Anon sat on the room’s floor, intensely focused on controlling his mana. He concentrated on preventing his mana from instinctively covering his body every time his mind perceived danger.

Crack

Suddenly, a cracking sound echoed from his leg. It was the sound of his bones snapping like twigs. His body wasn’t accustomed to this gravitational force.

The pressure from the gravitational force relentlessly crushed Anon’s bones and internal organs.

“FUCKKK….H-Hey, that’s the 15th bone. Use the locket on me. I feel like one of my kidneys is about to burst,” Anon cried out, looking at Ion.

“No, this time, I’ll use it on the 20th. Your internal organs can endure this force; just focus on your concentration. For your information, I didn’t have one of these troll lockets when I trained here,” Ion explained, smiling at Anon.

“How did you even survive, then?” Anon inquired.

“My master would occasionally give me some low-grade healing potion to drink. One of the reasons my bones are so strong is because of this room,” Ion replied.

“Why aren’t you giving me that locket? It won’t interfere with this process, will it?” Anon asked.

“It will. If I gave it to you, it would heal your bones before they could break properly. Thus, you’d feel little to no pain. However, you need to experience this pain to strengthen your body for the technique,” Ion clarified.

Ten minutes later…

Crack

“FUCKKKK…20. Oi, old man!” Anon yelled.

“Hmm…here you go,” Ion said, tossing the locket to Anon.

Anon caught the locket, but in doing so, one of the bones in his hand broke.

Crack

“Damn it…” Anon muttered as he reached for the locket with a broken hand.

As soon as he grasped the locket, his body began to heal. After three seconds, he was restored to his original state, yet he felt even stronger and sturdier than before.

‘I’m definitely getting stronger, and I can feel it,’ Anon thought as he gazed at the troll locket.

“Here you go, old man,” Anon said, tossing the locket back to Ion.

“No, you keep it,” Ion insisted, throwing it back to Anon.

“What? Why?” Anon asked in confusion.

“Set it aside and use it whenever you see fit,” Ion replied.

“Why are you doing this now?” Anon questioned, puzzled.

“I do as I please, but remember one thing: the more you temper iron, the sharper it becomes,” Ion explained.

Anon quickly grasped Ion’s message. “I understand,” he replied, placing the locket aside and attempting to stand.

‘What a beast. When my master brought me here, I couldn’t even sit up straight for the first three days, and he’s already trying to stand,’ Ion thought, smiling as he glanced at Anon, who was struggling to rise, but he ultimately succeeded.

An hour later…

Anon was now standing, though the immense pressure still weighed heavily on his bones. While his bones were no longer breaking, he could still feel the force.

He began walking slowly, then exclaimed, “Hey, look, I can walk now,” while sporting a smile.

“You’re still progressing rather slowly… I was running by this time,” Ion remarked as he observed Anon. 𝒷𝒹𝓸𝓿𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶

‘Running, my foot. I began walking on the seventh day. His drive to become stronger is simply unparalleled. Even he can’t outdo himself when it comes to the will for power,’ Ion thought, smiling as he glanced at Anon.

Three hours later…

“Oi, look at me, old man. I’m running like a racehorse,” Anon proudly declared, dashing from one end of the room to the other without difficulty. He had stopped using the troll locket an hour ago and was now solely relying on his own control.

‘His bones have already adapted to this room. What a remarkable monster?’ Ion thought as he stood and walked over to Anon.

“Stop,” he commanded.

Anon immediately halted his running and turned to Ion, still grinning.

“Yes…?” Anon responded.

“How long does it take you to cover the distance from the entrance to that wall at the far end of the room?” Ion inquired.

“Um… about 60 seconds, I suppose,” Anon answered.

“Good… make it 30,” Ion ordered.

“What? That’s impossible!” Anon exclaimed in shock.

Ion didn’t respond verbally. Instead, he walked toward the room’s entrance.

“Watch me and say it again,” Ion urged as he slightly lowered his body and sprinted like a rocket.

In just three seconds, he traversed the entire distance without employing any mana.

“How on earth are you doing that?” Anon inquired, bewildered.

“You’ll be able to do the same; just keep trying. Now, start,” Ion encouraged before returning to his previous position and resuming his book.

Anon commenced running again. Every time he completed a lap, he strove to run even faster than before.

A smile formed on Ion’s face as he observed Anon’s progress.

Cough-Cough-Cough

Suddenly, Ion began coughing, and as he did, he felt a liquid emerging from his mouth.

He used his hand to collect some of the liquid and examined it. A smile played on his lips as he examined the dark, viscous fluid.

“Karma finally caught up, huh?” Ion mused.

5 hours later…

“Old man *Huff-Huff* I did it *Huff-Huff* I can cover that distance in 15 seconds now *Huff-Huff* but… I am too tired.” Anon said as he immediately sat down on the ground due to exhaustion.

“Well, seems like it’s time for me to reward you.” Ion said as he started walking towards the equipments that were lying at the back end of the room.

“Oh, reward… I like that.” Anon said as a smile played on his lips.

Suddenly he saw Ion coming back with a very big cauldron in his hands.

*Thud*

He puts the cauldron down and smiles at Anon.

“Huh…? My reward is a cauldron ?” Anon asked with a confused expression.

“No, you idiot. Go and bring me those wood sticks.” Ion said as he pointed towards some wood sticks that were lying near the dumbbells.

Anon immediately went near the dumbbells, grabbed the wood sticks and came back to Ion with them.

“Here.” He said as he dropped the sticks down.

“Now rub them together and start a fire.” Ion ordered.

“What ?” Anon asked with a shocked expression.