Kotaro was surprised and then realized that he, too, was under his opponent's fist.
"Get ready." Cesar clenched his hands, squeezing Kotaro's bound hand and leg, lifted him to the sky, and after a moment began to pull him hard vertically to make him fall to the ground.
Kotaro saw what his fate would be and began to move to liberate himself: "Didn't you say you wouldn't attack?"
"I said I won't move from my place and nothing else." Cesar smiled deceptively, the next moment dropping Kotaro on the ground causing him to spit blood out of his mouth from the force of the collision.
"Shit, I lost today too..." Kotaro said his last sentence before passing out.
Two months had passed since the beginning of the second stage, the three of them were fighting Cesar every day while he was guiding them and teaching them some skills to improve their abilities.
"Hmph, we can never defeat this old man." Ryota was resting after the fight.
"Yeah, I'm tired of losing every day." Next to Ryota, Akina was drinking water from exhaustion.
In front of them, Kotaro stood with a smile: "Be patient, guys, there is only a little left and we will be able to defeat Uncle Cesar."
Encouraged by Kotaro and seeing his resolve, Akina and Ryota got up behind him and charged once more towards Cesar.
A month later, the second phase of training ended.
Cesar was happy and grateful: "At first I wasn't sure, but after watching your progress over the past half year, I'm confident that the three of you will outdo me in the future."
"Yes, these months were like hell," Ryota sighed.
"Haha, but thanks to this we are stronger." Kotaro laughed.
"Uncle, will you this time teach us how to use magic?" Akina guessed.
"Yes, but it will be in a week, so now you need some rest."
The next morning everyone woke up as usual.
"What are we going to do today?" Akina was combing her hair.
"I don't know, we always used to spend time in training and I didn't think how we would spend our free time," Kotaro asked as well.
"Yes, this place is devoid of anything fun," Ryota murmured, then suggested, "Right, How about we take a bath in front of the river?, training made us sweat all over."
"Okay, great suggestion," Akina agreed.
"Let's go." Kotaro walked toward the river.
"That was really refreshing, what about the two of you?" Akina finished showering, put on her clothes, which was a pink shirt tied with a short green skirt that accentuated her soft legs, and then went to meet Kotaro and Ryota.
"Oh, am I not seeing well or are you getting more beautiful Akina?" Kotaro smiled in admiration.
"What are you saying, Kotaro, it's the same Akina we know," Ryota sneered.
"Shut up." Akina was annoyed while feeling ashamed at Kotaro's words: "Thank you, Kotaro."
The first day of the holiday passed, and the rest of the days followed, until the rest week passed.
"Wake up!" Cesar screamed, a cry that woke everyone up from their sleep.
"What is there?"
"It's just Uncle Cesar and his usual yelling."
"Come on, Akina and Ryota, the week of rest is over." Kotaro had woken up an hour earlier, excited.
"Have some food and then come over," Cesar sighed.
After a quarter of an hour everyone gathered before Cesar.
"Since you have recovered well, we will resume training again and this will be the last stage," Cesar spoke.
"This may be the training that the three of you have been waiting for, but it is the most difficult from the two previous stages and you will know it when you try it." Cesar explained: "Anyway, as I said before, mana is an important element for the life of every being, but unlike the external environment, the human body contains a small amount of The mana that isn't enough to generate magic."
"What you will train on is to try to absorb the mana around you and make it settle in your body so that you will be able to use magic."
"Let each one sit in a specific place ten meters away from the other, close your eyes and take a suitable position, start meditation and try to feel the energy of nature around you in order to attract the mana inside you."
Everyone sat cross-legged and began to meditate, as Cesar asked.
Cesar greeted everyone while he kept watching: "Not like that, Ryota, don't tighten your muscles but leave your body naturally."
"Don't think about anything. Make your mind like water and your body like air. Connect your soul to the ocean and suck mana from nature. Imagine yourself as a whirlpool sucking up all the sea water."
"You're doing well, stay like that for a while."
The three continued to meditate for an hour before Akina and Ryota both got tired: "Oh, we're tired."
"It's okay, take a break and try again." Cesar encouraged with a smile, then looked at Kotaro: "Kotaro, take a break...".
"what!! how.."
"Did he succeed on his first try?!" Cesar was surprised.
The truth was that Kotaro had actually succeeded in absorbing the mana, his body was surrounded by an aura of gray mist as the herbs that were beside him vibrated due to the pressure of the mana scattered around him.
"Didn't you say, Uncle, that this stage is the hardest?" Akina was jealous.
"Yeah, even I can't believe what I see." Cesar didn't know what was going on so as far as he knew, he hadn't heard of anyone who could absorb mana from the first time.
Kotaro did not lose control and continued absorbing mana, seconds later and suddenly, he fell unconscious.
Akina and Ryota saw this and ran to his side, but Cesar reassured them, "Don't worry, it's a normal thing for someone who succeeds in absorbing mana for the first time."
"Well, you know these things best," Akina receded.
Minutes later, Kotaro woke up and found himself on Akina's thighs: "What's going on here?"
"You lost consciousness while absorbing mana," Akina explained.
Kotaro felt ashamed as he stared at where he was lying: "That's it then."
"Anyway, did you succeed and Ryota too?" Kotaro asked.
"No, not yet," Akina was frustrated.
"It's okay, I'm sure you two will succeed soon," Kotaro said, trying to cheer Akina.