Monday came by quickly, the door ringing early in the morning prior to school. "Master, I'm here." Noah spoke out loud.
Soo walked out of the office yawning, "Why did I agree to meet you at 05:00 sharp? I can't be bothered to get up this early..."
Noah stretched his arms, "You're the one that set the time; besides, you're making me study before and after school. What's with all those books you're giving me anyway, it's not even useful for my school curriculum..."
"Hey, those have more value than any book in your school," Soo exclaimed. "Those books aren't cheap, any adult would kill to have those. What's in there is for when you enter the real world, the business one."
"I get that much, but the information in those books aren't that special, anyone could learn it just by doing a quick search. I'm sure other books teach the same things anyway."
Soo scoffed, "Yea right. You know, I PERSONALLY made it, this great master of yours."
Noah pouted, "...So why should I read any of it then, I mean look where that ended you up."
"You don't know how much money I have kid. You know, my dad is a wealthy tycoon-"
Noah yawned, waving his hand. "Yeah yeah stop that cringey act, can I have my new training regimen please?"
Soo walked back into his office and pulled a paper from his desk drawer. "Here it is, brat," he said, holding it out. "I listed what you'll be doing each day, morning and night. How much water to drink. Which supplements to take such as creatine. Food. Sleep. Everything."
Noah took the paper and glanced over it as they walked into his office.
Soo sat down at his desk and turned around. "Noah, have you every wondered how I structured my training system?"
Noah kept reading. "Not really. Why?"
Soo coughed. "At least pretend to be interested. This matters, so put the paper down and listen for a bit."
Noah continued reading the page until Soo leaned forward and snatched it out of his hands.
"For my training system, there are five stages," Soo said. "The first is the foundation stage. That's where you build basic structure and raw capacity. Things such as your size, strength, endurance, tolerance. You're maximizing potential before you do anything meaningful with it."
Noah looked up, crossing his arms. "That's what I was just on, right?"
Soo snapped his fingers and pointed at him. "Exactly. Now you're entering the second stage. Refinement."
He slid the paper across the desk.
"You've probably already noticed it's harder," Soo continued. "That's because refinement isn't about piling more on. It's about fixing what you already built. Say, for example, a sculptor needs the material and base first before they can start actually sculpting. That's no different then what we will now be doing, the sculpting part. We will mix weights and calisthenics, clean up your technique, strengthen your weak points, and sharpen your mechanics. And after the ABPS testing, the entire regimen is tailored to match your body specifically."
Noah picked up the page and groaned as he skimmed it. "Then what are the other three stages?"
"After refinement comes integration," Soo said. "Then weaponization. The last one stays a secret."
He paused for a second. "The client you saw me training a few days back, you remember him right?"
"Yes." Noah replied.
"He's in the final stage, so if you're so sure you can still beat him-"
Noah cut him off, muttering. "...This is worse than before."
Soo smirked. "Of course it is. You're done getting the materials, now it's time to sculpt."
The foundation phase had been brutal in its own way. Heavy weights, endless volume, constant suffering and conditioning, it was as if it'd never end. However, this new phase was much different. Instead of it looking like someone had just threw in a random amount of exercises, this phase had looked far more structured.
Every morning started the same way. Joint preparation and movement priming, but it was no longer gentle. If Noah tried to rush through it, the instructions on the paper made it clear he'd be starting over (otherwise he'd get nowhere). The left side came up repeatedly. Warmups. Activation work. Even breathing drills seemed to focus on it.
After that came skill control. Slow shadowboxing with pauses mid-strike. Holding punches half-extended until his shoulders burned. Footwork patterns where one mistake meant resetting the entire sequence, and Soo made sure he would.
Weight training was cut down to two days a week, but the difficulty didn't drop. Upper body days focused on fewer lifts, but heavier intent. Presses that forced stability and form instead of brute force. Pulling movements that ensured any bit of imbalance wouldn't go unnoticed. Lower body days were even worse. Split squats, tempo squats, unilateral work that made it impossible for one side to fall behind the other. When training with Soo, if even his left knee wobbled, the set didn't count.
Calisthenics filled the rest of the week. Push days were dominated by handstand work. Holds against the wall transformed into free-standing attempts, then deficit handstand push-ups once he could control the descent. Planche progressions followed, his wrists screaming as his body learned to stay rigid under a forward load. Dips were weighed heavily, slow on the way down, explosive on the way up.
Pull days were not different. Weighted pull-ups done with strict form, meaning pauses at the top with slow negatives on the way down. Front lever holds that demanded full-body tension. If his core loosened even slightly, he'd drop as quick as a fly when hit with a zap. Grip work was added at the end, thick bars and timed hangs until his forearms felt as if they were engulfed in hot flames.
Leg days were the most exhausting. Pistol squats which eventually added weights. Explosive jumps immediately followed by controlled landings. Sprint drills that focused on acceleration and sudden stops rather than distance.
Two rest days were built in, but they weren't exactly free. Mobility work still had to be done, and other things such as light activation or breathing drills. It was practically an entire yoga or Pilates session.
And just like that, another few months had passed.