for now. We're close to a Federation base, and the old man who runs it is a real piece of work. I don't want to fight him unless I have to."

  That makes me blink. "Is he stronger than you?"

  David's voice is full of smug certainty. "Obviously not. But he's got an army of super-soldiers, and I'd rather not test my luck."

  Before I could ask more, his tone snapped like a whip. "Enough talk. Warm-up: ten laps around the ship."

  I froze. Mouth half-open. "You mean the ship that's bigger than a village?"

  "Yes. Now get going. Or I'll drag you with a rope."

  He's worse than Isaac. I thought darkly, but I started running anyway.

  *

  By the time I staggered back, I was already. David looked me up and down.

  "Hm. You're pretty weak. Now get up, we'll start stretching."

  I dragged my feet as slowly as possible, ignoring his frown. The stretches were basic — easy enough — but my relief remained short-lived.

  David returned carrying what could only be described as portable torture devices: boulders (well, not so big, but you know) tied together with a thick rope.

  "You'll do squats, push-ups, and sprints with these. Fifty squats, a hundred push-ups, five hundred meters. Ten sets." He released them with a thud. "No slacking."

  My jaw dropped. 'You absolute demon!'

  He grinned, as if he knew that he’d be enjoying a good show. "You'll do this every day. Finish faster, rest longer. Isn't that what you wanted?"

  I glared at him, 'I hope you trip over your own ego...'

  *

  I lost count of the rounds somewhere between my legs turning to jelly and my lungs deciding they hated me.

  At some point, David had leaned against a rock, watching me with mild amusement as I stumbled through a sprint.

  ….

  "She's still moving," he muttered to himself, "Guess I'll have to make it harder tomorrow."

  The last thing I remember was my vision blurring as I tripped over the rope tying the stones together... (that was actually impossible, I probably just fell down from my own exhaustion) then the ground rushing up to meet me.

  *

  When I woke up, I was in our makeshift "bed": basically a couple of chairs shoved together with a blanket Isaac had probably thrown over me as an afterthought. My head throbbed, my muscles ached, and every breath felt like I was inhaling shards of glass.

  My whole body protested when I simply tried to move. Even my eyelashes felt tired.

  Then, the familiar ping of a system notification rang in my head.

  A blue prompt flickered into existence before my eyes:

  [3 unread notifications]

  I focused on it, curious about what it was.

  [+1 Strength]

  [+2 Vitality]

  [+1 Dexterity]

  I stared at it, blinking.

  "...Huh."

  So... training could raise stats? Without leveling up?

  That... actually changed a lot.

  I sat up slowly, grinning despite the pain. "Guess the big idiot's torture has its uses after all..."

  ***

  The Next Day

  I had decided to give it my fullest.

  I threw myself into training again. I had to test my theory.

  It hurt. It hurt more than yesterday the cramps having not forgotten about me. But I kept going, even when my arms shook and my vision dimmed.

  David gave a small nod at the end. "I'm glad you didn't quit. Even though I wouldn't have let you."

  By the time he dismissed me, my legs were on fire — but the ping came again.

  [+1 Vitality]

  Small gain. But proof all the same.

  I grinned through the ache.

  'It looks like getting stronger was easier than I had thought.'

  ___ ___ ___