The first day of training quickly came, and it wasn’t anything that I had been expecting.

Zoe was sitting before me with her legs crossed, and her eyes closed.

“Are you ready for today’s first lesson?” She asked.

The place where I would be taking part in the secluded training was definitely a strange one. There wasn’t a single doubt about it. We were currently inside a hidden space within the village. In fact, I was curious as to why there was such a vast, unoccupied piece of territory inside of their village since it was just so small to begin with.

Nevertheless, I dismissed those thoughts because there was only a single thing that I would need to focus on for the next two months: training.

I needed to regain my previous strength in a short lapse of time, which meant that every second counted toward my growth, and I couldn’t fool around.

That’s why, without wasting another second, I sat down before Zoe and said, “Yes. I’m ready.”

She kept her eyes closed, and her focus was unwavering.

“Then, please take the same pose as me.”

I did just that, wondering what the point of such a position was because it didn’t seem beneficial for him at all.

As much as I wanted to follow their training if at one point I realized that it wouldn’t be useful, I would discard it and train just like I had always done in the past. After all, I had gotten extremely good results in the past, and I had no doubt that I would be able to do the same thing once more.

“Please gather as much energy as you can in your right palm. You need to keep gathering it until you are completely devoid of it.”

After she uttered those words, she stood up and watched me perform what she had just asked of me.

I gathered the purple energy around the palm of my right hand without wasting a second. I could feel it going through every single part of my body, giving it strength in the process. Aether, as God had called it, was definitely the most potent energy I had worked with ever since I had come to this world.

It was truly something unheard of.

Within a few minutes, I had gathered all the Aether available to me into my right palm. I opened my eyes and looked at it. I could see some kind of purple gas or flame surrounding it.

“Try to condense this energy if you can.”

With those words, I once closed my eyes as I tried my hardest to condense the Aether. However, no matter how much I tried. I was unable to do it. I had tried to condense it just like I would mana, but its properties weren’t alike whatsoever. Aether was almost reacting in the opposite way that Mana would, which was a bit difficult to get the hang of at first.

“I can’t do it,” I said with a dejected voice.

“It’s okay. I just wanted to see to what extent you could control that energy. Now, let’s fight against one another. I want to see just how weak you have gotten by giving up one of your souls to our God.”

I nodded as I expected such a request.

To make an accurate training program, she needed to know my current strength. It was similar to what I had done with my students when I had created their personalized curriculums. The only difference this time was that I would be the one receiving it.

Though I didn’t let it show on my face, I was pretty excited to see how Zoe would fight. I wanted to see just how strong she was. I had quickly understood that she was the strongest within the ancient tribe, but I wanted to see to which extent her power could reach.

“During this fight, I will also use the tribe’s power. So try to see how and why I use it at certain moments if you can.”

I nodded. This fight would also allow me to gain insight into the way Zoe’s power and the tribe’s power. This fight would be very important for my future growth, which meant that I had to give my absolute best.

Within a few moments, we were ready to fight as we looked at one another dead in the eyes.

“Ready?” She asked me.

“Yes, never been more ready in my life,” I replied with a smirk.

I knew there was no way I could win, but it wasn’t the first time that I had experienced such a thing in my life. Before I had attained such dominant strength, defeat had been part of my everyday life. I had kept losing over and over again.

However, I had learned something extremely important. Actually, it was even from my previous world. A quote from a famous book, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu.

“Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price.”

Only those who suffer enough will be able to taste victory. It was a motto that I truly liked and had used for most of my life in this world.

Nevertheless, as I told myself this quote one more time, Zoe disappeared from my vision as she reappeared before me.

She didn’t take out the weapon in her back as she only used her fists. However, I wouldn’t make something as foolish as that. I grabbed onto the helm of my sword and pulled it out right away, deflecting the strike she had thrown at my chest.

“Using your weapon. Smart choice, I thought you wouldn’t have used it because of your ego, but it seemed like I had misjudged you.”

I just smiled as she backed away a few meters behind.

“My goal in this fight is to make you use that giant axe on your back. If I manage to make you use it, then I will consider this my victory.”

She smirked. “Sure, I can agree with that, as she once dashed in my direction, putting as much strength in her fists as possible.”

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