After achieving a breakthrough, the first thing the group had decided to do was to visit the bathhouse. Their clothes completely stank, as did the rest of their bodies. This was quite normal, as with each breakthrough, the body would get rid of greater amounts of impurities.
After the smell had been dealt with, all three of them wasted no time using the tools in the large courtyard to begin their training. They eyed up the straw dolls, the wooden weapons, and the countless pillars that would also record one's strength.
The pillars were always a good way for them to test just how much they had improved. All of them were beaming with energy, ready to test their new bodies.
"I can now stab twice as fast!" Liam said as he thrust his sword toward the chicken area of the straw doll. When in anger, he often aimed for this spot, but lately, he had become so angry it had become somewhat instinct for him.
Still, he was amazed. It wasn't just an increase in Qi, but his body was better than ever, as he didn't tire after attacking the same spot over and over.
It was the same for the other two, but there was something else Simyon was somewhat aware of but not quite. When he had punched the pillar, he had done so using next to no strength, no Qi, nothing. The number 25 had come up in the past. When he did the same thing again, the number that came up this time was 35.
'Wait, even if I add no Qi, why is the difference so high?' Simyon started to think. He knew one's body got stronger after a breakthrough, but with no Qi to increase by this much, was that right?
In order to test this out, he had used Safa's score as an example, but she had only risen by a few points, not by ten.
"Can't you tell?" Dame said, coming over, and raising his hand, he swung it, hitting Simyon right on the back.
"Ow… ow… ow." Simyon had flinched, hunching his back, but soon stopped as he realized something. "Wait, it doesn't hurt, it was light, did you hit me like you used to before."
"You still can't tell now? Along with you increasing to the second stage, it looks like your body has also been refined into something else. All the training you had done before has paid off," Dame explained.
Dame was right on the mark; the effect of the earring had increased, and now Simyon no longer just had a common metal body, but he had an uncommon metal body. This confirmed one thing, that there were ways to increase the strength of his body.
'So was Dame right, that if I use weapon refining skills and books, I can continue to increase my body strength?'
This was somewhat disheartening for Simyon; he had always imagined himself fighting against beasts and monsters, not just standing there and taking the hits from them.
As the three were getting used to their new bodies, one of the Blue headband teachers, Tod, had walked in. He looked at everyone in the courtyard before asking his question.
"Where is Raze?" Tod asked.
"He is..." Simyon looked at Safa. "He is a bit busy at the moment… we don't know where he is."
"Alright, I have done my duty either way," Tod sighed, shaking his head. "Gunther has called for you all to meet him at the main base."
Not even waiting for a response, Tod had just left, leaving the others alone.
"Man, that guy really has a stick up his arse ever since Raze showed him, huh," Liam replied. "You would think that he would have treated us better. I guess some people never change."
The group entered the main building and were in one of the many offices that were placed around. When inside, the other teachers and members would constantly whisper as they saw them. It reminded them that they had become quite the name, and little did the teachers know that they would have even more in surprise for them as they had all advanced to the next stage.
Entering the office, all four of them stood straight as they looked at a fully healed Gunther. However, he wasn't wearing his armor like he would before, and instead was wearing robes like most Pagna warriors. Still attached to his back was a leather strap that held his two swords, one of which he had reverted back into a sword after letting Safa borrow it for a while.
"Wait a second, where's Raze, did he not come back yet?" Gunther asked.
"He did, but didn't he tell you, he's in the middle of training, in the forest grounds," Simyon replied.
The forest grounds was an area located at the back of the academy. It was an area where beasts had been taken from one of the portal outbreaks, a very low-level 1 beast, the hop bunny. Here the beasts would reproduce, and it wouldn't just be a farm for them to have an area with power stones; it was also an area that was used for assessments. Currently, Raze was using it as his own little playground.
In the middle of the forest, Raze's face was beaten, bruised, and blood was pouring out of his mouth. He looked at the palm of his hand where he had a red Qi pill.
"I don't have many of these left," Raze said as he gulped it down in one go. "You are much harder than any of the disciples."
Right in front of Raze was none other than the special item he had created, the mythical statue. In the forest, Raze was taking it on, fighting against it, and he was doing so just using his powers of a Pagna warrior, rather than using his magic as well.
He had attempted the descending steps, as well as using his blade swordsmanship, but it was useless, and the statue had a counter to almost everything.
"I can feel it, as long as I'm able to beat you, I will reach the next stage!" Raze said as he charged in again with his wooden sword.
With Raze not being there, Gunther was wondering just how much impact his words would have, so he decided to keep it short and sweet.
"What has occurred between all of us, as I said before, will be our little secret," Gunther claimed with a smile. "As long as this happens, then none of us will get in trouble. We can continue our time at the academy as we all have been doing. So that is all I have to say, and this will be the last that we speak on the matter."
Gunther flung his hand as if to shoo them away. It was clear that the actual person he wanted to speak to wasn't with them. As they turned around, Gunther did want to call out to one person.
"Liam, do you mind staying here? I want to have a word with you," Gunther asked.
Liam was confused why just him, and the others didn't seem to care as they had already left the room. Not just that, but they had continued walking away, down the hallway, not waiting for him at all, and headed back to the blue headband living quarters.
That was when Dame had turned around to the two of them before heading inside.
"Actually, now that it's just the two of you, I have something important to ask you," Dame stated. "How would you feel if you were to come with me and Raze, to where I'm from?"
It was a sudden question to ask, and one Simyon hadn't really thought about, but it did beg the question.
"Wait, where are you from?" Simyon asked.