A battle with pain, a test of endurance. Simon stood in an empty training room with levitating blades slowly orbiting around his body. It would be a sight to behold if seen by any normal person, but to Simon, it had already become as easy as writing. Controlling the levitation relies purely on one's capacity to focus, which Simon had otherworldly capabilities in. And sometimes he felt that using Absolute Focus was irritating due to the fact that it forced him to breath consciously.
Nevertheless, Simon was standing in the middle of the training room, with 5 different floating blades pointing at him. Truth be told, Simon was visibly sweating at this point.
'I should try a shallow cut on my legs first.' Simon thought.
CLANG
The first blade was blocked by another one of his blades as he hesitated.
'How about 'no'. I am definitely not going to cut myself like this...'
SLAP
"AAAHH!" Simon reflexively slapped himself, triggering his resolve. 'Nope, I gotta do this. Sacrifices are needed.'
Simon waved at a blade and directed it towards his left leg. With not so much as a moment of hesitation, Simon inflicted a HUGE cut on his leg.
SWISH
"FAAAAAA!" Simon felt to the floor and howled at the roof, crying as his leg leaked like a pressurised pipe.
But something felt wrong, there wasn't any pain after a minute of kicking and screaming. Even the blood on the floor was gone, as if it had simply disappeared. Looking to his left leg, Simon saw not even a scar, it was as if he hadn't even cut himself.
"This is funny, I thought my leg was going to fall off!" Simon laughed.
[Boundless Regeneration Physique level 2]
[Regeneration quotient: 20]
[Capabilities: regenerate heavy wounds, reclaim lost biomass, reconnect lost limb (excluding head)]
"Wait, this wasn't there when I practiced my abilities? I don't remember writing that physiques can level up." Simon was confused yet satisfied, but at the same time, horrified.
"The...on-only...way to-lev-el up is self deprecation? Am I going to become a masochist?"
"Tch!"
"RIGHT LEG!"
SLASH
A hulking axe swooped at Simon's right leg, completely cutting it off.
"SCHEISSE!!"
Simon fell to the floor again, with half of his right leg beside him.
"Reconnect...RECONNECT!"
Simon slammed the disconnected half of his leg back onto the other half, waiting in agony for his regeneration to come into effect.
[Boundless Regeneration Physique level 3]
[Regeneration quotient: 35]
[Capabilities: regenerate heavy wounds, reclaim lost biomass, reconnect lost limb (excluding head), pain nullification 50%]
"Oh my... THIS IS EVIL! no it's not. This might be very good..." Simon chuckled with a devious grin.
'Pain nullification...'
'O such an amazing thing... I won't even feel a pinch of pain if I break my toe... I need to work a bit harder. Commitment is key!'
5 hours later:
[Boundless Regeneration Physique level 15]
[Regeneration quotient: 445]
[Capabilities: regenerate fatal wounds, reclaim lost biomass, reconnect lost limb, pain nullification 100%, disease & poison immunity]
I had finally gotten to the point where Simon could be shot in the head by an armor piercing armament and survived without feeling a twitch. Even having his jaw ripped off couldn't make him sweat, sometimes getting limbs cut off would make him feel a sense of unordinary pleasure. But whatever the case, Simon was assured that he had become a much more solid existence in this novel world of his.
CHOP
An axe passed straight through Simon's left arm, but only did just that: pass through. His arm simply reattached itself as the axe moved through it, with basically no physical lag in response.
'Such a thing is unheard of, even in my novel. I better keep this under wraps for now.'
5 hours was enough for him to lose any fear of pain. Simon had already done any physical torture that he could possibly come up with, fear was but a memory right now. Of course Simon still feared dying, but these 5 hours gave him some reassurance that his death won't come anytime soon.
'Tsk. I should probably start preparing my own textbook so my students can study in their dorms. I know for a fact that a lot of students can't memorise half of the stuff I say in my lectures anyways. Compiling a book of my knowledge should help them study correctly in their free time. AAARGHH!!! Why am I even thinking about teaching right now?'
'I am not even a teacher. At most, I am a shitty writer that only got views because of the harem plot. So why do I feel so invested now?'
Simon laid his back firmly on the wall as he slid down into a comfortable sitting position. He looked up to his floating blades with a gentle but reminiscent smile on his face.
'Maybe I do want them to succeed. At the very least they won't turn out like I did, lying alone on their deathbeds, writing up some subpar novels. If they can just learn that work ethic unlike me, maybe they can actually grow.'
'Anyhow, I have work to do, expectations to be met, students to teach. Come forth 'White Phoenix Codex'.' A gentle light encapsulated his right hand as he reached into empty space. Wishing an instance, a white book had appeared in his grasp.
'The shop was able to compile my insights and knowledge perfectly. I just hope that I can actually get some damn rest now. I kinda have a big day tomorrow.'