Author's Note: I own neither Re: Zero nor A Will Eternal. This fanfiction is a non-profitable work. I make no money out of it. I am just writing this for fun.

If you guys are wondering "Why chickens? Why not any other animal?" Well, the answer is eating chicken while practicing bronze skin is a type of Bai Xiaochun's legacy. Or else who would build a chicken dungeon in their own mansion?

Important note: I changed the prologue to chapter-1, chapter-1 to chapter-2, and so on. Be careful not to skip a chapter because of this change.

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

"Dialogues are shown like this" and 'thoughts like this'.

Chapter-6

Subaru was gawking at the portal that seemed to be dripping blood. "Master, are you sure it is just a chicken farm, not a devil's nest?"

At this question, Bai Xiaochun smiled kindly and said "Every type of spice that is mentioned in the book can be found inside. I will bring you out after I sense you completing the bronze skin to perfection. And remember to keep your bronze skin activated inside the portal. " Saying this, he pushed Subaru into the portal.

"Master, please wait. At least give some prep time." Was the only sound that echoed through the library before Subaru completely vanished into the portal.

All Subaru can see is swirling red. He feels like he is thrown into a washing machine filled with blood. After a few long minutes, Subaru was able to see light. Before he can even celebrate, his body was sucked through the light as he got ejected from the other end of the portal. He wasn't even able to get a hold of the situation before he collided with the ground and lost his consciousness. 'Damn, I forgot to activate the Undying skin' was his last thought.

After some time passed, Subaru groggily opened his eyes. "Ouch, that hit hard." He says this while rubbing the back of his head. He then stands up and checks his surroundings. He was on endless grasslands with the sun hanging high in the sky. He took a deep breath and felt that the air was very pure here. 'So this dungeon has an artificial environment. Can't say I am surprised. After all, everything on this floating island is unique in its own way. I even remember seeing a volcano that erupts snow rather than lava at the edge of the island.' Subaru was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly heard a voice.

-Cluuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!-

Subaru turned his head towards the voice, very much guessing what it was. But still, his expectations fell short when he saw the chicken that is three times his height looking down on him. It's feathers are shining like those are made from some metal. He immediately activated his bronze skin, which unlike his iron skin is not lustrous but pretty dull. This shows that he is still at the beginning of the bronze skin level.

' I swear to god there is not even a single insect in surroundings when I checked. But now a giant chicken is standing in front of me. It must have been teleported here like mob spawn.'

As soon as the giant chicken saw Subaru it clucked and started sprinting his way.

'It is fast, but nothing I can't handle.'

"Throat Crushing Grasp" as soon as Subaru used that move he heard a snap and the chicken's lifeless body fell on the ground. He controlled the power of that move so that he won't make a mess out of that chicken.

Subaru sighed in relief and checked the surroundings for spices as his master instructed. After checking for some time he found them growing in between some tall grass. He collected the spices, made a fire, and started cooking the chicken. Just as he started cooking he heard another clucking sound.

'Heh, another easy prey.'

Like that chickens spawned for every five minutes until nearly an hour passed. Then they suddenly stopped spawning. Even though Subaru is skeptical about why is that happening, still after cooking three full chickens, he started practicing the bronze skin. After 10 minutes into practice, he again started to feel that unbearable hunger. He immediately gulped down the chickens that he already prepared, started cooking another three chickens and again he went to practicing the bronze skin. But now he can feel something different, he was able to cultivate much faster than before and he didn't feel hungry for the next 30 minutes. After 30 minutes when he started feeling hungry and ate already prepared chicken and repeated this process another time before something different happened. He was surrounded by 10 bright lights from which ten gigantic chickens came out. He was shocked and his first instinct is to run. But seeing that there is no way out, he forcefully calmed himself down and thought 'It seems that I need to use that move.' He stretched both his hands sideways and shouted

"MULTIPLE THROAT CRUSHING GRASP!"

The ten chickens felt some invisible force grasping their throats. No matter how much they struggled they can't break free. They suddenly

-*SNNNAAAAAAAAP*- x10

Ten snaps echoed in the grassy plains and ten chickens fell lifelessly on the ground. Even Subaru was kneeling on the ground breathing heavily.

" *Ha*,*ha*,*ha*…. This technique works wonders. But it consumes too much stamina." Saying that he went to collect the dead bodies of the chicken.

The idea of this technique came from his master. Rather than using Throat Crushing Grasp with each hand, he used it with each one of his fingers. So he can use ten Throat Crushing Grasps simultaneously. If he used this move without using Undying skin, the things that would be destroyed will be his fingers.

He tried to further improvise the technique by trying to use Throat Crushing Grasp with his toes. It didn't do shit. He became a laughing stock in front of his master and some monkeys. No matter how he looked, those monkeys seemed a little too intelligent.

And this cycle repeated for some time. The first 10 chickens would spawn individually with five minutes gap and after approximately an hour and a half later, the next 10 chickens would spawn at simultaneously.

After a few hours of doing this repeatedly, we can see Subaru standing between heaps of bones, his bronze skin glowing brightly.

"It almost reached perfection. Just another 10 or so chickens and bronze skin will be completed."

According to Subaru, he nearly spent 38-40 hours in this dungeon. Even though he is repeating the same process over and over, he is not bored. Every time his bronze skin is advancing he became more excited since it is raising his power continuously. Before he can only use one MULTIPLE THROAT CRUSHING GRASP in a short time before getting completely exhausted. But now he can use two without tiring himself. This visible improvement served as his greatest motivation.

One more interesting this he can observe is that, no matter how much he eats or drinks, it turns into energy and gets absorbed by his body. So there is no need for him to excrete/urinate. 'Well, this is pretty convenient. I already feel I am much different than normal mortals.' Having reached this point in his train of thought, he shook his head and thought 'No, I mustn't let power get to my head. I must be humble like my master.' (In the mansion Bai Xiaochun sneezed and thought 'Someone must be talking bad about me behind my back.)

He was waiting for the next chicken to spawn. 'Hmmm, it is taking longer than usual. Did I kill all the chickens in this dungeon?' Just as he is thinking this he noticed the light that signifies the spawning of chicken. But unlike regular white color, this light is deep azure in color. After the light dimmed down, Subaru can see a chicken that is not large as the previous ones. It is the same height as him. But what is different about this chicken is that it is feathers are metallic blue in contrast to the regular metallic silver feathers of other chickens.

'Oooh, is this a boss? Even if it is, as long as it is hit with Throat Crushing Grasp, it would have no chance of survival.'

He casually stretched his hand towards the blue chicken and shouted "THIS IS THE END! THROAT CRUSHING GRASP!"

-BOOM-

A loud boom sounded from the place where the chicken used to be. But now there is just a crater there. Subaru's eyes widened when he saw this and before he can even react he felt a powerful blow hitting his chest and lifting him into the air. 'It is so fast that even before the Throat Crushing Grasp hit it, it moved from that place. Damn, I can't even see it moving, how the hell was I supposed to defeat it?' thought Subaru as he crashed into the ground a few meters away.

He looked at his chest to see that there are three deep gashes on it. He even can see his ribcage, even normal steel knives won't be able to leave a scar on his skin but the claws of this monster did. Even though it is painful, this pain is nothing compared to the pain when he practiced the iron skin. He calmly poured more energy into his bronze skin which immediately healed his injuries. There are not even scars remaining.

He looked around to find the chicken, only to receive another blow to his back. This time he landed on his feet and caught a glimpse of the chicken before it became a blue blur and he received a blow to his side. Subaru can't do anything except guard his vitals and pour more energy into his bronze skin.

This continued for some time with the blue chicken doing continuous damage and Subaru was constantly regenerating. Fortunately, his regeneration is keeping up with the damage he is receiving but this cannot continue, or else he will be tired and his regeneration won't be quick enough to keep up with damage. He needs to think of something and fast.

Finally, his chance came. He saw the chicken stop far away from him and catch its breath. After some time its claws started glowing blood-red color. Subaru understood that this will be the final round and he can't let this chicken land too many hits on him or else it would be over for him. He thought of a daring plan but if this plan failed, he would be in an even more tight situation than he is in now.

He relaxed his guard but bent his knees and kept enough distance between his feet so that he would have more grip on the ground. He stared at the chicken with his sanpaku eyes, waiting for it to make its move. And immediately he saw a blue blur and felt the claws digging in his stomach. He immediately tightened his abs. The chicken tried to remove its claws but it was stuck there. Before it can even apply more pressure Subaru caught its neck and unleashed Throat Crushing Grasp at point-blank. "ITS OVEEERRR!"

-SQUISH-

Subaru didn't have the luxury to hold back. But fortunately, only its head is completely blown and its body remained intact.

Subaru immediately sat down cross-legged and began supplying his remaining energy to the bronze skin on his stomach to increase the pace of regeneration. After doing that for a full minute and confirming that there aren't any scars left, he sighed in relief. 'Damn, that was that hardest fight of my life. Wait a minute, that was the only proper fight I had in my life. I didn't even get physical with anyone before coming to this dungeon.'

Subaru skinned the blue chicken and started cooking. Soon delicious aroma filled the air. He was just drooling by smelling it. After he finished cooking, he didn't even wait for a single second and started eating. He can feel that the mana in this chicken is purer and denser. After he ate it he can feel his body is completely saturated with energy. He then started doing a weird pose and circulated mana as shown in the manual for bronze skin training. His bronze skin started glowing brighter by second and it finally reached completion.

Subaru open his eyes and said, "Bronze skin, mastered to perfection."

His body improved even further after he perfected bronze skin. He can feel his senses sharpening and his body became even more defined. He was sure that if there is something like a charm stat, he just raised his.

Subaru suddenly felt a suction force and before he could do anything he was back in the mansion with his master greeting him "Welcome back."

-SCENE CHANGE-

Morning rays seeped through the windows of a young boy's room. Subaru being a morning person didn't continue sleeping and woke up with a yawn. He didn't sleep for the last two days. Even though he go on without sleep for a few days without getting tired, his training and fighting in the dungeon took a mental toll on him. So after a well-deserved rest, he woke up, took a bath, and went to the dining room to have breakfast and discuss his next step in training with his master.

They had some casual talk during breakfast and after finishing breakfast they went to the courtyard. Bai Xiaochun sat on a rocking chair he summoned out of nowhere. After making himself comfortable, he said "So Subaru, since you completed bronze skin, the next step is naturally silver skin. There is nothing more I can help you with that. You are on your own. Go find a spot and start practicing it. I will be watching and give you some pointers if you need them."

Listening to his master Subaru made his way to the top of the mountain from where he used to fetch water during his iron skin training and started to go through the information he has on silver skin. Unlike iron and bronze skin, there is no need for him to beat himself or do weird poses to train in silver skin. All he needs to do is circulate mana in a prescribed way and it doesn't matter whether does it while sitting, standing, or sleeping. The same goes for golden skin.

But what made Subaru cautious is the condition for practicing silver skin. Like, iron skin demands extreme pain and bronze skin demands extreme hunger, the silver skin requires him to withstand extreme cold. And unlike the previous two skins, where he can take his time to practice from beginner to intermediate, intermediate to advanced, and then to mastery, silver skin should be done in one try. If one stops in the middle, then they should again start from step one of silver skin. It doesn't matter whether you are in intermediate or advanced, if you don't go from beginner to perfection in one try, you should again start from the first step. The same goes for gold skin.

Subaru took a deep breath and started circulating mana in a particular route and with a fixed speed. Slowly his skin first turned to bronze luster and then silver patches began forming on them. Approximately 3 percent of his bronze skin turned silver, before he lost his consciousness and collapsed.

-SCENE CHANGE-

In the mansion, Subaru's eyes slowly opened as he found himself sleeping on a luxury sofa with his master sitting on a sofa opposite to him.

"Are you doing okay?" asked Bai Xiaochun concernedly.

"Yes master, I never felt this energetic before. Just some sleep and I am back to full form" lied Subaru. But just one look at his shivering form and anyone could tell that he was anything but fine. Bai Xiaochun expressionlessly said "Subaru, I know silver skin and gold skin will be difficult. Those aren't something you can complete in one day. As long you continue practicing, your body develops resistance to cold and you will complete it someday. Take it slow, first 5%, then 10%, and so on. After all, just mastering bronze skin increased your lifespan to 200 years and it will only keep on increasing. If you complete golden skin, you would even stay young forever. A person who practices The Undying Live Forever Technique never needs to worry about the time due to his long lifespan, that doesn't mean you should slack off but never push yourself beyond what you can handle unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Yes, Master." Said Subaru with a salute. Bai Xiaochun just giggled at his student's antics.

-Time skip: 1 month later-

Bai Xiaochun was standing on the side watching his student with pride in his eyes. Subaru is sitting on a boulder with almost all of his skin silver except for a patch on his forehead, only that patch is still bronze in color. Subaru gritted his teeth and continued pushing himself. He almost turned 99% of his skin to silver. If he falters at this 1%, he should again start from 0%. But he is feeling so cold that he felt like his blood itself is frozen and he can't even feel his body. But through sheer willpower, he pushed his mana through one final circulation.

-ZZZiiiiinnnnngggggg-

A blinding silver light erupted from his whole body. And when it started to slowly die down, Bai Xiaochun's smile only grew wider seeing Subaru.

'Silver skin mastered' was the thought in both teacher and student's minds.

To say Subaru was feeling good was an understatement, the surge of power in his is too great that if he fights the boss chicken again, he can kill it without using Throat Crushing Grasp. (A/N: With every power of Subaru, even Throat Crushing Grasp power's up. It becomes more powerful and faster.)

And he is not wrong. He just tried running and he became nothing but a silver blur to a normal person's eyes and his reaction speed also increased which would let him use his full speed without any tunnel vision.

'Too cool.' was the thought he has in his mind after seeing his reflection in the well. Unlike iron and bronze which only changes his skin color, completing silver skin changed both his hair and iris colors to silver along with his skin color.

After he was done with testing his power-up he turned to his master with a big smile. From the first day when he collapsed, his master never left his side during his training. He is very moved by his master's actions. So seeing his master look at him like a father looking at his own son who became someone successful made him even happier.

"Subaru, it took you a month to complete silver skin. So even completing the golden skin will take you the same time or maybe even less. Although golden is more powerful than silver skin, the difficulty is approximately the same. But in place of extreme cold, It will be extreme heat."

"Master Bai, can I start practicing gold skin now? After all, I feel full of energy after just completing silver skin."

"Now, now. No need to rush. Since completed silver skin, just go and rest. You can start gold skin from tomorrow."

And that's how Subaru mastered silver skin and started practicing golden skin.

-Time skip: 20 days later-

As his master said, Subaru mastered golden skin faster than silver skin. The torture he experienced while practicing three skins made it easier for him to progress in the golden skin. He is already at 95% completion.

'Come on, just some more' thought Subaru. He is feeling so hot that he has the hallucination that he is drowned in lava.

'That's it, a few more circu-', suddenly Subaru fell headfirst into the ground.

It is Bai Xiaochun who slapped him. "Master, what is that for? I am almost at completion" whined Subaru.

"Yeah, you are almost at fainting completely. Rushing won't give any results. You just need to wait two or three days and your gold skin will be completed."

Subaru calmed down listening to his master.

"Okay master, it's getting late. Let's go and have dinner."

"About that Subaru, today's dinner is somewhat special. Let me take you to that place."

"That place….?"

Bai Xiaochun didn't say anything and simply put a hand on Subaru's shoulder and they disappeared from where they are standing and appeared on the peak of the tallest mountain. The weather is surprisingly good here. With the aroma of dishes floating from the table set here and a light breeze caressing their bodies, Subaru felt this is one of the best places on this island. But that's not the end, Bai Xiaochun waved his arms and the atmosphere around them turned completely transparent giving them full access to the scenery of stars outside. Subaru was mesmerized by it.

"Wow master, we should do this frequently from now on. This would have become one of the top tourist spots in my previous world." Said Subaru with shining eyes.

"Haha, let's eat the dinner before it becomes cold."

They both sat at the table and ate dinner. Subaru himself ate dinner that would be sufficient for ten people. After all, no matter how much he eats, his body simply converts into energy. He is also resistant to most poisons and curses due to the technique he practices. Thinking this, Subaru looked gratefully at the person who gave him this opportunity. That said man just simply looked back at him and smiled kindly.

"Are you full?" asked Bai Xiaochun.

"Haha, yes" was all he said.

Then Bai Xiaochun slowly walked towards a cliff, which gives him a better view of the entire island and stars in the sky. Subaru just followed him and stood a few steps away from him. They both stood in silence for a few seconds before Bai Xiaochun turned towards Subaru and said "Subaru, how did you like your stay here?"

Subaru guessed why his master asked such a question and replied "Even though I underwent hellish training, I enjoyed my stay here. I can say confidently that not only has my power grown, but I feel that I also developed as a person. After experiencing so much I believe in myself, no matter what challenges I face, I will overcome them."

Bai Xiaochun just smiled and said, "Then go rest, tomorrow I will send you to the world where you can have your dream adventure."

Subaru wanted to ask his master to come with him, but he knew it would be futile.

Seeing his student's sad expression Bai Xiaochun said "I have already shown you a path, that's all I can do. The one who should walk on it is you. And you should do it without me, or else you will forever remain in my shadow."

Subaru just nodded at it and said nothing.

Then they teleported back to the mansion and went to their respective rooms to rest.

-The Next Day-

Both master and student are standing on the edge of the floating island. Bai Xiaochun can be seen creating a complex magic array while Subaru is standing nearby watching him.

"Aaaaaaaand, completed. Are you ready Subaru?"

"YES MASTER!"

"Okay come here, I, Bai Xiaochun, can't let his student leave without parting gift." Saying this Bai Xiaochun handed a silver ring with vines design on its side and a turtle-like gem adorning it.

Subaru curiously took the ring, wore it on his right hand's ring finger, and inspected it. But he didn't find anything special about it.

Looking at his student's inquiring expression, Bai Xiaochun said "This may look like an ordinary ring. But it has two purposes." Seeing that he has his student's full attention, Bai Xiaochun continued "The first purpose is infinity storage. This ring has a separate space in it that has infinite capacity. In other words, it is a inventory with infinite capacity. If you want to access it just focus your mind onto it."

Subaru did as he was told and immediately gasped. Inside the ring were many golden bars. The total amount would be enough to fill this whole island thrice over. And along with them were the hundred exact replicas of his tracksuit.

"Master, this is..?" asked Subaru hesitantly.

"Hahaha, Subaru, there is a reason why I gave you only gold. No matter what world you go to, gold is always valuable and in high demand. And your tracksuit is the only thing you have from your homeworld, I don't want you to lose it."

Subaru was moved at his master's thoughtfulness, even though he felt the amount is somewhat excessive.

Bai Xiaochun continued without giving Subaru a chance to speak, "The second purpose of this ring would be especially helpful for your future cultivation of the Undying Live Forever Technique. You should have already known that the more you progress in this technique, the more energy you need. This ring harvests the life-force of the monsters you slay or the life-force of the monsters this ring touches. You can use this energy later on for your training. And lastly, no one except you can access this ring and if it is lost somewhere, you can immediately summon it to your ring finger with just a thought"

'This ring is too precious.' Thought Subaru.

"Thank you Master. I will treasure it."

Bai Xiaochun continued " And Subaru one more thing."

"What is it master?" asked Subaru.

"Do you know why I especially taught you the Undying Live Forever technique?"

Now this question piqued Subaru's interest. He instinctively asked, "Why?"

Bai Xiaochun said with a kind smile on his face, "Even though Undying Live Forever Technique grants the user great power, that's not what I want you to become, a power-hungry person, but to have the power to protect yourself. Undying Live Forever technique also grants users almost inexhaustible longevity. That is what I want you to have. A long and happy life, where you can follow your heart desires and live your life to the fullest."

After hearing this Subaru can feel tears forming in his eyes. He turned to the side so that his master would not be able to see them and said "I will never forget what you taught me, master. I will live my life to the fullest. I promise you."

Suddenly he felt a warm hand patting his head.

"Good boy, now stand in the magic circle. The time of farewell has come."

Subaru wiped his tears away and stood at the center of the magic circle.

"Goodbye, my disciple"

"Goodbye, Master Bai."

And with that Subaru dissipated into motes of light. He went to a world where his adventure will truly begin.

Bai Xiaochun seeing his disciple gone started flying into the void and disappeared leaving his final words which echoed through the empty space:

"One Will to create oceans. One Will to summon mulberry fields.

One Will to slaughter countless devils. One Will to eradicate innumerable immortals.

Only my Will… is eternal. And Natsuki Subaru, my disciple, I pass that will onto you"

AAAANNNNDDDD that's a wrap. With this training arc is officially over and we will now enter the first arc of Re: zero.

And before anyone asks, Bai Xiaochun and Subaru won't be meeting ever again.

Also don't forget that Subaru won't be having Return by Death in this fanfic. Having too many advantages just makes it boring.

In the last chapter I mentioned there won't be any jade beauties, but can Emilia be considered one? Well, whatever. It is not like, I can remove her from this fic.

Bye-bye, see you in the next chapter.