Alexander's Madness

Alexander pulled out his hand. There was a black ring dotted with an engraving of two intersecting lines. Three pages of white paper suddenly appeared in front of him. He took them and passed one to each of the three.

“Uncle Alexander, what is this?” Julie picked up the opposite page and took a quick look. There were some texts, but she did not look closely at them.

“This is a collection of different exercises and gymnastics that I have included based on the previous running results.”

“For the next three months, you will follow and complete this special program.”

The three quickly scanned through the writing papers that were uneven between each one. For a moment their expressions froze.

Running around the center of the forest, swimming in the river, digging the ground, climbing trees in the borders... and other complex and impossible movements. Every day included new physical training.

“Uncle Alexander, isn’t this a little exaggerated?” Gray obliged with a smile.

“Boy, we are not playing here. If your bodies are not strong enough to absorb mana while using magic, what do you think will happen? At best you will be disabled for the rest of your life, and the worst outcome will be death.” Alexander did not neglect in telling them about the dangers of the matter while warning them.

“Do you understand now?”

Gray swallowed his saliva, and didn’t speak again.

Even Elyan found these exercises a bit difficult, however, after hearing Alexander’s explanation, he did not hesitate any longer. He walked towards the river, took off his outer clothes, and immediately jumped into the river. This was his first workout.

By Elyan taking the lead, Julie and Gray followed him. They get rid of any unnecessary thoughts and started too.

Alexander watched the three’s backs and then turned around as well. He sat in an area on the border, packed his jacket, which he took off and used as a pillow. He lay on the cold grass with his hat covering half his face, watching everyone and staying alert in case any accidents happened..

The first day of the training program began.

***

“Beautiful.” Under the silver curtain of the moon, Julie’s smile with her sweet white-like-jade face was an extraordinary sight. After applying the ointment that gave a cold sensation over her injuries, she lay down on her back and her untied pink hair was spread out over the soft grass. Her body was a little different compared to what she had been three months ago, she had gained weight and her fitness had improved somewhat, her cheeks were plumper and her eyes were more lively.

Elyan putted his arms under his head next to her, and enjoys the peace of the night. He had not shaved his hair in a long time and it had now reached below his ears. From time to time he would hear the sounds of howling mountain beasts nearby along with the cracking of pieces of charred wood, but he was already used to it.

At this time, an insect, shining and emitting a faint white light, was moving in front of him. He could not help but stare at it and follow its path with his eyes. It gently flew around between him and Julie, then randomly moved towards the tent where Gray was fast asleep with the heavy, clear liquid flowing from his slightly open mouth. It rose into the sky and moved in quick circles, forming a continuous ring of white light.

The light bug jumped out and in the next moment it was gone, no – it exploded. All that remained were sparks of light that fell and merged with the firewood that kept peeling and burning in front of the two tents.

On the other side of the river, Alexander, in his tuxedo and top hat, was lying quietly. At this moment, he half-opened his eyes. Many similar white light insects were floating in front of him, emitting a bright glow. He wanted, and under an invisible force, all of them compressed and exploded, simultaneously and without making any sound.

With this, Alexander smiled and continued closing his eyes.

These insects were nothing but the embodiment of a special skill that Alexander implemented using his magic, and from time to time he used them to monitor the progress of the three over the past three months. He was also surveying the conditions in other areas of the Monsters Forest and checking for any strange activity that might be occurring.

***

It was not yet seven o’clock, Elyan pulled the tent flap and emerged from his slumber with Gray by his side. Their hands and muscles were already full of bruises, their clothes were also torn and showed hidden wounds.

Julie raised her head and breathed the morning dew. She felt that the wound on her knee no longer bothered her. She examined it and found that it had disappeared. It was a white area without any remaining marks. Then she inspected her entire body and all the scars had disappeared under the influence of the magic ointment.

‘Uncle Alexander’s things are truly extraordinary.’ She felt grateful and happy.

She gently stared at the two young women laden with injuries and did not raise the issue of the ointment. She thought it was just a privilege from Alexander, being a girl, it was her right to always maintain her feminine appearance. She just smiled: “Good morning.”

It had become a habit for them to wake up during this time, and there was no need for Alexander to alert them every day with his annoying screams.

Especially today, it had already been two days of rest since the three-month period had passed and they had completed the training program.

Now, it was time to move on to the next stage.

After washing their faces and getting rid of the various signs of sleep, Alexander suddenly appeared and came walking slowly, cracking his fingers and then staring at the guys who were waiting for him expectantly. The next moment he disappeared.

He appeared in front of Gray suddenly. He didn’t say anything, smiled, then tightly clenched his hand into a fist and punched!

“Aghhh.” Gray groaned, clenching his stomach involuntarily, falling to his knees and gritting his teeth. It was a really hard blow, he felt like his intestines were about to explode.

He thought that if it had been three months ago, he would probably not have been able to bear it and would have fainted immediately. After comprehending his clarity, he raised his head and stared at the gentleman in the tuxedo who was looking at him with a cocky smile, he could not explain Alexander’s actions. Julie, with a frown on her face and a slight sense of fear suppressed, helped him stand up and rest.

At the same time, Elyan exploded in anger, shouting openly at Alexander: “Uncle Alexander, what was this, can you explain?”

“Lesson two: Do ​​not expect an explanation from the enemy, especially in a situation where you are not the strongest.” He said arrogantly, instead of bothering to justify his actions.

As soon as he finished, the image of a five-fingered fist swelled up right in front of Elyan’s face.

He never expected Alexander to attack him so brazenly as well. He slid down to avoid, however, due to the delayed reaction, the surprise strike still managed to hit his forehead.

It was not successful, and besides some black hair strands flying out and a swollen red mark appearing, Elyan’ was not in much pain.

“Back off!” Elyan shouted towards his two companions. He was not aware of what Alexander’s exact intentions were, especially since he did not want to explain anything except to throw in some ambiguous words from time to time.

Julie and Gray, who had recovered a little, jumped carelessly and retreated a few meters.

At the same time, Alexander smiled and rushed back into the air, landing on Elyan's shoulder, who had no choice but to wave his arm.

How could Alexander let him? He jumped into the air with Elyan’s exposed head facing him, swung his leg sideways and kicked.

“Boom!”

Elyan flew two meters and fell. With a swollen face, he coughed up blood and stared with a pair of red eyes at Alexander, he was truly angry this time.

The calm Alexander did not care at all. He turned and directed his gaze at the others.

Seeing this crazy uncle smile at him, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on his back, Gray’s expression hardened.

“Gray, I don’t know why Uncle Alexander is doing this but he definitely won’t leave us easily. Running away is not an option either. I suggest that...”

“Ugh!” Before she finished, Julie stared at the hand that appeared and suddenly grabbed her hair and saw Alexander’s figure behind her. He laughed and spoke moderately: “Lesson Three: Never give the enemy opportunities to make favorable plans.”

“Haaa!” In front of Alexander, who was busy with Julie, Gray gained courage, shouted, and with his fist clenched, he wanted revenge by throwing a punch at Alexander’s exposed face.

“Haha, this lesson is special for you, boy. There’s no need for the whole world to hear when you want to attack someone.” Alexander laughed and forcefully pushed his second free knee toward Gray’s chest. At the same time, with his hand holding Julie in the air, he raised her and sent her flying like a small ball.

“Boom!” Gray burped blood at the moment of impact and hit the ground. He felt as if his chest was burning extremely hot, and he found it difficult to breathe.

On the other hand, Julie fell on her back with her hair spread everywhere. Fortunately, her body was accustomed to such things and she did not suffer any fractures. Besides some pain, she kept breathing slowly. She stared at the sky and the sun on the horizon. At this time, it seemed as if a giant shadow had covered the flowing light. She felt that something was not right, she adjusted her head and looked to the side.

Through her vision, the image of a dark black shoe suddenly expanded, heading to collide with the right side of her body.

It was Alexander! He already reached her.

Julie’s face turned pale, she couldn’t stop it no matter what she did, especially in her current form. Thoughts ran through her mind quickly, and before she could reach Alexander’s leg, she rolled to the other side and narrowly avoided the blow.

But how was it so easy?

Acrobatically straightening his body, the same leg that had failed to hit its target stopped in the air, and with Alexander’s imaginative control of his limbs, he pulled his leg and smashed downward directly into the new location of Julie’s abdomen.

‘Damn!’ There was no time to escape, she instinctively raised her hand and decided to take the blow with her capable arms instead of her weak stomach. At least her bones would be broken instead of suffering some serious internal injuries.