For the next two years, Zane followed the same routine every single day.
Wake up.
Train.
Eat.
Train again.
Study.
Sleep.
Then repeat.
There were no shortcuts.
Every morning, Zane would head outside to the training ground and begin his physical training. The weight he carried around his body continued to increase as his strength improved.
At first, the training had been painful.
Even walking while wearing the weighted bracelets had been difficult.
But after two years, things had changed.
The same weights that once made his legs shake were now barely noticeable.
Zane stood in the middle of the training ground, his body covered in sweat. Several large weights were attached to his arms and legs.
Each bracelet weighed 500 kilograms.
Yet Zane stood perfectly straight.
He slowly raised his arm and looked at the heavy bracelet around his wrist.
"Two years ago, I could barely move with these weights."
He clenched his fist.
"Now I’m carrying 500 kilograms on each bracelet without feeling much pressure."
A small smile appeared on his face.
He opened his status window.
[DING!]
[STATUS WINDOW]
NAME: ZANE
SURNAME: WILLIAMS
MAGIC CLASS: MASTER OF ALL CLASSES
INNER TALENT: INFINITE GROWTH
[ATTRIBUTES]STRENGTH: 2500
DEFENSE: 1500
STAMINA: 10000/10000
MANA: 10/10
FATIGUE: 2000/2000
[WEAPONS]SWORDSMANSHIP: ADVANCED MASTERY
SPEARMANSHIP: ADVANCED MASTERY
ARCHERY: ADVANCED MASTERY
SHIELD: MID MASTERY
[MAGIC ELEMENTS]WATER: NONE
FIRE: NONE
EARTH: NONE
LIGHT: NONE
DARK: NONE
LIGHTNING: NONE
Zane stared at the numbers for several seconds.
His physical attributes had increased tremendously during the past two years.
His weapon skills had also reached a completely different level.
But one thing remained unchanged.
His mana.
10/10.
Zane sighed.
"It seems I’ve improved quite a lot since two years ago."
He looked at his empty magic element section.
"But there’s still something I haven’t touched."
He closed his status window.
"Magic."
For the past two years, Zane had deliberately ignored his magic training.
There was a reason for that.
His body had been too weak to handle mana.
If he tried to force mana into his body before fixing the problem, he could seriously injure himself.
So instead, he had focused on strengthening his body first.
The system had rewarded him numerous times during those two years, but Zane had stored most of the rewards instead of immediately using them.
He wanted to build a strong foundation before moving forward.
Now that foundation was finally complete.
Zane walked toward the center of the training ground and sat down.
He crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
"Today is the day."
He took a slow breath.
"My magical training begins."
Zane placed both hands on his knees.
"Hey, System."
[YES, MASTER.]
"You can activate the technique."
[UNDERSTOOD, MASTER.]
[ACTIVATING HEAVENLY VOID DRAGON ART.]
The moment the system’s voice disappeared.
FWOOOOOOOSH!
A massive surge of energy erupted from Zane’s body.
The air around him began to tremble.
Dust rose from the ground.
His clothes violently fluttered as an enormous amount of mana began pouring into his body.
Zane’s expression immediately changed.
"Aaaaah.. !"
Pain exploded throughout his body.
"Aaaaah... !"
He fell forward, grabbing his chest.
It felt as if thousands of needles were stabbing through every vein in his body at the same time.
His muscles tightened.
His bones began to crack.
His veins burned.
"What... is happening?!"
Zane gritted his teeth.
"System! What is going on inside my body?!"
The pain became even worse.
It felt like his entire body was being torn apart and rebuilt at the same time.
[MASTER’S BODY WAS NOT DESIGNED TO HOLD MANA ABOVE THE LIMIT OF FIFTEEN .]
[FOR MASTER TO OBTAIN A LARGER MANA POOL, THE DAMAGED MANA VEINS MUST BE REBUILT.]
Zane’s eyes widened.
"So you’re saying..."
He struggled to breathe.
"My body is being reconstructed?"
[YES, MASTER.]
A cracking sound came from inside his body.
Zane screamed.
"Aaaah.... aaah!"
His hands dug into the ground.
Sweat poured down his face as he desperately endured the pain.
Then memories suddenly came back to him.
The old Zane.
The weakness.
The inability to awaken his class.
The constant sickness.
The mysterious condition that had plagued his body.
His mother’s death.
Zane’s expression became serious.
"I understand now..."
He clenched his teeth.
"That’s why he couldn’t awaken his magic class."
The answer had been in front of him the entire time.
His body had been crippled from birth.
He had possessed an incredible class and an extraordinary talent, but his body couldn’t support them.
Zane suddenly remembered something else.
"Wait..."
His eyes widened.
"Isn’t this the same disease that killed my mother?"
He remembered reading about it in the diary.
The disease couldn’t be cured.
Most people who suffered from it died before reaching the age of twenty-five.
Zane lowered his head.
"So that’s why they sent him here..."
He remembered the place he had been abandoned.
The reason he had been sent away.
"They didn’t want everyone to see him die."
His hands slowly tightened into fists.
"They sent him here so they wouldn’t have to be embarrassed in front of the public or the other kingdoms."
Zane’s eyes became cold.
"So that’s what happened..."
[YES, MASTER.]
Zane took a deep breath.
"I understand."
He closed his eyes again.
"But I’m not going to die here."
He steadied his breathing.
"I’m going to live."
HEAVENLY VOID DRAGON ART continued to circulate through his body.
For hours, Zane endured the pain.
Five hours passed.
Then...
[DING!]
[MASTER’S MANA POOL IS BEGINNING TO EXPAND RAPIDLY.]
[PLEASE BE CAREFUL, MASTER.]
Zane suddenly felt something change inside his body.
The pressure around his heart increased.
His breathing became heavier.
He immediately stopped cultivating.
"Haa... haa..."
Zane wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He looked at his status window.
MANA: 500/500
His eyes widened.
"500?"
He stared at the number.
"My mana increased from 10 to 500 in just a few hours?"
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
"This technique really lives up to its name."
Zane stood up and stretched his arms.
"Just a few hours ago, I could barely hold 10 mana."
He looked at his hands.
"Now I have 500."
He couldn’t help but laugh.
"This is amazing."
The sun was already high in the sky.
Zane looked toward it.
"Mmm... it’s already afternoon."
His stomach suddenly growled.
Growl~
Zane froze.
"...I’m hungry."
He laughed and shook his head.
"I should go make something to eat."
He walked back toward the house.
"Speaking of food..."
Zane scratched his head.
"If it wasn’t for the food the system gives me every day, I probably would’ve died of hunger by now."
After entering the house, Zane went straight to the kitchen.
He prepared some meat and bread before sitting down to eat.
The food disappeared quickly.
Once he finished eating, Zane returned to his room and picked up one of the magic books he had collected from the library.
If he wanted to become a powerful mage, increasing his mana wasn’t enough.
He also needed knowledge.
For the next several months, Zane divided his time between cultivating mana and studying magic.
The library became his second training ground.
He read books about elemental magic, spell structures, mana control, casting methods, combat spells, defensive magic, and advanced magical theory.
Every book he finished was immediately memorized by the system.
Six months passed.
Zane sat at a desk inside the library with a thick book in front of him.
The title read:
Beyond the Magic Limit
He slowly closed the book.
"Hmm..."
Zane opened his status window.
MANA: 10,000/10,000
His eyes narrowed.
"From 500 to 10,000."
He smiled.
"Not bad."
But the mana wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
Zane had spent the past six months learning everything he could about the six major elements.
Water.
Fire.
Earth.
Light.
Darkness.
Lightning.
Wind.
Because of his class, he wasn’t restricted to a single element.
He could potentially learn them all.
The system had also been memorizing every spell he studied.
Zane looked through the list inside his mind.
Ten spells for each element.
Thirty spells designed for close-range combat.
Thirty for long-range combat.
And another thirty designed for large-scale battles.
A total of sixty spells were already stored within his memory.
Zane leaned back in his chair.
"This system really is amazing."
He tapped his finger against the table.
"I’ve spent six months reading all these books, and it memorized every spell I learned."
He stood up and stretched.
"Now I have enough knowledge to start practicing."
Zane looked toward the window.
The sky outside had already begun to darken.
"Mmm..."
He yawned.
"It’s getting late."
He picked up a small lamp and began walking toward his bedroom.
"Tomorrow..."
Zane smiled.
"I’ll finally start my spell-casting training."
He placed the lamp beside his bed.
Then he lay down.
For the first time since beginning his journey, Zane felt that he was finally approaching the path he had been waiting for.
Physical strength had been his foundation.
Mana was his energy.
Knowledge was his weapon.
And tomorrow...
He would finally combine all three.
Zane closed his eyes.
"Let’s see how powerful magic really is."
The room became silent.
And under the dim light of the lamp, Zane fell asleep.
Tomorrow would be the beginning of his true magical training.