"Huff… Huff…"
After one hundred push-ups, the training didn't stop there. Krista has a lot of work planning for him to drain his energy to the last drop.
Running around the village for 30 laps, then squats, then back to push up, then running, then squat, and rinse and repeat until Seth collapses on his feet.
"3 Hours, impressive!"
Krista walked up to him with a glass of cold water and gave it to Seth.
"For someone without a trace of mana control like you, keeping the training for 3 hours is unheard of; you must work very hard, don't you?"
She seems kinder after the physical exercise ends like the evil instructor is just acting to push him forward.
"Yes, but it has been a long time since I did it raw like this. I only do weight training and some cardio for the past few years with a sprinkle of push-ups and squats, not until I am half dead."
Still lying on the ground, Seth flips himself upward and accidentally peeks under her skirt.
"Ack!"
Krista steps on him with a smiley face.
"Naughty kid!"
"It was an accident! And you, the one who is standing there!"
Seth defended his innocence by returning the favor by biting her ankle.
"Ouch! Are you crazy?!"
She jumped and looked at him in disgust!
"No. I just have fun once in a while."
Seth left out a big laugh right after, making Krista very confused.
The last time he let himself loose like this was many years ago! So now, after feeling so free and tired, his brain goes on the none filter mode.
That is why he bit her ankle, an act of revenge for stepping on him without consent!
"Life Must be hard for you too. "
But Krista can feel the sadness hidden in his voice. She can sense the pent-up struggle underneath his action.
"Yeah…"
Seth stops smiling before answering back.
Being an excellent functional member of society takes a lot of effort, both physically and mentally; he has to be calm and composed all the time, so he doesn't have much chance to have fun and let loose like this or else his social image and status will be ruined.
"Krista, you are very scary when you put up an act."
Seth complimented her acting; it feels natural in the beginning, but after time passes, she starts to lose it and revert to her true nature.
"What acting?"
She tries to hide her face.
"Oh, you can't fool me, I know that military trainers have to make a face so they can break private down and build them back up, I just miss the old time, so I let you do it to me, and you look delighted doing it too!"
Seth pointed out how she always smiled while torturing him. From his point of view, she misses her service day.
"Then why don't you say so! Doing that makes my face hurt, you know?"
"Haha! Oh, in that case, I have to say sorry, but back to the point, why is all this necessary for the spear skill you promise?"
Seth gets to the real question. He was the type of man who listened first and followed queries later, so he kept quiet all this time because he trusted her that she must have her reason.
Following someone with experience and knowledge without interrupting them will make you learn faster.
He had learned this during his years in office, where 99% of his school knowledge didn't help, and he had to learn new ones on the fly.
"Because you never used mana before. How do I know? I already told you, there is no mana control flowing in and out of your body."
"Mana control?"
"Yes, you should have felt it by now, is the air "smell" different?"
She pointed at his nose while smiling.
After getting the hint, Seth concentrated on his breathing, and the fresh feeling he got when he was transported here was now clear as day. There was something new in the air that he had never smelled before he woke up in the forest!
"That is mana, the essence of this world. Normally people have a lot of them in their body, so the flow isn't noticeable, but when you dry them out like this, you will grasp the existence of mana, and it is the first lesson, don't let the feeling go, hold on to it and follow it."
Krista spoke to him calmly after knowing it was useless to keep on the act.
Also, she trusts him now for a bit. After knowing he was the police, she may dislike them, but they have credibility, and if Seth can still keep up the act after exhausting himself, she gives up.
But Seth didn't think much about it. Now, he closed his eyes and focused on this newfound feeling.
The mana flows into his lung-like air, but after that, they faintly flow into every corner of his body.
Seth tries to cling to the mana more, breathing it in more than his body automatically does, and the result is breathtaking!
"!!"
Seth stood up slowly from the ground, it may look sloppy, but after running almost 100 laps and half a thousand squats, it was near impossible for him to do this in his old body.
"Look like you figured out the mana control, smart."
Krista clapped her hand in approval, it took days of repeated exhaustion to have a new soldier starting to get a concept of mana, but it took Seth's first try to achieve the basics of magic combatant, mana control.
"Then let's move on to the next, magic skill!"
Krista grabbed her spear and put on her battle stance. Her hands had a firm grip on the middle and bottom section of the spear. She pointed her spear forward, and this time she pointed to the air, not Seth.
"Follow my move."
"Yes!"
Seth responded and grabbed his spear before standing in the same pose as Krista, but his spear is relatively short, so it looks a bit shabby but manageable.
He still holds on to the feeling of mana and tries his hardest not to let it go.
'Finally, My first magic skill!'
His heart is pounding from anticipation!
This is it! His dream finally came true! He finally gets to learn magic!
"You still hold on to your mana, right?"
"YES!"
Seth shouted enthusiastically, but to be honest, any anime enjoyer wouldn't be in his position?
He got to learn a magical skill!
"Good, then try to shift it from your body to your palm."
Seth tries to follow Krista's command, but it is challenging. This "mana control" is like breathing, but with an extra step.
When breathing, you can most control how deep and to hold your breath. Now imagine you can push air around your body.
"Good, very good. Now, try to push it out of your palm into the spear tip!"
Krista spoke as her spear glowed red and struck forward!
*boom*
He can hear the slight noise from the air getting burst.
'I'm lucky that thing didn't hit me, or else I would be dead two times the same day.'
Seth left out a cold sweat.
"This is called [Quick Thrust], a 1st level spear skill. It has the same principle as [Quick Slash] from a sword or dagger skill."
She spoke before repeating [Quick Thrust] but in a different direction, and each time she used it, a noise always followed, showing how powerful each hit was.
"If you are proficient with your mana, you can use it as a normal attack, and it also can be used in all directions; all you have to do is direct your mana in the direction you want your spear to go."
*Whoosh*
The spear stops before it hits Seth's face.
Krista moves her spear around and can stop it at any moment like the spear is a part of her body.
"Your first time may not be as powerful as mine, but don't let that discourage you. Skills take time. I spent 25 years in service to get to this level."
After seeing so much potential from Seth, Krista starts to anticipate his next step.
"Yes."
Seth nodded before concentrating on his mana.
'In, palm, strike!'
[Quick Thrust!]
The spear glowed in white light before it flung forward, but so did his body.
"Wah!"
"Watch out, rookie. Using too much mana can make you go out of balance."
Krista caught him in time; Seth almost tripped by the force of his attack.
"Yeah, I can see that."
Seth answered back with a big smile.
He did it! He finally gets to do it!
'[Quick Thrust] My first magical skill!'
His body started to shake in excitement.
He wanted to do it again. He wanted to perfect his skill as fast as possible!
"And with this, my promise is fulfilled. You must be tired, so let's get some rest. I will cook some food for you."
On one note, she was surprised and happy she could repay the debt in one day, but it also meant their promise was over. Tomorrow, they will go their separate way and never meet again.
"Wait!"
Seth shouted to stop Krista, making her turn back with suspension.
"I know our deal is finished, but can you teach me more? You said tonight, you are my teacher, and what I see is the moon only started rising."
He jumped around, still looking full of energy, but strangely only a minute ago, he dropped dead to the ground.
"Ha! Talk big for someone high on mana. But are you sure? The drawback will be very painful, I warn you."
She immediately catches on to what is happening.
It is a rare occasion called "high on mana," and its effect can be found in those who experienced mana for the first time.
The recommended procedure is to stop all exercise and get the person to rest because when someone is high on mana, they will feel they have unlimited energy.
Still, in reality, they do not, so after they stop high on mana, the burden their body accumulates when high will collapse on them and can cause muscle failure or even death in the worst-case scenario.
But it has been a long time since she met someone so eager to train; even her daughter is lazy, so having Seth is the first time she got to work as a teacher in a very long time.
"I'm ready to face the drawback. Let's continue our lesson!"
Seth happily accepted the drawback. In this state, even standing still is painful to him.
He wants to let it all out! All this mana! All this energy!
After hearing his response, Krista cried out a big laugh.
"FINE! But whatever happens next, blame yourself for being too weak!"