I had forced Felix to do a lot of physical training. Most of our training sessions were mainly to improve Felix's stamina and endurance. After 5 days, Felix only needed to rest for 20 minutes when running. After 10 days, Felix only required to rest for 30 minutes when running. And after 15 days, we were able to run 4 laps around the town in 2 hours.
'Finally...' I looked at Felix with pride and emotion.
'Could this be what it feels like to see your child grow up?'
In addition to running to increase his stamina, I also made Felix lift weights to make his body look muscular. I made him do every exercise I remembered from the past since I used to hit the gym in my first life.
Thanks to Felix's physical training, I had also grown my stamina and pure strength a lot.
Once, I handed Felix my wooden sword that I took from home and asked him to try using it. Felix made a few random slashes in the air.
'His skills are so bad.' I thought so, but then I remembered that he was probably just an amateur, and that he would get better after a lot of practicing.
After that, we practiced swordsmanship after we jogged around the town. After 9 days, I completely gave up on making Felix use the sword. His technique did not progress even though I had done everything I could to train him.
'Maybe sword just isn't for him. That must be the consequences of awakening 2 elements.'
***
On the other hand, I also just recognized that my mana level had leveled up, probably after fighting the Beast. My mana that used to have dark red color had now become light red, or dark orange. That meant it was now level 1.
However, I still didn't acknowledge how to level up mana quickly even though I had been using it for so many years. I used to think that if I just used mana a lot, it would level up automatically, but that probably wasn't the case.
'There must be a way to level up faster. But what is that way?'
My mana leveling up also indicated that my body became more flexible and brawnier. My other senses also became a little better than previously.
"Hey Lucian, what should I do now?"
Felix's voice pulled me back to reality. Lately, I had been letting Felix get used to using mana in the most economical and effective way. Surprisingly, Felix seemed to have absorbed my teachings effortlessly.
Only 3 days later, he was able to utilize the techniques that I had to master in 7 days. I didn't know if Felix was really intelligent or if my teaching skills were too good.
The dark red mana surrounded Felix's body, he was learning to intensify his body by letting more mana to flow through his body just like I told him.
"You are right Lucian, this is too complicated for me!" Felix complained.
'Damn it, you mastered my techniques faster than the one who created them.' I looked at Felix with envy.
'Is this what people call talent?'
***
It had been a month since the day I started training with Felix. It was obvious that he had made significant progress and changes.
Firstly, his posture was no longer bent but straighter, exuding confidence, although he was still as timid as before. But that's enough to prevent him from being bullied like when I first met him.
Secondly, Felix had also completely mastered the mana techniques that I passed on to him. If we were to compare our mastery, Felix would get a 7/10 and I would get a big fat 10 since I was the one who invented it.
Last but not least: Felix's pure physical strength had also bloomed dramatically. Now we could jog 5 laps around the town with only 2 or 3 breaks. But of course, every time Felix finished running, he would collapse on the ground, motionless, looking exactly like a corpse.
I handed Felix a medal, which was made out of yellow cardboard.
"What is this?" Lucian asked inquisitively as he received the medal from me.
"This is proof that you have graduated from my mana training course. Even so, you still can't neglect your training!" I proudly told Felix.
"Coach…" Felix looked at me with tears in his eyes.
After that, we stared at each other for a while. Unable to hold it in any longer, I started laughing out loud, and Felix followed suit.
***
The next day, I woke up and noticed that the sky was a little brighter than usual. A feeling of anxiety welled up inside me. I instantly stood up and looked at the clock above the desk. It was already 7am, while I had promised to meet Felix at 6am.
I rushed out of the room like a shooting arrow. I took a quick shower and had a hot slice of bread with melted butter and jam on top. Then I ran out of the house, dashing towards the town, hoping that Felix was still there waiting for me.
I sprinted as rapidly as I could towards the fountain while strengthening my legs with mana. After about 5 minutes, I finally arrived at the meeting point.
The surrounding shops were bustling about preparing to open while around the fountain, there were a few people jogging under the warm bright morning sunshine. But more importantly, Felix wasn't there.
I started to worry. From what I understood about Felix, he wasn't the type of person who would cancel any appointments without notifying me or would leave after not seeing his friend. If it was Felix, he would probably wait for me on the wooden bench and complain when he saw me late.
I started wandering around the area around the fountain to look for clues about him but all I saw were two cats fighting in a bush.
My heart sank a little when I couldn't see Felix anywhere. Just then, I heard some familiar voices.
"I didn't expect that idiot to believe me."
"He's still a loser who has to kneel before us."
"Hahahaha!"
Those were the voices of the kids who used to bully Felix last time, the ones I beated up to the point of running away. It seemed like they did something to Felix again.
I gritted my teeth and dashed at them, I pushed the biggest kid who seemed to be the leader into a deserted alley. The rest were also shocked after seeing their leader being taken away and chased after me right away.
"Tell me what you did to Felix!" I gritted my teeth, emitting a thick killing intent.
The leader trembled violently but remained silent, it seemed like he wouldn't tell me.
I frowned in anger. I then strengthened my right hand, causing the mana to radiate as much and clearly as possible from the hand that was being strengthened. The other bullies who saw that scene could only tremble in fear.
"I'll ask again! Where is Felix!" I emitted even more killing intent while bringing my right hand, which was surrounded by a dark orange mana stream closer to the leader's face.
Even so, he still tried to resist, refusing to open his mouth no matter what.
"Is that so…" I brought my right hand back to gain momentum while my left hand was still pushing him against the wall. Then, my fist charged towards the leader.
"He's in Vintage!" The leader finally opened his mouth, it seemed like he had given up on me.
"We told him you were waiting for him at Vintage and he went that way!" The others continued.
"What…" I looked at the bullies in revelation.
"Do you know what you have done…" I continued to radiate murderous intent. But I didn't have time to punish them because I had to find Felix first.
Just like that, I dashed out of the alley, heading towards Vintage.
***
Let me explain a bit. Vintage was a residential area much smaller than the town I was in and was separated from the outside by a sturdy wooden wall.
Even so, no one dared to approach Vintage because it was a gathering place for homeless people and thugs. It could be called a lawless area where battles and fights occurred every day.
Vintage was located in the South of town while my house was in the North. It was not really far from the town. If you ran, it would take about 20 minutes to get there.
Even though it was such a terrifying place, because the battles only happened in Vintage, and did not affect the town, the community ignored it, and did not pay any attention to Vintage.
I rushed straight to Vintage, hoping to find Felix on the way, but until I reached the enormous gate leading to Vintage, I still could not see Felix anywhere.
'Damn it!'
A coward like Felix entered Vintage, where battles were the only justice and the only thing that they enjoyed. Needless to say, he would become the perfect prey for them.
I clenched my fists, strengthened my entire body with mana, and emitted a murderous aura, trying to appear as threatening as possible and entered Vintage.