Chapter 7: Training

"Hm, should I go for the highest setting? No, I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself, no sense in getting too impatient and trying to bite off more than I can chew," I muttered prudently, before settling on the second highest setting and stepping back.I was currently at the gym, having rented out a private training room to train in. I’ve been coming here almost daily, initially to get used to my new body and powers, and now, to keep sharpening my abilities.

There are plenty of instructional videos on combat and martial arts online, as well as workout routines, I’ve been watching a bunch of them to help guide my training.

I’ve been working hard at it for the last two years, and I think I’ve developed a pretty decent technique at this point.

And my training at this gym has helped my steadily hone and refine that technique, thanks to having something to spar against.

The gym provides training robots for Hunters to spar with, and at their highest difficulty setting, the robots are about as strong and fast as the average Q-Ranked Combatant-type Hunter.

Of course, since they are robots, they’re probably easier to fight than actual Hunters would be, their movements lack real complexity and are fairly straightforward once you get used to them, so it’s more that they simulate the speed and strength of a Hunter, rather than ability.

The gym also rents out wooden training weapons, I tried out several different options to try and find one that suited me. I had my heart set on dual wielding blades, but I ultimately settled on a single short-sword.

Dual blades weren’t well-suited to my technique, I couldn’t move all that freely with both my hands occupied, but when I tried using a single blade, it was like something clicked. I felt comfortable wielding it, and like my movements had been freed up.

So, yeah, I’d say my physical training is going pretty smoothly. I’ve also tested out and experimented with a few of my Skills, to at least get a feel for how they work.

But there was a limit to how much I could experiment with them. I don’t have enough MP to use some of them at all, and I can only maintain the rest for a short while, plus some of them require a living target to be used on, and I can’t exactly go around using them on random people.

My Greed Skills, Treasury and Appraisal are the exceptions, both cost basically no MP to use, which is great considering how damn convenient they are.

Alright, time to focus up, looks like the training bot is booted up and ready to begin.

I flicked my wooden short-sword up into the air, stepping forward as it began to plummet back down, before cracking my neck as I caught the training weapon in my right hand, swiftly assuming a defensive stance as the bot shot towards me.

I ducked as it closed in and swung its right arm across at my head, feeling a slight breeze against my hair as its arm whizzed over the top of my head, before I drove the wooden sword up with a twisting thrust of my arm, striking the bot’s neck, in a gap in its metal exoskeleton, a loud, metallic thunk ringing out upon impact.

As it recoiled slightly and stumbled a bit off-balance, I got low and planted my left palm on the floor, tensing the muscles in my left arm before balancing on it and whipping my right foot up and across, striking the side of the bot’s left arm and sending it stumbled across to its right.

I shot towards it as it began to regain its balance, getting low again as I closed in and rapidly swept my left foot across, striking the side of its leg and knocking it over.

A sharp clank echoed out as its back hit the floor, before I sprang up and unleashed a powerful, twisting thrust of my wooden blade, striking its neck once again and swiftly springing back as it began to get back up.

Hm?

"End combat," I remarked as I stepped back, the bot shutting down with a quiet whir and slumping against the floor.

Crap, the training sword cracked with that last strike, it’s pretty deep and wide.

I hope the gym doesn’t fine me or demand that I pay for this. At any rate, I can’t keep using this one, a couple more strikes and it’ll probably break.

On another note, I think I did pretty good, if I do say so myself. In terms of speed and power alone, the bot definitely had me beat, but my technique more than made up for that.

My reflexes and reaction time have definitely improved, and I’ve gotten faster and more agile too. Besides MP, my stats have increased a bit too, so I’ve got literal evidence of my improvement.

Hm, but maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, I shouldn’t overestimate my abilities.

At its second-highest setting, the bot is physically comparable to a lower-end Q-Ranked Hunter, but a skilled Hunter of that level would undoubtedly be much more of a challenge than the bot was.

I think I should be good to start sparring against it at its highest setting now. Gotta say, this is pretty damn encouraging.

When I first started my training, I struggled against the training bots even at their lowest setting, and now, for the first time, I managed to beat it without losing even 1 HP.

Hey, Ai, I thought the only way to increase my stats was through my Gluttony Skills, so how come they’ve gone up through physical training?

<Your body is still growing and maturing, so you are naturally going to get a bit stronger until your body is fully mature>

<And yes, you can also increase your stats through physical training>

<I did not mention it because the amount your stats can increase by through physical growth and training is quite minimal, you are close to having reached the limit with the latter>

<Additionally, regarding your improvement, it would be more accurate to say that you have grown more skilled, rather than having grown stronger>

<Physically, you are only marginally stronger than you were two years ago>

<However, you have become significantly more skilled>

<Your instincts are sharper, you are more in-tuned to your senses, your control over your body, and thus your agility and reaction time, has improved quite drastically as well>

<In other words, it is primarily a case of you having become much better at using your abilities>

Huh. Cool, that’s a nice little boost to my ego, glad to know my hard work has paid off.

And the best part is, I know that my technique is still far from perfect, which means I’ve still got tons of room for improvement.

Alright, anyway, I should get back to it.

First, I’ll go replace this damaged training sword, and then I’ll test out my abilities against the bot at its highest setting. I’m feeling pretty good about myself right now, might as well keep the ball rolling.