Three weeks passed like a blur.
Raviel and Aveline stood in the training hall again, both looking absolutely done with life.
Their shirts were soaked, legs shaking, arms trembling, and faces pale from exhaustion.
Garion, on the other hand, looked fresh.
Raviel glared weakly. "Three weeks… Three whole weeks of this madness…"
Aveline rubbed her sore shoulders, wincing. "Every day… every single day… you made us train every part of the body. I didn't even know half of those muscles existed."
Garion stretched casually, popping his neck. "Good. That means you learned something."
Raviel shot him a dead-eyed stare. "I learned I can cry without tears."
Aveline nodded slowly. "I learned my soul can leave my body and come back."
Garion laughed, hands on his hips.
"Don't be dramatic. You two awakened your [Unique Physiques]. I can't let you waste them."
Raviel wiped sweat from his brow. "You didn't train us. You tortured us."
Garion ignored him completely. "Anyway... today you'll do full-body training again."
Both of them groaned like dying beasts.
Aveline raised a shaky hand. "Can't we have one rest day…? Just one?"
Garion shook his head without hesitation.
"Nope. And besides..." he grinned, tapping the clipboard he always carried, "...this is the last day. So let's make it the best one."
Both of them froze, then slowly looked at each other with wide eyes.
"…Last day?" Raviel whispered.
Aveline's shoulders slumped with relief. "Finally…"
Then they both smiled. A whole month of hell. A whole month of Garion-brand suffering.
Still… they made it.
Aveline wiped sweat from her forehead and pointed at Raviel.
"No wonder you beat me that time. After training with him for a month? This is insane."
Raviel gave her a tired nod. "Didn't I warn you? I told you his training was scary."
She groaned. "You undersold it."
Garion clapped loudly, breaking their moment of peace. "Alright, enough bonding. Get up."
They both flinched.
Garion smirked. "Because today... we're doing something different."
Raviel grunted, pulling himself to his feet. "Different how? Please don't say more push-ups."
Aveline rolled onto her knees, panting. "If you tell us to run with these weight straps again, I'm leaving the island."
Garion pointed at them dramatically.
"Today's training… is a battle. With me."
Both Raviel and Aveline froze.
Then their eyes widened.
And slowly... they smirked.
Aveline cracked her knuckles, green tattoos faintly glowing. "A fight, huh? Now that's something I don't mind."
Raviel stretched his neck, red-and-yellow aura sparking around him.
"Finally. Something that isn't lifting bars or drinking death-potions."
Garion raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You two look confident."
Aveline stood up straighter, even if her legs still wobbled. "We survived your training. How bad could fighting you be?"
Garion's smile widened into something dangerous.
"I'll let you figure that out."
Raviel and Aveline's smirks faltered for a moment.
"…Wait," Raviel muttered, "why does that sound threatening?"
Garion cracked his fingers.
"Because it is. Now... both of you, stand up. Show me how strong a month of hell turned you."
Aveline's expression sharpened, her aura flaring. "Raviel, don't slow me down."
Raviel snorted. "Same to you."
Garion stepped forward, aura swirling like a storm behind him.
"Good. Now come at me."
And with that, the final day of training truly began.
---
Garion rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles.
"Alright. Let's see what a month of hell turned you two into."
The training hall shifted as glowing lines lit up across the walls.
Mechanisms clicked, panels shifted, and the entire room widened. In seconds, it transformed into a reinforced battle arena.
Raviel grinned. "Tch. This room can change too? Of course it can."
Aveline muttered, "Garion always has something hidden…"
Garion waved them forward casually. "Come here. Show me everything."
Raviel stepped ahead first, letting his aura explode outward.
Red and yellow mana surged around him like wild flames and roaring thunder.
"Let's go then."
He activated his ability.
[Burning Storm Manipulation]
The air cracked. Lightning and flame intertwined as Raviel shaped them with a single thought.
Mana condensed into five massive flaming-thunder greatswords emerged behind him, floating in a circle.
Two directly flew into his hands.
Three hovered above his head, pointing forward like spears.
Raviel smirked. "Hope your bones are ready."
He dashed forward, dual greatswords slashing down with explosive force.
Garion didn't flinch.
He simply smirked… and let the space around him thicken.
A sound like collapsing air rang out.
Raviel's eyes widened as his entire body dropped, slamming into the ground as gravity multiplied.
His floating greatswords crashed with a heavy clang, pinned down like insects under a boot.
"What the?! That's cheating!" Raviel yelled from the floor, face smushed against the tiles.
Garion shrugged. "If it works, it works."
Aveline narrowed her eyes and rushed in.
"Then let me try."
Her aura bloomed outward, gentle but sharp, green light weaving across her skin like living vines.
She activated her ability.
[Nature Manipulation]
Thorned roots burst from the ground, spiraling forward like spears.
More roots wrapped around Raviel's torso, trying to pull him out of the gravity zone.
Garion lifted an eyebrow. "Nice teamwork."
He flicked a finger.
BOOM.
The gravity around him intensified again.
The roots shriveled instantly, flattened against the floor as if crushed by a boulder. Even Aveline felt her knees dip for a second.
"Tsk…" Aveline gritted her teeth, regaining her stance. "This damn gravity…"
Raviel shouted, "Garion! At least let me get up!"
Garion grinned. "Then break it. What kind of patriarch loses to pressure?"
Raviel growled, muscles bulging as lightning and flames sparked around him, trying to fight off the crushing pull.
Aveline wasn't done either.
She slammed her foot down, more mana pouring from her hands.
Fresh roots, thicker than before, surged from below and above, aiming to bind Garion in vines and branches.
But the moment they reached within a few meters of him...
CRACK.
Everything bent, snapped, and was forced to the floor again.
Garion chuckled. "Is that it? Come on. Am I fighting clan leaders or two giant toddlers?"
Aveline's eyebrow twitched violently.
Raviel snarled. "Oh, you're dead."
The two of them pushed themselves upright.
Garion smiled wider.
"Good. Now… show me your real strength."
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