Enrico was breathing with difficulty as he sat on the floor, being healed by Lisa, Titanza's personal maid. His first training session with his mother had ended, but his body was covered in deep wounds, a clear demonstration of how cruel that woman could be to her own son.
"Did the older ones go through this too?... Mother."
"No. I'm simply making up for the time we've lost."
[Making up for lost time, my ass! This woman wants to kill you, Enrico! You'd better abandon this mansion immediately!]
When Lisa finished healing him, Enrico grabbed his own shoulder, which still hurt, and stood up, remaining firm despite his exhaustion.
"Thank you for healing me, Lisa."
"You don't need to thank me, young master. It's my job. I hope you can get some good rest."
"I'll rest. See you later, Mother."
Enrico turned around and walked away, picking up a spear from the floor.
'One day, I'll make him call me Mother.'
Titanza knew she didn't deserve that title, especially when it came to Enrico. Even so, she felt a kind of ironic amusement whenever she heard her children call her that.
"I hope the young master will be all right during his training with Lord Matteo."
"I'll talk to him. If that bastard kills someone who is finally compatible with our family's technique, I'll kill him myself."
"And I'll help you, my lady."
Lisa had served the Ferreira family since she was born and knew very well how practically impossible it was to find someone compatible with that technique. The only person who had managed to use it to its full potential without showing any apparent disadvantages was the family's ancestor.
"Well, before talking to him, I'll improve my own magic. Stand guard, Lisa."
"Yes, my lady."
While Titanza began meditating to complete the technique that was still active, connecting Enrico to her, Lisa remained standing, alert to her surroundings. It would be a rather long night, as she was certain her lady would resume training as soon as she finished increasing her own mana reserves.
'It seems that, when it comes to training, the young master is just like his mother. And she certainly knows that too.'
The two watched Enrico as he continued practicing with the spear along the way. In Lisa's eyes, his determination to become stronger was even greater than that of his two older brothers and his younger sister.
'Good luck, young master. I hope that man doesn't do anything stupid while my lady meditates and trains.'
As he walked down the corridor, Enrico felt a chill run down his back and looked behind him. It was almost time for a new day to begin, with only thirty minutes remaining until the date changed. The surroundings were completely dark, illuminated only by a few lights scattered throughout the corridor.
'I like training, but I need to get my usual five hours of rest before that lunatic shows up.'
Matteo was someone whose training methods Enrico still couldn't predict, but he was certain of one thing: this would be the most difficult training session of all.
'Maybe I'll sleep five minutes longer, just to make sure I'll be fine for his training.'
[Five minutes? You should rest for another hour, you training maniac!]
'What are you talking about? An hour? Do you want the world to be destroyed just because I decided to rest for that long? I don't want to die, so I'll train even harder! You know what? I'll sleep five minutes less today!'
[You know what? Just go and get some rest already!]
Upon entering his room, Enrico lay down, exhausted, and slowly closed his eyes. He just hoped nothing would interrupt his four hours and fifty-five minutes of sleep.
'I hope it'll be good training.'
As soon as he closed his eyes and opened them again, he realized that, at most, twenty-eight minutes had passed since he had lain down to sleep.
"Wait, what... Gah!"
A hand shrouded in smoke struck his ribs, breaking them with a single blow and sending him crashing into a red wall. Without having time to understand what was happening, Enrico was struck from behind by three reddish creatures, with fire coming out of their mouths and eyes.
"What the hell!"
He kicked one of the creatures away and used the momentum to try to gain some distance. It was then that he realized he was in a place resembling a prison, entirely built of fire. To make matters worse, all the cells were open, and at least fifty creatures similar to those surrounded him.
"Interesting. You're doing well."
Upon hearing Matteo's voice, Enrico sighed, breaking into a smile as he immediately realized that this was his father's training.
"Aren't you even going to let your son rest?"
"Rest? If you're part of the Solcren family, you don't need that. Besides, I can see on your face that you enjoy this."
He was right. Enrico wore a smile that showed acceptance and even a hint of excitement about what was to come. Beginning to stretch, Enrico prepared himself while watching the creatures approach.
'This must be in the basement, fifty meters beneath the mansion... As far as I know, this guy has all kinds of weird things down here.'
"They all seem to be Faizes-level Nartheis. Do you think I can defeat them all?"
"No. I don't think that's possible myself. After all, as long as they're in this area, they'll be immortal. And since I've blocked all the exits with Fifth Circle fire magic, you won't be able to escape."
[This guy is crazy!]
Assuming a combat stance, Enrico launched a Flame Impact at the first creature that attacked him. Then, he stepped backward to dodge another strike, grabbed the creature by the arm, and hurled it at three others. Just a few seconds later, his breathing began to grow irregular, and he realized why.
"Huff... Huff... It seems I... huff... won't just have to fight... huff... huff..."
Matteo nodded with a neutral expression.
"It seems you figured it out quickly. As you can see, the smoke coming from these creatures contains toxins that will make your body grow increasingly tired and cause it to burn more and more as time passes."
"That's terrifying... Huff... And what... huff... do you want me... huff... to do during this training?"
Enrico dodged another attack by jumping upward. Then, he stepped on one of the creatures' shoulders and kicked another one standing behind it, using the momentum to strike its face.
"It's simple. Today is my training day, so you'll train here for the entire day."
"You're... huff... a demon!"
"Yes, I am."
Despite saying that, an excited smile began to form at the corner of Enrico's mouth. If he had to fight for an entire day, he knew he would need to evolve to survive the experience. Licking his lips, he launched a Nartheis upward, making it collide with the ceiling. Then, he grabbed two other creatures by their arms and spun around, pushing away those trying to approach him.
'I'll have to adapt to a fight that will last an entire day. This will be interesting.'