“Is there a reason, you can’t, I don’t know, just work out here with the rest of us?” Shining Armor, the Captain of the Royal Guard asked. “I can’t imagine it’s all that comfortable lugging around all those weights to and from your room.”
“Isn’t this area supposed to be restricted to military personnel only?” I asked as I finished setting back the last of the thirty-kilogram dumbbells I’d been returning.
“Technically speaking, this area is called the Royal Guard’s Gymnasium. Usually, that means that my branch of the Guard is the only one using it. But anyone employed by the castle as well as any visiting members of other branches of the military are free to use our equipment as well.”
“Oh, well… I guess it would be nice if I had access to some of these machines. Speaking of, why exactly do you guys even have ones like that?” I pointed at the Hack Squat machine as an example, “That one specifically looks like it’s been made to train a humanoid body type.”
“It’s to accommodate any visiting Minotaur foreign dignitaries,” Shining said.
“Cool.”
“Mhmm.”
Thus, I started working out in the Royal Gymnasium. It hadn’t been more than a couple days since the whole incident with Nightmare Moon and Luna’s return, and already I’d more than doubled all my Physical Stats.
How?
Well, it’s amazing what the human mind can accomplish — read “endure” — when it’s being fed a constant positive feedback loop. I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the constant exhaustion and borderline mania I’d at times fall into from working myself so hard, if not for the fact that I could literally see the results happen at an almost visible rate.
I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get anywhere near as far as I did if not for the Ultra Premier Grade potions I constantly drank to instantly recoup the gains from my training sessions. The fact that I didn’t have to wait for hours on end for my torn muscle fibers to grow back stronger, meant I was only limited by the amount of misery I could put myself under; which surprisingly was a lot.
How much was “a lot?”
Well… During my first attempt at a dumbbell chest press, I maxed out at eight reps with twenty kilograms on both my hands. On my first time working out in the Royal Gymnasium, less than five days later, I managed to pump out twelve barbell chest presses loaded up on eighty kilograms of weight. On Earth, you didn’t see that kind of growth unless you trained consistently for months and that was only if you were a complete newbie to strength training or on steroids; or both at the same time.
I stayed in the gym for almost the entire day since I felt like I was still at least a couple days away from reaching the point where I started seeing diminishing returns. It was honestly kind of amusing to see the looks the other ponies gave me over the course of their own workouts.
Usually, it was a guard that was going to be doing their hour or two of daily physical training to stay in shape. They would walk in and at most just nod or shrug at the sight of me. I’d catch them occasionally look over to see how I was doing. Then, inevitably, they would finish long before I was due to leave the gym and look at me like I was some sort of unnatural creature; which, admittedly, I kind of was as the resident alien from another universe.
“Bro… Who hurt you?” A pitch black thestral asked as I was finishing what had to be my fifth Recovery Potion of the day.
“Uh, what?” I nearly choked as I swallowed the rest of the potion.
“Why are you working out so hard? It’s almost dusk out and I first saw you in here just before I went to sleep at nine in the morning. The only times I’ve ever seen someone throw themselves so hard on a workout session is when a mare’s been rejected, hard. Do you, like, need someone to talk to or something? Because this can’t be healthy…”
“Nooo?” I struggled to find the words to say in response to… whatever that was. “I wasn’t rejected or heartbroken, or anything else. I’m just, you know, trying to get a little stronger. I didn’t like how helpless I felt when we were all stuck waiting to see what would happen with Nightmare Moon and it’s not like my body can’t handle this kind of training, so… Yeah.”
“You want to get stronger… To help out during an emergency like Nightmare Moon’s return?” I couldn’t quite place the kind of look the thestral was giving me.
“Yeah. I mean, I know that no amount of physical training will ever (probably) put me on the level of goddess like the princesses, but I just need to be fit enough to react if we ever had to fight those kinds of threats. I might not have magic, but I think I can make do with my inventions if I was given enough time to prepare… which is what I’m doing now.”
“Well, you’re going to need a lot more than just a fit body for those lofty goals, friend,” he patted me on the shoulder. “It’s one thing to be strong and fast, and another thing entirely to put that ability to use in a fight. So, whenever you feel ready to get some practical training in, you can come look for me. Just ask around for Chasing Haze.”
And with that, he left.
Weird…
…
[Level Up!]
[Level 30 → 40]
[+10 Stat Point]
[+10 Ability Point]
[Level Threshold Met!]
[+1 Subclass Point]
Upon receiving the notifications, I slowly set down the barbell I’d been shoulder pressing.
Crash!
Yeah… Even the small drop of a few couple centimeters from my back to the barbell rack was enough to make a harsh noise when it was coming from a hundred-twenty or so kilograms of solid metal. If not for the untold days of suffering I’d subjected myself to, I wouldn’t have been able to believe that it was already time again to pick out a new Subclass.
Anyway, it was time to look at my Status again.
[Status]
[Level: 40*]
[Name: Victor Hex]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Inventor — Metallurgy Specialist*]
[Subclass Points: 1*]
[Stats]
[Constitution: 7 → 41]
[Agility: 5 → 35]
[Strength: 6 → 39]
[Reflex: 6 → 37]
[Understanding: 12 → 43]
[Intelligence: 15 → 45]
[Magical Potency: N/A]
[Magical Control: N/A]
[Stat Points: 9 → 19*]
[Abilities]
[Whispers of the Mechanical God (Level 3) - Unique*]
[Automation (Level 2 → 3) - Unique*]
[Elemental Isolation (Level 1 → 2) - Unique*]
[Synthesize Alloy (Level 1 → 2) - Unique*]
[Identify (Level 2 → 3) - Intelligence 20*]
[Brainstorm (Level 1 → 2) - Intelligence 20*]
[Second Opinion (Level 1 → 2) - Understanding 25*]
[Danger Analysis (Level 1 → 2) - Understanding 20*]
[Ability Points: 3 → 13*]
[Subclass Points: 1]
[Details: Grants you access…. List of currently available Subclasses includes: Specialist (Chemistry, Physics), Technopath*, Runesmith*]
It’s times like these where I appreciate how infrequent I check up on my Status. It makes the large increases in numbers feel all the more worthwhile. More importantly, it pleases me in a way that’s just indescribable when I get to pursue through tons of new information, even if in the end I will have to make choices and not be able to have everything all at once; case in point:
[Technopath - Metallurgy Progression Path]
[Details: This Subclass and Runesmith are mutually exclusive. Once either is chosen you will not be able to change them. The way of the technopath is the way of internal development with one’s attunement to the Magic of Electricity, Lightning, Thunder, Magnetism, Metal, and Earth. Choosing this Progression Path will allow you to naturally cultivate Magic. This unlocks the Magic Potency and Magic Control Stat but restricts you to only being able to use the aforementioned types of Magic and their derivatives.]
[Runesmith - Metallurgy Progression Path]
[Details: This Subclass and Technopath are mutually exclusive. Once either is chosen you will not be able to change them. The way of the runesmith is the way of external development and of one’s ability to subvert the Natural Law. Choosing this Progression Path will grant you esoteric knowledge on Runsmithing which will allow you to make consumable Magic sources and spells of all kinds. Anything will be possible, so long as you have the resources and prep required.]
Oof, these were both really impressive options. One would finally give me access to my own magic, but tie me down to only being able to use certain types of spells. While the other would keep me as a non-magical human, but give me access to just about any magic in a different — almost certainly more costly — way.
Fortunately for me, the choice was simple since the Runesmith Subclass had countless times more potential than the Technopath alternative. With the way my Class was set up and the fact that I had Whispers of the Mechanical God especially, alongside all my other currently existing Abilities, there really wasn’t any reason not to choose Runesmith.
The Magic Engine Twilight and I made was already something of a proof of what a crude version of Runesmithing would be capable of. I can’t even begin to imagine how much more busted my inventions might be if I actually had a systematic understanding of what could be done to integrate Magic with technology. Because, really, that’s all Runesmithing was: A way to make non-tangible magic into a physical, malleable form.
Yoink.
Now I just had to look over my list of available Abilitie— Oh, god… That’s a frightening small scroll wheel, there.
[Ability Points: 13]
[Details: List of currently available Abilities includes: Toughen Skin, Physical Resistance, Magical Resistance, Force Concentrate, Reinforced Muscles, Extra Dense Bones, Bypass Acceleration, Contortionism, Double Time, Hypersensitivity, Bullet Time, Precognition, Reverse Engineer, Download, Runesmith: Neutral, Runesmith: Elemental, Metaphysical Link]
Even after collapsing out the details of all the Abilities I had available, I was still left with a rather sizeable amount of nifty new powers to choose from. Still, even if now I wasn’t completely against the idea of getting personally stronger, I wasn’t about to buy all the Abilities I had access to.
No, I would still be leaning into my already established strengths as an Inventor and only supplement what would otherwise be very difficult, if not impossible, to compensate with my inventions. For example, all the Abilities that were unlocked by reaching Stat Milestones with Strength and Constitution could be completely ignored. Having any of them would probably go a long way in making me considerably more likely to survive a conflict, but wouldn’t I be better off if I could just make myself a bunch of magical gadgets?
I already had an exoskeleton suit in the works. I’d certainly be taking the new Runesmith Abilities, which would only expand the limits of what I could achieve. So, it really wouldn’t be worthwhile to invest in any of the Abilities that made me physically stronger or more durable.
I mean, it could turn out that after leveling up any of those abilities, their effects would get so impressive that almost no degree of technology could be a match. But to get there I’d have to spend who knows how long developing the abilities. As I was, I’d rather just take my chances with focusing on Whispers of the Mechanical God and bank on continually getting increasingly advanced tech.
All that said… I took all the other Abilities. They simply offered way too much utility to pass up.
[Bypass Acceleration (Level 1) - requires Agility 5]
[Details: At triple the cost of the effort otherwise required, you may make movements with an effective acceleration rate double of what you would maximally be able to reach.]
[Contortionism (Level 1) - requires Agility 10]
[Details: The flexibility of your muscle fibers can no longer atrophy for any reason. Any development of flexibility will remain with you no matter how much time passes without you stretching.]
[Double Time (Level 1) - requires Agility 25]
[Details: You may ignore your body’s natural limiters on muscle contractions to move up to 50% faster. After ten seconds of sustained use, your muscles will begin to tear. After a minute, your body will begin to bleed internally. After three minutes, your organs will begin to shut down.]
[Hypersensitivity (Level 1) - requires Reflex 5]
[Details: All your senses are now twice as powerful. Your body has also been retrofitted with the ability to naturally dial in the degree to which you want to intensify your heightened sensitivity.]
[Bullet Time (Level 1) - requires Reflex 10]
[Details: Once every minute, you can dilate your perception of time to process up to three seconds of real-time twice as quickly.]
[Precognition (Level 1) - requires Reflex 25]
[Details: Within an effective range of 100 meters from your body, you will feel a sharp jolt of dread half a second before anything (that you don’t already perceive) threatens to deal any damage to you.]
[Download (Level 1) - requires Intelligence 25]
[Details: Gain information from any source simply by coming into contact with a target. The more complex and voluminous the amount of information there is to absorb, the longer it will take to absorb. Inanimate objects are exponentially easier to target.]
[Reverse Engineer (Level 1) - requires Understanding 25]
[Details: Allows you to take what you know about a theoretical object or application and come up with the ways to make it a viable, practical, or tangible asset.]
[Runesmith: Neutral (Level 1) - Unique]
[Details: Grants you knowledge of the archaic script for Runesmithing aspects of “Shape,” “Size” “Texture” and “Capacity.”]
[Runesmith: Elemental (Level 1) - Unique]
[Details: Grants you knowledge of the archaic script for Runesmithing aspects of “Earth,” “Wind” “Fire” and “Water.”]
[Metaphysical Link (Level 1) - Unique]
[Details: Allows you to bridge the gap between the “Physical” and “Magical.” This is the basis for your ability to use Magic despite not possessing any personal magic of your own.]
…
“...Are you doing alright over there?” Baked Fresh, one of the cooks in the royal castle’s kitchen, asked me.
“Yeah,” I sigh and forgo the attempt to use a combination of Double Time, Bullet Time, and Bypass Acceleration while in the middle of preparing my food. In retrospect, I can imagine just how unhinged I might come across while trying to kneed a dough at hypersonic speeds.
“Right, um… What are you even making?” The Earth Pony asked out of sheer awkwardness.
“Fettucine. I saw some shrimps and scallops in the fridge, so I’m making an alfredo seafood dinner,” I said as I strong-armed a stand mixer from within one of the cupboards and started screwing in a pasta attachment.
“You’re making dinner at two in the afternoon?” The pony asked, one of his eyebrows peaking in a way that blatantly showed his skepticism.
“Yes, but that’s only because I don’t plan to eat anything else for the rest of the day. I just call the dish a “seafood dinner” even if I plan on eating it for lunch.” Seeing that he was still confused, I added, “Where I come from, restaurants usually wouldn’t serve it unless it was during dinner.”
“Oh,” Baked’s face seemed to say.
“You know… You sure eat a lot of strange things,” Baked commented, his eyebrows scrunched up as he watched me continue preparing my food. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody making pasta with egg in it.”
“Right,” I started heating up a pot to make the alfredo sauce. “You guys, er, ponies I mean, pretty much make most of your food with hay. If I remember right, the only pasta you make here is either raw hay pasta, hay wheat pasta, or vegetable pasta from zucchini.”
“We can make carrot, butternut squash, and cucumber pasta as well. But, zucchini is what the Princess asks for when she isn’t in the mood for a hay pasta.”
“Both of them?” I asked, noticing he used the singular “princess” instead of referring to both Celestia and Luna.
“No, um… Since her return, Princess Luna hasn’t made her preferences for food known to the castle chefs. In fact, now that you mention it,” a look of apprehension appeared on his face as he said, “I haven’t been given a single order by the Entremetier to prepare a meal for her.”
“So?” I gave him an odd look. “Didn’t she just come from a thousand-year exile on the moon? Maybe she’s lost a desire for food. If anything, I think it’s weird that Princess Celestia eats at all since she is immortal.”
“I don’t know,” he seemed really nervous as he said, “Immortal or not, isn’t it kind of… what’s the word… unseemly to be catering to just one of the Princesses? I know it hasn’t been long since Princess Luna came back, but… What if it isn’t that she doesn’t want to eat and instead it’s that nobody has bothered to ask her about it?”
“Hmm,” I hummed as I thought over his question. “You know what, I think I’m going to try asking Princess Luna directly. Don’t let anyone try to clean up the food I’m still in the middle of preparing, please.”
And with that said, I turned off the stove and began walking out of the kitchen. I knew from first-hand experience that in situations like these — where questions needed to be asked — it was infinitely better to try to get answers firsthand, than remain idling while waiting for someone else to fish for answers at their own pace.
Having learned a bit more history on Princess Luna as a proxy to understand Nightmare Moon a bit better after the whole incident involving her, I knew there were a couple other possible reasons for why Princess Luna hadn’t apparently had any food since her return.
Perhaps she really had just lost a desire to eat anything after a thousand years without any food. Perhaps… No one in the castle had bothered to ask her if she wanted to eat because the only people they catered to was Celestia and the staff under her employment. Perhaps no one thought Princess Luna to be a legitimate princess with her history as Nightmare Moon.
I wouldn’t know for sure unless I asked Princess Luna directly and this whole situation was a pretty good excuse to strike up a conversation with her. While I was at it, I might even learn enough about her to figure out what her specific Level was as well as how much more work I’d need to get through to stand a chance against this world’s god-like entities.