168: Chapter 98 “Magic Power Training 168: Chapter 98 “Magic Power Training Time flew by swiftly, as the sun set in the West, and the sky darkened.
The clangor of steel, like blacksmithing, had resounded throughout the entire day, but even that appalling noise gradually dwindled in the yard.
The heavy sensation of donning armor became clearer and clearer.
Increasingly slow and dull sword movements were deflected, and Leon lost count of how many times he was directly struck by Olivia’s swift thrusts.
The blunt sword’s impact caused him to lose his balance.
Exhausted and with no strength left to resist, Leon collapsed onto the ground, face up, with a resounding crash, no longer able to lift the blunt sword in his hand.
Seeing stars, he peered through the narrow gap in the faceplate at the fiery red clouds on the horizon.
The buzzing in his ears rang out, and he didn’t even have the strength to lift his faceplate.
Under the helmet, his face was covered in sweat beads as large as beans, as though he had just emerged from a steaming basket, his breaths came out like “steam,” forcing out the excess heat from his body through the gaps in his faceplate.
Draining his magic element repeatedly, exhausting then recovering, exhausting then recovering…
exhausting then recovering…
Apart from a brief rest at noon, he had gone all out from morning to night, squeezing out his potential in such a way that every joint in Leon’s body moaned in pain.
If one were to describe the agony of the moment, it felt like several months of intense training were compressed into less than ten hours.
The fast-track method modified by Miss Lola using Boiling Heart…
that was no training, it was sheer torture.
He experienced firsthand that this so-called method of exercising magic element awareness fundamentally differed from normal physical and martial arts exercises.
Boiling Heart seemed to burn not only a person’s physical strength and energy, but in the cycle of abnormal and continuous overdraft, every end of the cycle was surrounded by waves of dizziness and vertigo.
Leon felt so weak; it was as if even his soul was drained dry.
His body and spirit underwent dual suffering.
The first cycle was barely tolerable.
Even under the enhancement of Boiling Heart, there was a painful pleasure in sensing one’s own potential breakthrough.
However, that brief sense of achievement and satisfaction from enduring and exceeding one’s limits vanished after the second cycle ended with Kovis replenishing his magic element.
His physical strength cycled between weakness and vitality, but the burden and pressure that reached his soul were constantly increasing exponentially.
Now, at the end of the third cycle…
Leon’s muddled brain even began to doubt whether he had nearly reached the edge of sudden death.
Forget about feeling the so-called magic element inside him; apart from the pain of overload throughout his body, he was losing all sensation.
His brain seemed almost to stop thinking.
Suddenly, in his blurred vision through the narrow faceplate, the dusky heavens were replaced by Olivia and Kovis’s alarmed faces.
The girl dropped her blunt sword, frantically disassembling Leon’s helmet with awkward hands and feet, calling loudly for Lena to bring a towel.
The young attendant swiftly removed his Lord’s hand armor and hurriedly transferred the little magic power he had left into him.
Feeling a trickle of strength flowing through his veins, Leon nonetheless furrowed his brows at the returning sensation in his body.
Apart from the strains and bruises caused by overexercise, there were no serious injuries, and these physical wear and tear were also being slowly healed by Kovis’s careful and diligent healing.
The pain still existed…
An excruciating pain.
Yet it was indescribable where the pain was.
Leon only felt as if there were imaginary strings inside his head being brutally pulled and yanked, each pull causing his whole body to ache severely.
As Olivia carefully wiped the sweat from his face, Leon looked up to see the girl’s lips move.
Only when his hearing gradually returned did he realize she was calling his name.
Are you hurt anywhere?” Olivia called out with concern.
With just a part of his lip, Leon couldn’t help but clench his teeth: “…
After a moment, he said with a hoarse and struggling voice, “…
a little tired, and it hurts a bit…”
Saying that, he looked at the golden-haired girl standing before him, her face was also covered with sweat and flush with fatigue, and Leon gave a wry smile.
Having used the Boiling Heart three times, he was tortured to near exhaustion by this cycle of magic element, and the whole day of fierce fighting had only managed to wear Olivia down to showing signs of fatigue.
With the aid of Boiling Heart, he still had no victories over the girl…
It proved that his previous concerns about accidentally injuring Olivia were indeed overthinking.
Even with his enhanced strength after “cheating,” he still couldn’t reach Olivia’s level of ability.
This was expected, after all, Baron Dawson, skilled in martial arts, had only just managed to compete with Olivia under the influence of the Advanced Military Magic Equipment from the Athias Empire.
His own foundation was at most that of an ordinary combat attendant’s martial arts.
Even with the stimulation of Boiling Heart on his magic element, he probably only momentarily reached the level of the Knights of Valor he had encountered so far.
And right now, such knight with similar combat prowess was being held captive in a village cellar, waiting for ransom.
He heard that the Knight Kantadar named Mamor didn’t last more than ten moves against a murderous Olivia.
It seemed, unless he was surrounded by many knights or a large group of Armored Soldiers to compress the girl’s mobility, his own gap in strength was too significant; even if he fought until the end of time, he wouldn’t be able to defeat this little lioness.
Seeing that her friend was still as lucid as before, the girl finally let go of her worrying heart.
But seeing his pained, twitching expression, she frowned, feeling reproach and a hint of annoyance in her tone: “…
Martial arts can’t be mastered overnight, you keeping silent and enduring , it’s too hard on you!
Didn’t you say that with Kovis here, you wouldn’t get hurt?”