“So that’s the guy, huh?” I asked once we distanced ourselves from the cafeteria.

To be completely fair, the size of his group was pretty scary. Not by itself, but because of that guy’s power that it implied.

“Yes…” Mia replied in a weak voice.

I cast a glance at the girl, only to notice that she was still shaking.

‘I can’t even imagine how it does feel to have someone aim for you in this way.’

For me, slavery was something that was purely a historical fact, not something that was a part of the world around me.

But that wasn’t the case for Mia. For her, slavery was a painfully real thing, a reality that directly affected both her now and her future.

That’s why I couldn’t help but constantly think about the possible ways of freeing this girl from her status as a slave.

With those thoughts in my head, I didn’t even realize when we reached the same garden when I devastated my hands just the day before. Normally, I would likely take several unnecessary detours before finding the correct path, but with Mia’s guidance, we managed to reach it in just a few minutes.

‘I guess the training place can’t be that far from the dormitory,” I thought, only aware of the path that led through the infirmary. After all, I had yet to make the trip directly.

“Master, I led you here because you requested it… but you shouldn’t use your hands yet,” Mia warned, speaking out the very first, non-reactive sentence since I met her.

A smile appeared on my face before I could control it.

“Thank you for worrying; I really appreciate it,” I said, fighting the desire to rustle her silvery hair. “But you don’t need to worry. I’m not going to overtrain like I did,” I added before heading in for the private garden.

This time, I had the freedom of mind to actually look around, learning about the insides of the entire place instead of just being awed by it.

By the time we arrived at my private part of this place, I had learned that outside of the private gardens like mine, there were a few open areas where one could train to their heart desires.

Obviously, by using the open areas, one had to accept the company of other disciples, as there were no gates guarding the entry to those.

‘Or maybe they only appear if all the pillars detect some sort of training?’ I thought, analyzing the possibility for a moment. Yet, there was no point in overthinking this. Sooner or later, I would naturally learn all the quirks of this world, so there was no need to waste time on it now.

Upon entering my private training garden, I quickly dropped off our supplies to the ground before standing in front of the pillar. Someone or something already cleared out all the bloody marks from it, leaving it in exactly the same state as it was in when I first saw it.

‘It doesn’t seem to be affected by my training at all,’ I observed, unable to find a single mark that I hoped my fists would leave on the thing.

‘Well, it ultimately doesn’t matter,’ I shrugged my arms before getting to the position.

Focusing my mind, I forgot about all the distractions of the outside world. For a short moment, I threw away all the problems, all the hopes, even the awareness of Mia standing behind me. Only the pillar remained in my head and before my eyes.

I raised my bandaged hands to my chest as if I wanted to guard against something.

Then, I struck.

Not with my hands. Just like I told Mia before, I wasn’t stupid enough to overwork them any further. I simply kicked the pillar.

And then again.

And then once more.

This time, I didn’t alternate between my right and my left side. Standing just the right distance away for my side-kick to connect, I would throw an attack, retract my leg, gather my thoughts, and attack once more.

This training frenzy lasted only for a few moments. There was no use in hitting the pillar any further if it would bear no results.

I took a few breaths as I allowed my mind to return to its normal state.

‘Status,’ I thought, invoking the set of three windows containing my information.

BODY STATUS WINDOW

***

– Name: Arthur (Fian) Pendragon

– Age: 17

– Status: Hands wounded (treated)

– Hidden Status: Confused

– Body Status: Mortal

– Hidden Body Status: Apostle

***

PROGRESS STATUS WINDOW

***

– Body status: Mortal

– Growth status: Body Purification

– Body status modifier:

– Endurance:61/100

– Willpower:16/100

Body Purification:183/300

{

– Skin Purification:47/100

– Flesh purification:47/100

– Bone purification:44/100

– Innards purification:33/100

– Core purification:12/100

}

***

Objective status window:

***

–

***

And there it was.

Omitting the changes to my endurance and willpower that I had time to bother with, my purification statistics went up a notch!

“It works…” I muttered, too happy to hold back my words.

“Master?” Mia asked, staring at me with her wide, green eyes.

All of a sudden, I felt bashful.

Training by myself was one thing, but to have such a cutie stare at me while I did so?

It was an entirely different scenario altogether!

“Now then,” I said, properly turning my face towards the girl and reaching with my hand towards her.. “Come here.”