In the innermost part of the training room on Halo's B3F, continuous sounds of impacts echoed out. The skin on the knuckles rapidly hitting the metal plate was getting torn constantly, yet still the fists kept moving. The wounds already looked hideous, the knuckles looked about ready to break, but still he endured. It was 4am, but Caelum was still here, training alone.
Blood dripped from his fists, but he could not stop himself from punching. Speed, strength and endurance, he needed to overcome his limits and so he devised this training method specifically for himself.
Feeling the heat in his body peaking, he pulled his right fist back and gathered all his remaining strength in it. His muscles tensed as his entire weight was thrown together with the fist. A hole appeared where he struck the metal plate. It sounded like an explosion, but it was truly an exceptional control to concentrate everything in a single spot.
"That was the thickest one we have, my lord. Congratulations."
"Reynor… how long…?"
While breathing roughly, Caelum moved to a nearby bench. He had not noticed Reynor's presence at all. It was understandable since Reynor's ability was more specialised in stealth. Its effectiveness had even been growing as he constantly used it to train ever since Caelum's speech the other day. Every single one of the Chosen who heard him back then were moved and began training even more ardently.
"I just arrived, my lord. But still, you mustn't overexert yourself. You've been keeping up this routine for one week already."
"It's not enough. Besides..."
Caelum held up his battered fists and showed them to Reynor. The various wounds and bruises were healing very quickly and noticeably. Many people joke about how Chosen were no longer human, but even if anyone asked other Chosen, Caelum's regeneration was abnormal.
"A troll's vitality is truly ridiculous. And precisely because of this, I can go forward with my plans even faster than I originally anticipated."
Troll's vitality is something that shocked even Caelum himself. A week ago, when he first began training with Reynor, he received several injuries during their initial spar. However they all healed so quickly that Caelum even doubted whether he was injured at all.
He even asked Reynor whether he had the ability to make a person feel pain even without harming them. He thought Reynor had that kind of illusion ability which was when Reynor told him about his stealth ability instead. It was definitely different from illusion. Naturally, Caelum knew where he got this overpowered ability from.
"I still can't believe that you acquired the power of a troll just by taking its mana. You have to be careful not to let anyone know about this, my lord."
"Like I said, it's not just mana that I took from it. It's all the energy inside it including its lifeforce. They're fuel for me, but this is a side-effect that I didn't expect."
As a consequence of gaining the troll's vitality, not only was his natural regeneration greatly enhanced, even his body became sturdier as though he had trained for years. His figure before was that of a slender man, but now, he was bigger, taller and more muscular.
His bones have hardened beyond normal and his skin was like metal. Even his stamina gets replenished too quickly for him to even need sleep. Of course he still slept to recover from mental fatigue, but even then, he only spent at most 4 hours of his day on sleep. The rest were poured into constant training to the point that some of the Chosen who saw him were worried that he was actually going to catch up to them soon.
"In any case, the Lady has been looking for you, my lord. I've been able to keep her away for the past few days, but I don't think it will last."
"What the hell did you do to keep her away? Anyway, I'll go meet her later. I'm done training in the meantime."
"That is good, my lord. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Hmm… right. Can you get me access to a dungeon? I don't need it today, but as soon as possible, please."
"Lord Caelum, you don't intend to enter a dungeon alone, do you? Even if you are extraordinarily strong, as Head of Security, I cannot let you go without at least an escort."
"No, of course not. So prepare an escort that will satisfy you as well. In the meantime, I'm going to shower and have a meal outside."
Standing in front of a large screen in his room on the top floor, Caelum searched for information about the dungeons near London. He could not keep still as he felt that he was nearing a breakthrough.
Even while showering, he could only go over and over the characteristics of his ability. Serenity and Chaos, they were the crystallisation of his curse, his experience and his enlightenment.
The Imaginary Tree does not give power arbitrarily. Whatever ability a Chosen has reflects the summation of their life, but it also shows them new paths to walk on. And that was what Caelum was trying to figure out now.
The power of Chaos lay in its volatility. His understanding of Chaos was different from others'. Chaos is the madness of existence. As long as something exists, phenomena will occur. It is the hidden power and force driving everything in existence.
And it is also growth, for change is the Chaos to stagnation. It is not inherently evil. In embracing this notion, one will find the harmony and beauty beyond the madness. Chaos exists. But because it exists that we yearn for peace, all the while ignoring the beauty right before us—the harmony of change and stagnation, Serenity.
Still, he had never thought that Serenity could take more than what he needed. In fact, taking the energy of the troll was already too much of a violation of his view on Serenity. Although he instinctively understood that he could do it, it still conflicted with his beliefs.
However, now that he had discovered that even the innate ability was stolen, his understanding was now truly being tested. If he could break through this dilemma, he was certain that he would grow even stronger.
"Brother, do you want to… what the hell are you doing?"
Ceres's exasperated voice came from behind him. He only glanced at her before returning his gaze to the screen showing a list of monsters. His thoughts interrupted, he decided to leave them for later as he could not arrive at an answer anyway.
"I'm just researching what kind of monsters appear in which dungeon."
"No, I can tell that much. I'm asking why you're doing that naked in the middle of the room?"
"What naked? Can't you see the towel?"
"Just get dressed already."
"Are we going somewhere?"
"Breakfast, duh. And don't you dare say no! You owe me at least this much for not even meeting with me this past week even though we live on a single floor."
"Right, yeah. I was planning on eating out, do you want to come?"
Together with a team of bodyguards led by Reynor, the two went to a nearby restaurant serving eastern cuisine at Caelum's insistence. A large serving of a variety of sushi was placed before him. Although he was starting to drool, when he looked at the price, he bowed his head to Ceres.
"I'm sorry for making you pay, Sis."
"You only call me that when you need something from me or when I'm mad. You haven't changed after all. Just go ahead and eat."
"Thanks! I've been craving sushi since I saw that fish monster from a dungeon in the river."
Caelum went through the food quickly. One of the consequences of the troll's vitality was his frequent hunger due to fully utilising every nutrient he got from food into strengthening his body, especially his stamina. He was now eating thrice the amount a normal person would.
Ceres watched him happily. It has been a long time since they had any meals together. Just this moment was a miracle already. Then her face became serious as she remembered something she needed to talk to him about.
"Brother, do you know the Titans Guild?"
"Not really. Are you planning to sponsor them or something?"
"Nothing like that. Their master wants to meet with you."
"Why? I don't even know them."
"He's the person who spoke to you back then when a gate appeared."
At that point, Caelum stopped eating and looked at her. Ceres did not flinch and only watched his expression. And what she saw was something shocking. Caelum was frowning, but he nodded to her and kept listening.
"Titans' master, his name is Liam Smithson. He said he wanted to meet you and apologise personally."
"Apology accepted. There's no need to meet."
"But-"
"Ceres."
She was about to say something, but shrunk back. His voice as he called her name was so cold that she almost did not recognize it. Ceres bit her lip to keep herself from crying. In her mind, she finally realised that her brother had truly changed.
There were some parts of the old Caelum left, but they were just on the surface. Without intending to, Caelum had made Ceres frightened of him. But it was not his fault either.
Caelum could not afford to waste time on such nonsense. The urgency he was feeling had been growing everyday for the past week. It had reached a point where he could barely be at peace when sleeping. A certain sound would always tick constantly in his head as though reminding him that he was on a timer. So entertaining the fools who could not even be bothered to say a word of thanks was just a waste of time to him.