"You want to join my training?"
"Yeah. I have reflected on my combat system and realised that I have been too reliant on my mana for reinforcement. Building muscle will help if I can't use mana." Akeru rubbed his neck.
"Sure, let's get started." Asta nodded and started his daily regimen.
10 Minutes later...
"Hah... I think my body needs a break." Akeru lay on his back, panting.
"How can you say that so early? You've got more in you. You need to push your limits just as Yami-san says!"
Akeru looked at him with a deadpan expression.
'I thought exercising would distract me from my thoughts, but it's not enough. Due to my spells and how I have trained myself, thinking through anything became second nature.'
Akeru gritted his teeth and got up.
"Tch, let's continue." 'This pain is nothing compared to what I went through when working on my lightning enhancement.'
A book started floating in front of Akeru with a pen in hand.
"Woah, is this the effect of your mana zone?"
"Yeah, with it I could put my brain to use while my body is working."
'This should be enough to distract me, hopefully. If the worst comes to pass, I will double the intensity. Being a Recovery mage has its benefits.'
Akeru got back to the grind with Asta.
It took him a while to adjust the balance between the task of creating a rune on paper while doing pushups, squats, and more, to keep the thoughts at bay.
It was the side effect of that incident.
He had found himself reflecting on various incidents before his final confrontation with Noel and deducing a way to prevent the whole tragedy.
It wrecked his already recovering mind.
The silver lining is that, at least this time, it hit him less hard.
"Should we stop here? It's almost time for dinner. Charmy-nee-chan said she was making something special today," Akeru said as he looked at Asta.
In the next instant, all of their sweat got vaporised
"Sure. I'll train swordsmanship after dinner." Asta was roughly breathing, similar to Akeru.
However, their training wasn't even close."
"Here." A blue body of mana engulfed both of their bodies, and fatigue drained from their bodies.
"This is awesome! I could train longer due to your magic."
"Credit goes to my beautiful sensei." Akeru smiled.
"I'll thank her next time. But why not fully heal us now?" Asta asked with a confused expression.
He knew that Akeru was one of the best knights in the entire kingdom, and his recovery magic was also top-tier, clearly capable of doing it.
"As I mentioned earlier, it's essentially a mechanism to allow your muscle fibres a brief period of adaptive recovery. In your case, that transition phase is notably shorter—unlike mine, which requires complete cessation of physical exertion for the rest of the day."
Akeru started walking towards the base, Asta following him shortly after.
"Oh, cool," Asta said, not understanding half of his explanation.
Akeru sighed, dissected his speech to something simpler and resaid.
"Like I said before, it just gives your muscles a bit of time to get used to the training. For you, that time's even shorter. I, on the other hand, can't train any more today."
"OHHH, you should have said that from the beginning." Asta experienced a lightbulb moment.
"My bad. It slipped my mind. Too tired— mentally and physically to simplify the jargon before I spew it out." Akeru opened the door and entered the base.
"What does that even mean!?" Asta closed the door, heading towards the dining table.
"YO!" Akeru took a seat beside Noel.
Vanessa took a swig. "How was training?"
"It was productive...better than my expectations," He replied before turning his head towards the silver-haired girl.
"Shoo, shoo. You smell." Noelle made a shooing gesture with her hand.
Akeru rolled his eyes. "Unlucky for you, but that trick won't work on me. My mana zone allows me to keep my body just as fresh as after a bath."
"Tch," Noelle clicked her tongue, "Don't annoy me. I am too tired for your nonsense."
Akeru blinked.
He tilted his head, smirking, "Oh? So that wasn't your battle form? I thought the smell was part of a new cursed technique—Stench of Noble Pride."
Vanessa snorted mid-sip. Noelle twitched.
WHOOSH
A water bubble was shot point-blank at Akeru, the latter dodging with casual flexibility..
The water ball barely missed Akeru, blitzing through the hallway till... it hit Asta on his face.
"OUCH. WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Asta yelled, finding himself lying on the ground.
"Such violence before marriage... I feel pity for Asta," Akeru said in a tone only audible to Noelle and Vanessa.
Noelle blinked, registering his words a second later.
"W—what? M—marriage?" A blush crept on her face, visualising such a scene in her head.
She in a gown, Asta in a suit..
For a second, Akeru saw steam coming from her head, making him question whether he was seeing things or not.
"AHEM." Vanessa cleared her throat, making Noelle get back to reality.
She saw an awkward expression on both Akeru and Vanessa's faces.
"No! This... this isn't what you guys are thinking." She furiously turned her head left and right, denying everything.
"Why did you hit me?" Asta asked.
He was shirtless and drenched due to her spell.
Noelle turned towards him, his appearance, along with what she was visualising a few moments ago... triggered a dangerous thought.
A very dangerous thought that an almost 16-year-old, and a royal like her shouldn't think.
Her mind short-circuited. Vision blurred.
"Wait—Noelle?" Asta blinked.
THUD.
She lost consciousness, still sitting on the couch, steam hissing off her head.
Akeru blinked. "Huh. That wasn't even my final joke."
"What was your final joke?" Vanessa raised a brow.
"Secret." Akeru put one of his fingers on his lips to depict a shushing action.
He checked Noelle's pulse.
"Her blood pressure dropped."
"Due to getting embarrassed?" Vanessa blinked.
"It seems like that. Didn't know it was possible to faint due to embarrassment," Akeru shrugged.
"I thought you were a doctor."
"I never said that. I just know some tricks."
"What you know definitely are not tricks." Vanessa rolled her eyes, taking another swig.
"What's happening?" Finral came out of a portal, slightly startling the almost naked lady, causing her to glare at Finral.
"Noelle fainted due to Asta."
"Wait, what did I do?" Asta looked wronged as he looked at Vanessa.
"It's completely your fault." Akeru sagely nodded.
"Huh?"
"Guys, stop bullying him. Cut the guy some slack." Finral patted Asta's shoulders.
"Senpai!" Asta thankfully looked at Finral.
"Do you think we look like bullies?" Akeru looked shocked."
"I didn't expect this from you, Finral." Vanessa shook her head, frown marring her face, radiating 'utter disappointment'
"No... You guys look like thugs."
"..."
"..."
Brutal Honesty was something that shouldn't be fired carelessly.
"Uh... really?" Akeru asked with an unsure expression.
Did he look like a thug?
'Did puberty downgrade me? From average-looking guy to a thug?' Shock coursed through his mind.
Vanessa wasn't any different.
'Does... does he mean that I seem like that type of woman?'
Finral's one statement caused both of them to have several insecure thoughts.
"Huh?" Finral furrowed his eyebrows at the scene.
"Uhhh," Noelle groaned as consciousness returned to her.
She looked at people nearby.
"What happened to these two?"
"Finral-senpai said something about them being thugs, and they are now like that," Asta replied.
"Wait, it wasn't me!" Finral gave a betrayed look at Asta.
"Food is done, everybody!" Charmy's voice saved him.
The other two also were brought out of their rumination.
Before going to the dinner table, Akeru said, "I don't look like a thug. Get your eyes checked, senpai."
He didn't wait for his reply.
Vanessa glared at Finral, walked away without saying anything to him.
"I am quite hungry."
"Bakasta, did you wash your hands?"
The other two also left, making Finral stand there, looking utterly baffled.
"What did I even do?"
---
After a hearty dinner, Asta approached Akeru.
"Akeru, let's have a spar!"
Akeru blinked.
"Sure, I guess?"
***
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