The nexus was still a little bit crowded when I stepped into it, remnants of individuals were seen scratching their heads at the list inside their respective vision, debating whether they should take on the final few missions in their list. Well, their hesitations were warranted; No one in their right mind would take on the double lizard mission without at least thinking over it a million times.

Technically speaking, this would be the third full day that I spent inside the Nexus. Granted, these were the longest three consecutive days in my whole lifetime, and it didn’t feel like it would be any shorter in the future.

As I stretched, taking my time while strolling towards the back of the nexus, I noticed Sarah wandering in the distance, her head was pointed at what I could only assume was her own little screen below her chest, her eyes scanning left to right as if she was reading something.

I debated approaching her, but our circumstances were a little different this time. Both Phillip, Maria, and Sarah were the ones I’d consider trustworthy; Sarah had a few other secrets that she kept from the party, but I didn’t believe she kept it out of malice. She was careful with the information that she wanted to share, and prying on it would only sever the connection we had from the past life.

“She’s pretty, huh? I get it.” A high-toned voice belonging to someone I knew rang from behind me, “Well, you can do her a favor and stop staring at her.”

“Mari-“ I shut myself up before declaring that I somehow knew her name, “Uh… Yeah, I was...”

Her brows frowned, my previous remark turned her caution a few notches up, “What?”

What the hell am I saying?

“Nevermind…” I said, trying to ease the tension in the air, “Sorry, I was just… on edge, you know with the whole life-or-death thing.”

She studied my expression, then sighed, relaxing her shoulders, “Yeah, me too.”

It was painful to treat her like this was just the first time that we’d met; The same discomfort I felt when I decided to stop being buddies with Phillip. Tackling on the rest of this trial alone was more of a chore than I’d expected, especially when I was alone this time, lacking the human connection that I used to have.

“Alright, I guess, I’ll be on my way. The name’s Maria, by the way.” She said, extending her hand. “You heading to the living quarters?”

“Gr-“ I paused, debating whether I should tell her my real name, “Micheal. And yes, I am heading back too.” We shook hands and walked to the portal. She was as friendly and outgoing as I remembered, even when she didn’t need to find her party until tomorrow. I had assumed that she joined us because of Phillip’s presence before, but now that we were talking… I was… wrong, I guess?

Well, her motivations aside, it was nice to have someone to share my experiences with. Of course, I didn’t tell her anything about what I went through in this life; I shared the intense moments from my ‘previous’ first day instead, the details of which were easy to speak about.

Things were different this time around, the people I met, Sidwell, and everything else other than the missions and timeline of events had shifted. I remembered that it was 7 when I reached the concierge, but it was only three when I stepped into the quarters, four hours earlier than before. Maria and I split off as she wanted to rest in her own room, leaving me and the jarring creature handing me my golden-trimmed key to my room.

A list of where I could go was displayed, and as I expected, I was allowed access to other rooms now. Well, there were two additional rooms I could access now, and one of them lit a fire in my heart.

[Canteen]

[Your room]

[Training Area]

[Council]

I had no intention of entering the council, not when I didn’t know what it was for. The fact that I acquired it after earning the second spot made it obvious that only the owners of the gold-trimmed keycard were allowed to participate in the council, with no mention of its purpose.

However, the training Area sounded… just like what I needed. Was it like the combat training mission? Or…

Screw it, I’ll just head inside and find out myself.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I closed my eyes as a ray of light enveloped me from below, turning parts of my body into particles as it was sucked into the source of the brightness.

In an instant, I felt the cool atmosphere around me replaced with a stiff, humid air with a somewhat musky undertone. My eyes explored the massive room, observing the dozen or so people in there, then came to the conclusion that this wasn’t just a feature that was given to the top ten, but no, the threshold seemed to be at least 50 or more. Perhaps a hundred?

The room itself was of a similar design to the Nexus; Skies that expanded to the infinity with walls so high that they broke past the clouds above, but spread apart inside the walls were rectangular green-ish patches of floor that looked like mini-stadiums, and in the center of each, a floating crystal could be seen. It was the same crystal that was shown in the combat training missions, the only difference being their sizes. The ones here were noticeably smaller.

Clashes between steels resonated from one of the arenas closer to the end of the training area, drawing the attention of those nearby — me included. It was from both of the Asians I saw before; and from their stances and general skill with their chosen weapon, I would say that they were more than proficient with the art of their sword.

The way they utilized their weapons was graceful and tender; Yet each one of their swings was lethal enough to cut through the thick hides of the lizardman. It was a mesmerizing dance, skillful, and deadly. A closer look at their blades revealed that they were holding a katana.

When I turned my attention away from them, I noticed a crowded spot toward the center of the room.

Are you kidding me?

There was a gym, filled with the tools to train each part of your body; Pull-up bars, barbells of all sorts of sizes, treadmills, you call it, were laying around begging for us to use them. It was a bizarre sight, I mean, imagine encountering a gym smack dab in the middle of a white room when you had just returned from multiple life-or-death experiences. I didn’t think I’d ever be in the mood to lift some weights, although, I did miss the times when weight training was routine.

The only question I had was: Would I gain attributes by lifting some weights? Guess we’d find out.

I strolled past a dozen or so arenas, watching more than a few pairs of individuals sparring with each other, treating it like a real fight. The wounds that they accrued were healed instantly; The same type of healing I got during the test and after completing missions. Safe to say, dying shouldn’t be a concern here. All we need to think about was getting stronger.

The smell of sweat was pervasive when I was close to the, uh… Gym area? I couldn’t believe I’d ever say that here.

I drew the attention of a few guys when I stepped inside, like staring at a man that was lost; Perhaps it was due to my body composition, chubby, nonathletic, and sluggish, unlike them who were in shape and ready to curl some barbells any time. I was about to turn away before they smiled.

Oh. They’re all decent people.

When one of my feet stepped into the gym, a message appeared.

[Muscle and endurance growth are sped up by ten times in the training area.]

“Really?” I muttered out loud.

“Ah, you see it too?” A man approached me, looking like he was in his twenties. I noted his short hair; a typical style when you came from the army, and his well-shaped figure. His dark irises and facial structures displayed his middle-eastern descent, “It’s incredible. Me and my friend here, Ali-” He turned and pointed towards a guy bench-pressing away from us, “-can vouch for its effectiveness.”

Neither of them looked like they needed the additional training, but I suppose it was never enough.

“Uh… do you get attributes by doing this?” I asked, noting the different exercise equipment that was available.

He shrugged, “Nope. At least, none so far. But why does it matter? You’d still be stronger if you train without the attributes.”

I knew he was right. If anyone would benefit the most from putting on a few pounds of muscle, that would be me. Hell, I’d love to see this belly gone too. It could get in the way if I was performing rolls and other stuff.

“Come join us!” The middle-eastern guy said, his smile radiating nothing but excitement, “More is merrier!”

I chuckled.

The next—I don’t know, an hour?—went by at a crawling speed. I did a bunch of different sets of exercises, starting from a few familiar ones, bicep curls, push-ups, pull-ups, you name it, then I moved on to the more fancy stuff guided by Ameer. Oh, right, that was his name, we seemed to have bonded over his love of lifting weights and exercising.

Ameer Assaf, I believe he’s at… the eight, I think.

Looking at him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was able to beat the lizardman. While he wasn’t as towering of a figure as Phillip—we stood at about the same height—he radiated experience and resilience in the face of danger, and I’d trust someone like him to lead my squad, no doubt about it.

I wasn’t able to dig too much about his past life. He did mention being in the army but spoke little of anything else after that. It wasn’t because he was hiding it or anything like that, I was just too busy being strained out of my mind from the weights, either that, or I was panting and gasping for air from the treadmills.

And yet, after each set, I felt a noticeable growth stacking up on top of each other. The message was right, the growth I acquired here was tremendous. I felt stronger, faster, and yes, exhausted as hell too, but it was euphoric to notice the growth in real-time. Honestly, it was eerie, but in a good way.

While I would love to stay and do this forever, my muscles had given up by the end of the hour. I was a heaving, sweaty, dirty mess sprawling on the floor, drawing the laughter of Ameer and his friend, while giving me a thumbs up. I couldn’t muster the energy to return their gesture, mouthing off a strangled ‘thanks’ instead.

I felt every inch of my joints aching as I got up, almost tripping from my legs that gave up when I stood upright, compounded by nausea that flooded my senses. It had been years since I last worked out, and this was an eye-opening experience. My body was too sluggish to handle the movements of a proper fighter, and the slowness had resulted in more than a few close deaths. Without my magic, I was nothing.

To move well meant that I was able to position myself faster. To be stronger meant that I was able to take on more hits, draw the attention away from the others, and allow them to do their job better. The way I was now… It was hard to do both of those things. I couldn’t rely on my magic and summons forever, there would be times when I had to deal with things with my own body, and I wasn’t ready then, I would cause harm not only to myself but also to the others with me.

Although, I found it strange that the observer only allowed a select of people to be in here, the training, in theory benefited everyone, so why limit it in such a manner? Regardless, I made a promise to repeat this again tomorrow after all the missions were cleared.