Training

"Come on kiddo, put your back into it."

When Lizzy told Tom that she would teach him how to use magic, he expected the same sort of training or education he had already been through, not physical exercise which would make the knight school look like a holiday at the beach.

"I believe I told you to respond every time I talked to you kiddo, speak up."

Looking rather relaxed as she sat down cross-legged on the ground, Lizzy looked like she had a grand old time as she watched Tom doing his 300th pushup of the morning.

"Why… Am… I… Doing this… Again?"

"Because a body as weak as yours will break at some point if you attempt to learn magic in a way which really matters, anyway, your [pain resistance] skill should make this easier no?"

"It… Doesn't… Really."

Even if Tom had a skill that reduced the amount of pain he felt, there was still some amount of pain going through and into his mind. A pain which had been gnawing at his mind for the last few hours, long enough to make Tom sick of it.

"Hey, isn't that?..."

"Yeah it is, what the hell is that loser doing with an instructor?"

Moreover, if physical pain wasn't enough, Tom also suffered plenty of emotional pain as he was training right next to other students who were having normal classes.

"... If you want to quit, you just quit right now kiddo, in that case, I'll be able to get back to my 'real' job a bit faster."

With the ever-decreasing enthusiasm of her student clearly visible on said students face and in his lethargic actions, Lizzy offered him an easy way out which he surprisingly turned down in an instant.

"No… It's… Fine."

The amount of suffering a person is subject to is all relative and largely depending on the situation, Tom felt that the emotional and physical pain he found his way under was less than the suffering he had endured ever since he arrived at the mage academy. Finally, he was doing something he felt he was doing something worthwhile, thus Tom felt his current situation was worth it, as long as Lizzy's unusual type of training would show results in the end.

"That's enough for today, get some rest kiddo you're doing the same thing tomorrow."

As the sun was slowly starting to set, Lizzy finally let Tom go. as Lizzy left she lit up a cigarette and slowly pranced away in a relaxed manner as Tom limply collapsed in the dirt.

(Everything hurts…)

Breathing a deep sigh to collect his strength, Tom pulled his arms in and slowly got back onto his still shaking legs, glancing at his surroundings, Tom found the practice field all but abandoned as his stomach rumbled loudly to remind him that he had yet to eat dinner.

('You're doing the same thing tomorrow', huh?... In that case, I need some food.)

Half resigned to his fate while simply too tired to really think about anything, Tom dragged himself towards the cafeteria while ignoring, or rather, Tom simply didn't have the energy to worry about how haggard he was looking. Even as an acquaintance called out to Tom with an enchanting smile he didn't notice it, leading their smile to first crack, then eventually break altogether.

The next few days would go about the same for Tom, from the break of dawn until sundown he would train his body like Lizzy instructed while barely having enough spare time to eat or sleep, this left Tom in a perpetual state of exhaustion which didn't leave him enough energy to even ask why he was doing physical exercise instead of training magic.

"How do you feel kiddo?"

Seeing that something had changed in her pupil, Lizzy put on a fox-like smile as she did a quick glance around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation.

"Tired."

As Tom not only answered immediately but also in a surprisingly coherent manner while he was still doing push-ups, Lizzy was convinced Tom had finally gained the [skill] he needed to survive the next part of her training.

"But not as much as the first day, no?"

"... How did you-"

"Check your [skills]."

Putting pressure on Tom with the look in her eyes alone, Lizzy made Tom stop what he was doing until he had checked out his status.

"...[Status]."

Tom Laplace

Race: Human

Age: 19

Vitality: 162/162 (UP)

Strength: 55/59 (UP)

Dexterity: 129/129 (UP)

Agility: 55/55 (UP)

Intelligence: 137/137

Luck: 18

Mana: 25.523/25.523

Skills:

[Cooking 4/10] [Housework 4/10] [Memorization 2/10] [Pain resistance 3/10] (UP) [Etiquette 1/10] [Mana control 1/10] [Fine motor control 1/10] (NEW)

Magic affinity:

"What the hell is that [Skill]?"

While it was true Tom didn't know of many [skills], he had never heard of one called [Fine motor control] and had no idea what it did, but he was certain that it wasn't a [skill] something like a mage would usually have.

"It is a skill which improves your ability to control your body, simply as that."

Explaining a bit further, Lizzy told Tom that his new [skill] made him better able to control his muscles, allowing Tom to do the same workout as he had done before, but with less effort due to wasted movements.

"That's great and all, but why did you want me to get this [skill]?"

"That's a very good question~ You see, it's because…-"

Drawing a bit closer to Tom, Lizzy lowered her voice to a whisper before finishing her sentence.

"That [skill] Improves more than just your ability to control your muscles, [Fine motor control] also makes it harder for your mana to run out of control like it did when you accidentally cast magic. This is not commonly known and I would very much like for it to stay that way, and so would you if you want to have a long life, kiddo."

Wearing an entirely different smile from what she usually did, Lizzy radiated enough bloodlust to make sure that Tom was aware that she would kill him if he spilt that little secret, in response to Lizzy's sudden pressure and 'warm smile' Tom could only weakly nod his head, after which Lizzy's smile returned to normal.

"It is great you understand kiddo."

Rising to her feet, Lizzy fetched a cigarette and her lighter from under her coat, lighting the smoke and taking a large huff from it, Lizzy's fox-like smile returned to her face before she continued speaking.

"Now that you've learned that skill I can finally start training you properly."

For some reason, Tom felt a slight chill as Lizzy smiled at him, but for some reason, he didn't act on it then and there, a fact which he would soon come to regret greatly.

While Tom had expected Lizzy would teach him magic in a similar style as the other instructors, but reality couldn't be further from the truth.

"If you don't move right now then you're dead meat kiddo."

"KUH!-"

Dodging to the side at the very last second, Tom narrowly avoided Lizzy's razor-sharp claws that were without doubt going to slice his head cleanly off if he hadn't.

"Come on kiddo-"

Staggering for a bit before coming to a standstill, Lizzy craned her head in a slightly unnatural manner to get eyes on Tom, when she did a chill went down Tom's back as Lizzy's eyes flashed.

"- Move or die!~"

Attacking with her left claw, Lizzy hid her right side so Tom couldn't see how she was going to attack next, drawing Tom's attention to her still left right hand, Lizzy flashed a cold smile before she kicked him in the face, sending her poor student flying.

"Be aware of all points of attacks or you're going to die. Life isn't so kind as to give you a second chance, commit a single mistake and you're dead, that's the true nature of combat."

Barely able to hear Lizzy over the ringing in his ears, Tom nevertheless took her lessons to heart, even though she wasn't currently teaching him how to use magic. The way Tom saw it, there was a chance there was some deeper meaning behind her training just like she had done before. Moving out of the way of another claw which was clearly aiming to gouge out his chest, Tom felt himself slowly getting more and more aware of Lizzy's movements, although that proved to be an illusion as Lizzy suddenly turned up the speed of her attacks and mercilessly knocked Tom to the ground again.

"That's enough for today, get clean up and get some rest, we're doing the same thing again tomorrow kiddo."

"O-okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

Listening to Lizzy's footsteps and waiting for them to completely fade, Tom breathed out a deep sigh before he finally got back on his feet.

Patting the worst of his dust off his uniform, Tom cracked his neck and patted his stomach.

(Time to get something to eat.)

Although he wasn't as constantly tired as he had been while doing basic training, Tom still didn't spare any deeper thoughts to his current situation. Even if he was aware that it was strange he didn't mind getting beat up on the daily, as Tom felt like he was actually working towards something instead of just going through the steps of daily life at the mage academy, getting beat up by bullies and sitting trough classes he hardly understood or cared for.

(I am aware I'm not that smart, but that's fine. I function well with physical exercise and a practical style of teaching like this… But it would be nice if Lizzy actually started teaching me magic at some point, even if she said I'll be able to use it, I just can't believe it until it actually happens.)

Even though Tom knew that Lizzy had access to some amount of knowledge that no one he had met before, and therefore believed that she could teach him magic, Tom still found himself unable to believe her words until he showed some sort of results.

Being labelled as a failure for his entire life had made him unable to believe anything else, a lie told enough times tended to become true, no matter how absurd it had initially seemed.

Getting a quick meal in the school cafeteria where he was largely ignored, Tom took a second to bask in the evening rays before he started heading back to the dormitories, but sadly Tom didn't make it all the way to the dorms before his path was blocked.

"Good afternoon Tom, it has been a while."

With a smile as warm and caring as the setting sun, Miss Elizabeth Warren lightly grasped the helm of her skirt before offering a perfect bow as a greeting to the man she hadn't been able to talk with ever since he had started receiving education from that strange instructor.

"Ah, good afternoon, Miss Elizabeth, it sure has been a while. I haven't seen you since I started having classes with instructor Lizzy."

Doing his best to look like he had any interest in talking with Miss Elizabeth, Tom showed a slightly strained smile as he returned her light bow. For the few seconds that Tom moved his eyes off, Miss Elizabeth's perfect smile stiffened up significantly, but luckily for Elizabeth, she managed to fix her expression before Tom looked at her again.

"So the instructor's name is Miss Lizzy? I sure haven't seen her around before, is she really part of this school's faculty?"

Placing a hand on her cheek as she craned her head to the side in a casual manner, Elizabeth managed to convince Tom that she was just striking up a casual conversation, Tom didn't even notice the change in her eyes.

"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems Lizzy works directly under the headmaster, I'm not really sure what she normally does, but it seems like she holds an important job here at the academy."

"Oh~ Is that so? In that case, why is instructor Lizzy teaching you of all people?"

Although she most likely didn't mean for it, the way Miss Elizabeth worded her question really annoyed Tom.

"I have no idea, but according to what instructor Lizzy said I should be able to use magic in a few weeks time, and depending on my own efforts I might even be able to surpass you and the other students, please look forward to that Miss Elizabeth. I bid you a good day."

Sidestepping Miss Elizabeth, Tom saw their conversation as over and started going back to his dormitory room as he thought about what Lizzy had in store for him tomorrow.

"'Surpass you and the other students'?... Such a silly notion."

Muttering to herself in a voice quieter than the passing afternoon breeze, Elizabeth's eyes had gone entirely cold as turned to look at Tom's fleeting back. With her smile completely frozen for only a moment, it suddenly twisted into something far more sinister.

"It seems like Tom has slipped behind on his etiquette education… We can't have that… We really can't have that at all."