Over the days leading up to Friday, Alfred worked himself to the bone.

Not one hour was wasted. He would begin his morning on Tuesday by practicing the second exercise for level 2 of the Isolation footwork before heading off to breakfast. Last night, he finished his memorization at 2am, giving him again only four hours of sleep.

Alfred's silent efforts to enhance his endurance, now by controlling a portion of the residual äura left by his refinement, seemed to not only help with resisting HSM's backlash, but also resisting other ailments (namely, sleep).

After wolfing down breakfast, he returned to practice the first exercise for level 2. Despite Cysandoth saying it should take a bit longer, he seemed to have gained some understanding from memorizing the movements of later stages, boosting his comprehension levels for the second level much farther than anticipated.

By the beginning of his four hour refinement session starting at 10am, he felt he had achieved close to 80% completion rate, putting him on track to mastering the second level by the end of the day.

After the refinement session, he went immediately to the third exercise.

Alfred fought the wisp by taking even more risks and putting himself in extremely awkward situations. Some he managed to survive with only a few superficial hits taken, some he got rocked, and others he even came out on top. The latter only happened with relative frequency near the end.

By the time he reached a 100% completion rate, when compared to the day before, he was much more battered and sweaty.

He tensely hobbled over to Cysandoth's tree.

"~Master!~" he said while panting. "I've completed the second level- *Pant- Pant~*"

Cysandoth was in his mind again, but his eyes opened at that line. "Show me," he said finally.

Alfred picked up the book and brought it over, showing him a crisp 100% floating in view.

"It seems you are… good jo- egh!"

Cysandoth was cut off by the smell Alfred was emitting. He had not taken a shower in over a week (from Catherine's memories), and the smell had reached a breaking point.

"Go to the bathrooms!" he said while holding his nose.

Alfred nodded and turned to leave, but he stopped himself.

"What is it?" Cysandoth asked.

"I- I don't know where they are…" Alfred responded.

Cysandoth slapped his forehead. "*Tsk* Why do I keep forgetting you're new? Here, I'll show you." Cysandoth got up and began walking at a fast pace. "Don't come too close, even the sense of smell is enhanced with residual äura."

Alfred nodded and increased the distance between them.

As it was late, the women's showers were empty. He was glad, since it would have been a little awkward for him to see them naked seeing as he was still a man at heart.

In said showers, he was surprised to find a generic, odorless soap to clean. It wasn't much, but it did the job of removing all of the dirt and sweat that had built up on his body over the past week.

The rest of that night was uneventful. He had finished with only one hour left, so he spent it memorizing before he fell asleep. The next day was similar. He began level 3's second exercise, went to breakfast, came back to practice the first one, refined, and even did some of the third exercise at the end (with the rest of the refining mixed in there).

He quickly realized why his master had only had him do the third exercise after he accomplished an 80% completion rate. Frankly, he had his ass whooped.

At the end of the first day with his hands on level 3, he had a 55% completion rate. He had practiced with it till 2am, so he had no time to memorize more techniques.

Thursday followed Wednesday's events almost identically. Except that day, he reached 100% completion rate with level 3.

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At this point, all Alfred's unconscious movements followed the rules set out by the Isolation footwork so well, that he had removed all feelings of restriction.

His development speed seemed insane, but the teaching style of the grimoire fit Alfred's personality and ability perfectly. He often couldn't help but inwardly praise the creators of it for their ingenuity, and was saddened that he might not be able to recreate it in future reincarnations.

He has learned some of his limits, though. Pain, now that he could feel a bit again, was not an issue if it meant learning something, and sleep could have less priority placed on it. He also now knows to constantly stay alert to the time and surroundings while training, since he often finds himself lost in them.

Currently, Alfred was walking back to his bed, which he had not slept in for the past three days.

'I know I have to fight something tomorrow, but it feels like a waste to not at least spend time memorizing techniques…' he thought to himself.

Alfred had only been in the colosseum for one week, and had only participated in one fight, but he already found Fridays pointless. Hours of time wasted that could be spent completing his training with the Isolation footwork, which currently sat atop his to-do list.

Level 3 of the Isolation footwork, while faint, made his body more responsive to his commands. Instead of having to force the muscles to contort in dangerous ways like to achieve the desired results, Alfred could almost essentially do the same thing on a dime. His excitement only grew whenever he imagined how level 5 would feel.

'Still,' he thought, 'I get to refine after I finish. It's not much worse-'

"-Ah!" he slapped his forehead. 'That's what it was! I need to ask master about the difference between a slave and a gladiator!'

.

.

.

Friday morning, Alfred got up before the majority of slaves in the slaughter house because of habit. He shrugged it off and went to an early breakfast.

In the canteen, he ate quickly and began refining. Through that long sleep, he felt full of energy but slightly sore. The refinement quickly fixed that, though.

Nothing happened throughout the breakfast that forced Alfred out of his refinement, which he was grateful for. From the two Fridays he had been in the colosseum, it seemed that the slaughterhouse slaves were very timid on their day of reckoning regardless of age.

Soon, seemingly much sooner than the other slaves would have liked, the guard came to order them to relocate to the SE.

Without hesitation, Alfred shot up to make his way there first. His proficiency with the Isolation footwork coupled with his now completely refreshed body and mind nimbly carried him there before some slaves had even cleaned up their food.

There were no other children in the SE yet, so Alfred took this opportunity to line up first near the door. His SE room always seemed to go first on regular days.

Again, to pass the time, Alfred refined. The few who had remembered him from last Friday chuckled at his eagerness, but soon lost interest once again. Alfred even caught a few saying last time was beginners luck.

'Today will be much different,' he thought while smiling. 'Even after one week, I seem to have progressed what would have taken months of steroid-enhanced progress on earth in a single week, alongside now having OK footwork.'

By the time the doors to the SE closed, Alfred saw only two more children than those that survived last time, which only amounted to 20/200 in all of the four SEs. Five of those 20 just happened to be in his, including him.

The same guard that opened the door last time for Alfred was there. He spared Alfred a nod before opening the door.

Again, Alfred received his gear. He adjusted the chestplate and swung the sword a couple times before exiting into the arena. He was met with the same blinding light followed by a thunderous roar.

Once it settled down, the announcer started.

"...~This day, we have a special guest~" he said in a foreboding tone.

Alfred tensed up at that sentence, but made sure to stay warm by stretching.

After a masterfully timed silence, the announcer continued. "...~As many should know, next week starts the preliminaries for our yearly tournament. With us here this day, please welcome the representative of the Vars Antony colosseum: Heinlich von Zürn~"

A medium sized -in both height and build- and relatively young man with what could only be described as a golden mane walked out on que. He was wearing a dark blue trench coat that didn't really suit the weather that day.

"!!!"

Alfred was very confused. He wondered whether or not he was supposed to be out there, but nobody corrected his presence after a quick look around. Alfred shrugged and stayed put to focus on Heinlich.

'I guess… he does look like a lion… did they mix the two up?' he questioned, half joking. 'At this point, mixing the two up would be more reasonable than for me to fight someone who so obviously is a master.'

The man noticed his gaze, and sent him a warm smile that Alfred did not return.

"...~Sir Zürn has come to do the honorary testing of the younger generation. Slaves will have ten minutes each to land one hit on him. Lose, and there will be no punishment. Win, and you will be provided 1,000 boons.~

…~Begin~"

Alfred was understandingly surprised at the thought of getting a reward so good for simply landing a hit, but he knew it wouldn't be easy. On the same note, it shouldn't be impossible either.

His stupor didn't last long, as he then proceeded to jog towards Heinlich. 'There is no way he isn't handicapped. If he wanted to, I'm sure there would be no way I could ever touch him as I am now. Five years may not even be enough preparation for that.

Heinlich had moved from his original position closer towards Alfred. The two eventually stopped within ten meters of each other.

Heinlich stood there with great confidence and pride emanating from his body, not unlike the animal he so resembled.

"Greetings, fair young lady! As you have heard, I am Heinlich von Zürn. How are you called?" he asked.

Alfred didn't immediately respond. 'His speech is weird, but I don't remember them saying he was from another country… there must be multiple languages spoken in Yahn, despite being ruled by a Monarch.'

Heinlich patiently waited for an answer. That sight forced Alfred to respond after he let out a sigh.

"... I… I am Öthe," he said with an almost unnoticeable bow. "Öthe of Junanbi.

Alfred was told by his master that, when introducing himself to others, he should say his name followed by his discipline, if he didn't have a last name.

Heinlich nodded in satisfaction. "Öthe is a prideful name, young lady. I will remember it. May the great Elephant bless you with knowledge and strength," he said.

Although confused, Alfred performed a deeper bow and readied his sword and shield.

'Here goes nothing!'