The moment Aren stepped inside through the white wooden door, he grimaced at the sharp smell filling his nose.
This was a circular room exactly like the previous one, its ceiling, floor, and walls made of smooth white quartz.
The only difference was the items inside the room.
The tart, throat-burning smell of various herbs, chemicals, and metallic mixtures hung in the air.
In the corner of the room stood a simple table made of white stone.
There were no appetizing meats or fruits on the table. Instead, dozens of large and small bottles, wooden boxes, and glass tubes were arranged in an orderly manner.
In the other corner of the room, there was a pitch-black platform 10 meters in diameter. And inside the platform, there was another dummy that looked identical to the one in the previous room.
A screen appeared in front of him.
QUEST: CONSUME THE MEDICINES AND TRAIN YOUR BODY.
DESCRIPTION: According to Sword Saint Aunger, a warrior's body must be as sharp and pure as his sword. Temper your body with these resources inherited by Sword Saint Aunger's sole student and surpass your limits.
TIME LIMIT: 10 DAYS.
REWARD: PASSAGE TO THE NEXT ROOM. PENALTY: DEATH.
'Interesting.' Aren thought as he approached the table.
Aren called out to the empty room. "Hey? Which one of these do I need to drink?"
There was no answer.
The voice in his mind had done what it said and fallen into a deep sleep.
His eye caught a black, wooden box on the table. There was a label written in small letters on the box.
Basic Nutrient Pill Description: A single pill meets the 24-hour nutritional needs of an adult human.
When he opened the lid, pitch-black pills the size of marbles lay inside.
"This solves the hunger problem." Aren murmured. He tossed the pill into his mouth.
"Tastes disgusting." he murmured.
On a red bottle filled with liquid squirming as if it were alive, it said "Muscle Tearing Potion".
Description: Tears every single muscle fiber in your body into pieces. Using this potion alone can result in death. Recommended Method of Use: It is recommended to be consumed simultaneously with the Vitality Potion.
On the other bottle, which was blue and emitted an ice-cold air, it said "Bone Shattering Potion".
Description: Shatters every single bone in your body into pieces. Using this potion alone can result in death. Recommended Method of Use: It is recommended to be consumed simultaneously with the Vitality Potion.
Then his eye caught the other green potion on the table. The label on it read "Vitality Potion".
Description: Contains high-density life energy. Prolongs lifespan, heals the most severe wounds within seconds. Recommended Method of Use: This potion can be used in any way. It is completely harmless.
Aren analyzed calmly.
There were a total of 20 potions, 10 of which were red, 10 were blue, and 20 were green.
10 Muscle Tearing Potions. 10 Bone Shattering Potions. And 20 Vitality Potions for him to survive and get through these.
A total of 10 days.
Two sessions of hellish torment a day.
"So this is the logic." Aren said, his voice echoing in the empty room.
"First destroy, then rebuild. Just like bodybuilding, only... a thousand times more painful."
He took a deep breath.
He wasn't afraid of pain. He couldn't be. Because the word "fear" was exceedingly foreign to him. Even his screaming while suffering was merely his body's reflex caused by extreme pain states.
He quickly took the red bottle in one hand and the green bottle in the other. He opened the caps of both with his teeth.
"Cheers."
He downed the red one first, and immediately after, the green one.
The moment the liquids went down his throat, a tremendous pain enveloped his body. Every single muscle fiber in his body was being torn to pieces one by one, and immediately rebuilt right after.
He didn't feel fear, but he could feel the pain.
"AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!"
Aren's pitiful scream tore through the silence in the room. He dropped to his knees. He couldn't think of anything because of the tremendous pain he felt.
The fibers were separating, melting, and his body was collapsing from the inside out.
But right at that moment, the cooling effect of the Vitality Potion kicked in.
The severed fibers were reaching out to each other at superhuman speed, knotting together, and being rewoven much tighter and much denser than before.
Aren curled up into a fetal position on the white quartz floor. His trembling was so violent that his teeth were clattering against each other.
Minutes felt like hours. Finally, that burning pain gave way to an aching, throbbing exhaustion.
Aren straightened up, supporting himself with his trembling arms.
Despite panting heavily, without pausing, he took the blue potion in one hand and the green potion in the other.
He downed both of them.
Aren's eyes opened wide as if they were going to pop out of their sockets. His breath was cut short.
The air in his lungs felt as if it had frozen. He didn't scream. Because he couldn't. He passed out right then and there because of the pain he suffered.
Aren collapsed to the ground, stiff as a board. His body twitched involuntarily.
From his shinbones to his skull, from his spine to his fingertips, his entire skeleton was being pulverized, then recast as if it were steel melted in a crucible.
Hours passed.
When Aren opened his eyes, he didn't know how much time had passed.
His face was stuck to the cold and hard quartz floor. The smell coming to his nose was so disgusting that his stomach cramped.
A smell that was a mixture of rotten eggs and sewage... When he struggled to straighten up and looked at himself, he saw the source of the smell.
His body was covered in a sticky fluid as black as pitch. This fluid oozing from his pores were the toxins accumulated over years. Processed foods, polluted air...
'Did this disgusting pitch come out of my body?'
The potions hadn't merely torn his body apart; they had also expelled all the filth inside it.
Trembling, he raised his hand.
A slight cracking sound came from his joints.
"For a moment I thought I was going to die." he whispered. His voice was raspy.
He slowly straightened up.
He stood up. When he took a step, he lost his balance and almost fell.
His physical structure had changed so much that even the simplest movements were enough to make him lose his balance.
"It seems it will take some time for me to get used to this. Time to check my stats."
Title: None
Level: 6 Name: Aren Khan
Race: Human
Bloodline: None
Age: 26 Height: 179CM
Weight: 77KG
Vitality: 10 -> 20
Strength: 10 -> 20
Agility: 11 -> 21
Endurance: 9 -> 19
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Soul: 104
Mana: 6
Skills: Bloodlust (Passive), Intermediate Sword Mastery (Passive), Ghost Step (Passive)
'A tremendous stat increase. My physical stats increased as if I leveled up 10 times. I've grown taller and gained weight again. At this rate, I suppose I'll become a 5-meter giant.' he thought.
His eye drifted to the platform in the corner of the room and the dummy standing motionless inside it.
'First I must get used to my new body.' he thought, after which he picked up the white wooden sword from the ground.
"It wasn't this light before."
Whereas previously, he could feel its weight in his wrist.
He swung the sword in the air.
The sword cut the air so fiercely that the resulting sound of the wind echoed in the empty room.
Aren calmly said, "I just wanted to swing it lightly."
His power control was completely gone. The 'swing lightly' command sent by his brain was transforming into an 'annihilate' order in his muscles.
He took a deep breath and started a simple shadowboxing routine.
He took a step forward. But this wasn't a step, it was a leap. His body shot forward, he lost his balance and almost face-planted.
"This won't do." After speaking to himself, he stopped.
"Slower... More controlled..." for two hours, he only repeated basic movements. He walked, ran, stopped. He swung the sword, stopped it, swung it again.
That explosive energy in his body had slowly begun to come under his mind's control. He no longer flew when he took a step, nor did he spin around himself when he swung the sword.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It's not perfect, but... At least I won't trip over my own feet and fall."
"Time to test."
He picked up the white wooden sword from the ground. It fit perfectly in his palm. Staggering, he stepped onto the black platform.
The moment he crossed the boundary, the dummy came alive as if it had gained a soul.
It suddenly lunged at Aren. It was fast. Faster than the dummy in the previous room.
If it were the old Aren, he wouldn't even be able to follow this speed with his eyes. The wooden sword would probably slit his neck before he could even react. But now? Aren could easily see the dummy's sword coming toward him.
The dummy's sword targeted Aren's neck. Without thinking, with a purely instinctive reflex, Aren blocked the sword.
An incredible sound echoed. The wooden sword Aren swung collided with the dummy's sword.
Aren didn't even stagger back.
His feet were as steady as if they were nailed to the ground. There wasn't the slightest numbness in his arms.
The dummy lunged at Aren. It intended to thrust its sword toward Aren.
Seeing the dummy approaching him at full speed, Aren took a step to the side right at the last second when the sword was about to touch him.
The dummy's sword thrust into thin air.
Using all his strength, Aren kicked the dummy with all his might. With the impact of the kick, the dummy's wooden chest shattered, and it was thrown meters away, falling off the platform.
"It shouldn't be this simple, right?"
Aren stepped off the platform. Immediately afterward, white smoke began to seep from the cracks in the chest of the dummy lying on the ground.
The broken pieces of wood merged as if time were flowing backward. The dummy creakily stood up.
But there was a difference. The aura it emitted had grown heavier, its white wooden body had darkened slightly, gaining a metallic sheen.
The dummy passed by Aren, entered the platform, and collapsed to the ground as if it had lost its soul.
However, since Aren wasn't on the platform, it wasn't attacking him.
"So that's the deal..." said Aren.
"Every time I break you, you'll return sturdier."
DAY 3
A portion of the red and blue bottles had been depleted. Aren't routine was simple but brutal: Drink the potions. Try not to lose consciousness from the pain. Eat that disgusting food pill. And fight the dummy.
'The effect of the potions decreases with each use. I suppose I won't be able to raise my stats as much as I thought.'
His body vomited black fluid every time he woke up, but the amount was decreasing. The toxins inside him were about to end.
Most importantly, his body was getting used to the pain. He had passed out from the pain on the first day.
Today, when he downed the Red and Green bottles in his hand simultaneously, he merely gritted his teeth, and although the veins on his forehead swelled as if they were going to burst, he stayed on his feet.
DAY 6
It was time for the blue potions. Aren stood in front of the table. He had the ice-cold blue bottle and the green bottle in his hand.
"This is the worst one." He drank it without hesitation.
While his bones were pulverized, Aren resisted not to collapse to the ground, but his legs gave out. He collapsed where he stood.
He closed his eyes and counted the seconds. "One... Two... Ten... Forty..." His body was trembling, but his consciousness was clear.
When the pain subsided, he stood up.
He had grown a bit taller. His shoulder width had expanded. It was a matter of moments before the clothes he wore tore and fell apart.
When he stepped hard on the floor, a sound much deeper than before came from the quartz floor. His bones were now much denser and heavier than those of an ordinary human.
When he stepped onto the platform, the dummy standing across from him was much faster than on the first day. Its torso had now taken on a dark gray color. Every strike it made was lethal.
DAY 10
A screen appeared in front of him.
Flawless Physique Acquired.
Description: A perfect physique cleansed of mortal dust. Your recovery speed has greatly increased.
'Such a thing exists? How interesting.' He couldn't help but think.
Aren looked at the table with the potions and pills. It was completely empty.
All the bottles, all the pills, they were all depleted. Aren was standing in the middle of the black platform.
He was shirtless.
Drops of sweat were gliding over his muscles.
He was sweating, but his sweat didn't smell bad.
'If I don't want to walk around in my underwear, I need to find myself new clothes soon...'
Every single muscle fiber was filled with explosive power.
His abdominal muscles were so hard they wouldn't yield even if struck with a sledgehammer.
His skin, after the expelled toxins, was as smooth and pale as jade.
Aren decided to check his stats.
Title: None
Level: 6
Name: Aren Khan
Race: Human
Physique: Flawless Physique
Bloodline: None
Age: 26 Height: 184CM
Weight: 82KG
Vitality: 20 -> 35
Strength: 20 -> 40
Agility: 21 -> 33
Endurance: 19 -> 45
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Soul: 104
Mana: 6
Skills: Bloodlust (Passive), Intermediate Sword Mastery (Passive), Ghost Step (Passive)