It was that time again where Shichiro felt he had to improve himself and his tactics. Just relying on his physical strength wasn't enough anymore especially with war creeping in. He made his way to the Seigheart Mountains in hopes of it having what he needed to gain insight from it. Upon reaching the borders of mountains from Oak, he tread slowly, revealing a very wide area inside. It was like an island wide dungeon that he could get used to under normal circumstance. Before he started traveling inside of it, he wanted to observe how far it would take him and what it even looked like in general. Shichiro thought this would be a nice way to hone his skills in combat and besides, what's the worst that could happen? Cautiously threading to the entrance of the first area to examine how to get in, he observed it was a twenty foot large, brown and red door that didn't seem like it could be open by normal means. It didn't look like he was getting it open from the outside. Maybe somebody was remotely controlling it to open and shut from someplace else. It didn't matter to him though because he already decided he was gonna wreck this place. He sneered, lifting his right hand onto the sheath of bow, preparing to draw the bow from it. As he stepped closer to the door, it had suddenly opened and allowed him entrance. Frowning then shrugging, Shichiro stepped forward into the first area to await what would happen next.

After a few moments of waiting in the flat area had rumbled before shifting itself into dirt and rocks sticking from out of the ground. The arena was undergoing some kind of terraforming specifically for combat. If so, then Shichiro was going to have a blast with so many rocks around. After the arena was done terraforming, the gate at the opposite end the arena had opened up, revealing some sort of earth golem made from rocks dirt and vines. He looked at it dumbfounded wondering what manner of magic made this monstrosity. It practically screamed "Kill me please," and felt he needed to put the power creature out of its misery and began to lunge at it, swiftly drawing his bow.  Already feeling cocky because of the creature being made of mostly rocks. Sneering, he reached out his left arm, clenching it in an attempt to punch the golem in two halves with his werewolf like strength.  Was he wrong to assume it was only made out of rocks. The golem extended out it's own right arm and covered it's hand in mud, sweeping him back to the opposite side of the arena. After sloshing around and sliding in the golem's mud, Shichiro had stood up and shook a bit to try and get some mud off of him. It didn't seem to work too well as a lot of it was still on him. At least he could move better now without sliding all over the place but it was going to be tough to get close to the golem to actually benefit from using his immense strength. He decided, to take a different approach. He raised his foot and slammed it onto the ground fire magma spikes at the front of the golem. Following up then ran in a half circle towards the golem in hopes he could get close towards it to land one of his hands on the rocky parts of the golem in order to crush it. The golem had raised it's left arm again and hardened the mud to make a sturdy earthen wall to defend itself from the projectiles being fired at it. It also turned in response to Shichiro's action to block the hand he was using to try and make contact with certain parts of his body.

W.C: 646

Shichiro had made contact the shield it made with its arm. Sadly, even though it's arm has hard like rock, it only worked if he was making direct contact with the golem's actual body. Looking up, he quickly noticed it shifted its other hand into a spiked ball and was lifting it over his own head getting ready to smash Shichiro's body. It was six times the size of a normal human being so it was no surprised if it did kill him with one swing. Shichiro of course, wasn't going to let that happen to him. Leaping back, he evaded the arm that came crashing down shortly after he got out of range. After that, he peered at the small crater that was left behind from that said swing. Sighing, he had placed his hand onto his temple wondering why it wouldn't let him touch it. It can't possibly know what he was trying to do, could it? Well it didn't matter, he had another idea. Smirking a bit, he began to lift up a large chunk of rock over his head that was at least three diameters before throwing it at the golem. Once again, the golem used it's left to shield itself from the oncoming blow. He then had began to dash towards the creature head on but on his way, he grabbed chunks of rocks and hurled them at it to impede its defenses. When he was in striking distance, he hurled a punch towards the golem which in turn the golem blocked. Shichiro then latched his arms upon the golem’s left arm in an attempt to pull it away from its body far enough so he could make direct contact with that made up it’s torso. After a few moments of struggling with the construct, he had successfully drawn the arm far enough for Shichiro to make contact with it’s chest. Balling his fist up before looking up at the golem’s supposed face, he could have sworn it’s facial expression had been a frowning face of realizing it was about to be destroyed. Well, that was an interesting concept to think about. He then hurled his fist into the chest of the golem punching out its torso. The limbs of it had fell back into the ground, slowly beginning to dissolve. Only the left arm remained cause he was still holding onto it still with his own arm. He then dropped it and placed his hands into his pockets and began to slowly thread to the door, opposite side of where he came from. That was quite a fun endeavor but overall it wasn't enough to help him grow any stronger than he needed to be. Pondering on this strange area, Shichiro wondered why he never came across it before and why he was able to find it now. In the end, he figured he'd made his way to the end of it before asking questions. All he had to do was continue to move forward until he made it to the end of his would be destination.

W.C: 513

Reaching the door, Shichiro had stood in front of it waiting for it to open. It didn’t open, what gives? He then thought it wasn’t like the other which opened automatically when he got too close. He then thought it was another test and decided he wanted to blow down the doors. Losing his temper Shichiro clenched his fists before lifting his right arm and thrusting it into the door that was closed in an attempt to break it. The door simply remained there intact with not even a scratch or scuff mark on it. It was as if it was never hit at all. This angered Shichiro somewhat but before he could try something else, a long ringing buzz was heard as if he were on a game board. Suddenly, a large brightly colored red light had appeared on the stand which he had never noticed before. It had became green suddenly. There were two more colors there that were will red and he began to wonder what they mean but he didn’t have the luxury of time as the door he attempted to force open, opened revealing two more golems. Shichiro groaned as he began to ready fists. The two hulking beasts stepped out and stood briefly before emitting a large rumble that slightly shook the ground when both were doing it. He decided it was time to get a friend or, make one in this instance. As they dashed forward, two extra pairs of arms had emerged from the shoulders and back of the magma magma construct that he had made. Shichiro decided to rinse and repeat the strategy he did with the last golem. He wasn’t gonna do it exactly like last time though. This time he’d have the help of his own construct and it would be a lot easier to deal with them both. Slowing down, Shichiro had let the golem speed ahead to tackle the first golem head on. As his construct rammed his hard body into the other golem’s, they both toppled over and engaged in a physical struggle. Seizing this opportunity to leap up off of a nearby rock, he dive towards the deadlocked golems, hoping to collide into the enemy one only. He was unlucky not in the regard of choosing the wrong golem but the second golem coming to the first’s rescue and parrying the kick he would have delivered towards its comrade. Shichiro flipped off of the golem and had no choice but to attempt to take out the one in it’s way. He was positive the magma construct would hold it’s own long enough to take out the one in front of him. Shichiro had rushed at the second with both arms outstretched ready to clamp down on it’s hardened muddy left arm. He didn’t want to waste as much time as he did with the first one especially now that there was two of them. He then summoned forth six magma spikes once more this time to hurl at the golem in front of him. Of course it wasn’t very effective because it was earth and water mixed together.

W.C: 523

He sucked his teeth as he continued to charge at the construct with both arms out as he lunged towards the golem. He delivered his left fist into the golem’s right arm, knocking it off balance and forcing it to stumble back. It seemed his strength worked on the right arm because it had some smaller chunks of rock in it. He smirked at this little tidbit he learned about this golem creatures before charging in again. He leaped into the air this time aimed for the golem's head. He pressed forward with all six arms this time around before colliding into both of the golem’s arms it used to block the blow. Of course he didn’t think it would be this easy but he at least had to give it a try. The magma construct was still holding it’s own, literally, against the other golem which was still good enough for him to deal with this one. He forced the golem to his knees with his powerful blow and began to hammer away at it with a flurry of blows from both arms. It was then forced to lay on it’s back, right where he wanted it.  Beginning to wiggle and squirm under his barrage before he balled up his right hand into a fist and slammed it into the center of the golem’s chest shattering it’s entire structure like the first golem before him. He then had sneered as it crumbled beneath its feet, looking up towards where his construct and the golem were fighting. It seems the golem had finally beaten his construct off of itself was preparing to finish it with a final blow of his own. Shichiro then decided this would be his only chance to catch it off guard and destroy it in one shot. He quickly ran up towards it from behind, swinging his massive arms into the second golem’s back. It crumbled as easily as the first one. Shichiro had scoffed and figured fighting these golems weren’t any fun anymore. The loud buzzing sound had been heard again as he turned to look at the light signal. Now two out of three were green but the last one remained red meaning there was one more wave before he could advance to the next area. He wondered if it was going to be something as repetitive as the last like “three golems”. He had hoped not. He was already at the first arena second wave and he was already tired of tearing the same thing to shreds. After waiting seven minutes, which he assumed was a wait timer for challengers to catch there breath or rest up. As the door opened for what he assumed was the final time, it turns out, it wasn't three golems. It was a giant ten foot snake and crocus knows how long this son of a gun is. His eyes widen as he looked at the thing. He was a mercenary, not a monster hunter. Clenching his fists, he was ready to lunge at the giant snake. Before he could though, it seemed that his golem was one step ahead of him already making the first move for his creator.

W.C: 533

With a simple snap of the snakes giant jaws, the giant snake had snatched up the magma construct and swallowed it. Shichiro had just looked at the snake with such surprise before turning in the opposite direction and running away from the beast. He wasn't about to charge head first into a creature that had just devoured his construct made of magma and rock. The beast seemed to notice him and came charging at his direction. After leaping to the left and barely missed being consumed by a giant snake, Shichiro had rolled onto the ground and slammed into a near by rock.  Scratch the back of his head, he was unsure what just happened. His eyes were closed apparently and when he opened them, he noticed the snake was no where to be found. It couldn’t have just disappeared. Could it? Whatever the case may be, it was gone now. It probably didn’t even really exist at all but that can’t be true since he watched his construct die with his own eyes. He began to walk towards the door where the snake came out of but to no avail it was still shut. Shichiro turned his head quickly and looked at the lights signalling how many waves were left. Apparently, he only did two and the third color was still red. What gives? The giant snake was gone so why was the door still locked? Shichiro had began to kick and punch at the door before a large rumbling sound was heard. Shichiro turned his neck slowly to see what it could be. He saw the ground pushing itself up as if somebody or something was underground. It didn’t take long to realize what was coming at him for being so angry. Before he could react, he was launched up ten meters into the air before landing on his back. After slamming both of his arms into the ground forcing his body onto its feet, he had outstretched both of his arms to the serpent that was coming in for a second attack. He couldn’t see the stupid creature properly so he swiftly balled up his fists and slammed them into the ground. The force was so great it started to push the rocks from below ground upwards in the direction of the snake. It eventually collided with the forced rocks he knocked up and forced the serpent out itself into the air by fifteen feet. As he looked into the air where the snake was beginning its descent, he jumped into the air in a fit of rage, grabbing the snake a bit behind it’s head where the rest of it’s body began and outstretched his legs outward. He had activated his magma enhancements on his hands and diverted the snake’s body with his strength towards the walls of the arena. A loud, thundering crash was heard throughout the chamber as if anybody else was around to hear it. A lot of dust and debris had flown up from the crash and from the earth that was around the snake’s body.

W.C: 514

Slowly rising up from the dusty arena that was half torn apart, Shichiro seemed to regain his composure after that little stunt. He looked around the arena, scratching the back of his head once more. He then stared at the snake’s corpse, shrugging a bit, thinking to himself he may or may not have overdone it. Well it got what it deserved he guessed. He then looked around wondering where the board was with the colored lights were. Apparently, he had destroyed the mechanism but the door still came undone. He must have gotten lucky or unlucky. He oped he wouldn’t have to fight another tedious enemy. All he wanted to do was rest for five minutes, or rather more like five days. Shichiro wearily dragged his lazy ass through the door he tried so hard previously to get open. While he walked, it seemed like a dimly lit tunnel. Great. Just his luck. He hoped nothing jumped out at him for at least two seconds. He wanted to at least catch his breath before fighting more waves of enemies. He got lucky this time around till he saw the end of the tunnel. It went from nice weather to really hot, really quickly and he immediately saw why. Everything, was on fire. Trees, rocks even the ground had little flames coming out of it. It was such a peculiar sight. It doesn’t seem as if the fire was spreading though. It was all just stationary. It still burned like hell just to attempt to be next to it. He had walked out into the second fiery arena, Here was a pool of lava taking up a good thirty percent of the arena in general. He was already at a disadvantage with all these flames around. It would suck to have to battle and watch his footing which inevitably he will. The gate opposite from him had finally opened but before it fully opened and revealed his opponent, Shichiro  searched around to see if he could find what looks like a scoreboard from last time. He had spotted it and there was once again, only three colors. All red. So that means he only had to deal with three waves this time as well. Alright, sounds fair enough. Shichiro had looked forward to see what his opponent looked like but since he wasn’t paying attention before his opponent was already upon him. It had tackled him square in the chest and jumped backwards to it’s original starting position. He toppled over and fell on his ass. Shaking his head, he stood up while dusting himself off before taking a mad dash at the creature. It looked like a wolf, made of fire. That would be pretty cool to try and tame to keep as a pet but currently, Shichiro's mood was foul at the moment. The wolf had a very keen sense of perception, gracefully avoiding every swing Shichiro had thrown in its direction. It seemed to be pouting but at the same time glaring at him but it doesn’t seem like it has any intention of retaliating, yet.

W.C: 519

Shichiro had shrugged and decided to keep up his swings at the fiery creature. Of course, this still had no effect like the previous six seconds ago. Frustrated, Shichiro thrusted his blade at the creature twice to see if this worked. The ground had opened up from beside him and began to spew flaming spindles at the wolf. The wolf had down a back flip and got some distance between them. Shichiro had swung around the blade a bit before getting it ready and going in for another try. Before he could close the distance to attempt another attack, The wolf quickly opened it’s mouth and spit out a lava, fireball. Shichiro had widened his eyes a bit before evading the fireball himself. He was cutting it close though since he nearly slipped into the pool of lava. After regaining his balance, he looked at the wolf who was doing something rather strange. It was apparently transforming into a human of some kind. It was a she finally with a large naginata in hand. She was beautiful but Shichiro had remember it was an animal with the power of Takeover into a human, which is strange in itself. While he busted his brain trying to think how a wild animal obtained magic the woman lunged forward with the naginata and began to rapidly spin it rapidly in Shichiro' direction. He really needed to break out of this habit before he severely injured himself for worse. Lifting up the blade, blocking it, cancelling the spin before pushing her back, repelling the offense. She smirked a bit before raising the naginata and spinning it above her head. At first nothing was happening but then, the flames had started to gather towards her naginata and imbue it with flames. Shichiro blinked as he decided to gather electricity into his hands and surged it through the blade.

W.C: 331

Both party’s clashed and deadlocked in combat as they pressed their weapons on one another. They were evenly matched for the most part but Shichiro had more stamina to boot. They had kept this up for about ten minutes before the female’s stamina gave out and she jumped back. This was okay with Shichiro as he still had plenty to spare as he continued his assault at the wolf woman. Shame he had to kill this creature. He wanted to study it more and even tame it but, oh well. Lunging forward, Shichiro did a wide and powerful swing in an attempt to separate her torso from her legs. It turns out she wasn't as tired as Shichiro thought or she couldn't evade that. She had saved her own cheeks by jumping into a nearby burning tree for some distance. Shichiro sneered as usual wondering if she was keeping up just fine. It didn’t matter to him one bit. All he cared about was winning and moving forward. He didn’t know why he was so into this but competing and completing these little arena courses was strangely interesting to him even if this was just for training. Shichiro took a step before leaping up after the wolf woman thing, whatever she was, sword raised over his head, preparing a downward swing at the woman’s temple. She had raised her naginata in an attempt to block and instead ended up getting pushed off of it onto the ground while the tree itself got sliced in half. shichiro and twirled around before smirking towards the thing. Shame really, Shichiro wouldn’t mind speaking to it for a little while but if it was here, it’s not human so he shouldn’t feel too bad when he successfully killed it. He was done playing around with his weapon now and wanted to end this as quickly as possible to move onto the next wave.

W.C: 319

All he needed was one quick and clean swing with his mana enhanced blade and he could end this. Just before he made it within striking range, the woman had begun to rapidly spin and turn her body into a twister of flames. Shichiro immediately came to a halt to avoid colliding into the flames and jumped back a few feet to rethink his course of action. He watched to see if anything would happen next. After a few seconds of watching, he assumed nothing was going to happen. The twister didn’t even move from when she first started. Shichiro assumed while she spun, she couldn’t do anything else but spin. Shichiro had sheathed his blade and formed two earth spears in each hand and tossed them at the twister. The spears had collided with the twister before dispersing. So it seems as if the twister is a defensive spell. Shichiro decided to approach this in a different matter. Unsheathing his blade, he crashed it into the ground creating a fissure underneath the twister. Although everything was on fire, earth is still earth. Shichiro watched her cancel her spell whatever it was and leap away from the fissure. Too slow. Shichiro had anticipated this and immediately thrusted the blade in her direction, firing earth spindles. They collided with her square in the right side of her torso, into her ribs. She had been blown back by the spindles mid jump and collided with the ground with a loud thudding sound. Shichiro had frowned but it was time to end this little battle. He wondered if he could somehow win without taking this creature’s life. Well, time to find out. He walked over towards the female that was struggling to reach her weapon. Shichiro had intercepted that action by kicking the naginata away from her.

W.C: 304

The female had looked up at him with the same glare as he looked down, frowning. He closed his eyes as he lifted his right leg over her head in an attempt to curb stomp her. His leg hover over her for a little while but in the end he couldn’t go through with it. Sighing, he put his leg back down to it’s original position and lifted her up instead. He then began to swing her around and round and tossed her into the walls of the stand. He had hoped that would knock her out. It did not. It just seemed like he was trying to brutalize her which wasn’t his current intention. Sighing, he had walked over towards her while she was still groggy and chopped the back of her neck. That seemed to have done the trick so he was content. He looked back up at the scoreboard and took a look to see if the color had changed from red to green. It did not. He decided to wait five minutes before slumping down against the next to the unconscious beast. More than five minutes had passed and the color still did not change. Shichiro had frowned and gotten up from his sitting position. He guessed he’s got to do what he’s got to do. Slowly, he unsheathed his blade and raised his blade over the woman’s head. He kind of wished the wolf would have forcefully been reverted back into a beast, making killing it easier. Oh well. He had plunged the blade into the ground instead, forcing a large piece of the hot ground the wolf woman was on to fly into the air and out of the arena. If that didn’t work, he’d have to climb his way out and finish the job the right way.

W.C: 304

He'd never know if his method did or didn’t work because after he had lost fight of the beast that was hurled away on that piece of earth, the color finally changed from red to green and the doors were preparing to open. He stared at the doors that were opening, revealing his next opponent. As the doors opened completely, what was shown was a large bird that’s wings seemed to be on fire. It didn’t seem to feel them though. Shichiro then realized he didn't feel them because it was the one causing them. This must be a phoenix. Shichiro has never seen one before and this was the first one spotting one let alone fighting one. He blinked in confusion though because it appeared to be sleeping. If this stupid thing was sleeping when it was suppose to be fighting Shichiro would have been very upset even though he shouldn’t be. Of course the thing was asleep but Shichiro wasn’t as upset as he thought he would be cause now he has a shot at ending this thing before it takes flight. Shichiro slowly walked towards the giant bird with his blade in hand, raising it above his head and swinging downwards onto the bird’s head. For some reason, the blade colliding with the bird’s head made an uncanny clanging sound as if he hit something else made of steel. Shichiro blinked and sighed as the bird woke up, screeching at the top of it’s lungs, flapping like mad. The bird had vigorously flapped its wings, creating a force gust of hot air in Shichiro’s direction blowing him back. Well it seems his plan failed as the phoenix began to take flight and fly around. Shichiro expected it to go far into the air out of his range but for some reason the phoenix only hovered over the arena top acting like it was confined by something.

W.C: 319

He wanted to test this theory but he had no way of doing so at the moment. For now, he had to figure out a way to reach the bird. He began to ponder but he didn’t get a lot of time. The phoenix had opened its mouth and began to fire balls of flame in Shichiro’s direction. It seemed weak and pretty slow for that matter. It might as well be equivalent to a mage’s C rank spell. Sighing, Shichiro whipped His blade around and attempted to cut the incoming fireballs in half. It worked wonderfully as the flames dispersed and turned into nothing. After ten minutes of doing this, The phoenix decided to completely engulf it’s body in flames and dive down towards Shichiro’s direction. Shichiro sneered as the creature began this action because now he could at least counterattack. Awaiting for the moment the phoenix got into striking range, Shichiro had raised his blade above his head and brought it crashing down on the phoenix’s right wing when it tried to tackle him with it. Unlike it’s head, the wings were vulnerable to being cut. Shichiro had cut the wing but he didn’t exactly move to try to evade it or he’d miss his chance. As he cut the bird’s wing, simultaneously the bird’s wing slapped Shichiro’s torso, lighting his shirt on fire and knocking him down. Shichiro immediately pats his chest and tries to put out the flames while rolling around, not that rolling around would help when the field is on fire. The injured phoenix had crashed into ground sliding and colliding into the arena’s walls. That must have had some sort of significant damage because  it didn’t move for a little while other than twitch. Shichiro had successfully put out the flames on his chest but his shirt was destroyed and was now just wearing burnt and tattered rags that used to be a red vest.

W.C: 322

Shichiro then ripped off the rest of the tattered rags anyways and threw it into the lava pool before raising the blade and charging at it. Shichiro jumped up, lunging with quickness and plunged his blade into it’s back. The phoenix let out a blood curdling cry as it began to wiggle around and shake in an attempt to get the blade out of it’s back. Shichiro continued to force the blade into it’s back and use the hilt to hold on tightly. This lasted for what seemed like hours before Shichiro decided he was tired of this and pushing the blade further in wasn’t doing any additional damage. Shichiro pulled the blade out and allowed himself to be thrown off the bird’s back, landing on his feet. The bird had begun to run around and charge at Shichiro. Despite it being a bird, It was pretty quick on its feet but not quick enough. Shichiro had turned to where the lava pool was and swung his blade in that direction before sheathing it, folding his arms, sneering. As the bird charged, it was moving slower and slower towards its intended target. It was apparently being pulled by something. Something made over the lava pit by Shichiro’s sword. Turning its head, it realized it was being sucked into being dragged into the lava pit. The phoenix can resist fire but Shichiro doesn’t think it’ll survive being in Lava for too long even if it was immune to fire. Shichiro continued to watch with arms folded as the phoenix continued to get sucked into the lava. The stubborn thing had decided to root it’s talons into the ground to try and hold its footing. Sighing, Shichiro slowly walked over towards the bird and stood in front of it, looking down on it.

W.C: 301

The Phoenix had looked up and opened its mouth preparing to fire another fireball blast at point blank range. Annoyed, Shichiro grabbed the bird by it’s throat, squeezing tightly so the blast exploded in it’s stomach and throat. It also made the bird throw some severe flatulence. Shichiro had a look painted with disgust on his face as she let go and delivered a powerful kick into the bird’s stomach, sending it on it’s way into the lava pit. For some strange reason, Shichiro had the urge to scream something stupid while kicking it into the pit. Oh well. He fought back that urge and walked away towards the gate to see what would come out next. Shichiro, of course, had to wait till the phoenix completely dissolved into the lava before the scoreboard had turned from red to green. Shichiro had sighed as he waited because he was bored and wanted to get out of this fiery arena soon for some proper rest instead of roasting like a pig. Finally, the scoreboard had changed colors and there were two green lights instead of one as the gates began to open to reveal his third and final opponent. A giant, red salamander had slowly crawled out through the gates, hissing before burrowing underground. Shichiro had squinted a bit in anger, raising His blade's hilt and crashing it into the ground, rattling the ground. The salamander had come out shaking and stumbling towards the lava pit. Shichiro thought this would be another quick execution. He wasted no time dashing towards the creature once he got next to the rattling fiend, he delivered a swift kick into it’s gut and forced it into the lava pit. Shichiro sneered as he watched it sink head first. He had turned his body towards the scoreboard when it was out of sight.

W.C: 307

The final color did not change. He had wondered why but his question was quickly answered when the salamander came back up roaring. It had flung itself full force at him preparing to head but him with a body covered in lava. Shichiro blinked at the sudden action before focusing and readying his blade. He swung his blade vertically while sidestepping the creature's attack as well as slicing it’s body in half. Good riddance. The last two opponents compared to this one were a lot more difficult than this. The final red color had turned green before he had continued to tread through the gates that were now opening. The day was coming to a close, another long day of studying certain things and reading others, but it wasn't quite over, so Shichiro, being used to these types of things and stressing his body like this, was really going to try and stretch out his training until he was not able to go on anymore. To this, he wondered what he should train, and finally after a bit of contemplation, decided that his speed was the best thing to train in this situation. Something that he could train in the comfort at his own pace, simply by channeling his mana and maintaining a good flow. He was going to make sure he had enough mana to actually be able to be a formidable foe in combat, when the war begins. He didn't really like the idea that he needed to fight others in pointless wars such as this one, but he knew that in the world of magic, it was inevitable, which was why he was training so hard to be competent at his magma mastery as well as his physique. He wanted to be not only well rounded, but able to sustain longer than most others in terms of combat.

W.C: 311

He was thinking the best way to train his speed was not only to run this arena gauntlet and battle, but utilize it in his techniques such as physical and magical attack. As he sat on the floor, legs crossed and hands cupped within each other, the right hand under the left one as to add comfort and stability for the long training session ahead of him, he started to utilize half of his physical strength and the other half he drew from his mana supply in an attempt to combine and make full use of his assets. Since the stomach was where the majority of his mana is gathered in the first formations of it, it was fairly simple, especially with Shichiro’s level of mana he had gained throughout his training exercises and being on duty. His reasoning was that because he had better physique than most mages, he would need to actually gather up more mana than usual to actually stress and push past the limits of his speed. He gathered a bunch into his stomach, and then simply let it dissipate. Gathering and using mana when he only had a little bit left in the tank would probably stretch his body’s limitations and pain thresholds a bit more than if he hadn't. This would give his body overall more stamina to work with in the long run. He knew that one day of duking it out with various creatures and magical monsters was unlikely to wield significant results, but it was a good point to start with, as he wanted to get the training done as fast as possible. Unlike the knowledge and bodily training, this type of training was going to be long and arduous. The fighting and individual breaks between fighting in the arena helped with body training by helping hardwire different muscle memory inside of the brain and muscles, and could help the brain function so that the user's memory and knowledge allocation was at its peak.

W.C: 331

After a few hours of simply letting his mana leak out of his body, he was at a point where he had very little mana left, and that was the point where he said that he had to be very careful, considering he could very well pass out or even die if he tried to push himself too far. It was sort of exciting in a way, that he could die by doing something so trivial as training, but that simply reminded him not to be too conceited as a mage, he could die at any time, and he had to pay attention so that he could actually change his own fate and stop himself from succumbing to that fate. The light in the tunnel was dim as he sat there resting,sweat started to collect on Shichiro’s body, as he started to truly stress his body to the point where there were a few times he wanted to simply pass out and go to sleep. He collected and stabilized himself, waiting for a little bit, so that some of his mana would come back to him, but only a tiny bit, and he would simply gather it again and then start throwing quick but light jabs into the air. The strain of moving his body so quickly was so trivial to him now that they barely cost him any stamina, so he had to throw around his fists at least an hour before he felt any sort of strain on his body. He was nodding in and out of exhaustion and sleep, as well hunger, so he wasn't really sure what time it was. His body decided to take matters into its own hands, and when his eyelids had completely shut, so did the Shichiro's consciousness, and with that, he slipped into a deep sleep.

W.C: 306

Shichiro awoke to the sound of birds outside of his window, his body aching all over, and he had a bit of a headache and sensitivity to light and sound. It was almost as if he had consumed a large amount of alcohol the night before and he was hung over. Suddenly, Shichiro's ears were actually startled by the sudden gurgling of his own stomach, as it demanded food. He wondered what time it was, and wondered if it was still early, and then continued down the tunnel that was supposed to lead to the next arena. He hadn’t noticed this in the first tunnel he went through but there happened to be a door in the middle at the side of the walls. Shichiro had turned the nod to find out it wasn’t locked and entered, revealing there was a kitchen and a bed for resting. If he had known this place had existed, he would have crashed here and passed out. He was still somewhat tired so he crawled into the bed and took a well deserved nap. After waking up a few hours later, he decided to head into the kitchen now completely famished from going straight to sleep without eating. He searched through the pantry for some kind of food and drink. Shichiro had found all sorts of ingredients laying around but he wasn’t much of a cook. Without a second thought, Shichiro opened up the fridge and began to devour the ham, cheese and bread in the fridge. There was an unlabeled bottle of soda there but Shichiro didn’t care. He popped open the bottle and began to consume the beverage as well. He continued to eat and drink until he had his fill, letting out a burp of satisfaction before laying in the bed once more to take another rest.

W.C: 306

He needed to relax and let his mana replenish itself by eating and taking rest periods. After finishing off his amazing meal, Shichiro would stretch his body multiple times before getting up and walking around the room a bit. He needed something else the would prove decent amounts of results other than fighting and training and so he wanted a different approach, and wondered if simply using his mana over a long period of time would eventually increase his capacity. It was most likely that way, but he needed it to become enlarged as soon as possible, so that it could be out of the way and he could focus on something else. Shichiro was like that, he would set a goal and then ruthlessly and relentlessly pursue that goal until that goal was completed. He found a couple other of mages were in here as well and the room as a lot bigger than he had anticipated. How could he have missed this? If one of the enemies were here, they could have snapped his neck and killed him they wanted too while he slept. Shichiro should have been wary of his surroundings but at the time he was too exhausted to check for potential danger which could have been another potential downfall. They probably watched how ravenous he was when he was eating the food and not preparing it properly. Shichiro didn’t care about that one bit and just made a hasty exit for the break room to continue with his training in private outside. The sun was hidden by a blanket of light gray clouds, so overall, it was a fairly good day for training, although Shichiro didn't really care about the weather, and preferred the nice pitter patter and gentle rinse of a nice and thunderous rain.

W.C: 301

Shichiro found himself deep within the forest without even realizing it, as if he was being drawn to it's center, and there was where it seemed like it was twilight. There was barely any light, but just enough to where everything seemed a bit muted to his senses. Shichiro had made it into the next arena after his brief “intermission”. It seemed this time there was a dome ceiling covering the top of the arena. There was no outside light, but somehow the trees, the plants, and the other things around created their own light, which was also fascinating to Shichiro. He suddenly felt the urge to devour the light producing plants so that he could figure out how they worked, but felt that he shouldn't due to the nature of the forest, as it seemed to be almost alive, he didn't want to harm it, yet. So, he decided then and there that he would not attempt to harm anything in the forest, unless absolutely necessary to survive. He seemed to be at the center, under a large tree that had fruit budding and stretching down towards the ground, almost as if it was tempting people to come and eat them. This made him think there was an evolutionary reason for that, maybe animals came in and ate the fruit, so that the seeds could be scattered through the animals pooping them out after eating the fruit. Still, He didn't think he should eat the fruit, so he simply walked up and sat under the tree, which seemed like it was at least the thickest tree within the forest, perhaps not the tallest. The canopy was only twenty feet high, so the entire forest he was in seemed like it was a large room, instead of a big forest, as it had a floor and a ceiling, and even had it's own lights.

W.C. 314

It was getting darker, and Shichiro started to meditate under the tree, and started to feel a bit weird. He simply would try to endure it and whatever it decided to show him. He couldn’t see the scoreboard this time around which kinda frightened him a bit cause he didn’t know how many waves of opponents he would have if he had any at all. He started to feel the mana within his body slowly draining, as if the forest was devouring it from inside of his body. This was a good way to train stamina, having his energy and mana being sucked out forcefully, but he wondered if the forest would try to kill him if this continued to the point of absolute zero, would the tree simply stop, or would it devour the rest of his life? The twilight was starting to fade, as the outside world was slowly getting to night time, and the forest, with no outside light, started to go to sleep as well, turning everything pitch black. Shichiro was suddenly robbed of his sight, the darkness enveloping him within the halls of the forest, and soon there was nothing to relate to. The draining effect was making him not feel the ground anymore, or even the effect that gravity had on his body, so he started to feel like he was floating within nothingness in a sitting position. He opened his eyes, and still saw nothing, but slowly, there were tiny glimpses of light, and at first it appeared as if he was staring into the infinite expanse of the night sky, but soon he came to realize that the lights he was seeing were small crystals inside of the plants around him that glowed in the darkness. They were glowing the whole time, but didn't look spectacular or this amazing when there was outside light affecting the glow of the forest.

W.C: 318

It seemed like the light was equally spread out within the trees and plants during the day, and at night, the glowing material collected together in the form of crystals that enhanced the brightness of them, and turned it from a simple forest to that of the galaxy. The mana that was leaking from his body came as a secondary thought as he was witnessing something this amazing, and was under the effects of a very light hallucination which was skewing his senses. It seemed like this was the place people would come to seek enlightenment, not technically to train their body or their spells. Upon witnessing this sight and their mana slowly draining, it seems their minds were expanded as well. This was a chance for Shichiro to think of new angles for problems he was facing currently. As he was thinking , the world around him suddenly started shifting. He wondered what the forest was going to show him next, as the world around him was twisting and turning, and soon he found himself in a room, and he was hunched over a desk with papers scattered around it. It felt as though Shichiro had suddenly just woken up from a long night of studying, as he was groggy and his muscles ached. In this haze of his mind, he got up, looked at the papers, and realized they were from a training book. Suddenly he heard a voice from downstairs, calling to him, calling his name. It was a woman, and she sounded so sweet and gentle that Shichiro forgot who she was for a moment. That was right, it was his mother, and she was telling him that he was going to be late for school. Shichiro rushed downstairs after grabbing a fresh pair of pants and a shirt, and made sure that his shoes were nice and tight.

W.C: 318

He didn't have any tattoos in his body, but then again, he wasn't a mage, he was just a normal teenager wanting to eventually become a fitness trainer. As he walked downstairs, he saw his mother in the kitchen, smiling, and making something. His father was at a table, reading something, and said good morning to him. It seemed as though everything was perfect as he sat down and enjoyed some eggs and bacon with his family, but something kept nudging at the back of his mind. His mother was asking again what he wanted to do when he grew up, and asked if he still wanted to be a trainer. Shichiro said that of course he wanted to become a trainer still, just like his dad, and his dad smiled and patted the young man on the head a few times. Shichiro for once was happy, but something was eating at him, and he had his hand on his chin, trying to figure out what it was that was nagging at him. He wondered if he was forgetting anything, but when he checked his bag, he knew that he had his homework completed, and so he put the worry away. His dad said he was glad that the son decided against becoming a mage, and said that the safe life of a trainer was far better. Shichiro found himself saying that he was a mage, and then wondered why he said it. There was suddenly an uncertainty in Shichiro's mind, as certain feelings rushed back towards him. He was wondering why his mother and father weren't looking at him, as his mother was turned away, his father's face hidden by the book that he was reading. Shichiro asked them to show them their faces, and the parents didn't know what he was talking about.

W.C: 305

Shichiro suddenly started screaming at them to show him their faces, and finally got fed up and ripped the book away from his father, and he became shocked. His mother turned around, and Shichiro suddenly saw that neither of these people had faces. He had a sudden, oh yeah, moment, and then looked down at his own chest, starting to see signs of his mana returning. His mother and father slowly crumbled away into dust, and Shichiro was alone inside of the house, and that reality leaked away, and he found himself back at the forest, sweat pouring from his pores and all over his body, as well as realizing he was breathing very heavily. He calmed himself, his hands were shaking as he brought them to his face, and he slowly got his breathing under control. Letting a large sigh escape his lips, and figured that it was just a life that he wanted, or perhaps that was a reality in which he had his parents and they were still there, alive. The exhaustion that he was feeling was very strange, but it felt like something was accomplished there, whether it was actually his strength increasing, or if it was just his heart growing a bit harder. This forest was indeed dangerous, but it also helped Shichiro with his own insecurities, and helped him realize that his parents were gone, never coming back, and any hope of a normal life was already gone. Heh. He sneered a bit thinking he had talked with Javier a little bit too much about his past and it was making him crazy at the moment. However, when Shichiro realized this, he wondered why he seemed to finally be okay with not having parents. He realized these trees and plants sapped more than just his mana, they sapped emotional and mental energy as well, as he felt thoroughly drained, and decided to go look for an opponent or an exit.

W.C: 326

It was suddenly easy getting out of the forest, as he made sure that he was indeed going to right way. There was no more darkness and no more twinkling crystals, and it seemed that he was in there for at least twenty hours, as his body was extremely sore, and he figured that during that entire time he was most likely sitting in that same position and didn't get any movement, so he started to stretch as he approached the already opened arena gate. He looked like he went through a lot, as he had heavy bags under his eyes, and he moved at a sloth's pace, not really sure if he was going to make it to the next checkpoint, but he did it eventually, almost in a drunken haze, and toppled onto the break room’s bed, instantly asleep. He didn't dream that night, unlike most nights, and in the morning he seemed a bit more comfortable with not waking up happy. He yawned and seemed to just be content with things, and mutter incoherent phrases before stretching and getting back on the grind. It seemed like the forest wanted to test Shichiro's conviction to the war at hand as well as the mage world, as without the mage world, it looked like he would have still had a rough life anyways, and even now, after seeing all of that, he wanted to go through with his plans even more now. He had a fire behind his eyes that couldn't be quelled, and immediately devoured a bunch of random stuff, and ran back up to the forest to continue his training. He had deduced that he could not really tell himself anything regarding the intricacies or advanced details of the forest, and wished him luck, as the second day in the forest was the hardest.

W.C: 307