Chapter 20 – Synergy and Stats

Time blended together as the days continued in an endless stream of waking up, having the Optio scream at the top of his lungs, run for everything twice a day, workout in new and quite ingenious ways, eat the headcooks food, eat seconds, have the Optio scream more, sprint hills, and then, finally after the slog of the normal days, get some alone time to work on his Mana Gathering skill.

One wisp at a time, sometimes two if he got lucky on those rare days they hadn’t earned more sprints and runs.

That was his ceiling on these days alone at night. He couldn’t get a third wisp no matter how hard he tried and even if he could have, he doubted he would. The sheer amount of exhaustion he felt every night dictated the amount of wisps he gathered, not to mention the speed.

He was already on borrowed time gathering more of them in the middle of the night when he should have been sleeping. Using another couple of hours would only guarantee his downward spiral.

No matter how slow it was, this pace was currently sustainable and at the very edges of what he could handle.

Max discovered quickly why Captain Hector was their magic teacher and why the Optio put him in such high regard when it came to the transfer of information and getting them up to speed.

Every other day, the Captain would kneel behind each student and help them gather ambient mana from the world around them. The difference between what he could do and what Max was currently capable of was staggering. Where he had gained nothing but solo wisps lazily bobbing up and down his mana channels, the Captains zipped down the perfect path directly to where the rest were currently waiting.

Based on what Hector said, the wisps had been manipulated with a basic directive. ‘Find the nascent core and join the rest of the mana wisps.’

Apparently, that was more than enough.

Max wasted an entire night trying to figure out how to give these basic directives only to give up. He filed it under the necessity of the Mana Manipulation Skill if he ever wanted to achieve that. Which was only going to take time.

The good part?

Max gathered five, sometimes six, during these direct, one on one, lessons. He had once gathered seven after the good Captain had spent an extra few minutes with him muttering about mana channel density and growth. Max had ignored it and stayed focused on feeling every wisp that blasted through to his nascent core to get the feel for it. He would waste no time to figure this out once he unlocked his Mana Manipulation Skill.

He just needed to get the whole thing to start snowballing.

Max ran through the numbers and when he would eventually break through to his next point of interest. Nightly practice averaged one and a half wisps considering some days he only got one and others two. Days he practiced with Captain Hector averaged roughly six.

There were three magic practices with the Captain weekly, and four solo. That came down to roughly twenty four wisps gathered per week if everything went perfect.

He sighed.

There was nothing left but to lock in and focus on the work ahead of him. Even if it felt so distant.

The weeks ground on. Max settled into a rhythm of making sure to keep his head down and bother no one so nothing untoward could end up happening to break his focus.

It didn’t mean things didn’t happen. The exact opposite.

Joel broke up with his posse, splitting into two groups with stragglers joining a third group. It happened after the fourth time the entire barrack had to sprint because the taller, thick jawed boy did something stupid without thinking about the consequences.

Max was pleased with this development. It meant he had less to worry about.

Olir made a couple more attempts to fake making friends with Max, Caleb, and Arnie that were obvious once he told his friends what the other kid had tried to do during the example that Captain Hector did on their very first day with him. Arnie and Caleb were upset at the thought.

Max wanted to say that he had no idea why the boy would do something like this instead of just trying to be normal friends, but that would have been a lie. Arnie and Caleb understood too.

None of them lived a good life.

None of them had ever eaten an easy meal.

Not a single one of them has survived not fighting for every single thing they had gotten with tooth and claws.

None of them had not seen or been taken advantage of by others who had seemed kind at some point, only to steal, hurt, mug, get nearly sold into slavery, or forced into gangs and made to do their crimes for them. It was just the state of living in the slums as an orphan.

Olir was no different even if he was supposedly a genius.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

How could he act in a way he had never seen anyone else successfully do? Max and his boys had no idea what he had gone through.

Max also learned, in those flying weeks, that his body was adapting faster than others. This was both a blessing and a curse. The Recovery of the Air Gladiator working with Head Cook Galgori’s mana-laced meals meant that his body was growing used to the exertion and training. More importantly, it was becoming stronger.

He could see it in the shape of his body. That lanky look with fat all over his body had shifted into a corded frame, that while wasn’t anything special, was growing more impressive by the day. Slowly morphing into the ideal shape that the Optio had mentally made for each one of them as the perfect Cursed Legionaries.

Muscles were now easily pointed out on their bodies.

It also meant, for him at least, that the physical gains had slowed to a crawl compared to the glorious first week.

+2 constitution

+1 vitality

That was all he gained. Two stats from the moment he had his first night wisp gathering session, until three weeks into the locked in rhythm he found. At some point, he had hit diminishing returns. It made him frown and consider trying to find new ways to work out to get more stats, but he didn’t have to.

The Optio was already on the task. The workouts, much to everyone’s dismay, kept evolving.

New combinations, longer durations, new twists, exercises that targeted specific muscles that Max hadn’t even known could get sore until Optio Ignacious had willed it into existence.

That scrapped by a few more stat points, but it was obvious that it was not sustainable.

+1 strength

+1 dexterity

+1 endurance

The magic training, on the other hand, was completely different. The growth was slow, but consistent.

Max would gain a single point of either intelligence or wisdom every week without fail.

+2 intelligence

+2 wisdom

But that didn’t mean Max didn’t have his concerns or thoughts on the matter. Mainly that he hadn’t gained any magic stat even after all the training and work he had put in. Not a single one. His status page was constantly growing except for a few key ones that hadn’t budged once other than a title or achievement. Meaning he hadn’t figured out how to move magic, reaction, or resistance up yet.