First thing in the morning, the young summoner decided to go to the training ground alone. To his surprise, Firlo and many others were already there, training in different ways.
You could see everywhere people going through the strangest obstacles, climbing vertical logs that were supposed to imitate climbing trees, but without branches, cut only here and there with gaps for inserting fingers. In another place, people of different ages lifted logs of various sizes, shaped so that they could be comfortably grabbed with their hands – they resembled wooden barbells in a gym. Many people used their bodies to exercise, did push-ups, squats, pull-ups on various types of handles – all outside under the treetops of the large forest.
"Hi Firlo," Jason shouted, now clearly less depressed by yesterday's defeat in the fight, "Where do you think I should start?" – Jason asked.
"You know, I'm pretty strong for my age, you don't have to feel bad after yesterday, I think you would beat someone a few years older than me. – he began to comfort Jason. "I think you should start with simple exercises – push-ups, squats with light weights, running, climbing. These are the things that will allow you to strengthen quickly."
"Then I have no choice but to start, I think I know the theory quite well," Jason replied and got to work. Its current statistics displayed by the system were as follows:
Strength: 4 Dexterity: 5 Intelligence: 8 Vitality: 4 Hit points: 13 Mana: 19
Jason wanted to focus on his physical fitness during exercise in the near future so that he could use the points guaranteed by the levels to develop his intelligence and mana, which was crucial to his class.
"I wonder how long I'll have to wait for the results." – he thought.
Jason spent the next two days on intense exercises, in which he was helped by Firlo, and the raven gave tips on how else he could diversify his training.
Jason discovered that meals of greater eren and forest vegetables must have some secret properties, and as soon as he ate such a meal after training, he was ready for the next session after just a few hours. Thanks to this, he trained intensively twice a day and at the end of the second day he saw the longed-for message:
"You have gained extra stat points:"
Strength: 4 --> 5
Dexterity: 5 --> 6
Intelligence: 8 --> 8
Vitality: 4 --> 5
Hit points: 13 -->15
Mana: 19 --> 19
"It's better than I expected, I actually feel more fit!" – he shouted to the raven in his mind.
"Yes, but remember that at the beginning the progress will be much faster, then the usual training will no longer be enough and you will have to support yourself by tasks and defeating stronger and stronger opponents."
"How is it actually supposed to work with this defeating of opponents? What stat will increase after defeating them, does it work randomly?"
"Not really, during the fight each of your stats can increase, but it depends on how you fight. People who fight at a distance or with weapons that require a lot of dexterity will develop this stat faster, but if you fight with heavier weapons, your strength will increase faster. The same goes for magic, if you use it a lot in combat, you'll notice that your intelligence and mana grow faster."
"Thanks, I think I understand it all better and better, it's a pity that you can't give me any knowledge about this world. There are certainly ways to grow faster that are not known by the system."
"I'm sure it's good that you understand this, Summoner, remember that even now you are surrounded by people from whom you can learn a lot." – the raven glanced in the direction of the young, teenage warriors fighting in a makeshift arena.
The young men, although undoubtedly very fit, did not see, to Jason's surprise, much stronger than Firlo – this restored some optimism in him.
"Can you tell me what level they are at?" he asked the raven.
"Their souls are similarly imbued with magic as yours and Firlo, you should be on a similar level, although physically they are probably stronger." – he replied bluntly.
"Let's have a look, tonight I'm going to rest a bit. I'm also running out of food, so tomorrow we'll have to look for something to do."
"Resting and solidifying your knowledge and understanding of the body is also very important, a good decision." – Raven sat on Jason's shoulder and the two made their way towards the fighting boys.
Jason noticed that unlike his fight with Firlo, the boys didn't hold back in any way, their faces were bloodied, one of them had a cut eyebrow, and the other had blood dripping from his nose.
"They don't spare themselves, do they, Firlo?" he said to his younger colleague.
"We never spare ourselves, after all, outside the village we cannot ask the beast to be gentle to us, or give up..." – he replied, as if he was talking about completely obvious things.
Jason did not speak until the end of the fight, but he watched the boys with interest. He noticed their very characteristic posture, both of them stood quite wide on their feet, slightly lowering their center of gravity. The summoner decided to try this stance during the next sparring.