Rodos closed his eyes and focused his mind while holding himself in position on the ground.
There was something he absolutely had to do before beginning in earnest.
‘I need to open the Core and the Hall.’
It was the most fundamental step of his training method.
He needed to open both spaces that stored mana and aura, connecting them to the outside world.
Doing so would leave him defenseless against external attacks and forces, but it was indispensable for this training.
No one could reach greater heights without taking risks.
Rodos sat on the ground and focused.
He intended to open the Core first.
Standing before the lake within himself, Rodos carved out a narrow channel with his hand.
It was extremely small, but he could clearly tell that it had connected to the outside world.
Mana began trickling through the damaged pathways, causing his entire body to ache.
Since the mana was stable, the pain was bearable.
Otherwise, he would have been writhing in agony.
Next came the Hall.
Enduring the pain, Rodos reached toward the empty furnace.
He felt a faint breeze.
External energies were manifesting inside his body in the form of wind.
With that, all his preparations were complete.
‘I will begin.’
Rodos took a deep breath and bent his arms.
They trembled even more violently, but he gritted his teeth and struggled to keep his balance.
Only after squeezing out every last ounce of strength could he raise his upper body again.
He had expected this from the beginning, but actually confronting the reality of it was almost absurd.
A body that had to exert everything it had just to complete a single push-up.
It was something his former self could never even have imagined.
He bent his arms again.
This time, they shook even more severely.
His entire body trembled so pitifully that it was almost painful to watch.
Even so, Rodos did not stop doing push-ups.
He needed to confront his limit.
One, two, three, four.
The count gradually increased.
He had completed only four, yet sweat was already pouring from his entire body like rain.
Still prone on the ground, Rodos gathered his strength.
“Wow, he has barely done anything, and he already looks like he is about to die.”
“Keep your voice down. He can hear you.”
“Look at how pale he is. He is probably too exhausted to hear anything.”
Rodos could hear the apprentice knights mocking him, but he continued training.
Even he had to admit that it looked ridiculous.
He was already drained after only four repetitions and was struggling with everything he had.
But the opinions of others did not matter.
Right now, he needed to focus solely on himself.
Rodos put strength into both arms.
If he could only straighten them, he would reach five.
“Urgh!”
Just as his arms straightened and his upper body rose halfway, he collapsed face-first.
It happened regardless of his will.
His strength had completely deserted him.
Yet Rodos silently pushed himself back up and resumed his position.
Now the real training began.
After confirming that his Core and Hall were still open, he bent his arms again.
Both arms trembled as he lowered himself.
Going down was manageable.
He braced his arms and tried to raise his upper body.
But he could not.
He lost his balance and fell face-first again.
Dust entered his mouth, leaving it dry and gritty.
“He fell again.”
“He will get tired of it eventually and leave. Ignore him and keep training.”
The apprentice knights, who had been watching with mild curiosity, appeared to lose interest and returned to their own training.
‘Confront your limit.’
Recalling the first principle of his training method, Rodos continued to collapse, reset his position, and bend his arms again.
His progress was painfully slow, but he eventually passed five repetitions and, before long, reached fifty.
The more he repeated the process, the dirtier his body became, and scratches appeared across his skin.
No matter how desperately he tried to wring out more strength, his arms and legs barely obeyed him, and his head spun.
Even Rodos, who had endured brutal training since long ago, found himself wanting to give up on the spot.
But this was only the beginning.
Only those who confronted their limits and gritted their teeth as they struggled to surpass them could obtain greater strength.
Rodos strained with everything he had and straightened both arms.
His heart pounded at its very limit, barely managing to endure.
He had to overcome this pain.
He had to overcome this helplessness.
Only then could he encounter that power.
“!”
Life returned to Rodos’s eyes.
Something was gathering around him.
Tiny white particles resembling pollen.
The particles drifted aimlessly around Rodos as though they possessed wills of their own.
It was aether.
It was the most fundamental element that composed the world, the force that maintained its balance, and the very source of all life born into it.
Both the birth and death of living beings were possible because aether existed.
‘Draw in the aether.’
That was the second stage of his training method.
The mere fact that he could see aether meant that he was already halfway to success.
Even in the past, he had not always been able to perceive it.
Every race in the world knew that aether existed.
However, almost no one had ever directly witnessed particles of aether.
That was because the moment aether entered the body, it transformed into either mana or aura.
Certain conditions had to be met to perceive aether and draw it in while preserving its pure form.
First, both the Core and the Hall had to be open.
They needed to be connected to the outside world, allowing any kind of power to enter and leave freely.
Only then could the aether avoid being altered by the mana or aura within the body.
The next requirement was to reach both one’s mental and physical limits.
This did not mean a limit one merely believed he had reached.
It meant a state in which the body and mind could no longer endure, regardless of one’s will.
Only when both conditions were fulfilled could aether be perceived.
Even Rodos did not know exactly why.
It was simply something he had learned through experience.
He had discovered the method while experimenting with various approaches in his pursuit of greater heights.
He had continued to use this training method afterward, so there was no doubt about its effectiveness.
Once the aether became visible, there was only one thing left to do.
Move even harder.
Fueled by hope, Rodos pushed himself more fiercely.
Then, little by little, he began to feel a change.
‘Just a little more.’
Rodos could tell that he was almost there.
The aether gathered around him was seeping into his body through the open pathways.
CRASH!
When he lost his balance and collapsed, a wave of dizziness accompanied by excruciating muscle pain overwhelmed him.
Even if he tried to endure through sheer willpower, he no longer possessed enough strength to lift his arms.
No matter how desperately he tried to move, his body refused to obey.
Then, at that moment—
The aether that had seeped into his Core and Hall began spreading throughout his entire body.
Rodos felt warmth envelop him.
It was neither hot nor cold, yet somehow deeply comforting.
Perhaps it was like being held in a mother’s embrace.
That warmth breathed vitality back into Rodos.
Color returned to his pale face, and his entire body, which had been trembling so violently that it had begun to spasm, returned to normal in an instant.
At that moment, Rodos clenched both hands.
“!!!”
His body was being reconstructed to its original state, bringing with it unimaginable pain.
When the agony finally subsided, Rodos recalled the third principle of his training method.
‘Break your body and mind. Then break them again.’
Feeling that his body had recovered, Rodos resumed his position.
He rapidly bent and straightened his arms.
His body felt far lighter than it had moments ago.
The difference was too subtle to notice without looking closely, but muscle was clearly beginning to develop.
Of course, he still collapsed before reaching even ten repetitions.
But he did not stop.
He needed to break his body and mind again and again.
Whenever Rodos collapsed from complete exhaustion, the immense life force contained within the aether restored his body.
The horrific pain of his body being restored and reconstructed came as an additional consequence.
By repeating that process countless times, he could develop his body.
This was the Ancient Warrior Training Method.
It exploited aether’s natural tendency to restore living beings.
Because both the body and mind recovered so quickly, it allowed the practitioner to strengthen the body at an extraordinary pace.
Of course, no one actually trained this way.
How many people could continue moving without stopping while enduring the pain of their bodies being destroyed and reconstructed in real time?
Moreover, the training method carried the risk of the body itself collapsing entirely.
Fully opening the Core and Hall meant removing even the defensive barriers that protected the inside of the body from external dangers.
Whether one was a mage or a knight, one of the first things they learned was never to completely open the Core or Hall.
While they were fully open, even the smallest external force could result in severe internal injuries.
Regardless, Rodos resumed his push-ups, letting out nothing but ragged breaths.
“Urgh.”
Rodos collapsed again.
This time, he reached his limit after one hundred repetitions.
With every cycle, more muscle developed in his arms, and the number of repetitions he could complete continued to rise.
Rodos could tell that his training was finally on track.
The pain had not become any easier to bear, but watching his body gradually change filled him with satisfaction.
Now it was time to follow the fourth principle.
‘Do not stop, no matter what disaster comes your way.’
It meant exactly what it said.
Train continuously and consistently without rest.
With that in mind, Rodos lowered himself to the ground again.
He intended to continue training until he could complete one thousand push-ups consecutively without stopping.
***
The sun was setting over the training grounds.
It was time for the knights, who had spent the entire day honing their bodies and swordsmanship, to leave for the day.
“All knights except those assigned to guard duty may leave.”
“Yes!”
At the Vice Commander’s order, the knights began leaving the training grounds.
The apprentice knights did the same.
Rodos, however, was still training.
He had only five repetitions remaining before reaching his goal for the day: one thousand consecutive push-ups.
The apprentice knights glanced at Rodos and whispered among themselves.
“The Young Master is still here? Do not tell me he has been training this whole time without resting.”
They had left the area for swordsmanship practice, so they had not expected him to still be there.
“No. I saw him lying down earlier.”
“I knew it.”
The apprentice knights shook their heads.
He had clearly spent most of the day lying around and was only pretending to do something now.
“Let’s go.”
After that, no one spoke about Rodos again.
He would not be coming back tomorrow anyway.
‘One last repetition.’
Alone in the physical training area, Rodos achieved his goal and returned to his room.
There was no need to rush.
He could simply come back early tomorrow and train again.
***
“He actually came back?”
“There is a three-day rule. No matter how determined someone is, their resolve falls apart after three days. I will bet half my salary that he does not show up tomorrow.”
Contrary to the knights’ expectations that he would give up and disappear, Rodos returned to the training grounds the next day.
And the day after that.
Without speaking to anyone, he devoted himself entirely to physical training.
He trained in numerous ways, from running to lifting weights.
To become an exceptional warrior, one needed strength, flexibility, and speed in equal measure.
Rodos wanted to wield an axe.
But he knew that the time had not yet come.
Obtaining a complete, powerful body came first.
Enduring the pain of his entire body breaking apart, Rodos continued moving forward in silence.
And after six months had passed, Rodos had transformed completely.