The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

Klaus arrived at the training ground with renewed energy. His morning had turned out better than expected, and he was ready to tackle the day's training with a more upbeat attitude.

"You look happy this morning," Lulu said, noticing his mood as soon as he arrived at the training ground.

"Who wouldn't be happy training with a fairy like you?" Klaus said with a smile, causing Lulu to blush slightly.

'I really need to choose my words more carefully, or I'll end up with beauties falling head over heels for me,' Klaus thought, noticing the pink tint on Lulu's cheeks.

'You think?' Suddenly, the Senior's voice echoed in his mind.

'Hey Senior, are you reading my thoughts?' Klaus asked, but the Senior didn't bother to reply. That just made him smile more as they resumed their second day of training.

Klaus managed to control all 64 needles and complete the task he had set for himself yesterday. He popped all 720 balls in under a minute with the 64 needles, though it had been a close call.

So before setting new goals for the day, he decided to retry the previous day's task. To his surprise, he popped all 720 green balls in under 50 seconds—a significant improvement over yesterday's record.

With that out of the way, he set new goals. First, he increased the number of needles to 70 for the same task as yesterday. After three attempts, he successfully popped all 720 balls in under 50 seconds.

Next, Lulu increased the number of green balls to 1,020. It took him 17 attempts to pop them all. Then, he decided to focus on pushing his mental limits.

Having trained under much harsher conditions herself, Lulu decided to increase the speed at which the balls moved to 2.5x, compared to 2x yesterday. Klaus's day quickly turned into a grueling challenge as he strained and sweated profusely, putting immense pressure on his mind to complete the task.

The objective was to pop all 1,020 green balls without touching the red or yellow ones and to do it all in under a minute. On top of that, Klaus aimed to increase the number of needles he could control from 70 to 80 by the end of the second day's training.

It was an incredibly grueling task for someone who hadn't been training their mind for long. Klaus was under so much pressure that it felt like his mind might split at any moment.

Lulu, watching from the side, couldn't believe her eyes. In the first hour, Klaus managed to pop all 1,020 green balls in under three minutes—something that had taken her 10 minutes after days of trying.

'This boy is just a monster', she thought. But it didn't stop there. In the second hour, Klaus cut the time in half and added four more needles to his control.

By the third hour, Klaus was getting closer to his goal of popping all the green balls in under a minute. And by the fourth hour, he accomplished that, adding another four needles. Before long, he reached the ten-needle increase he had set for himself that day, bringing the total to 80 needles under his control.

Still, he wasn't done. He continued training with all 80 needles, but it didn't take long for him to realize that if he didn't rest soon, his mind would suffer real damage.

"You're a monster," Lulu said, staring at him in disbelief.

"I have a good teacher," Klaus replied with a smile. Lulu smiled back.

Once again, Klaus had surprised her. Although she could achieve what he did now in under 20 seconds, she knew it was only because she had been training for years.

Klaus, on the other hand, had done something that would take even the strongest Spirit Masters weeks to accomplish—in under five hours. That was just too monstrous.

"Same time tomorrow?" Klaus asked. Lulu nodded, and with that, he left, exhausted, heading back to his quarters.

When he got back, Miriam had just come out of the bathroom. She blushed immediately when Klaus entered the room, but when she noticed how drained he looked, she led him to the bed and gave him a towel bath, gently wiping the sweat from his body like a caring wife.

Klaus, resting in Miriam's gentle and caring embrace, drifted off to sleep. He was getting the kind of treatment any guy wouldn't dare deny.

The next day, he faced another grueling training session that left him exhausted once again. However, his suffering wasn't in vain. He managed to increase the number of needles he could control to 90 after Lulu sped up the balls to three times their normal speed.

It was an exhausting morning, but knowing the care he would receive back in his quarters made him more than happy to take on the challenge.

On the fourth day, he pushed himself further, bringing 100 needles under his control. But this time, the strain was much worse. Lulu had increased the ball speed to four times the usual rate, making the training even harder. Despite the stress, Klaus managed to pop all 1,020 balls.

He asked for more balls, but Lulu explained that the training mechanism was already at full capacity. However, she mentioned that the speed could still be increased.

Klaus didn't give it much thought, but by the end of the fourth day, the strain had been so intense that he passed out as soon as he got back to his room, leaving his safety in Miriam's hands. Miriam, warming to the idea that she had indeed become Klaus's woman, started taking such good care of his body whenever he returned drained.

By the end of the fifth day, Klaus's improvement shocked Lulu to the point she started questioning whether she was truly the genius people claimed she was.

Klaus had managed to control 120 needles, and using them, he destroyed all 1,020 green balls in under 40 seconds at six times the normal speed. Klaus realized that the more grueling the training, the faster he improved.

It was a shocking level of progress, but Klaus wasn't surprised. He had already seen how Fruity managed to memorize hundreds of skills in under an hour, so he knew this was something he always had—a brain that was stronger than most.

"I've ordered the training mechanism for you. It'll be installed before you get home," Lulu said. She already knew Klaus wouldn't stop training after he went back home.

It was their last day together, and although she enjoyed training with him, even if it meant just watching him train, it was bittersweet to see it end.

"Thank you, Lulu," Klaus said. "How about this—since you've helped me so much these past days, let me give you something in return."

Klaus pulled out a sheet of paper covered in strange writings and diagrams and handed it to her. "This is the least I can do," he said with a smile.

Lulu took the sheet, and as soon as she saw the content, her jaw dropped. "This... this... I can't accept this. It's too valuable!" she protested, trying to hand the sheet back.

"Keep it. This is my thanks to you," Klaus insisted. He had originally wanted to use the method the senior taught him to transfer a soul technique he learned from Fruity's memories.

However, not trusting her enough for that, he decided to write it down instead, just as he had planned to do for his friends, with the senior's guidance.

The technique was a powerful soul attack. And since Lulu was a Saint, she would be able to learn and use it, unlike Klaus, who still needed more time.

"Thank you, Klaus," Lulu said, smiling. She recognized the technique's value, as she had seen similar ones at the academy. But unbeknownst to her, the technique Klaus had given her was far beyond anything even the strongest soul technique at the academy could compare to.

After chatting for a while and making plans to grab coffee later, Klaus headed back to his quarters where he went straight into the caring arms of Miriam and drifted into sleep like a baby cat.