Demon's Virtue

Eiro brought the items that Armodeus made for him outside. With a flick of his hand, he got rid of the bit of snow that had gathered, and then proceeded to dry the ground in the training-area of his manor's garden.

If the ground was too muddy, all that would happen was that Krog's body would be pushed down into that mud. That was the opposite of what he wanted to happen. The Demon placed the items onto the ground and waited for his three party members to come join him.

The first one to take notice of the items laying there was Krog himself, since it was obvious that this wooden armor was meant for him. It wouldn't end up fitting anyone else, after all.

"You know that metal armor's better than wooden one, right?" The half-Goliath pointed out with a wry smile, and Eiro let out a slight sigh. He picked up the gauntlet of the armor and poured his mana into it for a moment, and then threw the gauntlet over at Krog.

This giant mountain of muscles caught it and had his hands dragged down immediately due to the immense weight of the gauntlet. Of course, it was an item that Krog could carry quite comfortably, he just didn't expect it to weigh that much when it came flying toward him.

Eiro smirked lightly, "This isn't for defense, dumbass." He took a step toward Krog and placed his hand onto the gauntlet, making its weight return to normal.

"Now just put it on while I explain what we're going to be doing now." The Demon pointed out in a blunt tone. Krog seemed quite curious and interested in this wooden armor, so he didn't hesitate even for a moment.

Even in battle he didn't usually wear much armor, since he said it 'restricted his movement', but this was clearly a different situation.

"Alright. Basically, while you three are indeed working on gathering a wider range of abilities and expanding your base, like I asked you to, you are currently seeing a lack of growth in specific areas of your skills and abilities." The Demon said. So far, all three of them agreed. It was obvious, after all.

All they were doing was trying to level themselves up throughout low-rank Classes. Each of them had gone through either three or four different ones by now, but their actual growth, at least in the field of stats, was comparable to half that of a class they would normally take on.

They were putting in quite a lot of work into what they were doing, but it felt like there was little to no reward waiting for them. A feeling that was more than just annoying to people in their position, considering that they wanted to catch up to Eiro as quickly as absolutely possible.

"So, I'm now going to train you in a way that the system itself may not directly support." Eiro explained, and Jess looked back at the Demon, "Did you find some kind of... Trick around the system? To increase our stats quickly?"

Eiro looked back at the mage and chuckled, shaking his heads, "What, of course not! The opposite, rather. It's part of the system, but most people think quite little of it due to how convenient stats are. It's a benefit that I enjoy due to the system of evolution, while you are mostly stuck with what you're given."

"Could you stop talking in riddles?" James asked with a slight growl as he glared at Eiro, before a voice came from behind him, "Sorry, I think that's a habit that he picked up from me."

It was Lognir, casually appearing right behind the three people that Eiro would now proceed to train. Even Eiro had a bit of trouble in realizing that he was there, since he hadn't been specifically trying to find him, but James, Jess, and Krog were more than just shocked.

All three of them, being experienced adventurers, got ready to attack this person that suddenly infiltrated this place, but Eiro just laughed, "Don't worry, he's a friend. Not like you would be able to kill him anyway." 

"How true that is, child." Lognir laughed, "Now, am I allowed to solve this 'riddle' for these three to speed this up a bit?"

Eiro shrugged, "Go ahead, I don't mind."

"Thank you. What Eiro here is talking about is-" Lognir spoke, but James was still looking at him with a deep glare, "Buddy, could you stop looking at me like that?"

"How can I, when I don't even know who you are?" James responded bluntly, and Lognir quickly looked around himself.

"Alright, let's change that, then. Eiro trusts you, so I will put my trust in that child." The Dragon explained. And this Dragon whose shape was that of a man, soon returned to his true form in front of these four.

Instead of having the power or will to do anything but stare at Lognir, James, Jess and Krog just stood there.

"I told you, you wouldn't stand a chance if you were to fight against him. Neither would I, though, to be perfectly fair." Eiro explained, "Anyway. Lognir, please continue." 

As the three stunned people were standing there, Lognir turned back into his humanoid form, "Good idea. What Eiro means is the 'hidden number' behind the stat. The stat value. It's not something specifically assigned by the system, it is simply a numerical representation of your raw physical capabilities. After all, if you took the system and all its benefits away, it is obvious that this Warrior would have more raw physical strength than Eiro."

James slowly turned around toward Eiro, "You want to increase our stat values? Seriously? That's all you're talking about?"

"What do you mean, 'that's all'? Do you realize that the only reason that I become significantly when reaching level 100 is that my stat values increase? My body changes from the ground up each and every time. Within the matter of a few weeks, my power doubles or even triples without any of my stats or skills increasing." Eiro pointed out, "It's just that none of you ever thought about that. I've seen you guys practice techniques, but I've never seen you do strength-training. Or run simply to increase your constitution. Or read a book unrelated to magic." 

Eiro stared at each of the three people in front of him and then started to explain how each of them would end up practicing now.

"James, you will learn together with me. We have a similar combat style, so we can probably help each other out when it comes to technique. But on top of that, every morning at 4am and every night at 8pm, you will go out, run toward the wall around the urban district, run around the town once, and then come back to the manor." James stared back at Eiro as if the Demon was insane, "Even if I were to sprint the whole time, each run would take three hours. I would get at most five hours of sleep each night. Are you insane?"

"That's the point, James. While I want you to train your physical constitution and agility, I also want to train your willpower. And before I forget, you won't be just running. You will be using this mask." The Demon said, squatting down to grab another item that Armodeus prepared.

He threw it over toward James, who took a look at it. It would end up covering the lower half of his face. Hesitantly, he put it on since that was obviously what Eiro wanted him to do then. And the first thing that happened is that he gasped for air, as if he was suffocating. All air was pulled out of his lungs for a moment, and he was struggling to pull new air in.

"That mask is going to make it much, much harder for you to breathe. You will become exhausted more quickly, of course, but at the same time it's goign to help you increase your endurance and control your breathing. That latter part is something you have extreme trouble with." The Demon pointed out, while James was trying to rip the mask of his face. 

Eiro walked over toward him and tapped the side of the wooden mask, "Oh, and I'm the only one that can take it off you. But don't worry, if you fall unconscious because you're lacking air, it's going to take over breathing for you until you're alright again. If you agree to do my training, you won't take this mask off except to eat, drink, and brush your teeth. Understood?"

James looked back at Eiro as if he was insane. And once Eiro let him take the mask of, he took a deep breath and voiced his complaints, "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Do you want to kill me?" 

"If I did, I wouldn't need to use that mask, James. Listen, you're a Light Elf. You're incapable of using magic. At least in the same form as we usually refer to magic. You can't cause effects outside of your body, but you still can use magic within your body, we already established that. By getting your breathing under control, you will not only be able to fight for much longer than you usually can, but you will be able to train for much longer. You will become calmer. Or rather, you will gain easier control over your own body and thoughts. You're like me, controlled by rage for most of your life. But if you overcome that rage, or can even use it to your advantage, then there's nothing standing in your way of becoming one of the strongest beings I know." Eiro said with a broad grin on his face. This was his honest thought, there wasn't even a hint of deception in his words right now.

And James could tell, somehow. He knew that Eiro was being serious.

"Fine. Count me up, or whatever. But I'll reserve the right to quit whenever I want." James said, and Eiro shrugged, "Sure. But if you do, I won't train you ever again, so be aware of that danger."

"I am." The Light Elf replied, grinding his teeth together as he looked down at the mask in his hands, still trying to recover from his loss of breath just now.

"Oh, and that was a pretty high setting just now just for effect, in actual training, we'll start with a breathing-restriction that's like you have a thin scarf in front of your face. I'll set it higher every time I can see you handle your breathing as you normally would." Eiro pointed out, scratching the back of his head, while James glared at him.

"Then don't scare me like that, you piece of shit!"