Over and over the cycle repeats. I punch the slime away at full force, Sishou hits me hard somewhere random, I manage to just barely recover from the attack, and the slime comes flying back at me. There is so little time to think that it begins to feel like my body is moving on feral instinct alone after a while. I honestly have no idea how long we continued, but as the color of the scenery changes with the setting sun, I’m brought back to my senses.

Could we really have been doing this for hours already? How have I lasted so long? Every hit feels like it’s right on the cusp of dropping me to my knees! I was impressed with myself for taking 2-3 of those, but for me to have taken them for several hours is just absurd!

“How has my body not-“

POW

“Given out on me yet?” I ask between hits

“Well, for one, you stopped asking stupid questions. That was a big help, but I’ll indulge you all the same. I’ve made sure to give your body the motivation it needs to adapt without doing any real damage. I’m not talented in the least at healing magic either, so I’ve been chanting a low-level wound closing spell under my breath for a few hours. Not enough to really help you much, but it should keep you kicking long enough for us to finish up today’s session.” Sishou explains with an annoyed expression

“and when precisely-”

POH!

“ will today’s session-”

POW!

“ …end?”

I ask with an equally annoyed expression as I bear the hits that never fail to catch me off guard.

Seriously, don’t look so annoyed when I’m the one taking all the hits! You try having something this disgusting thrown at you repeatedly and not come out with a few questions.

“Gels are diurnal. After the sun sets they revert to a solid state for defense as they sleep. It won’t be much use without the bouncy nature or the threat of it encompassing you so we will call it then.” He says with an uninterested expression as he readies himself for the next strike

Still have a while to go then I suppose. Looking at the results though, I’m beginning to notice a difference in my hits.

After every strike I can now see a puff of air blow the dirt around my feet. The area I’m standing in has turned into a neat circle from the repeated small blast.

Does this mean the strength of my strikes has started increasing? I don’t remember anything like this happening before, but maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. Thinking about it though, just how powerful will I get? I’m already demonstrating some insane power, and I’ve only just gotten started. Between my low level, the barriers my body is putting my power behind to stop me from harming myself, and the fact that I’ve got less training in martial arts than a common street thug, it's rather boggling to think about how much stronger I will become. It’s horrifying to think about the fact that the Yuusha will become equally strong if not even stronger. Should I go ahead and try to defeat him after I finish unlocking my strength? Surely his power should be locked as well right? Surely he should still be suffering from it even when I’m done since he refused training. It might be my only chance…

“OI! Pay attention! This method is only effective when the body is forced to realize the danger it’s in and try to adapt, if you lower your tension so much by zoning out like that then I’m going to be forced to increase the intensity!” Sishou says with a complex expression

I can’t quite tell if he is annoyed or having fun as he lectures me. I can’t help but think it’s a little bit of both as he talks about torturing me some more.

As promised Sishou did increase the speed between strikes, but not beyond what I could handle. Our training continued like this until the sun set.

Pomph!

As the slimes form changes, and my strikes dull against it, we decide to call it a night. It’s kind of a shame actually. The slimes sleeping form isn’t that bad. It doesn’t feel slimy at all, but rather feels like a mass of rubber. There was very little reaction when I tried to hit it though. All of the force of my attack would diffuse and seem to disappear very rapidly on its surface. The sensation of it was quite uncomfortable in its own right.

“Bah! These old bones haven’t had a warm-up like that in ages! Goes to show that I really am out of shape. Been dying for a drink all day, so I’m going to go indulge in some good booze. Do whatever, just don’t show up tomorrow injured. That’s my job.” Sishou says with a satisfied smile as he walks away

He doesn’t so much as look at me for the ending comment, but rather waves over his shoulder to show that he doesn’t care.

I don’t know what bothers me more, his indifference to me, or that he considered a full day of training to be a “warm-up”. You don’t have to be that eccentric when you’re powerful right? I suppose in the end it doesn’t matter, after all, I have bigger fish to fry.

“Welcome, welcome, we have wares from all over! Don’t hesitate to stop and shop at Kera’s utensils a-”

“Then please allow me,” I say interrupting with a smile coupled with a livid tone

“Heh?! Oh, h-hi Mano. W-w-what brings you here?” Kera ask as she notices me

Her blatant attempt to avoid eye contact confirms my suspicions.

“Oh, nothing really. I just heard of a shop around here that sells the exact thing I’m looking for, so I thought I would check it out.” I say never dropping my tone

I forgo activating “intimidate”. I want her to know that the fear she feels here is all me.

“May I ask what you’re looking for then?” She asks with a poor attempt to appear innocent

“A friend of mine received a high-grade torture tool here earlier, and I was wanting something similar,” I answer

“M-may I ask what you’re going to do with them?” She asks with a worried look and sweat on her brow

“Now, now, why spoil the surprise?” I answer dropping my smile

“Hii! I’m sorry!” She yells out prostrating herself

“You think I’m going to let you off that ea-“

“Seriously?”

“What’s happening over there?”

“That lady must be really good at haggling to make a vendor bow like that.”

“Isn’t that the girl that was ripping off really scary looking people earlier too?”

Sigh

“Fine, we will talk later. You’re lucky that I don’t like attracting a crowd.” I let out defeated

This isn’t the end. I’m still going to get revenge.