Later That Afternoon – Justin's Lab, Room 3BAlchemy Research Wing – Stellar Academy
Adonis stood in front of the rune-scorched door of Justin's lab, feeling the weight of reality crush him all over again.
"I stole a king-class mage's panties… watched her try to murder my new master on a rooftop… and learned he is nicknamed Azure Sword Demon."
He dragged his hand down his face.
"Why can't I just have a normal school life?"
CREEEAAAAK—
Before he could knock, the door opened slowly with a shrill creak. Violet mist rolled out like dry ice, and sparks sputtered from a half-melted rune overhead. Steeling himself, Adonis stepped inside.
The lab was still chaos—though marginally less so, thanks to his previous cleaning rampage. Bottles floated midair. A cauldron hummed as it stirred itself. And in the middle of it all, Justin Dawn lounged in a chair, sipping directly from a glowing mana flask, shirt only half-buttoned, eyes sharp despite the casual look.
"You came," Justin said, tone oddly calm. "Good."
Adonis nodded. "You summoned me, Master."
The words felt foreign in his mouth.
Justin blinked, then smirked. "Whoa. Did you just call me master? I should etch this moment in stone. Frame it above the fireplace."
"…Please don't," Adonis muttered.
Justin laughed, tossing the flask into a hovering waste-bin rune. "Fine, fine. Sit down, disciple."
Adonis sat across from him. Justin leaned forward, expression sobering.
"Now that the… embarrassing initiation is behind us," Justin said with a smirk, "we can begin your real training."
Adonis sat up straighter. "What kind of training?"
"Forget Elemental Truth for now. Before that, you need to rebuild your foundation. Your body. Your footwork. Your sword technique. All of it is sloppy." He snapped his fingers and a blue light flashed.
FLASH—
In an instant, Adonis found himself no longer in the lab, but in a vast underground training hall, illuminated by glowing crystals and lined with reinforced stone.
"Wha—was that… space magic?" Adonis stared, awestruck.
Justin stood nearby, casually rotating his shoulders. "Yep. You think I showed even ten percent of what I can do against Alaria? I was just stretching."
Adonis gulped.
But the moment was cut short by a barked command.
"Thirty laps. Around the entire field. No mana. Then full-body basics. Now."
"Thirty… without mana…?" Adonis murmured. "Plus exercises?"
Justin tilted his head. "Unless you want to quit already?"
Adonis clenched his fists. "No, Master."
He took off his Eclipse robe, set Quackner gently down by the wall, and began running.
Five laps. Ten. Fifteen. Twenty. Twenty-five. Thirty.
Then came the **push-ups, pull-ups, planks, sit-ups—**twenty sets of each. By the end of it, Adonis was practically kissing the ground.
"This… this is a new method of torture, isn't it…" he wheezed.
Suddenly, a soothing green glow enveloped him. His aches vanished. His breath steadied. His muscles relaxed. He looked up in surprise.
Justin stood nearby, hand glowing with a healing spell. "You're not done. Again."
"Again!?" Adonis's jaw dropped.
"Yes. Faster this time. And again. And again. And again." Justin grinned like the devil himself. "This is the accelerated rebuild method. A cycle of extreme exertion followed by precise healing. You'll be crying tears of muscles you didn't know you had."
Adonis collapsed back to the ground. "It's better if I just go steal more panties…"
"Too late," Justin said cheerfully. "You're mine now. I'm going to destroy your old self and rebuild you from scratch."
As Adonis dragged himself up for another round, Quackner gave a solemn "quack" of pity from the sidelines—then began eating roasted chestnuts.
And so began the brutal training of Adonis, disciple of the Azure Sword Demon.