Solomon woke up the next morning feeling slightly better.
His muscles weren’t as numb.
He stretched out his arm, and as he stared at it, he opened and closed his palm.
His fingers no longer had that dull ache whenever he moved them.
He was truly happy about this.
As he eagerly got out of bed to start his day, the system’s message flashed through his mind.
Solomon’s eyes began to twitch.
The blasted thing had made him fight to the death—well, almost—with his instructor, and now it wanted him to train under his sister, someone who was aspiring to be a knight.
“It should just send me back to Earth if it wants me gone so badly,” he muttered, rubbing his temples.
He quickly took a bath and walked down to the courtyard.
Before he reached the training area, he noticed his sister was already practicing her swings.
“Wow, she’s dedicated,” he muttered.
The only times he had ever been that dedicated in his previous lifetime were when he fell asleep reading a good book.
His brain would go on autopilot and then wake him up at six in the morning.
Instead of washing his face or doing anything else, he’d say a quick prayer and pick up where he had left off.
He wasn’t much of an exercise freak, but this body was suited for it.
So he might as well give it a try before he died—or the system buried him along with it.
He chuckled softly.
“You’re cheerful this early.
Guess you like the idea of training with your big sister so much.”
She looked at him.
He noticed that she hadn’t even begun to break into a sweat yet.
She wore a smug expression, as though trying to prove her earlier statement was an undeniable fact recorded in the annals of history.
Solomon simply crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her.
With a slight smile, he replied,
“In your dreams, sis.”
She gasped dramatically.
“So not only did you transform yourself, you also became a menace.”
“Not exactly, but the self-transformation part is correct,” he replied, scratching his cheek.
“I see.”
“Hate to break it to you.”
“What?”
“You’re late.”
“Just by three minutes.”
She used her wooden sword to smack him on the head faster than he could react.
“Oww!
Is this your hobby?”
“Not quite, but I’m beginning to like it,” she giggled.
“Of course you are,” Solomon replied, rolling his eyes.
Ignoring him, she continued. Find the original chapter at g.com.
“Do you know why knights lose?”
Solomon pondered the question for about a minute.
“Because they’re weaker?”
It was the most logical explanation he could think of.
Yet his sister shook her head in disagreement.
“They stop learning.”
“I see,” Solomon said as he processed the information.
“Let’s begin.”
Solomon nodded, and then the most one-sided beating of his life began.
It was even worse than fighting his instructor.
He wondered whether she possessed some broken talent for combat or whether it was simply her physique.
He didn’t know which it was, but every single time he was sent crashing to the floor, he wondered how their parents had managed to give birth to two completely different children.
The worst part was that she didn’t just defeat him.
She made it her job to point out every single thing he did wrong.
“You’re watching my sword.”
“You should be watching my hips.”
“You say what?” he almost screamed.
“Your breathing becomes uneven whenever you’re nervous.”
Yet instead of becoming frustrated, he gradually began noticing details he had missed before.
He realized that she wasn’t training him to win.
She was training him to observe and keep track of his opponent’s movements.
After coming to that realization, he stopped calling her a sadistic young woman in his mind.
Not long after, she declared that training was over for the day.
Some servants brought them bottles of water.
Once again, he admired the cool feeling of the bottle in his hands.
He sat down on the ground.
His sister arched an eyebrow.
“You can’t tell me you’re not tired.”
“Not really,” she shrugged.
“But I’ll humor you.”
She sat beside him.
A familiar blue screen appeared before his eyes.
Quest Complete
Survive your first training session.
Reward: +20 Desire Energy
Current Desire Energy: 71
Another notification quietly followed.
System Shop Unlock Progress Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
5% → 6%
Solomon quickly glanced through everything before closing the interface with his mind, making sure his sister wouldn’t notice anything suspicious.
His sister took a deep breath beside him.
“Hey, sis…” he began, only to be cut off.
“Why do you keep calling me ‘sis’?
Did you forget the name Silvia while you were traveling?” she asked, sounding displeased.
He had finally learned her name in an unexpected way, but he didn’t mind.
“Silvia, how have you been with the knights?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
The usual light of excitement was gone from her eyes, which bothered Solomon slightly.
“Do you like the knights?”
She immediately perked up once more and launched into a thirty-minute explanation about how exciting her time there had been.
She told him tales of how difficult it had been to rise through the ranks.
Solomon was surprised when she mentioned that she had already been accepted as a knight.
He had honestly thought she was still a page or squire of some sort.
She was only nineteen, and she already fought like a tigress.
What would she be like at twenty-five?
The thought alone made him shudder.
“Are you cold?”
“No.
Carry on.”
“Okay.”
She answered his questions about magic, the capital, and the academy.
Without thinking, Solomon asked,
“What did you want to become before joining the knights?”
Silence.
His sister looked at him, genuinely surprised.
“…No one’s asked me that in years.” She laughed awkwardly.
“I honestly don’t remember.”
Those words struck Solomon harder than any wooden sword.
“How could someone forget their own dream?”
“Well…
that’s all for today.”
She began walking away as if trying to escape any more personal questions, and he quietly watched her leave.
As she walked away, the system briefly flickered.
Heroine’s Desire Detected…
Synchronizing…
The message disappeared before he could read the rest of it.
He didn’t think too much about it.
He stood up and headed inside as well.