More Than A Week Later.

Back to the topic, the heroes would stop training around 11 am. From then to around 1 pm was free time, including lunch.

The heroes would start the afternoon training session at around 1 pm. It would end around 4 pm, after which they would have free time till time to go to bed.

Usually, teenagers like them would become fed up with demanding and strict routines they had been doing. However, the existence of extraordinary Skills and Magic fascinated them so much that they didn't get bored.

Even Rob, who was mentally in his late twenties, was fascinated and captivated by Skills and Magic. On top of that, improving those miraculous abilities and having evidence of those improvements gave a sense of satisfaction that made him addicted, driving him crazy to improve himself to the point that it wouldn't be wrong to call what he was doing 'insane.'

Yes, there was no better term to describe it than that word.

Even the past version of Rob wouldn't believe that the current version of him was himself if he knew what he'd been up to after transmigrating as Kousuke Endou.

Just what had Rob been up to?

Well, this was what Rob had been up to;

Rob would keep working out when the other heroes finished their morning workout and waited for breakfast. At the same time, he would read a book he borrowed from the library the previous day. He would only stop when he was unable to move anymore.

After his morning workouts, Rob would drag his body to the banquet hall to get breakfast. After breakfast, he would read his books while waiting for the start of morning practice with the knights.

After the morning practice session, Rob would visit the library to return the book he borrowed yesterday. At the same time, he would borrow another book before going for a run while reading his book until lunch.

After lunch, Rob would continue working out while reading while waiting for the afternoon practice session. After the afternoon practice session, he would have individual training until dinner.

After dinner, Rob would practice alone while reading. He would start at around 8 pm and stop at around 10 pm, at which he went to bed.

The following morning, Rob would wake up at 6 am. He'd repeat what he'd done yesterday.

Whenever Rob felt fed up, frustrated, and so done with it, he would motivate himself with the promise of the absolute POWER!

Back on topic, due to his 'insanity,' Rob became the second strongest 'hero,' right after Kouki. Of course, even though his Level was higher, Kouki's stats were still higher than his.

However, it was understandable. Not only did Kouki have high stats and many skills from the beginning, but his growth speed was also about five times faster than ordinary people in Tortus.

Meanwhile, the growth speed of the other heroes was only about three times faster, Rob included.

Due to Kouki's obscene growth rate, his current status was like this:

[ Kouki Amanogawa - Age: 17 - Male - Level: 6

Job: Hero

Strength: 160

Defense: 160

Vitality: 160

Agility: 160

Magic: 160

Magic Defense: 160

Skills: Elemental Affinity - Elemental Resistance - Physical Resistance - Advanced Sorcery - Swordsmanship - Superhuman Strength - Armor Proficiency - Foresight - Increased Mana Recovery - Detect Presence - Detect Magic - Limit Break - Language Comprehension ]

Meanwhile, Rob's real status was like this:

[ Rob Freeman - Age: 29 - Male - Level: 7

Job: Abyss Lord

Strength: 52

Defense: 52

Vitality: 52

Agility: 142

Magic: 62

Magic Defense: 62

Skills: Gifts of the Abyss [+Camouflage] [+Item Box] - Improved Memorization [+Improved Recollection] - Presence Isolation [+Minimum Mind] [+Phantom Step] - Assassination Technique [+Short Sword Proficiency] [+Dagger Proficiency] [+Projectiles Proficiency] [+Hidden Weapons Proficiency] [+Escape Art] [+Transmission Wave] - Shadow Dance - Language Comprehension ]

For your information, the Level of other heroes was around 3~4. As such, you can imagine how hard Rob had been training.

Apart from training his body, honing his skills, and increasing his knowledge, Rob also diligently practiced the Transmute skill of the Synergist Job.

Yes, Rob had made up his mind to take over Hajime's place to fall into the true Orcus Great Labyrinth in a week (if nothing changed).

Because Rob had decided on a path filled with hardships, he began to prepare and gather anything that would help him, including learning Transmute, which certainly would be of immense help in the true Orcus Great Labyrinth.

However, Rob had no affinity for the Transmute skill. Even though he could learn it, he wouldn't be as skilled and efficient as Hajime in using it.

To give an idea of ​​how bad Rob is at transmuting, let's compare the results of Rob and Hajime's transmutation with the same material.

Hajime was only Level 2, and his Magic was only 12 points. However, Hajime could transmute the material 12 times.

Meanwhile, Rob had 62 points in Magic, but he could only transmute the material six times. Also, his result was less refined than Hajime's.

Hajime only needed one-tenth of the magic power Rob had to spend to transmute the same material. In addition, Hajime's precision was far better than Rob's.

The difference in their skills is very clear. Rob had no talent for transmuting, but he still insisted on practicing it.

Whenever Rob felt discouraged, he knew how to motivate himself.

Everyone noticed Rob's drive for self-improvement. While Jugo and Kentarou were worried about him, the natives of the world of Tortus admired him for it. Still, Rob had to satisfy the students' curiosity and soothe their worry when they asked him.

Overall, Rob had gone through a harsh routine, but he had to admit that the strength he gained was satisfying.

---

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Time flew. On the tenth day after the summoning of the heroes, after the morning training session was over, the heroes immediately washed off their sweat and changed to their uniform before gathering in the banquet hall like usual.

Their school uniforms had become a symbol of their status as Summoned Heroes or God's Apostle. The maids always washed and quickly dried them with magic while they were training, so it was always clean and fresh when they wore them.

Back on topic, after gathering in the banquet hall, the heroes separated into their respective groups and then chatted with their close friends.

"Hey! Where's Kousuke?"

Jugo suddenly asked Kentarou, who was discreetly glancing in the direction of his crush, Ayako Tsuji.

Ayako was a girl with average height and body shape with shoulder-length light brown hair in a bob style with a ponytail tied with a pink ribbon; her bangs parted in half revealing her wide forehead. She had a pretty cute face and also wide reddish-brown eyes.

Her Job was Aeromancer.

On top of that, Ayako had a crush on Kentarou, but she was not aware of Kentarou's romantic feelings for her, just as Kentarou was unaware of her feelings for him.

Back on topic, Kentarou turned to Jugo and gave his response, "Huh? I don't know. Is he not here?"

"If he's here, then I haven't seen him."

"Should we call him? Maybe he is somewhere here?"

"That's if he's here. Around this time, hasn't he been staying in the library with Nagumo lately?"

"Now that you've mentioned it, he has been staying in the library lately, hasn't he?"

Both Jugo and Kentarou exchanged bemused glances.

They had noticed that Kousuke had changed since they got summoned to Tortus.

Kousuke had become somewhat driven. It could be seen from how hard he trained and how much he learned about the world they were in.

Kousuke wasn't picky on the subjects, such as magical theories, geography, politics, monster's biologies, and even general knowledge.

It wasn't wrong to say that Kousuke is the most knowledgeable earthlings about Tortus with Hajime being in the second place.

Previously, Kousuke was no different from the commonplace teenager, which meant he liked to enjoy his youth pointlessly with his friends and didn't like studying or exerting his energy too much.

However, Kousuke had become more focused. As Kousuke's long-time friends, both Jugo and Kentarou noticed the change.

At first, Jugo and Kentarou had been worried and questioned Kousuke about his change. After hearing Kousuke's answers, they were satisfied and somewhat guilty.

Kousuke had told them that he wanted to find alternative means to return to Earth apart from completing their mission to assist the Humans of Tortus in their war against the Demons.

Both Jugo and Kentarou felt somewhat guilty that, unlike Kousuke, they were only betting their chance of returning home on completing their mission as the Summoned Heroes.

Despite their somewhat guilty feelings, Jugo and Kentarou did not try to assist Kousuke in learning more knowledge about Tortus, nor did they train harder.

It was because Kentarou and Jugo treated their current situation as a break from the stressful life of Japanese students and their nagging parents. No matter how astounding their abilities had become, they were still immature and naive teenagers, just like the rest of the summoned heroes.

Even Kouki, who had the highest potential, didn't push himself to his limits and break them. Only Kousuke did push his limits and go beyond PLUS ULTRA!

Back on topic, Jugo and Kentarou also didn't think that they could not return to their original world or rather, they were too afraid to think about that outcome, so they deeply buried that thought and forgot about it.

In addition, the experience of getting stronger than ordinary humans on Earth and also having miraculous powers blinded them to the worst thing that could happen. They mistakenly believed that they could somehow manage to complete their mission as the Summoned Heroes.

In a sense, they deluded themselves to maintain their safety and comfort, denying the truth presented before them.

"Well," Jugo shrugged his shoulders as he began, "if he's really here, he'll show himself. You know his complex about his thin presence. Since he hasn't shown himself to us, he must be in the library."

"I suppose you're right..." Kentarou nodded in agreement.

"So, any progress with Tsuji?" Jugo changed the topic suddenly. He had a teasing grin as he asked Kentarou.

Feeling embarrassed, Kentarou blushed and glared at Jugo. "Shut up! You're so noisy!"

Jugo and Kentarou then frolicked around like ordinary teenagers without a care in the world, completely oblivious to how their friend was no longer the same person they once knew.