Valcroy followed Collum, looking around curiously as they walked past many soldiers and buildings and soon they arrived at their destination. He could sense the tense atmosphere seemed elevated more than before, making him wonder what had happened. But he didn't get the chance to question as they had arrived at their destination.
The [Crucible of Endurance], a place which lets out an air of foreboding challenges and discipline or something along those lines, he was told. And looking at the structure, he had his doubts.
The exterior of the Crucible was an impressive structure, made from dark, weathered stone that seemed almost weathered the storm of time, almost. The building was square and solid but big enough to amaze anyone, with no unnecessary decorations or embellishments—it was constructed with function and durability in mind. The walls were thick, with narrow slits for windows that provided minimal light and airflow, reinforcing the harsh conditions within.
They soon stood before the entrance, where a heavy door made up of iron, reinforced with probably steel bands and etched with the Veritasian language, stood as the sole gateway to the chamber. Above the door, an inscription carved into the stone reads, "Strength through Suffering," so exciting.
Valcroy kept his eyes on it, thinking about who would want that kind of thing, but then remembering the whole Ascendency realm was built on body tempering and other extreme things, he shut his mouth. Collum didn't know what was going through his mind as he walked closer to the gates and pressed on it with his hand. The door, like recognizing him, slowly parted, and soon the inner structure of the chamber was before them.
Inside, the Crucible of Endurance was desolate, but it gave an unyielding feeling. Valcroy walked in while Collum stood to the side. When Valcroy entered, he closed the door behind him. He looked at the closed chamber for a while before shaking his head and walking away. He really didn't understand what was going on in Erik's mind.
Valcroy, meanwhile, was observing the interior of the crucible. The walls were lined with rough, unpolished gray stones that reflected what little light there was in there, creating an atmosphere of seriousness. From inside the windows, that let the light in, looked even smaller, weird. He walked around to familiarize himself with the surroundings.
The architects designed the chamber with various sections, each intended to push the body to its limits in different ways. The floor was made of hard, uneven stone, forcing those who train here to constantly adjust their footing, seemed to be a focus on balance.
In one corner, he found heavy chains hanging on the wall, embedded into a stone-wheel on the other side. A pulley-system without the pulley. Trainees must pull the weight up to build their strength, seems basic.
In another area, he found land filled with sand and gravel for exercises in endurance and resilience. There was one thing constant, maybe more in the sand and gravel, that was the entire floor turning hot or cold depending on the setting one chose from a button on the other side of the chamber.
The air inside was thick and heavy, with a slight metallic scent, likely from the blood, sweat, and tears that had been shed within its confines. The lighting was minimal, with only a few torches placed strategically to provide just enough light to see, and the narrow windows didn't help with that much, not enough to offer comfort. There was a palpable sense of struggle and endurance that remained in the air, trying to scare Valcroy that it'll be hellish in here.
Valcroy had something entirely occupying his mind at the moment. He wondered if he should've undressed before entering or not. He didn't want his new suit to become all sweaty and smelly. After thinking long and hard, he undressed till he was left with only his underwear. Neatly folded and placed them by the door.
"Much better." He said and walked toward the settings that controlled the floor.
'This floor is terrible for my feet.'
He looked down at this uneven floor before turning the temperature to a height that he felt was uncomfortable. After which he walked to the chains and started pulling on them, Veritasian symbols started glowing, and the weight increased by a very good amount, making his arms bulge, his feet tried to dig into the floor, but the floor proved it to be difficult to even hang on without slipping.
But he didn't let go as he used the chain, and like a strap of a bag, strapped it over his shoulders. After he was done with that, he started doing push-ups, making one wonder what was going on in his mind.
'10.'
'11.'
He counted while resisting the extreme pull of the weight that dissuaded him from doing so. After reaching 30, he stopped and unstrapped the chains, which had left a mark on his sweaty body. His breathing was rough. The heat was slowly getting to him.
He took a quick break before doing another set and again; he kept doing that till he couldn't anymore.
Just as he was feeling completely spent, and thinking he would need a long break, something magical happened.
Hummm*
A warm feeling spread through his body, like a warm current of wind breezing past him, caressing his face gently. It penetrated every corner of his body. Valcroy sat up, cross-legged and looked down, in surprise, at his hand that felt a little stronger than before. It wasn't just his hands, his entire body was invigorated.
Valcroy wanted to see what was going on inside, but couldn't. He just closed his eyes and tried to feel the change. After some time, he opened his eyes once more when he felt his body more firm than before and started training once more. Strike while the iron is hot. He removed the chain from the set-up and strapped it around his waist. He looked at the other end of the room, the distance from one end to another was like three football fields.
He took one long breath before taking a step forward, soon walking turned into jog and jog into running. He increased the temperature a little as well to increase the difficulty. It was not just that; the resonance, like commending his effort, nourished him from time to time when he felt like he couldn't anymore, like it was only right to reward him. And like that, what Collum felt like a hell would be for Valcroy, instead became a pretty fun place for him.
....
Erik was doing a training of his own, eyes closed, he was tearing apart the giant mana stream into smaller parts, and tried controlling that smaller stream of mana and converting it into a solid shape.
He used his own hand as a model and tried to add lines to it, which was extremely hard considering how volatile mana was. First, he needs to convert mana into liquid form and with the amount he had; it was enough to condense two drops of mana if he could do it in the first place. He soon let go of this method. It was extremely taxing, and he felt he was missing something with this.
He racked his mind hard, trying to come up with a method to help in mana controlling, and soon he found one as he looked at the smaller tendrils.
'Can I?' He copied the tendrils, but instead of forming a connection with the red thread, he sent the mana through his bloodstream. The mana didn't enter the bloodstream, but just covered the blood vessels.
Erik split the mana into the smaller part and send them to different vessels before they split up once more and kept on repeating. It was extremely difficult, and he failed times and times again.
But with each failure, just as his mana coated more and more veins, and he was feeling hopeful...
Splat*
Mana entered his bloodstream and made a mess of him. Erik stopped as he hurriedly cut off the connection to mana and spurted out blood. He cleaned his mouth as he looked at the blood. He didn't have the time to feel the pain as a red glow flashed in his eyes and he felt a warm energy pass through him.
Hummm*
Like a resonance, his whole body felt warm, healing whatever damage he suffered. He looked at this with a raised eyebrow before closing his eyes and focusing. He wanted to find out where this warm energy came from, but was stopped in his tracks when he saw the black mist. The red threads were shining with a more reddish hue, which he thought might be the reason for this.
He observed it for a while before turning his attention to the effect the warm energy had left after it passed through his body. His muscles became a little more firm. He felt like his strength increased a bit. Other than that, another surprising thing happened.
'How is this possible?'
He could feel his mana intake increase, if before he could absorb and contain 1 unit of mana energy inside his body, now he could store 1.1 unit, a ten percent increase was really a game changer. There was a limit to what a person can store mana in his body, but the warm energy from before appeared to be a rule breaker.
Erik experimented more and just as he thought it was a onetime experience, the warm energy returned and rejuvenated him once again.
He didn't know what was going on, but he wouldn't let go of such a good thing. The first thing he did was temper his nerves and other vessels with mana. He needed those to help him with mana control. He kept doing that until the warm energy stopped rejuvenating him.
'It is a limited resource.'
He concluded, unsure what was causing that energy to form though.
.....
While Erik and Valcroy were training, the entire city was going through a wave of chaos. Before they were put under surveillance, they succeeded in riling the masses against Erik and Kendrick, inciting them they were being kept here against their will and a secret tunnel was just there for the high-nobles to run off when the storm hits the city.
Almost 80% of the population didn't believe one word of the nobles as they knew what kind of people these pathetic beings were, but there were still the remaining 20% who felt rage and wanted to confront the person in charge.
The nobles goaded when they saw the rally of people and wanted to see how the young master and the general would handle this situation, but didn't have enough time to enjoy the view as they needed to hide their treasure from being confiscated from Erik first.
They did a fine job and succeeded in hiding about 80 percent of their wealth. Courtesy of a noble who owned a dimensional ring that could store a large amount of items, but its outer appearance was that of an ordinary ring.
He suggested they should put their riches into this ring and then, when they were out of danger, he would return it to them. Many nobles were skeptical, but had no choice. The other choice was burying their treasure and return to retrieve them when the army was done with Iron'Heits. Which increases the risk of them losing their treasures.
They stored the treasures in the storage ring and also kept a close eye on the noble as well. They gave the useless treasure to Mallory, who became furious upon seeing those. She knew they were hiding them, but not being able to find any evidence and her restriction made her grit her teeth.
The nobles were finally prepared and were ready to leave this ticking time bomb. The only thing between them and the freedom was this night. Which passed peacefully, serene and quiet, almost too quiet.
The mayor was looking out from his house's window, the uncomfortable feeling from before wasn't going away. He could tell that something was about to happen. He just didn't know what it was, but when he remembered Erik's cold blue eyes, his entire person hairs stand on their edge.
"Just what are you planning?"