Across Eternity B. 01

Forging Strength

Pained gasps.

A feminine whimper.

"Oh God!" Beth moaned as she collapsed, fighting for every breath with Noah standing over her, the two of them drenched in sweat.

"Come on, I'm not done with you yet," he said.

"I can't do anymore!"

"You said you wanted this. I never said I'd be gentle with you."

"Please, you're killing me!"

"You know what comes next. I want to see it."

She looked at him with eyes full of hate. "You're a monster," she hissed.

Beth shuddered as a clear, steady stream was produced, arching onto the ground with a splash.

"Oh, she broke her record!" said Oath.

"I wish my mana would grow that fast!" Mira complained.

The water spurting from Beth's fingertip trickled to a halt. She rolled onto her back, feeling like the hard road underneath her was now as soft as the king's mattress. It was the second day of Noah's training, midmorning, and he was running laps with Oath and his friends around the Fault estate.

Since yesterday, this was what they had been doing with most of their time, running almost nonstop. They had to run until collapsing and immediately cast magic until their mana was completely depleted. Oath was exempt from the magic testing, but only because he had no aptitude.

Noah crouched down and fed Beth a watered-down healing potion, just something to restore her stamina a bit. While she recovered, Oath, Mira, and Trevor sucked in air. Unfortunately, the collapse of one was the only break the others got.

"I'm starving. Can we please eat lunch now?" Trevor asked.

"Oh God, I can't even think of food right now," Oath groaned.

They all complained throughout the ordeal, but no one had yet given up. Despite their anguish, Oath and the others understood that Noah's methods produced results. Just the day before, at the same time, if Beth had cast her spell, it would have just been a few drops falling from her finger, less of a fountain and more of a leaky faucet. Also, everyone's stamina was increasing noticeably. Thanks to the health potions, they could perform weeks of daily exercise and recovery in mere hours, compressing the rate of improvement, so it was much more apparent.

"Good idea. I'm on my last legs too," said Noah.

Oath and the others sighed in relief and began throwing down everything they carried and stripping off any armor. Noah was making them run in all of their adventuring gear with their weapons in hand, and in time, he'd incorporate weights to prepare them for carrying the dungeon crab's treasure. A field was nearby, but they didn't care and squatted in the middle of the road to eat. It was on the baron's estate, so there wasn't the worry of traffic.

Each carried lunches made by the servants and chowed down like wild animals. Even Noah was giving in to his hunger and stuffing his face. But as he ate, his eyes swept over everyone in the group. This workout was intense, shredding muscles and then immediately repairing them. In this case, the antidote was worse than the poison, according to the town apothecary. He spoke to her the morning after he returned to Clive while on his way to pick up his ring.

----------

"Using potions for exercise? It would be a good idea if it wasn't such a bad idea," the old woman said. Then, as always, she stared Noah down, looking at him through the smoke from her pipe.

"I can't imagine I'm the first person to think of using them this way. What I want to know is if there are any dangerous effects. You always have them in stock, so getting the ingredients isn't an issue."

She released a large smoke cloud. "Well, there is a downside."

"Am I going to have to pay you to find out what it is?"

"In a rush, are you? Yes, it's always people like you using this method. Mana and health potions, as well as all other concoctions used by adventurers, may seem like bottled miracles, but they are a double-edged sword. If overexposed, the body can forget how to repair and restore itself. If a wound is repeatedly inflicted on one spot and healed with potions, eventually the body will lose the ability to mend that spot on its own. Cuts will bleed ceaselessly, broken bones will become like rock, and organs will eventually rot off the vine. The effects are even worse if the potion is consumed, rather than poured, as it spreads throughout the body."

"How long before major damage is inflicted?"

"If used for continuous exercise, potions will lead to death in less than twenty days. Lesser damage depends on the user."

"And what about mana potions?"

"Mana potions stunt the development of magic. The more often they are used, the harder it will be to create and learn new spells."

Noah thought back to his "training days" with Tin. He had performed them every other day with watered-down potions, multiplying his reserves countless times and giving him an edge, but there was no telling how much it had hindered him in the long run.

"And, of course, you decided to wait until now to tell me, despite all of the potions I've been buying for the last month."

"Are you expecting an apology?"

"No, I just have something I want you to look at and I would prefer some honesty."

----------

Three days, that's how long Noah was willing to use the potion method. That would hopefully give them enough time for the side effects to wear off before entering the dungeon. So far, everyone's physical stamina was continuing to rise, but if he saw them plateau or reverse, he'd cut them off, cold turkey. If anyone got a wound, he watched closely to ensure their blood was clotting. He was even holding off on using mana potions, instead allowing it to replenish naturally. He didn't want to push back their departure date if he could avoid it.

"All right, let's head back. We're doing the same routine as yesterday." Everyone groaned and cleaned up their mess, but Noah stopped them before they could return to the manor. "Hold on, we're doing lunges."

"Please, not again!" Mira complained.

"You'll thank me later."

With their weapons in hand, everyone began doing long steps, stretching out one leg and leaning down with their other knee almost touching the ground, and they had to keep a fast pace. It was sweaty, painful work.

"This is so embarrassing, we look ridiculous," Trevor muttered. He seemed to love complaining, but since Noah beat him in a fight, he kept his word about following directions. "It's not like we're going to be running like this through the dungeon crab."

"No, but it'll build up your strength and stamina. The most important physical asset in combat is leg strength."

"Wait, really? Even for sword fighting?" Oath asked.

"Really. If you support your body with a strong foundation, you can fight while staying on your feet longer. It doesn't matter how hard you can throw a punch or swing a sword if your legs just buckle as soon as you meet resistance. Think of it as trying to fight while standing on slippery ice vs. solid ground."

Just like before, Noah pushed them to the point of collapse. Typically, this kind of reckless training would be frowned upon, but they needed to stress and tear their muscles to the absolute limit, mend them with potions to make them even more robust, and repeat. There was no rest for them when they returned to the manor.

Under Noah's instruction, Oath and the others began stretching and lifting weights in various ways. It looked like a basic workout to the slaves in the field, but Noah scrutinized every detail, from the form their arms took when lifting a heavy stone, to the precise angle of their hips when they twisted their bodies. Every movement had to be perfect so that all the stress went to specific muscles. Had he the means and the time, he would have gone even further, focusing on individual muscle threads.

Once they reached the middle of the afternoon, Noah had them move on to the next stage of their training. Oath, Trevor, and Mira stood side by side, all gasping for air and cursing in anguish as sweat poured down their faces. For Oath and Trevor, the workout was simple, though far from easy. They were performing isometric exercise, holding out their weapons as far as possible and keeping their arms raised. They had to keep doing it until they collapsed and couldn't feel their arms, at which point, they'd take a health potion and start again.

"Ah, dammit!" Oath cursed as he dropped to his knees.

"Fuck, you're weak," said Trevor.

"For once in your life, just shut up!" Mira hissed, unable to maintain her usual polite personality.

Her training was similar to theirs, only using magic. A lump of earth, as large as a beer keg, floated before her. Dirt from a bald patch underneath continuously floated up and added to the mass. For her training, she had to maximize the amount of earth she could lift, the duration, and the level of compression. She'd rotate it in the air to keep it from becoming lopsided, but she struggled to retain control every time it moved. Noah told her she had to be able to turn dirt into solid rock in seconds, as well as train her body to produce mana faster.

Nearby, Beth was sparring with Noah. She held a sheathed knife in her hand, swinging and stabbing at him with reckless fury. Despite her efforts, he'd block and deflect her attacks away from his body, using various fighting styles he had learned across the multiverse. Then, as soon as she paused her onslaught, he'd attack, forcing her to heighten her reflexes for dodging.

Finally, when the sun began to set, Noah said the magic words. "Let's call it a day."

On cue, everyone collapsed. Even Trevor abandoned his tough-guy bravado and went limp.

"I think I might be dying," Mira moaned, laying spread eagle on the ground and staring at the sky.

"I'm too tired to eat and too hungry to sleep," Beth added.

"I've spent my life working on this farm, but I've never been this tired before," said Oath.

Their stamina seemed to be pushed to its limit, beyond the point that potions could replenish. Now they needed food and sleep.

"I should probably head back to the inn while they're still serving dinner," said Noah.

"You guys can have dinner here," Oath said.

"Why didn't you say that yesterday?"

"Sorry, but after a day like that, I couldn't spend another minute thinking about training and the dungeon crab."

The table was old and unvarnished, hand-carved with roughly sanded planks, though time had helped to soften its edges, and the low-quality tablecloth hid its surface. On it, candles burned to illuminate the room, which smelled like the baked fish Noah and the others were eating, along with bread and some vegetables. In the modern world, this destitution was just under 'soup kitchen,' but Noah had managed to calibrate his taste buds after a month in these new lands.

It was only the five youths present. The baron was not taking part. As with lunch, everyone ate voraciously, their bodies begging for sustenance to try and make up for the fat they had burned. Mira stopped eating long enough to notice Oath was staring at his half-finished dinner.

"Oath? Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just trying to remember the last time I sat at this table and ate with this many people."

"You're going to make me sick," Trevor muttered.

"What were your brothers like?" Beth asked.

"My oldest, Colt, was a soldier, serving under General Tarnas against the barbarians in Handent."

"He really served under Tarnas?!" Beth exclaimed, bolting to her feet.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Noah asked.

"Adwith Tarnas is one of the nation's greatest heroes, and easily the strongest paladin," said Mira, trying to hide her embarrassment with a smile. "Most children are raised on his stories, and for as long as I've known Beth, she's been a huge fan."

Beth sat back down with a smile on her face. "When I was young, he and some of his forces passed through my town. Watching him ride down the street, wearing golden armor... I was no longer an innocent child. I had awakened my womanly desires."

"You never heard of him? What rock have you been living under?" Trevor asked.

"A large one. Tell me about the war, I'm curious."

"Oh, well, from what I've heard, it started when the barbarians began ransacking villages along the border, eventually leading to the famous slaying of High Priest Grybaen by Chief Waer. After that...."

The conversation had taken a strange turn, but Noah absorbed every detail while making his plans for the future. That night, at the inn, Beth didn't go with Mira into their shared room but followed Noah into his. She had been too tired the previous night, but she had just enough strength to indulge her curiosity tonight.

The third day of training was like the two before, including the same routine, but now with weights added. However, the consumption of potions had dropped in every activity. The growth they had gone through over just a few days would have usually taken weeks or even months. In the late afternoon, their training changed. Instead of simply holding out his sword, Oath practiced his slashes like he was studying kendo. He needed to make both his attacks and his recovery faster.

Next to him, Trevor was improving his thrusts, using what Noah had taught him and incorporating his legs so he could increase his strength with less effort. He had also given Trevor the challenge of writing out the letters of the alphabet in the air with the spear tip to heighten his accuracy.

Beth and Mira had switched places, now with Beth straining her magic and Mira staff-fighting with Noah. Unlike Mira and Trevor, Beth's magic was unfit for fighting, and she appeared to be reaching the limit of her magical aptitude, but creating fresh water was something they'd need if they spent more than a day in the dungeon.

On the fourth day, Noah met everyone at the baron's estate as he usually would. He held out a backpack full of potions. "Today, I want you all to see if you can follow the routine on your own. Until we enter the dungeon crab, I am completely banning the use of all potions."

"That's crazy!" Beth exclaimed, with the others similarly nervous.

"If you can't do the day's exercise without potions, then you simply aren't ready for the dungeon crab, and the longer we wait, the more competition will have. I don't want to reach the bottom of the shell and find all of the avenium already taken." He put the backpack down and put on a jacket filled with rocks. "Come on, time to start running."

The workout proceeded as planned, but with no less complaining. Now without potions, they could only gather their strength during breaks, but the number of times they had to stop and rest was as Noah predicted. Finally, on the fifth day, Noah faced them with the morning sun burning away the mists clinging to the baron's estate. For Oath and his friends, this was the last day of training, and they all felt confident. They weren't blind to their growth. They now stood with bodies covered in weights, ready for Noah to signal the start of their morning run.

"Since today is the last day, we're going to do something different. Trevor, I want you to hit the ground with a downward strike and your strongest spell."

"What for?"

"Just trust me. Pour as much mana as you can into the axeblade and give it a shot."

Trevor grunted and held out his halberd, and from the moment he began channeling his mana, everyone noticed the difference. These past several days, whenever he, Beth, and Mira practiced their magic, it was always in a state of exhaustion, forcing their bodies to squeeze out every last drop of power. However, this was the first time in days that Trevor was using a spell at full strength. What would have been a shimmering aura around the blade was now like a colorless flame, causing his friends to step back instinctively.

"Whoa," Trevor said, unable to pick any other words.

He held his halberd with trembling handles, feeling like it was a rabid animal in his grip. He swung down with the halberd like he was performing a beheading, and the moment the blade touched the ground, a chest-thumping explosion sent dirt and rock flying in all directions. Before, he would have simply buried his weapon in the soil. Now he was staring into a crater the size of a bathtub. Yet, just as incredible, the intensity of the mana had not lessened, nor did Trevor appear fatigued.

Everyone was left stunned by the blast, with Noah flashing a rare smile. "Mira, your results would probably be similar if I asked you to use your strongest spell. Now that you have all this mana to work with, think of it as a resource for experimentation. I don't know how the two of you develop magic, whether you create new spells yourselves or learn by watching others, but I want you to devote yourselves to improving your skills. Show me something new. Today, we're forgetting about strength and stamina and focusing entirely on technique.

Beth, I want you to practice your archery until your fingers bleed and you can shoot the wings of a fly. As for Oath..." Noah drew his longsword. "You're going to be sparring with me."

----------

Beth's chest heaved with each movement, and her nipples, chilled by the evening air, pointed out and drew arcs. Just moments ago, she had been riding Noah vigorously, having to discard her clothes when she began overheating. It was a struggle for her to keep her moans contained, especially with her body refusing to obey her commands and slow her bouncing.

She now took a gentle pace, rolling her hips from side to side while she regained her strength. She was intoxicated, her mind overtaken by lust and endorphins. Her smile was lewd, her face flushed, her lips wet, and her pupils dilated. Noah could see the fresh sweat on her body with the light of the night sky. What was supposed to be a quick tryst to scratch the ol' itch had turned into something more intense.

Sitting up, Noah kissed her breasts and grabbed her ass, kneading it like dough. Beth had a nice athletic figure, not much fat on her, but something for his fingers to sink into. Noah's lips on her nipples, his manhood stirring her up, and his hands massaging deep into her muscles; these stimuli combined into a force Beth struggled to withstand. They were out in the woods, so Beth had to be careful, lest her moans reach monsters' or, even worse, her friends' ears.

Mira knew about them, so Oath and Trevor were probably aware as well, but still, it would be a bit rude to make them hear the sounds of moaning and flesh against flesh. That was Beth's thinking, but Noah didn't care either way. He wasn't afraid of awkward conversations, only concerned that he and Beth were breaking the rules of every horror movie and having sex in the woods. The flag they were raising could have been visible from space.

Beth's strength gave out, a final climax draining her and leaving her body limp. Noah lowered her to the ground, but she didn't object to him continuing to thrust until he had a climax.

"Come on, we should get back to the camp," he said.

"What a romantic thing to say after filling me up."

"You know what this is."

She giggled. "Relax, I'm kidding."

They got dressed and returned to the camp, where their fellow adventurers were awake and waiting for them.

"What are you all doing awake?" Noah asked.

"You two are a lot noisier than you think you are," Mira said while keeping her eyes down.

"You do make it awfully hard to sleep. I thought some wolves were tearing apart a goblin out there," said Trevor. Beth kicked him in retaliation while circling the campfire to reach her spot.

"Watch it!" he shot back.

Noah took his spot and stoked the fire. "Enough. Everyone, get some rest. We're going to need our strength for tomorrow." They were less than half a day's hike to the dungeon crab.

"None of us can sleep. We're too nervous about tomorrow," Oath said.