Training Recap and Approaching the End of the Bet

After learning about the truth of his birth parents, Torus felt a determination to get stronger that seemed to consume him at every moment, constantly roaring in the back of his mind, telling him that he wasn't doing enough, that he wasn't good enough. 

This led to Torus taking his training even more seriously than he had previously, now training throughout the entire day rather than just the designated time with his Master. The main way that he trained was using one of the gifts gotten from his parents that had quickly become one of his favorites - the arm sleeves. 

The pressure placed on him by them led to an intoxicating feeling, his growth from them undeniable with the constant burning of his muscles.

While wearing them, Torus could actually feel as every muscle fiber in his body tore before slowly rebuilding itself, becoming stronger and stronger with each iteration. 

However, while this led to an increase in the strength and density of his muscles, Torus didn't like the way it was making his figure become more sleek and streamlined. 

While he didn't necessarily dislike the way a more compact build of muscles looked, it didn't exactly fit the definition he had of a beast. 

Torus figured that he could take advantage of his abnormally large size to become a truly monstrous figure, that along with some alterations to his looks, would give him some Faith whenever someone came across his imposing figure.

(A/N: Think something akin to Thomas Andre from Solo Leveling.)

And after spending a while to learn what made muscles grow in specific ways, Torus found that the best way to grow larger muscles was using weighted training. 

This proved to be a difficult task at the start for Torus, considering he was still getting used to the increased weight he was experiencing. 

However, when he eventually did start to use weights, the results were nearly immediately visible, his muscles beginning to show a steady increase in size. This did lead to some confusion for him, considering that Torus knew that the growth of muscle should take a long period of time. 

However, after he started to read the books given to him by his parents, he got a far more in-depth understanding of what caused muscle growth.

Learning that it was the strain placed on the muscle by the weight/gravity then allowing it to regenerate larger and stronger, Torus realized that his Aspect causing him to have a far faster regeneration was the reason for his fast muscle development. 

Even still, Torus couldn't help but to feel that his development was a little too fast. 

The one bad aspect of this however, was that Torus now had to eat a truly monumental amount of food. 

His calorie requirements were so large in fact, that there wouldn't be enough food left for all of the other villagers if he were to eat the necessary amount from the village stock, meaning Torus had to start hunting for his own food.

This decision ended up being very beneficial for Torus though, when he discovered that hunting prey in the forest allowed him to connect more with his Aspect, allowing him to grow stronger in Spirit. 

Another thing Torus discovered was that the book revolving around how to gain more alignment with his Aspect actually held information on how to direct energy from the God Seed. This meant that it rapidly sped up his plans that were previously going to take a long time for him to accomplish. 

As a result, Torus had already managed to develop the hairs on his tail into needle-like fibers that could be shot off with a flex of will, along with being incorporated with a toxin called nematocysts, something that came from one of the most toxic animals of the past, the Box Jellyfish. 

However, with the development of this into what could be considered a deadly weapon, Torus could no longer use it as his secret weapon in the fight with his Master. This meant he would have to develop some new secret technique to use to surprise his Master.

Even with these large increases in Spirit and Body, the larger changes he had undergone were still in Mind however. 

The reason behind this came from the fact that for both Spirit and Body, he had to do a lot of research into beasts and their evolution, something that boosted his Mind as well. 

Where before, Torus would spend a long period pondering on things before finding something suitable to work on in the Mind element, he no longer had to do this as he already had a plethora of information on beasts that he then learned even deeper into using the pendant given to him by his parents.

These weren't all the aspects that Torus was training in however, as after reading the letter from his parents, Torus had chosen to start learning about Crafting and Imbuing. 

With the book that he had been given on the subject as well as the plethora of resources contained within the chest, Torus began to rapidly advance in Crafting and Imbuement, his Father's notes acting as treasure-trove of sorts for development in this.

That was why, Torus could currently be seen sitting outside in his backyard next to what appeared to be a make-shift furnace, shirtless and hammering down at an anvil. Next to him, a pile of bent out of shape metal could be seen, all of them being failed products from his practicing of Craftsmanship.

It was currently mid-day and Torus had just come back from the forest after hunting an animal for his dinner. With his increasing appetite, the strength and size of the beasts he had to consume continued to rise.

Though Torus didn't feel any annoyance toward this development, how could he considering that hunting stronger and stronger beasts was actually having the effect of strengthening his spirit?

Staring down with a look of utter concentration on his face, Torus consistently raised his hammer to an even height, distributing the same amount of force onto the metal with each heavy swing, his muscles bulging and contracting with every impact. 

Looking at Torus' figure right now, it could be akin to a bear from the past; with the strength he currently had, no normal hammer, anvil or metal could withstand his swings. 

The hammer he was currently using was anything but ordinary however, considering it was something personally crafted for him by his father.

That was why, every time he would swing down with the hammer, Torus could feel nothing but pride and connection to the tool within his hands. 

Getting to use a tool personally made by his father for him, made him feel connected to him in a way that he never had before. While the hammer was very good however, Torus could tell he was rapidly approaching the limits of it. 

This wasn't a failure in the design of the hammer, but rather its intended purpose. Upon getting this hammer, a note was attached to it from his father, explaining to him that this hammer was only supposed to be used so he could become introduced to the concept of Crafting, after that he would need to make one of his own.

However, Torus refused to allow for a gift from his father to be so casually discarded after he had gotten his use out of it. 

That was why he had been trying to find some use for it; so, even while hammering away at the anvil, Torus' mind wasn't truly on the work he was currently making, wandering as he pondered on what exactly it could be used for. 

As he swung down once more however, Torus' eyes shone as he finally thought of a use for the tool. 

Torus knew that the plan he had in mind for his hammer would never work on its own though, the only way that it could become feasible is if he were to get far better at imbuing than he currently was.

So, Torus unceremoniously stopped his hammering, revealing the metal he had previously been hammering down on. Looking it over, Torus could only nod in approval; before him lay a new hammer head, this one appearing around two times as large compared to the one in his hand. 

Walking to another area of the backyard, Torus reached inside the chest his parents had given him, using a bit of energy from his God Seed to open the storage space within and reaching deep inside, pulling something out. 

As his hand pulled up and out, what he had grabbed came into view. It was a large stick that had been carved and polished into the shape of a hilt, clearly made for the hammer head he had just made.

If one were to look at it closely, they would notice the distinct carvings on the side, as well as the feeling of energy that radiated off of each etched symbol.