After Billy had finished beating me up—sorry, after we'd finished our spar—he went to the kitchen to round up the guys who'd agreed to help carry the stone weights. It was a weird experience, walking through the prison halls clutching a pair of heavy stone cylinders like they were contraband, expecting a guard to snatch them from me just to ruin my day. But aside from a few glares, none of them said a word.

When we got to my cell, I turned to Billy. "Why didn't they stop us?"

"The right ones've been paid off," he said casually. "That's how it works in 'ere. Why d'you think my cell's so well kitted out?"

"I figured they just turned a blind eye because it'd be too much hassle to take it all out."

He let out a dry laugh. "No, lad. They're paid to look away."

"If they're willing to take bribes," I said, frowning, "why don't we just pay them to help us get out?"

Billy shook his head. "It's not that simple. They'll take coin for things that don't matter. Extra furniture in your cell is fine. It doesn't affect anything but breaking out definitely matters. That's what they're here to stop us from doing and there's no amount of money that will change that."

"I suppose that makes sense. A shame though. Would have made things easier," I lamented with a sigh.

Billy laughed. "Got a lot of coin for bribes 'ave ya?"

I felt my cheeks run red. "Well no but…"

"I'm only 'aving you on. Trust me, if we could bribe the guards to let us escape, we'd 'ave done it years ago. Now, we've dragged these weights up 'ere for you. Do you know what you're doin' with 'em?"

Thinking he was mocking me, I grabbed one of the stone cylinders and picked it up, holding it in front of me with a confused look. "Lifting weights?"

Billy rolled his eyes, though there was an amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth until he saw that I was serious. He stopped dead.

"You're bein' serious? You've never lifted weights before?"

"No," I muttered, setting the stone down and feeling my cheeks warm. "I just figured it was picking something heavy up and down…"

He blinked at me like I'd grown a second head. "I can't believe you've not even seen someone do it."

He stood in silence for a few moments, staring at me in disbelief, before finally shaking himself out of it. "Right then. We'll start with the absolute basics. Normally I'd go on about form—do it wrong and you can mess yourself up—but with your 'ealing, that's not such a big issue short-term. Though bad form'll slow your progress, so don't get lazy with it when you're out of 'ere."

He bent down and picked up one of the stone weights. "Okay, this one's called a bicep curl. Simple. 'old the weight down by your side, palm facing forward, and bring it up toward your shoulder by bending just your elbow. Then lower it slow and controlled. No swinging. This one's for building arm strength. Each one is called a rep, and you want to do about eight of them in what's called a set. You want to do about four sets per exercise, usually with a short break between each. Though it might be different for you."

He did a few reps to show me the motion, then handed it over. "Your turn."

I copied him the best I could, the stone heavier than I expected, my arm already starting to shake by the fifth rep.

"Not bad," Billy nodded. "Next is shoulder presses. Hold the weight at shoulder height with both hands—yeah, like that—then press it up above your head. Straight arms at the top, then bring it back down slow."

I followed along, wincing as the stone wobbled overhead. Billy reached out, steadying me.

"Careful. Don't drop it on your head. You want control, not speed. Do ten of those, rest, then go again."

He stepped back and gestured to another exercise. "Bodyweight stuff's just as important. Push-ups for your chest and arms, squats for your legs. Keep your back straight on both. Do 'em till your muscles burn, then use your magic to bounce back and do 'em again. That's 'ow you grow."

I nodded, the weight now back in my hands, sweat already beginning to bead on my forehead. "Alright. I'll give it everything I've got."

Billy gave me a sincere smile. "Good. You're already not like the others in here. If you stick with this, you'll be strong in no time. In fact, I think you've got a chance to turn yourself into a bit of a monster"

"I like the sound of that."

He nodded, a full grin on his face.

"Try to mix some cardio in as well. You don't want to get caught because you 'aven't been doing any running, right?"

I laughed. "You want me to run around my cell?"

He held my eyes to let me know I was serious. "You might feel silly but it'll be beneficial." He looked around the room. "It's a shame it's not big enough for sprints."

I let out a groan. "I can't believe I'm going to be running around my tiny cell."

"Stop your moaning. You don't know 'ow lucky you are. If I 'ad your power, I'd be unstoppable."

Billy had a glint in his eye as he stared off to the side. I figured he was imagining what life would be like if he had my power and then, naturally, I started wondering too. A giant like him, with his skill and my ability? He'd be unstoppable. He'd tear through soldiers without hesitation, because he'd have nothing to fear.

That line of thinking made me realise I could be the same with enough effort. If I was diligent in my practice, I could build up my muscle to be like Billy, and expand my pain tolerance so that even a strike from a sword could be handled. I didn't imagine it could be completely ignored but going off how easy snapping my fingers had gotten, I wouldn't be surprised if I built up a tolerance to all injuries. Then all that would be left is using my power in a fight. I'd done it before by instinct but if I wanted to turn into a monster like Billy said, then I'd need to get better at it. I would need to be able to get to a point where I could heal any injury at a speed of my choosing, and do so whenever I chose to.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Alright, I'll leave you to get on with it but one more piece of advice," he said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"Push yourself to the limit. That's 'ow you'll grow the fastest. And with your ability to cheat, there won't be any real consequences. When you start feelin' it's too easy, add more weight, add more reps, more sets. Do whatever it takes to make sure you keep feelin' that burn."

A smile lit up my face. "That I can do."

Feeling the excitement of progress I said my goodbyes to Billy and got started on my weight training. There really wasn't much time left before I went to the Challenge so I didn't see the point in delaying any further. It seemed odd to me that I had gained more time with my discoveries but simultaneously lost it because of what those discoveries meant.

Doing my best to follow Billy's guidance, I cycled through the weight exercises he'd shown me. Each one pushed me right to my limits, just like he'd said they should. I hadn't needed to add extra weight yet, but I planned to use that as a measure of progress later. For now, the sheer effort was enough.

When I finished with all the weight exercise, I dropped down into press ups, then squats, situps, and crunches. It was exhausting. I'd never known anything like it but I knew it would be worth it. Plus I used my ability to get rid of all my fatigue so I was refreshed after each rotation. After the first go around I found myself laughing out loud at Billy's comment from earlier. I really was cheating.

This level of exertion should have broken me. But instead, I kept going, wiping away the physical toll with magic, round after round. The only price I paid was mental fatigue, and I deliberately let myself feel that part because of the mana cost. I held off using mana to refresh my mind, figuring I didn't need sharpness for simple reps anyway. It made things harder, more of a grind, but that was the point. Push through now, reap the rewards later.

After the second round of weights, I took Billy's advice and started running laps in my cell. I shoved everything into the middle of the room so I could circle the walls. It felt ridiculous at first—like something a bored child would do—but I forced myself to stay focused. No distractions. Just the goal: becoming the kind of man who couldn't be stopped. And here's the strange thing—I felt it. With every mind-numbing lap, I felt my willpower growing. The monotony should have broken me, and maybe in some small way, it did. But instead of letting it wear me down, I fought back. Every time my brain begged for something new, something easy, I leaned in harder. Choosing instead to fight back against the obvious and opt for the deeper meaning. Each run became a war within my mind between my sanity and stubbornness, and not long after, so did the weight training. The burn helped with that but there's only so much of the same you can go through before it starts eating at you and you look for something else to do. Instead of giving up, I used those thoughts as a whetstone. Sharpening myself against them.

I won't lie and say I was perfect. My mind wandered in parts, my form and speed dropped, but I kept refocusing. Forcing myself to remember the goal and enjoy the grind. At some points it got to the stage where it was merely a 'fuck you' to the parts of myself I couldn't control.

By the time morning came, I was a stinking mess with barely any mana left but I felt fresh. And though it was probably just in my head, I also felt stronger in every way. It took all my restraint not to strut around flexing, revelling in my newly imagined physique.

Tom was still in a mood, only throwing the occasional question my way about what I was up to, so the day dragged on. The only upside to the shift was that it gave me time to let my mana recharge. I didn't use any while working, which allowed me to save it up for the real work later that night.

When I finally got to sparring with Billy, the day took a turn for the better. He started by checking my form with the weights to make sure I hadn't slipped into any bad habits. He corrected a couple of things but, overall, gave me a nod of approval. I tried to press him for a compliment—maybe something about how he could see the progress already—but he wasn't having it.

"By the way," he said as we were wrapping up, "I've 'eard Grian's getting sent out to the Challenge."

"One Eye?" I asked, surprised. With his connections, I figured he'd be kept far away from anything dangerous. If anything, he was the kind of guy they'd shield, not shove into the frontlines. "Why? Is he being punished?"

Billy shook his head. "Doesn't look like it. Grian ain't done anything lately that would earn that sort of punishment. Not even the usual stuff the guards sanction behind the scenes and pretend not to see."

"He's looked fine at lunch too," I said, thinking back. "Doesn't seem rattled at all. If he was in trouble, I'd expect him to show it. In fact, I've seen him smiling once or twice."

"Exactly," Billy said with a grim nod. "It's strange. I've never 'eard of 'im being sent out to a Challenge before. And as far as I know, nothing's 'appened to his brother, so 'e 'asn't lost 'is protection. Just… be careful. Feels off."

I nodded, turning it over in my mind. "Strange, yeah. You think I could take him?"

Billy's eyebrows shot up. "You want to fight 'im? With the Wallowhackers around? Maybe that 'ealing of yours isn't as good as we thought, because you're clearly suffering brain damage. Too many blows to the 'ead for sure."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not picking a fight. I just mean… if it came down to it. Do you think I could?"

Billy was quiet for a moment before answering. "Don't pick the fight, Brandon," he said seriously. Then, after a beat, he added, "But if you did—I reckon you'd win."

A smile spread across my face, only for him to smack me upside the head a second later.

"I'm serious. It's not worth the trouble. If you escape, there'll be people 'unting you, sure. But if you escape after killing Grian—the Wallowhackers themselves'll be after your blood."

That didn't sound great to be fair but it was good to know Billy thought I could win against the prison hard man. Not that I thought I was invincible. Yet, anyway. Billy's daily pastings were doing the job to keep my head far enough from the crowds that I wasn't at the point of challenging everyone I could. Still, if it came down to it, I felt good about my chances of killing Grian. He'd already shown that I was on his radar and I didn't want a repeat of the Amir situation. I'd need to be smarter to take care of future threats like One Eye.

"Wait there," he called out as I made my way to the exit. "I've got you somethin'"

"Really? Why?" I asked, surprised.

"I could 'ear your feet slappin' against the floor last night and I realised you didn' 'ave a way to check the time." Rummaging in a dark spot at the back, he came back up with an hourglass.

"It's not as good as one of Marky's but it'll work for a rough 'our."

"Nice one, Billy, that's great. It'll be a big help."

"Don't worry about it. Now go on, get to it. We need to get you strong if you're gonna stand a chance of gettin' out of 'ere."

And so I finished my day with another exercising regime. Pushing myself to the limits before using my power to reset my fatigue. It felt amazing and before the second cycle I increased the amount of weight in each rep, the results already showing themself. The biggest problem for me became the laps around the cell. It was already noticeably easier on my body and increasing the speed was awkward because of how small the room was. I decided the only thing to do was to carry some weight as I moved, and to that end, I swaddled a couple stone cylinders in my blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It worked to slow me down and add more of a challenge which was exactly what I was after.

This became the rhythm of my life for the next few weeks: start the day with work, move into a sparring session with Billy, then finish it off with brutal weight training.

The progress I made was honestly staggering. Within weeks, the weights I'd started with were no longer a challenge, and I'd transformed from tall and lean into something far more formidable. I'd become a muscular beast. The changes in my physique were impossible to ignore. People began to ask questions, but I brushed them off with the excuse that I was still growing—I had only just turned seventeen, after all—and working ten-hour shifts every day. That explanation worked well enough to keep most people off my back, though I still caught the occasional second glance that lingered a little too long. Like they were sizing me up, trying to work out how I looked the way I did.

The impact on my spars with Billy was immediate. I was far from a master with the spear, but my new strength meant I could finally hold my own. He could no longer casually bat my weapon aside like it was a twig. In fact, there were moments—usually late in a gruelling match—when I was the one overpowering him. They were fleeting, but they mattered. They proved I wasn't just training. I was evolving.

I'd reshaped myself into something dangerous. A weapon in my own right. Now, all that remained was to see how I measured up against a conscripted soldier. Because one thing was absolutely certain in my mind: I would be escaping. And I'd go through anyone who tried to stop me.

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