When Edge made it back to his room, he pulled up his profile while deciding where to begin. He was surprised to find that he already had an update waiting for him.
By conditioning the connection between your body and brain, your perception has increased by 1.
Awesome! Riller’s training must have had that goal in mind, on top of teaching me the basics of stealth. With any luck, I can train up several more attributes before it’s time for my final exam.
Edge was sure that his journey across the plains had played a role too. It normally took weeks of diligent, daily exercise to increase an attribute via conditioning. The first few points came easily. The last two were generally hard, to the extent that most tourists never got them unless they were related to their specialty.
If he was lucky, he could pick up another dozen or so conditioning points during the next few months, and the rest over the coming year. He was willing to work hard to reach that goal, saving his attribute points from cycling-up to boost his energetic stats instead. That way, he could improve his body and skills at the same time, increasing his effectiveness across a broad range of situations.
Pleased by his progress, Edge summoned his Guide and went into his settings. He enabled the conditioning menu and popup notifications in his profile. Then he took a quick look at his progress to date.
Physical conditioning (Attribute points may be conditioned up to five points each)
Power: 0 Reflex: 0 Endurance: 2 Perception: 1 Speed: 0 Control: 0 Durability: 2
After today’s session, Edge had a lead on how to condition his perception, and he knew the basics of how to improve most of the rest.
Power could be increased by general strength training. Endurance and speed could both be improved by running, although sprints were better for speed and marathons for endurance. He could work on both at once by alternating his pace.
Durability came from recovering from injuries, and reflex and control from taking dexterous actions in various settings. He wasn’t sure what kind of training would work best to boost them, since such knowledge was valuable and a closely guarded secret on the feed.
While he was mulling it over, Edge decided to start off by working on his power.
He got down on the floor and started doing pushups, pleased that he was able to pump out a round sixty before he collapsed from exhaustion. Far more than he could have done before coming to Ord.
He moved onto sit-ups, then crunches, ending the session with a set of back lifts.
By the time he was done, he was sweating and shaking, so weak that he could barely rise from the floor. Wincing at the soreness encasing his body like a mantle of thorns, he decided to call it a day. When Edge went to drink some water, a stray thought crossed his mind.
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I’m lucky that I can heal wounds so easily. It should make it easier to pick up some extra durability over time, just from surviving the fights ahead.
That was when it hit him. Wait… Regeneration should be able to heal the damage I take from intense exercise too. Muscles grow when they are broken down through use, then the fibers heal stronger and denser than before.
Normally, it takes time for the torn tissue to repair itself before the process can be repeated. But Edge had a way to restore his muscles to prime condition within a matter of minutes, if he was willing to burn a little mana to boost their recovery.
In short, he might be able to use regeneration to condition his body far faster than would normally be possible. He just had to wait long enough to catch his breath, and he could keep right on going, racking up days’ worth of progress in a matter of hours.
It seems sound in theory. Let’s give it a shot. Edge turned on the skill, eager to see what would happen. Two minutes later, the pain in his limbs subsided and his strength began to return.
With that, he got down on the floor, placed his hands shoulder-width apart, and began doing pushups again. Ten. Twenty. Around forty pushups, he was really feeling the burn, pleased to learn that he could do just as many this time around. Sixty.
At sixty-five pushups, his arms gave out from under him, and his chest hit the floor with a thud. He moved on to his other exercises, coming to a stop when the last set was complete.
Ok, that part worked. Now it’s time to find out if my muscles are improving the same way they normally would after an intense workout. Edge repeated the process for the better part of three hours, reflecting on his adventures as his sweat dripped down to the tiles below.
He soon fell into a meditative trance. His world was reduced to the pumping of his arms. The rise and fall of his breath. The warm tingle he felt when using his healing skill.
Edge was drawn out of his reverie when a message from his Guide appeared in front of his face. He broke into a beaming smile as he pulled himself into a seated position, because it was exactly what he’d been hoping to see.
By conditioning your body, your power has increased by 1.
He laughed out loud as he read the words, realizing that he’d just condensed a week’s worth of growth into a matter of hours. He was so excited that he wanted to dance. If this method was as promising as it seemed, he could max out his power in a matter of weeks. Months faster than everyone else on the planet.
Encouraged by his success, he decided to devote at least a few hours every day to the practice. If Warren wound up coming for him after all, Edge would have a surprise in store for the manslayer. Several cycles worth of additional power.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a comparable way to raise control or reflex by this rapid-healing technique. He would just have to train them the old-fashioned way. Maybe I’m missing something obvious, I should try asking around.
But speed and endurance were another matter. I’ll work on them next. If I push myself hard running around town, they should be easy to raise. On that note, Edge took a cold shower and drank his fill. Then he dried himself off and made his way over to the public green.
The green was set along the south side of the town square. It was a place where people could mingle and camp. Where the peace was kept by patrolling deputies, and you didn’t have to watch your back quite so closely. Beasts were only allowed on one portion of the grass, and their owners were required to clean up after them or they would lose the privilege of using it.
Since the mayor had decided to waive the overnight fee, the green held far more people than normal, mostly fresh tourists who were stranded by the anomaly. They sat on blankets surrounded by tents, tending small cookfires while talking to one another.
None of that was why Edge was here. In addition to public restrooms and showers, the green had exercise equipment that anyone could use, including a track around it for people to jog.
He made his way to the track and then started to run, taking it slow at first to warm himself up. Once he was ready, he began pushing himself hard, working up a sweat until his legs burned. Then he healed himself while catching his breath, drained his canteen, and kept right on going.
He wasn’t expecting to raise his endurance tonight, since he had conditioned it two points already. But speed was still on the table. On that note, he switched to wind sprints, jogging between each set while he cooled down, then regenerating his injuries and throwing himself back into motion again.
Sunset came and went, and the magtech lanterns flickered on. Edge picked up a few spectators along the way, but at least his performance had an explanation that had nothing to do with his core.
Just as he was about to give up for the night, the message he was hoping for appeared.
By conditioning your body, your speed has increased by 1.
Badass. Thrilled that he would be able to condition his body far faster than he’d ever dreamed, Edge walked back to the Pioneer. He picked up his dinner on his way to his room and then called it a night, planning to push himself even harder tomorrow.