Just like yesterday, I met up with Thaddeus again at the gym at 5:00am since we had Martial Body Conditioning (MBC) at 7:25. It was a bit of a drag to get myself out of bed since waking up anytime before 11:00am is like asking to die, but sometimes you need to die a bit inside to better yourself. That’s what I told myself to get through high school and college, anyway.

We did a brief warm-up and some weight training, followed by the same meditation practice as yesterday. Even though it was only the second day, I already noticed a significant shift in the natural flow of my mana. Since we finished a little earlier this time, we had a small gap before we had to leave for MBC.

After a quick shower to rinse off the sweat, we sat down on a bench near the training field where MBC would take place. Thaddeus leaned back on the bench while draping a damp cloth over his eyes. He took a swig of water from a plastic bottle and cleared his throat.

“You might be a natural at this,” he said. “It’s only been a day and you already went from the level of a four-year-old to a five-year-old.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Eh, take it for what it is. It’s proof that you’re making progress, right?”

“With how early I’m waking up for this, I sure hope so.”

He let out a low chuckle. “Fair enough.”

There was a slight pause before he changed the subject. “So you remember how I asked you to help me save the world?”

“Yeah?” I replied nonchalantly.

“I received a mission from Prince August last night. I’m gonna start looking for some monster poachers on Saturday. You want in?”

My body momentarily tensed and I had to force myself to relax. “Monster poachers?” I repeated.

They were still in the story? The monster poachers were supposed to be part of Lilith’s arc at the same time as the magic bombing incidents.

“Yeah. There’s supposedly a group of cadets from the Eastern Empire who smuggled monsters into Horizon Academy. Our informant says they have an underground monster-fighting pit and everything.”

“Hmmm…”

This was admittedly unexpected. Since Lilith was the instigator in the original story, I expected this arc to be skipped entirely…

“I know you aren’t ready to fight yet, but that won’t be a problem. I want you to see what we’re up against and how dangerous it is. If the situation turns violent, I won’t let anything hurt you. In fact, I think this will be a necessary experience for both of us.”

“You said we’d be starting on Saturday?” I checked.

“That’s right.”

“What about the gnome dungeon on Monday? The one full of British Army Gnomes outside of Remington?”

I slipped in the location and the type of the gnome dungeon from the original story to check if it was still the same.

“Dang dude, you figured that much out already? I was just gonna tell you, but I guess you have your ways.”

“Well, something like that.”

This was perfect. I already knew the location and the type of gnomes, and it wasn’t likely that Gramma felt the need to change the layout of the dungeon. While I wouldn’t be able to clear it on my own, I should be able to put on a good show with my current abilities.

“Unless something goes wrong, we should be able to finish this mission in a day or two and let Prince August handle the rest,” Thaddeus said.

Well, if things followed the original story, something would go wrong, but this time there was a variable called the original author involved.

“Awesome. Where should I meet you? And do I need to prepare anything?”

Thaddeus pulled the cloth from his eyes and leaned forward. “Meet me by the vending machines on the basement floor of the west wing at 8am Saturday morning. I’ll take care of all the supplies on our missions for now since you’ll be acting as my apprentice until you finish your training.”

Wow…

Free stuff? Suddenly, Thaddeus looked like he was sparkling. The dazzling light blinded me for a moment and I dabbed at the water budding in my eyes due to the purely physiological reaction.

“Apprentice? Are we using titles, then? Should I call you ‘master’?” I teased.

“Hah, no. I ain’t no master, I’m just teaching you ‘cause I have more experience. When you get to around my level, you can take on more responsibility.”

Yeah, that was about the response I was expecting. It was kind of odd seeing a person say the lines I wrote, though it was a different person who made that ‘should I call you master’ joke in the original novel.

Thaddeus jumped to his feet and tossed the cloth he was holding into his storage space before offering me a hand. “Let’s head over to class. Looks like people are starting to show up.”

“Sure,” I accepted and he pulled me to my feet.

We moved through the gate into Training Field 5—the field reserved for MBC at this time on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

There was exactly one familiar figure standing in the field when we arrived. The massive, red-skinned, four-armed demon stood out amidst all the others with his brand-new—yet already sweat-stained—loincloth. Asura waved with two of his hands when he noticed us and strode over. It was probably my imagination, but it felt like the field shook with every rumbling step he took.

“Greetings, little men!”

“‘Sup, big guy,” I replied. “I see you found the loincloth shop alright?”

“I did indeed. One of your little females screamed when I entered, but the rest had stronger wills. After much tribulation, I settled on this piece of artistry,” he answered while gesturing to the cloth at his waist.

“Cool story, bro.”

He shook his head. “I am not your brother.”

“That’s true,” I agreed easily.

“Hey, big guy, I’ve been wondering about something…” Thaddeus said.

“What is it?”

He smacked Asura’s shoulder with a fist. “You have some pretty nice arm muscles here. When you do curls, do you work all four arms at the same time, or do you rotate your arms in sets?”

Asura raised all four of his arms and flexed, showing off his ripped, veiny arms. “This is my natural constitution. Fiends are born strong as there is no other way for us to survive.”

He wasn’t wrong. I only wrote a few paragraphs about it in my notes, but the general summary was that the Demon Realm was a fallen world. It was very dangerous to live there and the only demonic races that survived were those that were either strong enough to survive, or adaptable enough to persist. Fiends were the former type. They were born big and powerful, and it didn’t take very long for them to learn to fight effectively compared to most other races. Their natural combat sense was second to none.

Furthermore, Asura was one of the most gifted fiends to date. He was regarded by some to represent the pinnacle of his race’s potential.

In other words, it was very much in my best interest to stay on his good side. Depending on how things went in the future, he could be a very powerful meatshie—I mean, ally.

“Let’s have a match sometime,” Thaddeus replied enthusiastically.

“I am always ready,” Asura accepted.

We chatted for a few more minutes until the professor arrived. Similar to his quiet, yet dramatic entrance when he arrived to proctor the entrance exams, Professor Lincoln confidently strode onto the field. The heavy pressure that heralded his approach crushed our souls and left some students reeling.

Like before, he was wearing cargo pants and sneakers with his military jacket. His Hero-rank badge proudly displayed the number ‘47’ over his left breast. Though it was hard to say if there were only forty-six people in the world who were stronger than him for various reasons, the number was still oppressively meaningful.

How many Heroes were there in the world?

Every year, thousands of people throughout every country seek to make a name for themselves. Like aspiring adventurers in fantasy stories, there were Heroes of varying levels of experience in every town and city. If you add up all those people throughout the world and make a ranking system, the list will be ridiculously large.

That list is the Hero Rankings.

Any Hero in the top 10,000 is considered to be the pinnacle of the human race. Those in the top 1,000 are monsters, and the top 100 are unfathomably powerful to normal people. Meeting a top 100 Hero is like staring at the sun—a distant star that has enough power to end your world, yet the average person simply doesn’t comprehend what they are looking at.

Professor Lincoln was one of those unfathomable beings, and ranking at 47 meant he was on the stronger side.

Of course, as the author, I knew that he was basically fodder in front of the top 10 Heroes. In the original web novel, Thaddeus was only just barely reaching the level of the top 10 when my story went on Hiatus. Honestly, I never did decide whether I wanted him to reach rank 1 or not. Maybe I was starting to feel the limitations of having a too-overpowered protagonist. The current rank 1 Hero was kind of a special character anyway…

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

But I digress too far from the current scene. I’ll avoid going further into spoiler territory and return to the lecture that already started.

“...throughout this course. I expect each and every one of you to fulfill those requirements and track your progress daily. Your grade in this course will be determined based on your progress.”

I… seem to have missed something important…

Fortunately, I wrote this scene in the original web novel, so I could easily guess what I missed. It was probably just the list of exercises we had to do every day that I ripped off from some gag story about a bald guy who kills everything with a single punch. My readers weren’t too enthusiastic about that one but I’m not a magical physical therapist or a magical gym coach. How in the world was I supposed to create a ‘realistic’ magical exercise routine that molds Heroes into supersoldiers?

=Setting Change=

After extensive research, I have determined that the workout routine copied from a gag story would not be effective enough for readers to suspend their disbelief in this setting.

The daily exercises required for the Introduction to Martial Body Conditioning course and all derivative courses have been adjusted to better reflect realistic training measures.

Enjoy the change!

-Gramma

=============

‘Well, damn.’

I wanted to curse out the Editor, but I didn’t have time since the lesson was still ongoing.

“For today, we will be sparring using only our bodies. Cybernetic implant arrays and the passive effects of demonic contracts are acceptable as they are effectively part of your body, but traditional weapons, modern weapons, alien weapons, magic-empowering weapons, and externalized magic spells are not allowed.”

Oh, shoot. If I took away all of that, then all I had left was my dashing good looks…

“I have already looked over each of your abilities and paired you up with suitable partners.”

He proceeded to call out several pairs of names. Thaddeus was paired with some random guy from the royal class named Derrick in the original novel, but…

“Thaddeus and Asura.”

He got paired up with the fiend, instead. As the professor reached the end of the list, the name ‘Derrick’ was never called, so his entire character was probably replaced by Asura after the Retcon.

Also, he didn’t call my name.

I raised my hand. “Professor?”

Prof. Lincoln raised a palm. “I am aware that I didn’t call your name. There is an odd number of students in the class, and I was unable to properly assess your abilities during the exam. For today’s practice, you will spar with me.”

…Oh.

I resisted the urge to curse and put on an amenable smile. “Sure thing!”

‘What should I do?’

This was bad. If he realized from this spar that I don’t belong in the royal class yet, he had the authority to kick me out. I needed to stay in royal class so I could be part of the main cast.

Each pair separated into different parts of the training field. Prof. Lincoln directed me to the exact center of the field, in full view of every person in the class.

“Cadet Brick. Before we start, I wish to gain a better understanding of your powers. Do you possess any physical enhancements or powers to augment your body?”

“I do not.”

Rule of Cool could sorta do that, but it wasn’t reliable. I wasn’t even sure how to trigger it intentionally, so I decided to conceal it for now.

“When you registered, you were evaluated to have no abilities, yet you clearly demonstrated a magical explosion in your exam.”

“When I registered, I didn’t have any abilities. I recently gained a magic trait that gave me the explosive attribute.”

Prof. Lincoln folded his arms. “How?”

Fortunately, I prepared an answer for this offscreen. While it was supposed to be incredibly uncommon for people to develop new traits after reaching adulthood, there were a few ways for it to happen. As the all-knowing author, I naturally knew what they were. For example…

“I kissed a demon, sir.”

He blinked. “What?”

“With tongue.”

He stared at me like he thought I was unexpectedly stupid.

To be fair, not many humans would have figured this part out yet. Unlike humans, demons were a fundamentally magical race. They had mana in every cell of their beings. It was a small flavor detail that I put into my notes but never used.

Simple skin-to-skin contact with a demon was enough to stimulate the mana inside a human, though the effect was small enough that most wouldn’t notice unless they were exceptionally sensitive to fluctuations in mana. If one were to take a step further and kiss a demon, it was possible for the human to develop a magical trait. I never explored this in the original story since I don’t like writing romance and it had the potential to get into some sketchy territory, but I did include it in my setting.

While Lilith did kiss me, I didn’t develop a magic trait, though it could have happened. The ‘with tongue’ part wasn’t true either, nor was it entirely necessary, but I said it to throw him off balance.

“Your interesting life choices aside, what does that have to do with developing a magic trait?”

“You’ll have to trust me on this one, sir. I may have stumbled onto a great discovery. If you want to verify my claim, you’ll need to line up a ton of people and have them all make out with demons.”

“Funny,” he scoffed. “If you don’t wish to tell me the real reason, then fine. Let’s start our spar. According to the rules, you cannot use any externalized explosion magics.”

I shrugged while mentally smirking. He didn’t have to believe me now. I planted the seed so that when the discovery was made in the future, he would have to think that I was telling the truth.

“Come at me,” he ordered.

I raised my fists and sprinted forward, throwing a wild haymaker with my right arm. He caught my fist with his palm and his face twisted.

“...Is that it?”

“...”

Instead of responding, I tried to kick his shin.

He checked my leg with his knee and then nudged me gently with his fingers, sending me reeling. His eyes narrowed. “Cadet, what is your strength stat right now?”

“...1,” I answered truthfully.

“...”

His stare was painful.

‘I know it’s pathetic, alright?!’ I wanted to shout.

“You should work on that,” he finally said. “Right now a stiff breeze could kill you. I’m honestly more confused than ever. How in the world did you survive that explosion unharmed?”

“I’m more of a magic specialist,” I half-lied. “I kinda messed up and didn’t train my body until now. I have some catching up to do.”

He studied me for a moment, his roaming eyes searching for something. Finally, he sighed. “I’ll leave it at that, for now. I’m not fond of how many secrets you keep, but I do understand the need for caution.”

“Thank you.”

“That being said, we will continue with today’s lesson. Before you begin using mana to enhance your body, you must master the fundamentals. Your form is terrible; it’s almost like you’ve never fought before in your life…”

Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong there. I killed the Magic Bomber, but that was with a surprise attack, and I used Retcon when Lilith almost killed me before.

I was horrendously unbalanced at the moment. My body was weak, my magic circuit was damaged, and my only spell was the high-tier Explosion.

But that just meant this was the perfect opportunity for me to grow.

“Let’s continue,” I said.

He nodded and took a stance.

Taking a deep breath to calm my mind, I observed his form, taking in the position of his raised hands guarding his chin. His weight was more on his back leg, with his feet forming the shape of an L.

I was too inexperienced to tell if there were any openings in his stance, but that didn’t matter. I made a sloppy attempt to imitate his stance and slowly approached, angling my movement to the left. He adjusted his feet and followed me, his unwavering eyes dissecting my movements.

With a shout, I rushed forward and jabbed with my leading hand. He caught it with his palm again and grunted in surprise. Ignoring my protesting knuckles that were starting to turn red, I followed up with my other hand and he checked it with his arm.

This was it. I went straight for the cheap shot and raised my knee, aiming for a man’s weakest spot. A surge of strength filled my body and a faint, red aura surrounded my knee.

Professor Lincoln scowled and caught my knee, the red aura immediately dissipating. At the same time that the red aura faded away, the feeling of strength left me.

“Not only did you break the rules by using magic to augment yourself, but you lied about possessing the ability to do so. I am not thrilled, cadet.”

“...”

I… wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t exactly augment myself on purpose.

“And of all stats you could have used, you picked ‘Charm’? Seriously? I’m starting to get a handle on what kind of person you are. You may leave for the day. I’m not interested in teaching those who won’t follow the rules.”

“...Alright,” I mumbled.

I could have given him any number of excuses, but it was true that I broke the rules. It would do more damage to my relationship with him if I tried to weasel my way out of this.

Instead of leaving, I moved to the side of the training field and searched for Thaddeus and Asura. It didn’t take too long to find them since the large, four-armed fiend with red skin stood out.

“Damn…” I muttered in appreciation.

I didn’t understand everything that I was seeing, but I could tell that both of them were really good. Thaddeus stepped in, his arm a blur that I could barely follow with my eyes. Asura blocked it with two arms and used the other two to retaliate.

Thaddeus retreated for a moment, and there was a brief pause as the two exchanged a few words. Then Thaddeus kicked off the ground, leaving a divot in the grass. Asura blocked his punch with his forearm and his arm buckled under the impact, bending at an unnatural angle. Thaddeus spun in place and slammed his heel into the fiend’s side, sending the massive demon flying halfway across the field, crashing into the fence.

All fighting stopped and everybody turned to stare at the main character of this world.

“Thaddeus! No using magic!” Professor Lincoln shouted.

“I didn’t use magic,” he replied sheepishly while scratching the back of his neck. “That was just a kick.”

“Oh…”

Even the professor was speechless. He pulled out a tablet from somewhere and checked something.

I knew what he was looking at.

As the author, I was well aware of what Thaddeus’ stats were like right now. I’ll include a table here so you can appreciate just how broken he is.

===Status===

Name: Thaddeus

Level: 4

=Dynamic Stats=

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Dexterity: 4

Stamina: 6

Magic Control: 4

Magic Power: 7

=Static Stats=

Intelligence: 3

Charm: 3

→Class: None

→Abilities:

→Skills: Elemental Sword, Sword Magic, Sword Affinity

→Traits: Infinite Sword Energy, Infinite Mana, All-Element Specialist, Curse Immunity, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity

→Weapon Arts: World Severing Blade, Heaven and Earth Fist, Thousand Gale Steps

→Spells: Teleport, Dimensional Storage, Enchant, Fireball, Ice Lance, Wind Storm, Lightning Step, Earth Barrier, …

===========

Professor Lincoln was only getting access to the stats and the abilities that Thaddeus chose to reveal when he enrolled, but it was enough to make him one of, if not the most powerful young adult in history.

“Well, that’s just ridiculous…” the professor grumbled. “I apologize for my misunderstanding.”

“No problem,” Thaddeus said. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

Asura finally recovered and pulled himself out of the crumbling fence. He had a stupidly happy grin on his face. “No, that was fun. We should fight with magic next time.”

“Sure,” Thaddeus agreed.

“”...”” Nobody else said anything.

I shuddered just imagining how destructive these two would be if they went all out. Then I remembered my own spar with the professor.

I had a long way to go…