Chapter 173 - #172 Training 1 (1/2)

Mera, Taeko and Kiyomi remained in the temporary camp they have set up while Akashi decided to explore the inside of the volcano. There were numerous entrances but Akashi chose where the hottest air came from to prevent from entering some cave with a dead end.

When he arrived inside the volcano...

'This is certainly different from my old world...I doubt any of those volcanos in my old world were this big and spacious inside. There are actually a few black rocks sticking out from the magma which means that these aren't actual rocks or otherwise they would have melted down by now.' Akashi thought while looking around with sweat pouring down his face. He wasn't actually using his energy to regulate his body's temperature.

Akashi tried if these rocks were solid before using them as a path to get even closer to the middle of the magma pool.

'Judging from this temperature, that magma is hotter than my flames, not by much but it's still stronger' Akashi thought while getting on his both knees on a fairly larger and flat rock.

The surface of the black rock itself was quite cold for something inside the volcano. Akashi decided to sit down in a cross-legged position and close his eyes.

At first, he just kept feeling the temperature with a calm expression while the magma around him turned out a bit chaotic from time to time, making a little explosions but none of the magma ever landed on him while he was sitting there. After a few hours, his body grew completely accustomed to the temperature but when he brought his hand close to the magma, he still could feel higher temperature than his physical body most likely could withstand.

'No need to be impatient. I can't control this magma right now but I should be able to recover my energy here much faster. Anyway, good thing that I only took my pants with me or I would have nothing else to wear when outside.' Akashi thought completely drenched in sweat.

He started to play around with his flames, however, instead of creating some small figures out of flames, he went big and created quite large figure of dragon above him before he began controlling the flames to keep the form of the dragon while flying all around inside the volcano.

[Energy: 1400/1720]

[Energy: 1200/1720]

Akashi's energy was being drained like crazy but at the same time, it was being recovered at quite a fast rate.

Akashi then summoned another dragon, the same as the one before, and controlled it with his other hand.

After around a half-hour passed by...

*huff* *huff* ”Hehe, this is actually enjoyable, I should have done it much sooner” Akashi muttered when he was completely exhausted, there was even steam coming out of his body as his sweat was being evaporated.

'Hm? Looks like the sweat on this black rock is actually not evaporating...I guess it's being protected since the rock itself is quite cold compared to the surroundings' Akashi thought while looking right in front of him while supporting his body with his hands.

After another half-hour passed by...

Akashi's energy was once again fully restored.

[Energy: 1730/1730]

'Just one attempt was enough to increase my overall energy, this is something that happened only rarely so I abandoned the idea of increasing it by exhausting myself since my energy was always recovering at a slow rate, well, not exactly slow but definitely slow compared to the rate in this place' Akashi thought with a wide smile.

”One more time before going back to rehydrate. I can actually survive for the whole weeks without any nutrition but I am sweating too much here and this time it isn't even because of the temperature but because of how much I must concentrate.” Akashi muttered with a tired expression but an excited smile was still across his face.

Akashi once again repeated the process but this time he was trying to control those dragons only with help of a few fingers instead of the entire hand. He had to concentrate even more on this. His fingers were occasionally trembling but he managed to control those dragons and fly around with them until he once again became totally exhausted.

[Energy: 50/1740]

Akashi got up to his feet and almost lost balance so he had to put his hands on his knees for a few seconds before straightening up. He turned around and carefully got back to the entrance to the cave which he used before to get here.

---At the camp---

Mera and Taeko kept talking to each other while Mera was also slowly preparing her to overtake her position in the future.

”?! Akashi?!” Taeko suddenly sensed someone coming out of the cave and when she turned her head with sharp eyes, her expression softened as her eyes widened when she noticed Akashi who was completely drenched in sweat with a tired expression.

'?! What kind of setup is that?' Mera thought while looking at shirtless Akashi. At the time he was leaving them, she actually already saw him without the shirt but this time he looked much different with so much sweat dripping from his body.

”I am going to sleep for 4 hours before going back there” Akashi said before he took a bottle of water out of nowhere which surprised Taeko and Mera but they didn't question it since he looked really tired. He gulped down the entire bottle before throwing it at the ground nearby.

He approached his blanket and just dropped down at it face first. Taeko wanted to approach him to check on him but Mera grabbed her hand. When Taeko wanted to question her, Mera shook her head and pointed at Akashi's face.

He was already asleep in a matter of a few seconds with a peaceful smile on his face.

'Interesting smile...So he can also smile this way, huh?' Mera thought with an amused expression before going back to exploring all powers of her newly upgraded umbrella.