"Stop!"
Alephee commanded and the metal shards turned red. Eren stopped channeling the technique as soon as he heard the voice.
Yet, the flow of the mana couldn't be stopped immediately. So it kept moving for a bit. And this was the reason behind Eren's incoming suffering.
The metal shards were still reacting to the flow of mana inside the mana pathways. They tore his skin and lodged themselves inside it before moving with the flow, making him bleed all over. In a few seconds, Eren's Adept-ranked body was severely injured.
Eren was about to yell in pain. But tonight he held on. There was some part of his mind that was not processing the pain he felt. That part made him proud of himself for not crying. It indicated that he was getting used to the pain.
The metal shards did not only tear Eren's skin. They also injected unfiltered mana into Eren's system, making his body treat it as a foreign mana invasion. The array took that a step further and made the unfiltered mana enter Eren's mana circuits.
Eren's mana pathways and the mana points were injured as a result of this brutal process. This was due to Eren's inability to control the flow of mana effectively. The more he lacked, the more severely he would be injured.
Eren's blood started dripping on the ground by running along the length of metal shards which were about 10 inches long. Some of the blood drops landed on the ground, painting the limestone surface red.
Alephee looked at Eren's condition and sighed. She didn't seem surprised. This was an expected outcome for her.
"Your control hasn't improved a bit, Eren. Take some rest and recover. Then we can…"
Alephee was about to take Eren off of his bed of suffering when the latter shook his head in denial. His eyes were a bit moist because of the pain he was feeling. But they also glistened with the determination he had in his heart.
"No… we… we will continue. Do it one more time."
Eren said and closed his eyes. His watery eyes produced tears when the eyelids were shut suddenly. The tears ran down close to his ears before falling on the ground, mixing with the small puddle of blood created by his injuries.
Eren didn't care about his appearance. He just remained stressed and prevented himself from getting up on his own.
There was a part of him that was missing the feeling of sleeping on a plush bed. There was a part of him that was telling him maybe he shouldn't have to go through this today.
There was always tomorrow. A tomorrow in which he would be able to adhere to the schedule just fine. If he could just take a break today, everything would be fine.
However, Eren didn't let these voices win over him. He ignored them all and held on. Now he wanted to kill these voices by subjecting himself to even more pain. That pain will soon act as a suppressant to all his thoughts of quitting.
Alephee regretted showing Eren what he could have done with better control over his mana circuits at this point. Maybe she should have shown less or downplayed the effects. Because Eren was moving way beyond the course she had set for him.
"Eren, I believe I've said this to you before. More arduous work doesn't necessarily translate into better results. Your body should be allowed to heal before continuing the training regimen.
I appreciate that you are taking this training seriously. I really do. But I'll appreciate it even more if you don't overdo it."
Eren was in no mood to talk. But Alephee wasn't activating the array. Then he opened his eyes and looked at her before speaking.
"I… I know what I'm doing. I'll relax when I hit my limit. But this… this ain't it. Not yet."
Eren replied and looked at Alephee with unwavering determination. The latter could only sigh before nodding in agreement.
Eren's bed of suffering was activated once again, forcing him to muster every ounce in his body not to yell in pain. His watery eyes turned red. The uninjured side of his body turned red and started sweating heavily.
Alephee looked at Eren's condition with a grim expression. But she didn't stop the array.
"Speed up!"
Alephee began operating on the array with different instructions. In the next moment, Eren sped up the channeling of his mana flow. Despite his efforts, he was unable to match the speed at which the metal shards were moving. They had already pierced and carved the skin, to begin with. Thus, his injuries only worsened.
"Hhhhmmmhhh!"
Eren puffed up his cheeks and was about to cry out in pain. But he refused to part his lips, suffocating the yell that was about to escape his mouth. As a result, a muffled groan was heard from him.
Alephee kept on operating the array until Eren was somehow able to match the mana flow with the tiny metal shards. She then switched her instructions, making Eren suffer through additional rounds of pain.
***
Morning after.
The butcher had gotten up from his bed of suffering. He was about to get freshened up before meeting up with Ror. He was leaving the Oni dungeon. So he had to make a few preparations.
All of Eren's wounds had healed. But his expressions were haggard. He wished that the psychological wounds he felt could also be healed as quickly as his physical injuries. But not everything in life can be as picturesque as one would wish.
Alephee was sitting on Eren's bed in a meditative state with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes when Eren was ready to move on with his next set of assignments of the day.
Despite his haggard expressions, the homunculus could still see a subtle smile on Eren's face. Despite knowing him for so long, she was surprised.
"You haven't achieved anything yet, Eren. Why are you smiling?"
Eren was walking towards the bath chamber where Orcinas were waiting for him. He had changed the schedule of his nightly activities and made them part of his routine to save time.
The butcher stopped in his tracks when he heard Alephee's question. He didn't look back and resumed his stride before replying.
"Haha.
This happiness comes not from having achieved but from the knowledge that I'm pushing myself to new heights. I now know that as long as I keep on pushing myself and don't give in to my inner sloth, the results will come.
I might not be the most talented and I might not get the best results for the efforts I put in, But I take pride that nobody I know pushes themselves as hard as me."
