This Is Not the Life That I Imagined

A loud thud echoed in the training field as Maxwell's fist hit the training dummy. For more than two hours, he repeated the same action tirelessly. His face dripped with sweat, and his shirt was soaked, but his determination to improve never wavered.

Markus was paying close attention to him and Toby as they trained. He moved to Maxwell and instructed," Now that you warmed up, do as I say."

Maxwell stopped and waited for the instruction.

"Feel your hardened fist carefully. Imagine that your hardened stone extends a little bit and forms another layer that is separated from your skin."

Maxwell closed his eyes and followed his mentor's guidance. He relaxed his muscles, took a deep breath, and started feeling how his hardening applied to his fist.

"Imagine the extra layer in the shape of a bump—nothing complicated or crazy yet. You are still new to this form of training. Take it step by step."

The firm voice of Mentor Markus made Maxwell subconsciously trust it and follow his guidance.

Because of the full two-hour training earlier with only his hardened fist, he could perceive the slight difference between the passive hardening and how his thoughts could change the flow of hardening in small ways.

"Continue hitting the dummy. Success might not come on your first or even hundredth try. Just keep imagining what I told you for a second or two, then hit the dummy. Repeat until you can't anymore."

 "Yes, sir." Knowing it would not be easy, Maxwell followed Markus's instructions to the letter.

Shifting his focus, Markus moved to Toby, his firm voice replaced with a stern one. "Can you tell me what you're doing, Toby?"

Toby, absorbed in his training, was startled by the voice. He answered with a shaky breath, "I'm training."

"You call this training? All I see is you using a brick to write. You just compile all the fire energy with no rhyme or reason into a piece of trash and throw it away."

Toby doubted his ears, as Markus was basically saying his training was useless. Disbelief was written all over his face as he couldn't fathom how his fireball was bad.

"You don't believe me? Can you hold your fireball in your hand for a minute without it exploding?" Markus smirked, crossing his arms as he waited for an answer.

"I-I… no, I can't." Flustered, Toby stammered. It had never crossed his mind to hold the fireball in his hand for an extended period of time.

"It's not just about holding the fireball. You can do many other wonders with your fire control talent."

With a smug expression, Markus formed a fireball, identical in size to Toby's. Then the fireball split into four smaller ones, which started rotating around Markus's body. He sent a fireball to the dummy target, but instead of exploding, it burnt through it and cycled back to orbit around Markus's body.

Not stopping there, the four fireballs merged together into one big fireball. The fireball expanded rapidly, becoming as large as a person's body.

Toby took several steps back, sweating bullets from the heat alone, but his eyes shone like stars as he couldn't wait for Markus's guidance. Markus waved his hand, and the fireball extinguished as if it had never been there.

Seeing Toby's shining eyes, Markus couldn't help but chuckle. "Your talent is called fire control because it's all about control. You're not just a fireball thrower. Understand that your talent is more than just an attack with strong firepower."

Toby nodded eagerly, waiting for what was next. He didn't wait long as Markus continued, "I won't get technical, but if you look at normal fire, you'll see it go all over the place or change direction with the wind. However, if you look at your stove at home, you'll find it always goes in the same pattern, no matter how many times you turn it off and on. Why is that?"

Toby thought for a second before answering, "Because the stove is made of pipes that direct the gas in a predetermined direction before we light it up."

"Exactly. Imagine the fire element in the air and your body as the gas, and your control of it is the pipe that restricts its wild nature. Obviously, what you learn won't be exactly the same as the example, but it's there to make it easier for you to understand."

"Understood, Sir."

"Now, I want you to attack with your fire as if it's a flamethrower without condensing it at all. Do that for the rest of today."

Toby nodded and began doing as he was told. He and Maxwell immersed themselves in their own training, both desperate to make themselves stronger.

John, on the other hand, was still engrossed in the book he was reading.

 (After one's attributes reach certain values, growth will stagnate. There will be a certain feeling of a barrier standing between that person and any future progress.

Only by breaking that barrier will the growth stagnation vanish, allowing one to progress and improve their attributes once more.

Through detailed analysis, the concept of realms of power came to be, and they are as follows:

*If all attributes are between 10-20, it is called the Beginning Stage.

*If a single attribute or all are between 20-40, it is called the Foundation Stage.

*If a single attribute or all are between 40-80, it is called the Expert Stage.

*If a single attribute or all are between 80-160, it is called the Master Stage.

 *If a single attribute or all are between 160-320, it is called the Grandmaster Stage.

*Above these attributes are the Guardians.)

John's eyes widened as he realized how far he still had to go. "All this training, and I don't have a single attribute that's naturally at 15."

The sound of his ankle tapping the chair was audible in the quiet room as his thoughts spiraled into chaos. 'All I wanted was a relaxing life. I didn't aim to become rich or famous. Just the necessities and a little bit of fun. I would be satisfied.

But knowing that there are superpowers and crazy monsters out there, how can I completely relax? If I don't do my best, I will have no power to help my father, mother, or anyone if a disaster strikes.'

John sighed heavily, casting his doubts aside as he continued reading the book. 

(Dungeons comes in three tiers: Normal, Uncommon, and Elite.

Dungeons also have different levels, from one to five. the lower the dungeon level, the more numerous they are.

Also, for some unknown reason, some roles don't apply inside the dungeons. For example, pistols don't work inside the dungeon that well. Unless some rare materials are used but the disadvantaged outweigh the advantaged, and too much malfunctions to be a useful tool. the dungeons ….)

'I remember Mentor Quinn told us that the dungeon with the rats was Normal level 1 dungeon, I didn't even think to ask about dungeon levels back then. I was apprehensive about the coming challenge to let my thoughts wonder about anything else.'

With every word he read, john felt a sense of urgency building inside of him, but he couldn't control his curious mind to dive deeper into the book.

John didn't know was it because of his talent, his interest, or both that he forgot about the time and he read until he finished the book in one setting.

Professor Ada just got out of the lap to check on John but found him staring at the ceiling in daze. With displeased voice, she asked," John, why aren't you reading?"

Coming back to his senses, John answered back, "I finished the book."

Taken aback, she asked for confirmation," did you?"

John nodded. "What should I do know?"

"I didn't prepare anything other than this book today. You are free to do what you want," Professor Ada dismissed him, returning to her lab.

John exited the office, thought for a moment before heading toward the training ground. 'How many years do I need before reaching expert stage?' He wondered, feeling pressured from what he learned.

Shaking his head, John reminded himself, 'Stop aiming too high from the start. Just focus on the immediate tasks at hand.' After suppressing his anxiety, he found it easier to think clearly.

'Now the basic thing is to work on increasing my attributes. That will involve pushing my body to its limit, but I need more. My talent is different. I lack fire or hardening to improve. Still, increasing my attributes is essential. And I don't know if reaching the Foundation stage will bring any change to my talents.'

Professor Ada told him to understand different weapons and how to use them effectively. He didn't like the sword that much; it was just the first weapon he used and was convenient.

'Now that I think about it, I could learn archery first, having one melee weapon and one ranged weapon as core, and dabble in others to understand their use.'

Entering the training ground, he saw Maxwell hardening his hands, punching the dummy, then pause for two seconds, punching it again, then repeat. He could feel the heat coming from Toby training area as he stretched his arms forward, releasing as much fire as he could without pausing.

Turning his sight aside, John put on the weight-bearing clothes and started his training with running, heavy lifting, and stretching.

Then he moved to endurance, force outburst and reaction training. By the time he finished the basics, it was already late evening. He was the only one left on the training ground.

Going to the weapon training field, he grabbed a training bow and arrows. The smooth wood of the bow pressed against his palm, its weight a reminder of its purpose. It is another tool for killing, it is not a toy to play with.

Placing the arrows within reach, John nocked an arrow, feeling the force of the bowstring before aiming. Releasing the arrow, it flew through the air and missed the 10-meter target. John wasn't disappointed; he expected that. He knew it would take time to get it right.

Minutes passed by as one arrow after another was fired until finally, an arrow hit the target. firing more arrows to ensure it wasn't luck, John let out a satisfied smile.

'And a new skill added to my list of skills. If it can be added in my stats, I think it will be Archery: Beginner,' amusing thought came to his mind while dragging his tired body out of training ground.

He went to his room, took a shower before falling into deep sleep with a smile on his face. Even though this is not the life he hoped to live. John determined to improve every day until he reached his limits. So, he won't feel any guilt and blame himself if something happened out of his control.