This was probably the longest chapter I’ve written :D

____________________________________________________________________________

Just walking to the training grounds will take a while, Eldon said as he headed northeast.

“I know. That’s why you’ll be running there instead. Start running.” Ladriath commanded.

Really?

“Mhm.”

Eldon began a brisk jog. Won’t I get tired before I start training? He asked, breathing in and out.

“This is the beginning of your training. Any decent cultivator needs to have a robust body and mind.” Ladriath snorted. “The training grounds should be about five miles away. I expect you to reach there in about fifty minutes to an hour.”

Eldon continued to jog, huffing a little bit. He felt his already ruddy cheeks turn redder as people looked at him. Some people had amused looks on their faces, but there were also a few other people running. After a few minutes, Ladriath gave advice to the tiring Eldon.

“We’re mainly building your stamina with running. Try to find a constant pace that you can sustain through the entire run. You’re going a little bit slow now, so don’t be afraid to go a little bit faster. Also, control your breathing. You can breathe in out of your nose and expel out of your mouth, but it’s up to you to find what’s most comfortable. Try to find a steady rhythm while breathing, or you’ll end up gasping irregularly sooner or later.”

Slow? I don’t think I can maintain this pace for five miles, Eldon groaned inwardly, his chest rising in and out quickly. Nevertheless, Eldon picked up his pace a little bit. His legs were beginning to burn, and he felt speckles of sweat on his brow.

“Don’t think like that. If you think negatively, your performance can actually worsen. Be a little more confident.”

Why not send some qi to my core? Eldon asked. I’m sure that my performance will improve.

“It will, but it won’t be as helpful. Besides, it will take a while for your core to accept qi at first. You have never cultivated before. Pure qi is much more intense than impure qi, so you have to be prepared and concentrated to take on the qi from my core.”

Where is your core, anyway?

“After merging your body with my core, my core has also become incorporeal. Your core is right under your ribs, and my core is above it.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“Huff, huff, huff”

After about twenty minutes of running, Eldon felt his entire body burning. His calves were screaming at him to stop, and sweat dripped profusely off his body. Eldon was surprised by how sore his arms and back felt. It was also a bad thing that his clothing wasn’t really meant for running. The weather was temperate, but Eldon was wearing rather bulky clothes.

I’m...going to have to change into more suitable clothing next time.

Eldon’s throat was parched. A few times, he felt cramps in his stomach, causing him to slow down a little bit for a while. Nevertheless, he was astounded that he lasted this long by listening to Ladriath’s tips and words of encouragement. Whenever Eldon felt like he had to stop, Ladriath would always egg him on.

“You’re almost halfway there. Push past the pain; ignore it.”

Easy for you to say. Eldon replied, continuing to huff and puff.

“It is. If I still had my physical body, I could simply jump and glide a distance of five miles in mere seconds. I could teleport if I felt like it.”

...Are you even a mortal being?

“I am still mortal, but I am very close to immortality. If only I could Ascend previously…” Ladriath sighed wistfully.

Ascend? Eldon queried.

“That is something unnecessary for you to know now. Perhaps, in the future…” Ladriath paused. “Anyway, it looks like someone wants to talk with you.” Eldon glanced at his right, and saw a slim and tan woman walking next to him. Walking?

“Hi!” The woman greeted Eldon brightly. “I’m Calissa.”

“...Hello. I’m Eldon.” Eldon said through his clenched teeth, afraid that he would accidently bite his tongue. People sure like to introduce themselves out of no where. Eldon thought.

Calissa looked up and down at Eldon. Eldon awkwardly stared back at her, although he found it harder to breathe. The woman was quite tall, but her slim body was toned and nicely proportioned. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and her handsome but delicate face had not a drop of sweat upon it. There was a small scar on the bottom left of her chin. Eldon glanced down and saw that she had a slim and black sword sheath strapped on a worn out belt.

“Keep your arms fairly relaxed and your shoulders down. Running requires good form, so run with your back straight, but don’t tense your neck!”

Eldon had no idea who this woman was, but it looked like she just wanted to help him. He corrected his posture.

“Not too straight; lean forward a little bit.” Eldon obliged. “Also, try breathing with your stomach, not your chest. It’s more effective.” She gave him a thumbs-up.

“What a nice person. I’m not an expert in human anatomy, so it helps to have someone make sure that you’re not doing something incorrectly.”

The woman accompanied Eldon for a little bit, humming a little tune while walking with his running. Although it seemed impossible for her to walk seemingly casually at the pace she did, she still was able to effortlessly catch up to Eldon. She looked at Eldon.

“It’s pretty surprisingly to see a new student to be training before the school semester even starts.” She marveled. “I suppose that you want to be a swordsman, although you look more like a magician to me.”

“I actually-huff-want to-huff-become a magician.” Eldon gasped out.

Calissa gave Eldon an astounded look. “Really?”

“My dad has always said-huff-that training one’s body-huff-is as important as training one’s-huff-mind.” Eldon let out.

“Your dad is a smart man.” She praised. Calissa gave Eldon a quick thump on Eldon’s back, almost causing him to stumble. She didn’t seem to notice.

“Ding, ding”

Calissa abruptly stopped, as if she had ran into a wall. Eldon looked behind him. “Oops! I have a class to attend to. Well, I won’t hold you up any longer. Maybe I’ll see you in one of my classes! Have fun!”

Have...fun?

“Why not? Doesn’t working up a sweat feel good?” Ladriath said, bemused.

It feels painful. Eldon winced as a sharp pain assaulted his right side. Oh no, I’m cramping up again.

“No pain, no gain.”

____________________________________________________________________________

“That took you about an hour.” Ladriath commented, as Eldon dragged himself towards the training grounds.

...Great… Eldon sat down, rapidly breathing in and out. He felt lightheaded, and his eyes felt like they were going to blackout.

Ooh...Eldon suddenly felt very nauseated. I think I’m going to throw up.

“That was probably the most you’ve ever run in your entire life. I was surprised that you were able to keep going without completely stopping. That would’ve made it even more tiring.”

Eldon didn’t bother to respond. Slowly, he got up, staggering a little bit. Eldon felt something going up his throat.

“Uogh”

Eldon felt a burning sensation in his throat. With great effort and the fear of embarrassment, Eldon managed to force down the surge of stomach fluids and his breakfast. He coughed, gagging a little.

“Commendable.” Ladriath said rather amusingly. Nevertheless, he was genuinely impressed by Eldon’s will. “Looks like you’ll end up loving physical training quite soon.”

I don’t know about that, Ladriath. Eldon wiped his mouth.

“Rest a little bit and get some water. Then it’ll be time for strength training.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The training grounds consisted of an enormous tract of flat land, with a few buildings or so scattered around. The ground was mostly of coarse dirt, but there were a few paved and smooth places and raised platforms. While walking in through the open gate entrance of the training grounds, Eldon saw quite a few people training and practicing.

“BOOM”

A loud thud came from Eldon’s left.

“Woah!” Eldon jumped. The boom was created from a large boulder being dropped by a brown-haired teenager, whose bare and wide chest was dripping with sweat as he hunched over. A faint brown aura radiated from his body, and slowly seeped back into his body. The boulder looked like it weighed hundreds of pounds, but surprisingly, it was shaped with indentations where hands could comfortably grip on to. It also had two handles jutting into it. The teenager’s flushed face looked up at the gawking Eldon. The teenager then slowly straightened his back, and walked over to a similar but smaller boulder, ignoring Eldon.

“Go find an open space, but somewhere around the corners where people won’t pay much attention.” Ladriath advised.

Okay, but I’m really thirsty right now.

Slowly, Eldon trudged towards one of the buildings. This particular building was small, but Eldon had noticed that a few people were drinking water. To his delight, he found a well lit room inside the small building, with a large decorated silver bowl lying on a table in the middle of the room. Eldon peered into the bowl, where a large blue crystal was lying within.

Where’s the water? Eldon thought, bewildered.

There were multiple paper cups scattered around a few drawers in the room. Eldon took one and then looked around expectantly. Eldon was then surprised when he saw a bearded man go up to the bowl and hold his cup out before the bowl. The crystal faintly glowed, and some water then promptly surged out of the crystal and poured into the man’s cup. The water was crystal clear.

“That’s quite a large water crystal, and of good quality too. It absorbs and stores water from the air but also purifies it. It’ll be greatly useful to you on journeys, although this one is too large. There are interdimensional utilities which you can use to store objects, but those are probably quite rare to come by. Carrying a small one in your pack would be good for emergencies, but you’ll probably have to find other water sources too, in the end.”

I need one of these, Eldon thought as he gulped down his second cup of fresh water. He tossed the cup into a small bin outside of the entrance of the building.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Alright, Eldon. Time for some more training. Actually, what I’m teaching you is just merely body training that anyone can do, but we have to start somewhere. Later on, you can find a human teacher if you desire.”

Eldon took in a deep breath. I’m ready.

“Okay. First, we’ll start with pushups, situps, squats, and then you’ll be lifting small boulders to strengthen your back.”

Eldon was dubious. Can I even get through all of that?

“Possibly. Get into pushup position. Arms shoulder width apart, with your body as a straight line.”

How do you know this stuff if you’re a dragon? Eldon asked as he get down onto the dirt ground.

“I’ve lived a long, long life, Eldon. It can get quite boring at times, so I’ve done a few strange things for entertainment, although I’ve learned about human physical training in war times when I was younger and more restless. A few humans were quite willingly to demonstrate to me when I asked them nicely. Tighten your stomach and clench your butt. Don’t look at the ground when you go down, but lift your head up. Do as many as you can. Begin.”

Thus, Eldon’s grueling strengthening training began. Slowly, Eldon went down, his face turning a little red from the exertion.

“Go down until your arms are ninety degrees or less.” Ladriath said. “Breathe. I’ll keep track on your progress.”

With some effort, Eldon pushed up, and then continued. Slowly but surely, the speed of Eldon’s pushups slowed down.

“Eleven…”

Eldon let out a choked groan. His triceps were burning, and he almost forgot to breathe. With a great push, Eldon completed his twelfth pushup. He instantly collapsed onto the ground, panting. His arms felt like jelly.

“Good. You should be feeling quite sore right now. Rest a minute and we’ll begin the situps.”

After a minute, Eldon laid down on his back and listened to Ladriath’s informative instructions. He put his hands behind his head and brought his torso up using his abdominal muscles, making sure that he was not slouching forward, but coming up straight.

“Twenty one...Twenty two...Twenty three...Twenty...Okay, that last one didn’t count. You couldn’t get up completely.” Eldon flopped onto the ground.

“Ugh.” Eldon could only groan in reply; it felt as if his stomach muscles had tightened and then ripped apart.

After a minute, Ladriath roused Eldon. “Time for some squats. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight and arms crossed. When you squat down, make sure that your hips go below your knees for that to count as a squat. Lock your hips and knees when you squat back up. Go.”

With a shaky effort, Eldon pushed his face off the ground, spitting out dirt. His wobbling legs managed to stabilize themselves on the ground, and Eldon, with his face full of ruddy exertion, began to squat. His legs were constantly shaking as he went up.

“One...”

“Eurgh..!.!” Eldon let out a dying groan, almost causing a teenage boy nearby to drop the boulder he was holding over his head.

“Two…”

“...Uhh…” As Eldon went down for his third squat, his legs simply gave out. He had absolutely no strength left in his legs after running five miles.

I can’t...even...Eldon’s mind started to feel a little foggy.

“But can you odd? Jokes aside...Hmm...Looks like I pushed you a bit. That’s good. Your stamina is commendable.” Although Eldon’s dad, Leonar, failed to make his son into a sword fanatic, his attempts to train Eldon had some results. “Only by exerting yourself to the limit will you be able to further the limit and increase your power.” Ladriath paused. “Alright, I’m going to send qi to your core now. This is your first time, so be ready.”

Could other people notice? Eldon asked as he rolled onto his back and twisted his swollen torso up into a sitting position.

“Many people meditate and absorb qi, Eldon. Besides, what’s happening is inside of you; nothing will be visible.”

Eldon pulled his legs until they were in a criss-cross position. He was still trembling a little bit from the previous grueling workout, but he felt his body shiver as he prepared himself to take on the qi.

“The most I’ll do is send the qi to the core. It’s up to you to circulate it around your body. I could simply just eject the qi into your body, but that will not help you to become accustomed to controlling the qi. Alright, get ready. You might feel quite overwhelmed or pained as your core takes on qi for the first time.”

Eldon took in a deep breath. I’m ready.

“Although I’m sending very little qi, pure qi is nothing to laugh at. Try not to scream out.” Ladriath’s voice faded, and Eldon began to feel a trembling sensation originating somewhere in his chest. The sensation became slightly burning, and Eldon twitched a bit.

“I’m sending the qi to your core.”

“!!!”

Eldon nearly bit his tongue as he felt a scorching but icy sensation flood under his ribs. Suddenly, Eldon’s core was awakened. He fell into a trance-like state, and his mind seemed to wander into his body, and hover before his once inactive core, which was now teeming with a golden aura.

“This is the tricky part.”

The golden aura within his core swirled around randomly, as if it had no sense of direction or purpose. Suddenly, a few specks of the aura shot out of the core, bombarding Eldon’s body. It was shockingly painful. The qi then began to leak out of the core, and Eldon couldn’t help but let out a muffled scream.

“Concentrate! Focus your mind on to your core.” Ladriath was worried. I was expecting this, but I’ve given him a bit too much for him to handle. Argh. Controlling such a minute amount of qi is exceedingly difficult, even for me. “Control the qi inside your core. Circulate it in a pattern; don’t let it move around wildly. Contain it within your core.”

Why is it so painful?! Eldon groaned internally. The feeling originating from his core became crushing, as if it was getting heavier and heavier. Eldon’s body swayed.

“You don’t have control over the qi, because it originated from me. Focus. Will the qi; become one with it. Believe that you are in control. Your core is the vessel for the qi.”

How? The flecks of golden qi continued to bombard Eldon’s internal organs, causing them to tremble. Eldon tasted a little blood. It was beginning to become exceedingly painful.

“Just do it.”

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Eldon concentrated his mind on his core. Although the amount of qi was very little, it was pure qi. The qi in his core began to become increasingly frantic, as if it was trying to escape.

“Control it. Push it into your core. Contain it.”

Eldon focused onto the qi. With a great effort, Eldon willed the qi inside of his core. Although he hadn’t the slightest idea how it was working, the leakage of the qi began to slow down, and while it was still very painful, the qi bombardment inside of him also started to lessen. Sensing within his core, Eldon found that the qi was still chaotic, but it was getting compressed into his core.

“Good. You’re doing quite excellently. Now, you must control the flow of the qi. It doesn’t matter how you do it. Only then will you be able to utilize the qi’s power.”

Shouldn’t I have done this before I exercised? Eldon asked.

“I’m pushing you to past your limits, Eldon.”

Trying to control to qi was a lot harder than Eldon expected. After a few minutes, the qi leakage had ceased, but the qi was still chaotic and random.

How long will this take me? Eldon was growing extremely exhausted. He had already taxed his body to the limits, and now even his mind was growing dim as he spent much energy concentrating on the qi.

“Relax. Although you haven’t controlled the qi, you’ve contained it. We can always try again later.” Ladriath comforted Eldon. He was already quite pleased with Eldon’s progress. It looks like his diligent nature also shows itself in other things besides studying.

No...I’ll continue. Eldon did not want to have gone through all of that training to be unable to control the qi. He focused back on to the chaotic qi.

I must control it...Will it to my desire…

Eldon closed his eyes. I am in control. Suddenly, the once frantic qi began to spin in one direction, and the particles of the qi stopped bombarding with each other; instead, they began to follow one path. The drops of qi inside of Eldon’s core began to converge together, forming a small ball in his core. Although it was small, the brightness and color it radiated revealed its immense quality and power. On a closer inspection, the particles of qi were not touching each other at all. They were flowing rapidly but smoothly. The small ball hovered in Eldon’s core, seemingly rotating about. Eldon found that he no longer had to concentrate anymore to keep the qi spinning; it was like breathing.

“Oh!” Ladriath was impressed. “You’ve succeeded. Not only that, but the way you’ve controlled your qi is quite excellent and efficient. Some can only make their qi flow in abstract shapes. Congratulations!

Eldon opened his eyes. Slowly, he felt a particularly strange but comfortable sensation originating from his core. His exhausted mind began to clear a little.

“This makes everything easier. Now, slowly let out the qi in your core, and circulate it around your body. It should be much easier now that you’ve successfully controlled the qi.”

Indeed, it was as easy as Ladriath had said. Eldon easily willed the qi out, and it seemed like second nature when he let the qi circulate around his aching and numb body. The qi rapidly circulated around his body, covering it completely internally. Because Eldon was circulating the qi inside his body, it did not radiate out as aura. His eyes squinted as he found that everything became much brighter temporarily. A pure golden color flooded into his eyes for a moment, but nobody noticed. There was still some qi left in Eldon’s core, but it was of a very little amount.

Eldon’s body was transforming. His ripped and aching muscles sighed in relief as waves of qi seeped into them, and his internal organs thanked him as the now gentle qi wrapped around them. He felt the burning and swelling go away, and his reddish complexion began to fade as he began more relaxed. His bones began to creak, as if they wanted to expand. Nevertheless, Eldon felt no more pain. It was immensely comfortable. Slowly, all the qi had been absorbed by Eldon’s small body. Eldon’s body stopped trembling, and he felt like he was full of vigor. His face seemed to have a new luster and cleanliness as specks of dirt and dust dissipated off. Although he couldn’t tell if he had gotten any stronger, Eldon thought that he’d never been in such good shape as he was today, even though he still had a little fatigue left. It was like a dose of testosterone.

“You’ve become stronger, but it still isn’t that much of a drastic improvement. Remember, this is just the beginning of your training. It is expected that you won’t reach superhuman levels yet. Although the improvement is small, it is still an improvement. Now, we’ll continue with your training. I can probably give you qi once more today before your body reaches its qi absorption limit. Just now, the qi has partially healed and sped up the mending of your muscles, so now you’ll be able to train again, although not at peak condition.”

Yes. Eldon felt like a new person. If his friends saw him right now, they would be surprised by how Eldon looked less timid. Eldon’s mind was full of tranquility but also of clarity. Although he knew it was temporarily from the sensation he felt from the qi, Eldon felt much more confident than before. He resumed squatting again, but this time, his form was superb and his legs no longer shook. Eldon was able to complete twenty-five squats before he went to lifting a twenty pound or so small boulder to train his back.

____________________________________________________________________________

By the time Eldon was finished with training, it was already in the middle of the afternoon. Although Eldon had not eaten lunch, the nourishment from the qi was enough to abate any feelings of hunger that he had. Eldon was able to handle one more dose of qi and physical training before Ladriath called it a day. Eldon’s persona then went back to his normal. Feeling a bit exhausted but happy, he left the training grounds nevertheless with a new spring in his step. The teenage boy who he had shocked with his groan previously had praised Eldon for his stamina, and told him to keep up the good work, motivating Eldon.

“Not only do you have to train your body, but also your core and mind. The most important thing right now is to increase the capacity of your core and then the quality of it. If you are able to pack your qi denser together, then you’ll be able to store more qi in your core in the long run.” Ladriath emphasized the importance of Eldon’s core training.

I’m going to have an amazing sleep tonight, Eldon thought as he went to the library.

____________________________________________________________________________

When Eldon, carrying a few new borrowed books, went back to his residential building at night for dinner, he was reprimanded by Angus when he found out that he hadn’t eaten lunch.

Angus knuckled Eldon’s head. “You book loving worm. Here, have some of my food too.”

Eldon ate quite a lot for dinner, more than he had ever before. He heard the girls talking about lunch with Lazus. Nikolas scowled.

“This Lazus thinks he's quite impressive, I have to say.” Nikolas took a sip of water.

“He doesn’t seem so bad.” Angus slurred as he teared through a piece of meat.

Brien rolled his eyes. “Close your mouth when you chew. It’s disgusting.” Angus opened his mouth. “Ugh. Anyway, you only say that because he treated you out to a lavish lunch. Nobles really do have it good.”

Angus swallowed. “I’ve never heard or even seen some of the food that was served. It was delicious.”

Nikolas leaned back in his chair. “What irritates me is that I’m pretty sure that he disdains us. Everytime he looked at me, he would always seem to be smirking.”

Brien let out a stifled laugh. “Did you see how sullen Vernis looked? Pretty sure he got mad that the girls were talking to Lazus instead of him.”

“What’s so great about the guy, anyway? He’s just got money from his parents.” Nikolas stabbed his fork at his peas, causing a few to bounce off. One hit Eldon on the nose. “Sorry, Eldon.”

“It’s no problem.” Eldon touched his nose. “Anyway, he seems nice enough to me. It’s not like he’s out to hurt us or anything.”

“I think he’s already wounded their pride.” Ladriath noted. “He seems to be quite the player. Reminds me of me.”

...

“Don’t be jealous, Nikolas.” Rosaline intervened from the table next to them. “Lazus is really charming. Did you know that he’s already a Rank 10 Swordsman?”

“Really?” Eldon exclaimed.

“You spent a really long time at the library, Eldon.” Karis leaned forward on the table to look at him.

Eldon looked at her square in the eyes and smiled. “Well, I do enjoy reading, Karis.”

“Not bad. You can hold eye contact with her!” Ladriath snorted.

Ladriath!

Brien stood up and raised his arms up to stretch. “I think I’ll be going to sleep now, guys.”

Nikolas turned to Eldon and took out two small plugs from his right pant pocket. “This is for tonight.”

Eldon took the plugs gratefully. “Thanks, Nikolas.”

____________________________________________________________________________

Author’s blathering:

Uhh...I think I tried too hard writing about Eldon’s workout and made it too specific :(. Maybe I should change the title of the novel to, “Ladriath’s Physical Training Guide.” I won’t go into so much detail in his subsequent trainings :P. Making him workout encourages me to also, though. He’s still a rather average boy, so this type of training should be expected, even if he is enhanced by pure qi. I’ve got to increase his base stats xD. He can’t be smashing trees or lifting giant boulders yet. However, it looks like this type of training will probably become useless once Eldon becomes more and more powerful...Hmm...Got to think of other ways to physically challenge him as he begins to surpass a commoner’s limits.

Story progression still super slow xD. Maybe I’ll end up writing over 300 chapters from Eldon age 13 to age 14. I hope not (Begins rummaging through closet, looking for time travel devices). Still trying to find them...