The first day of training ended in complete physical exhaustion.
Zane dragged himself back to his ward, collapsed onto the bed, and only then did the aches catch up to him.
The muscle spasms, the soreness, the raw sting of overworked tendons—it all ca crashing in the mont his body hit the mattress.
He didn’t even pull the covers over himself.
The mont his head sank into the pillow, he was out cold.
So ti later, the door creaked open.
Shelby stepped in, eyes narrowed as he scanned the dimly lit room.
The only sound was Zane’s steady, almost comically loud snoring.
Shelby chuckled under his breath.
"Seeing him back at the gym today, I thought this kid didn’t even know what fatigue was. He overdid everything... and now, look at him."
He walked closer and stood beside the bed for a mont, hands in his pockets.
"Even I, back in the pri of my youth, would’ve struggled to keep up with that. He’s still human, after all. Just a boy with sothing to prove."
Shelby slowly sat down on the floor, reclining against the wall beneath the window.
Moonlight spilled in, painting soft shadows across the room.
"Rare talent," he muttered to himself. "If I train him right... I might shine again too."
He fell silent, lost in thought.
What kind of training regin could push soone like Zane further without snapping him in half?
He ran through possibilities, cycles, strength routines, explosive techniques.
In his mind, he wasn’t just planning workouts—he was building the body of a god that could house imnse mana.
Strong mana demands a stronger vessel. That’s the foundation.
Eventually, he leaned back and shut his eyes. And for the first ti in a long while, Shelby Thor smiled while planning soone else’s future.
The next morning, after a heavy breakfast in the ss hall, Day Two of gym training began.
Zane arrived early, fresh-faced and sharp-eyed, but quietly observant.
As he scanned the group of twenty-two freshers, he noticed sothing different about them.
They’ve improved already?
They looked stronger. Not just physically—but in spirit. Their posture held more confidence, their chatter had a competitive edge.
Whatever Shelby’s doing here... it’s working.
If this continues, these kids won’t just be strong. They’ll be monsters.
Yes, monsters—that’s what Zane called them in his head.
If they could’ve read his thoughts, they probably would’ve shouted:
"Hypocrite! You call us monsters? Go look in a mirror first!"
But Zane kept those thoughts to himself.
He did notice sothing else too.
The way they looked at him had changed.
Gone was the disgust, the judgntal glares from yesterday.
Now? There was curiosity. Respect. So even looked inspired.
They see as competition now... he realized.
Still not my problem.
He bounced onto the treadmill like a spring-loaded coil and started his morning run.
This ti, he ran faster. Stronger. Sharper.
Two hours passed.
Still no ding.
No system notification. No stat increase.
What the hell?
Zane kept going, trying to find a fault in his form or rhythm, but everything seed fine.
He was pushing harder than ever—so why no improvent?
Is this a plateau?
Across the room, Shelby had been watching closely.
The crease on Zane’s forehead. The extra tension in his stride. The slight frustration in his eyes.
He’d seen it all before.
He walked over to the treadmill, arms folded.
"Stop," Shelby said.
The treadmill responded to his voice command and slowed to a halt.
Zane stepped off, wiping sweat from his face.
Shelby’s tone was calm but firm. "Sothing’s off today. Tell —what’s on your mind?"
Zane hesitated, glanced around at the others, then looked Shelby in the eye.
"...I think I’ve hit a wall," he admitted. "I’m doing everything like yesterday. Maybe even better. But... nothing’s changing. No gain. No growth. It’s like I reached my limit."
Shelby nodded, as if expecting that exact answer.
"That’s not your limit," he said. "That’s your body telling you: it’s ti to level up the thod."
He patted Zane’s shoulder.
"There’s a reason we train different muscle groups. There’s a reason we add resistance, change tempo, shift angles. The sa input won’t give you infinite output."
Zane nodded slowly, absorbing every word.
"You’re saying I need variation?"
Shelby grinned. "Exactly. Intensity isn’t the only key. Intention and variation are what turn raw strength into actual evolution. And we’re going to build both."
"I guess..." Zane began, then shrugged. "It’s nothing."
Shelby’s grin faded. "Rember, I’m still your training coach. Don’t hide things. Just say it."
Zane relented. "I think... simply running is going nowhere."
"So, you think the treadmill’s no longer helping?" Shelby stroked his chin, pondering. Then he nodded to himself. "Fair enough. I was expecting this, though. You’ve hit that bottleneck faster than I anticipated."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out four small tallic rings.
"Give your hands."
Zane complied, though his curiosity was now piqued.
Shelby picked up two of the rings and infused a thin pulse of electric-blue mana into them. Instantly, the rings shimred and crackled with energy. Then, with practiced swiftness, Shelby pressed them onto Zane’s wrists. The rings reacted imdiately—expanding and snapping into place like sleek, tallic bracelets just above Zane’s watch.
Before Zane could ask anything, Shelby infused mana into the other two and clamped them above Zane’s knees. The rings expanded again, locking in like reinforced guards over his calves.
"Do you feel it?" Shelby asked.
"Feel what?"
"Move your body. Tell if you feel... different."
Zane jogged in place, lifted his knees slightly, then widened his stance.
A subtle weight tugged at his limbs.
"There’s... a difference. Yeah. My weight shifted slightly. What kind of trinkets are these?"
Shelby chuckled. "No clue where they co from. I got two hundred and ten of them after clearing a low-tier Grade C dungeon."
He tapped the one on Zane’s wrist.
"But I’ve studied them enough to know their chanism. Each ring gives a base weight of ten kilograms the mont you wear it. But here’s the real deal—every thirteen minutes you wear one, the weight increases by a full kilogram. Permanently. Until you take it off."
Zane’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything—
Ding!
[New device detected. Scanning...]
[Scan complete.]
Device Na: Mythical Arcane Ring
Elental Affinity: Earth
Application: Weighted mana-assisted physical training
Effect: 10kg base weight per ring
Incrent Rate: 1.0005kg every 15 minutes
"Fair enough," Zane muttered, ntally comparing the System’s data to Shelby’s explanation.
"What’s that?" Shelby asked.
"Ah, nothing," Zane said casually, brushing it off. Then a sudden thought struck him. "Wait... are you wearing any of these?"
Shelby smiled knowingly. "What do you think?"
Zane raised an eyebrow. "You are, aren’t you?"
With a short laugh, Shelby said, "Yeah. I’m wearing one hundred of them. Too bad I’ve run out of wearable parts on my body."
"One hundred?!" Zane nearly choked. "How long have you been wearing them?"
"Three years and five months," Shelby answered proudly. "And I’ve never taken them off. Not even once."
Zane stared at him, stunned. That wasn’t just dedication—that was absurd. Then, his mind began calculating.
Each ring starts at 10kg. Every 15 minutes adds another kilo. After 3 years and 5 months...
His eyes bulged.
"That ans... you’re carrying a total weight of—wait, let calculate... around 11,991,632 kilograms!? That’s... that’s almost 12 million kilograms!!"
Shelby gave him a satisfied grin and raised a thumbs-up.
"Your math’s spot-on."
Zane looked at him with a whole new level of respect—and fear.
This man... this absolute maniac is walking around with 12 million kilograms strapped to him?
No wonder he said he’s never needed to take a ring off. He’s been holding back this whole ti.
Shelby stood tall, his aura casual but overwhelming.
"This," he said, "isn’t ego. It’s habit. You train until carrying mountains feels natural. And when the ti cos... you drop those mountains and run like a god."
Zane could only nod.
He now realized: this training was no longer about strength.
It was about endurance. Evolution. Transformation.
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