Early in the morning, just as the sun began to rise, Rodos sprang upright from his bed.
There was not the slightest sign of grogginess.
Rodos stretched lightly.
Another day had begun.
With a calm expression, he started making his bed.
He straightened the rumpled sheets and neatly aligned them with the edges of the mattress.
Tidying his bed immediately after waking up.
It was a habit he had maintained from the past until now.
Rodos knew well.
Success began with small habits.
He stood before the mirror to examine the condition of his body.
Observing his physique every day was important.
Only by examining himself could he identify and improve whatever he lacked.
Six months had passed since he began physical training, and Rodos had changed considerably.
Beneath his broad shoulders was a well-developed upper body.
Unlike the stick-thin figure he had once possessed, his torso now formed an inverted triangle.
Muscles had settled naturally across his frame.
Their definition was sharp enough that every contour could have been traced with a line.
Rodos flexed his arm.
Veins that had never been visible before now stood out clearly along it.
His legs were likewise packed with thick, defined muscle.
His red hair and pale skin remained unchanged, but there was no longer any trace of the sickly young noble he had once resembled.
A well-built young man now stood before the mirror.
It was the result of six months of relentless training and enduring the agony of having his body reconstructed again and again.
He was gradually approaching the ideal physique he desired.
Rodos nodded in satisfaction.
He still had much more work ahead of him, but he was extremely pleased with what he had achieved so far.
Through training that utilized aether, he had transformed a frail body that once seemed ready to collapse at any moment in a remarkably short period.
Even so, compared to his former body, which had been muscular yet flexible and agile, he still had a long way to go.
‘I must give everything I have at every moment.’
After confirming that his body was in good condition, Rodos changed his clothes and left the room.
Today would be no different.
Train, then train some more.
That was all Rodos needed to do.
There was only one slight difference.
Today, he intended to swing an axe.
***
The training grounds of House Augustus.
All the knights had assembled in orderly ranks for roll call.
“I will personally conduct this morning’s roll call. Was anyone taken ill overnight?”
Paying them no attention, Rodos headed toward the physical training area.
It was a sight he saw every day.
Beginning his physical training with the sounds of roll call as background music had become part of his daily routine.
Rodos began the day’s training in the physical training area that had long since become familiar to him.
‘I will warm up lightly, then move on to weapon training.’
As always, Rodos completely opened his Core and Hall before hoisting a round boulder from one side of the training area.
He intended to begin with strength training.
It was a smoothly carved boulder used by the knights to strengthen their legs.
The number 150 was written on it.
It was five kilograms heavier than the weight he had used yesterday.
Controlling his breathing, Rodos repeatedly lowered himself into a squat and stood again while carrying the boulder.
It was one of the best ways to train the lower body.
After completing fifty repetitions, Rodos gently set the boulder down.
Despite having performed an intense regimen of heavy weight and high repetitions, his expression remained calm.
It was a stark contrast to his first day, when he had looked ready to die.
Accordingly, Rodos moved on to the next exercise without taking a break.
This time, it was pull-ups.
He fastened a leather belt around his waist and hung four iron anvils from it.
It was twice his usual load.
Even while he merely stood still, the weight bore heavily down on his legs.
Feeling the burden of the weight, Rodos grabbed the horizontal bar and hung from it.
He bent his legs so that the anvils would not strike them.
Then he put strength into his arms and began doing pull-ups.
His arms, lined with prominent veins and muscle, hauled his upper body upward.
Once he passed thirty repetitions, strength gradually began leaving his fingers.
At the same time, he sensed aether gathering around him.
Once the aether began to gather, the real training started.
Rodos wanted nothing more than to release his grip immediately and collapse onto the ground.
That feeling was still agonizing.
But he knew equally well that he had to endure it.
Gritting his teeth, Rodos succeeded in pulling himself up once more.
The aether that had seeped into him began to glow, reconstructing and restoring his body.
Rodos immediately completed another thirty pull-ups before moving on to a different exercise.
After finishing roll call and arriving at the physical training area, the knights muttered when they saw him.
“He is here again.”
“I cannot believe he really has not taken a single day off.”
“Stop watching him. Let’s focus on our own training.”
They were somewhat impressed, but that was all.
By now, the sight of Rodos training had become familiar.
He was like the birds that chirped in the trees around the training grounds every morning.
‘Last comes endurance.’
After completing all his strength exercises, Rodos began running around the training grounds.
It was the most important part of his finish.
To overcome the wall he had faced in the past, he had realized that he needed to become even more flexible and agile without sacrificing strength.
Building endurance was essential for that.
With sandbags strapped all over his arms and legs, Rodos raced around the training grounds.
***
At the same time, inside the Knight Commander’s office.
Igrun was maintaining his sword.
Keeping one’s blade in perfect condition at all times was one of the fundamentals of being a swordsman.
Thirty-five years had passed since he first took up a sword.
Even so, whenever he cleaned his blade, memories of the past often surfaced.
House Arius.
It had been one of the noble families that collapsed under pressure from rival nobles.
Igrun Arius.
That was his original name.
The moment he inherited a title that existed in name alone, he abandoned everything and began living as a wandering swordsman.
His hands continued polishing his sword, but his eyes were fixed on Rodos as he ran around the training grounds.
Six months had already passed since Rodos began training there.
‘I had days like that too.’
Days when he had swung his sword simply to survive.
Simply to succeed.
He had started at the very bottom and struggled his way upward.
He had possessed no talent.
He had merely worked himself nearly to death.
Fortunately, that effort had eventually earned him the position of Knight Commander.
As he watched Rodos grit his teeth and train, Igrun caught a glimpse of his former self.
In truth, he had initially taken little interest in Rodos.
He had expected the young master to give up before long.
There was nothing to gain from associating with the youngest son, who possessed no particular ability.
That was why he had even ordered the knights under his command to ignore him.
But Igrun could tell that Rodos had unquestionably changed.
Six months was a long time, depending on how one looked at it.
For someone gifted in swordsmanship, it could be enough time to advance to the next realm.
But it should not have been enough for a young master born without any talent whatsoever.
It defied common sense.
The sickly young master who had once looked ready to collapse at any moment had become a well-built young man.
Did he possess some secret method Igrun did not know about?
Igrun had spent many years as a knight, but he had never encountered a training method capable of developing the body so dramatically in such a short period.
Only consistency and time could forge a powerful body and hone swordsmanship.
It was not as though he had known Rodos for only a day or two.
There was no possibility that this young master had suddenly begun training so diligently of his own accord.
‘This is the greatest prestigious magic family.’
After spending so many years with House Augustus, Igrun had acquired a fair amount of knowledge about magic himself.
He assumed the family must have helped Rodos.
They had probably used magic.
“Magic that enhances the body, perhaps.”
As far as he knew, such magic carried severe side effects.
Did it shorten the recipient’s lifespan?
It was just like House Augustus to find some way to make even a useless person serve a purpose.
He pitied the boy.
His life from now on would surely be filled with suffering.
“Still, that determination of his was not created by magic.”
If Igrun’s instincts were not wrong, perhaps the outcome would be different after all.
***
After finishing all his basic training, Rodos headed toward the armory.
The armory was filled with swords of all shapes and sizes.
There were longswords far taller than Rodos himself, along with bastard swords, rapiers, gladii, and shortswords.
They were practice weapons kept for the knights’ training.
‘There are hardly any axes.’
Rodos felt a small pang of disappointment as he looked around the armory, which was almost entirely filled with swords.
Naturally, there was nothing resembling the massive axes he had once favored.
After thinking for a moment, Rodos picked up two tomahawks from a corner.
Judging by the dust covering them, the tomahawks had not been used for a long time.
Fortunately, preservation magic had kept them from rusting.
‘These are decent enough.’
They were somewhat different from what he normally used, but they seemed sufficient for regaining his old instincts.
Holding a tomahawk in each hand, Rodos headed toward the training grounds.
The knights he passed gave him strange looks, but he paid them no attention.
They might whisper about him, but they never actually approached him.
Training dummies used for swordsmanship practice stood throughout the grounds.
Restoration magic and physical damage reduction magic had been placed on them, making them virtually impossible to destroy.
“HAH!”
The knights continuously swung their swords at the dummies.
Every time a blade struck, a dummy swayed.
The sweat pouring from the knights like rain was proof of how diligently they trained.
Rodos passed between them and stopped before an unoccupied dummy.
At last, the time had come to swing a weapon again.
He lightly gripped the two tomahawks.
They were lighter than he had expected.
Today, he intended to do nothing more than lightly reacquaint himself with the sensations of his old technique.
Once he regained his instincts, he planned to begin training in converting mana into aura as well.
Rodos swung the tomahawk in his right hand.
BANG!
The axe blade flew forward at considerable speed and slammed into the dummy’s right shoulder.
The dummy remained completely intact.
Apparently, the strike lacked enough power to leave even a mark.
Rodos shook his head.
This was not it.
He swung the tomahawk again.
This time, he used his left hand.
THUD!
The axe blade slammed into the dummy’s chest, but it remained undamaged.
The dummy was sturdier than Rodos had expected.
This time, he used both hands.
Rodos put more strength into the attack and brought both weapons down.
The two tomahawks crossed as they struck the dummy’s neck simultaneously.
THUD!
With a heavy impact, the axe blades seemed to bite into its neck, only to bounce away a moment later.
“Ha.”
Rodos let out a short sigh.
He had not expected his axe technique to have deteriorated this badly.
“The Young Master is practicing chopping firewood.”
“He worked so hard building up his body that I thought he might have changed, but I suppose it was all for show.”
“No matter how I look at it, he has no talent. He should just use magic.”
The knights did not miss the opportunity to mock him.
For an instant, Rodos’s grip tightened around the weapons, but he quickly regained his composure.
‘I became too excited because it has been so long.’
Rodos reflected on his mistake.
After going so long without wielding an axe, he had forgotten even the most basic principles.
After displaying such a poor performance, he could hardly complain about being mocked.
Rodos closed his eyes for a moment.
It was time to return to the beginning.