It had been a few days since they started training. Ariel and Serena have been practising their magic control over Fire and Wind.

John recently taught Serena how to use wind, since she already had a good grasp of fire, she learnt it without difficulties. He taught her the same way he taught Ariel, and she got the hang of it just as fast.

John guessed that it proved that concept magic doesn’t require an elemental aptitude. Meaning anyone and everyone can use all the elements with practice. However, practising is the hard part. Forming a flame or a wind blade is easy.

However, making something like a flamethrower and a wind cannon like Ventus tormentum is the next level. Concept magic requires a lot of concentration and dedication. Even now, Ariel and Serena and Practising creating a new fire spell.

John had tried making a flamethrower with ignis but it was unexpectedly hard. It failed after the first few tries, now it at least looks like one but it’s weaker and slower. It’s kind of saddening how that’s as far as John got after 4 days of practice.

Ariel and Serena are also showing difficulty in forming their fire spells themselves. The reason it’s hard is that when you’re creating a spell, you need to have not only the correct image but have an objective.

For example, Learning ‘Ventus Tormentum’ Wasn’t that hard since they knew what they wanted. They wanted a strong pressure of air to release and shoot out like a cannon. It was simple and took only 2 days of practice to get it right.

As for a flamethrower. They needed to have the temperature of the fire in mind. The force and rotation of the flames.

John was close to getting a grasp over the temperature of the flame, the force and rotation. He thought that he should be able to do it today.

“Alright, time to go and test it,” John said.

“What are you testing?” Asked Serena.

“I think I have an idea of the rotation and force on the spell I’m trying to create,” He replied.

“How about you don’t try to create anything, while I and Ariel try to get stronger.” She said.

“Can’t do that, I’m afraid,” John said.

John was afraid though, these girls suddenly got motivated when he told them they could order him to do whatever they wanted. He didn’t know what he was afraid of but something was telling him not to lose. John was taking his training very seriously.

“Hmm, boring.” She muttered as he left.

***

“Alright… Imagine… A spiral… A tornado which pushes everything away… Focus on the rotation… And apply it to Ignis…” John said as he stood on the open field facing the ocean.

The size of the blue flame in his hand began to increase, and it began to rotate above his hand.

“Good… Compress it… Slow and steady…” He muttered.

John began to compress the big rotating flame, which resulted in the force and energy being accumulated inside.

“Good.. This is the first time I’m trying this method… If my theory is correct, it should burst out after being continuously pressured and compressed. The force of the burst will be high and it should look like a flamethrower… Now… Release!” John said as released and directed the pressure forwards.

The instant he released the pressure. The giant flame whose size had been compressed burst out in a rotating manner from his hand at high speeds. It looked exactly like a flamethrower.

The flamethrower which was released from John’s hand continued to pour out of his hand, constantly sucking out his magic power and went crashing into the water of the ocean.

Steam began to form as the water started to evaporate. The overall power and heat behind this attack were frightening.

“Cancel!” John shouted out.

The flamethrower which was coming out of his hand had stopped. John looked over at the water, and some of it had evaporated and turned to steam, but it wasn’t noticeable.

“Let’s not use this against them…” John muttered as he sat down to catch his breath.

***

John was glad the Flamethrower was a success. He had been imagining the flame rotating and gushing out of his arm, but he hadn’t tried compressing it before so it would burst out with more power.

The problem was that it was too strong. Its power and temperature were way higher than ignis.

“I’ll name it ‘flamma proiciens’ I guess that just leaves…” John muttered.

Now that the flamethrower was a success, John could focus on the other things he was practising. The first was gravitational magic.

“Since I was able to create an anti-gravity cloak around me. Theoretically, I should be able to create a field where gravity is stronger… Or in other words… The attraction towards the mass of the earth is harder…” John muttered.

The second was practising flying.

“I need to be able to fluently manipulate the wind and balance myself while I stop being affected by gravity. Practising this has been so hard I haven’t been able to enjoy it much.” He muttered.

The third was practising water magic.

“I didn’t want to do this, but it’s just in case. Water will always beat fire. Glacies works as water too once it evaporates, but it’s still slightly less effective.” John spoke to himself.

And last but not least, the strict training regime he had been doing every day since he started this 7-day training. Every training needs a bodybuilding training routine.

“For me it’s… 100 Push-ups, 100 Sit-ups, 100 Squats, 100 Crunches and then a 10 Kilometer run.” John said.

This training was recommended to him back in his previous world. John didn’t know much about muscle training since he barely did any strengthening exercises in his previous life. But he was sure these exercises will target most of the muscles in his body.

——————————————-

‘The day has finally come. After all that training, I… Physically I don’t feel any different, I made sure to do all the bodybuilding training without magic and I’ll continue to do it every day. It was hard, but I want to look ripped and strong, so it’s going to be worth it.’ John thought.

John read books on getting ripped before, so he knew which types of crunches targeted his obliques, abs and core. So he was sure his training was going well.

“John, remember what you promised?” Serena asked.

“Yes, yes. If I lose, I’ll do anything you say.” John replied.

“Good.” She said.

After the fourth day, John had stopped paying attention to their training. They looked like they were doing fine and he thought it would be unfair to see what sort of tricks they might have up their sleeve so he didn’t check.

Although, John was kind of regretting it now. 

‘But it should be fine… No, it will be fine. After all that practice, I can’t lose.’ He thought.

“Then, like before, let’s start once the coin reaches the ground.” Said Ariel as she flipped the coin into the air.

“Good luck,” John said.

“Thanks.” They replied.

Watching the coin slowly rolling in the air, he didn’t feel nervous at all. Instead, he felt excited, being able to see the efforts of our training. John wasn’t worried about losing, he just wanted for them as a whole team to have gotten stronger.

The instant the coin touched the ground, Ariel cast Ventus. John managed to evade it by jumping to the side, but it was faster than usual.

“Ignis” Said Serena.

A flame, smaller than her usual fireball, was formed and aimed at John. It was fast, but thanks to his training John was able to evade it using ‘Velox’

“!? What was that?” Asked Serena.

“Nothing much, I just used wind pressure to boost me out of the way,” John said.

“Not bad, but we’re not finished yet. Ventus Tormentum!” Said Ariel.

The air pressure began to gather in front of her without releasing like it usually would.

“Ignis.” Said Serena as point her hands in the direction of Serena’s wind cannon.

Serena’s red flame was formed where all of Ariel’s wind cannon’s air pressure was being gathered, causing them to merge.

‘Oioioi, wait a moment… Isn’t that just like my flamethrower but stronger?! Crap, I gotta get out-‘ John thought.

“Ignis Tormentum!” They simultaneously shouted.

The Fire cannon, which they had formed, was way stronger than John’s flame thrower. Not only that, but it was faster. She had also fully charged it up, so if John hadn’t seen it coming, there was no way he’d make it in time.

That is, if John hadn’t seen it coming.

“Furtim, Levite, Velox” John muttered right before they released the spell.

“Did we get him?” asked Serena.

“H-Hey Serena… Are you sure that wasn’t too much? Can John really survive that?” Ariel asked.

“Of course he can, we’re going to need a lot more than that to beat him.” Said Serena.

“Are you trying to kill me!?” John shouted at them while he was in the air.

“H-Huh? John, you’re i-in the air?! Did you die!?! Is this your spirit!?!” Asked Ariel with a frightened expression.

“What? No, It’s a flying spell.” John said.

“Oh, I see…” Replied Ariel with a relieved expression.

“More importantly… When were you able to fly!?” Asked Serena.

“That’s the least important thing right now! Are you guys trying to kill me with that attack!?” John shouted.

“Huh?! How could that possibly kill you?” Serena shouted back.

“Don’t ‘Huh?!’ me! What sort of person can survive that attack!?” John shouted as he pointed at the burnt wall which was behind him.

“Oh please, you could’ve used an Ice shield or water shield to block it. If you don’t want us to use these attacks, don’t block them with the opposite element.” She said.

“Fine. I’ll only use glacies to attack. I won’t use it for defence.” stated John.

“Okay, now come down from there.” Said Serena.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Glacies.” John said.

He cast Glacies and around him and 6 Ice spikes were formed.

“Bigger,” John muttered, and the size of each spike increase.

“John, t-time out! Don’t you think it’s not fair!? You can fly and dodge our attacks and attack us.” Said Serena.

“Serena, it’s fine. John’s glacies are fast, but from where he’s at, we can easily dodge them.” Said Ariel.

“Ah, that’s right. Gravitas.”

The instant John said the word ‘Gravitas’ both Ariel and Serena fell to their knees.

“W-What’s going on? It feels like there’s weight on top of me.” Said Serena.

“Ah, that’s just gravity. It’s a spell I’ve been practising. I created a field around you two where everything weighs 10x more, I could increase the weight but the higher I do, the more magic it takes.” John said.

Gravitas, a spell he spent the last 3 days trying to perfect. By creating a field where the attraction of mass towards the earth’s core is higher than usual, John can increase the pressure of gravity within that field. In other words, he can make everything heavier.

“That’s unfair!” Serena said.

“This is the end,” John said as he descended back to the ground.

John walked up to them and tapped them on the shoulder.

“Do you surrender?” He asked.

“No…” They replied as they struggled to get up.

John let out a sigh and said, “Fine, I surrender. It’s my loss.” before deactivating Gravitas

“What are you talking about… We lost fair and square…” Ariel muttered.

“Fair? I used a flying spell against you and taught you an element which is the opposite and weak against my strongest element. The fact that you two didn’t give up is already good enough. Your teamwork was also amazing.” John said.

“Then, it means it’s our win?” Asked Ariel.

“Yeah,” John replied.

“Hear that, Ariel. That means he’s going to do any one thing we ask.” Said Serena With an evil smile.

“Huh?” John unintentionally let out.

“You didn’t forget, did you? Remember what you said? If we win, you’ll do any one thing we ask,” Said Serena.

“You did say that John.” Added Ariel.

“Ah… I forgot…” He said.

“Either way, you’re not planning on going back on your promise now, are you?” Asked Serena with the same creepy smile on her face.

“O-Of course not… I promised after all… Besides you, two worked hard, so you deserved it. So what are your orders?” John asked.

“Well… What we want is….”