June 30, Year 45
Clusius's father woke Clusius, who was still asleep.
"Clusius, wake up. It's already morning. It's time for you to do physical training."
"Again? Didn't we train yesterday?" Clusius said softly, still half-asleep.
"We have to train three times a week. Yesterday was only once, so today and tomorrow we still have to train!"
"Oh heavens… training is exhausting. Can't we just train tomorrow?"
"If you keep postponing your training, you'll get used to being lazy. If you weren't born strong, then you have to work harder than others," Clusius's father said as he lifted Clusius's body from his thin, old bed.
Reluctantly, Clusius finally went outside. He walked with his father toward a vast grassland located quite far from the deme, the place where they usually trained.
To fill his hungry stomach, Clusius ate a pilis fruit, a long and curved red fruit with a bit of green color at its lower end.
After walking for some time, they finally arrived at the training area. Before starting, they did warm-up exercises for several minutes.
"Today, you'll be training your stamina," his father said.
"Why do I have to train so hard? Doesn't that mean I'll never be stronger than others? In a world full of magic like this, relying only on physical strength isn't enough to become stronger than others."
"Because that's the only thing you can do. At the very least, with physical training, you can improve little by little. Even if it doesn't guarantee you'll be stronger than others, it's better than not improving at all."
"Then why don't I just train my magical power?" Clusius asked.
"Magical power depends greatly on mana capacity, and mana can only grow as one ages. That means most of your magical power is already determined at birth. Besides that, your magical elements are very weak. So even if you had a large mana capacity, you still wouldn't be as strong as those who are gifted in magic."
Clusius listened to the explanation with a heavy heart. He had to accept the reality that the world was not always fair, and not everyone was born with the same talents.
In the end, he began the training that his father had arranged. He did ten push-ups, ten sit-ups, and ten squats. After completing one set, he would rest for about one to two minutes.
After finishing all the exercises, Clusius and his father ran around the field for one full lap.
For now, Clusius's training load was still light. However, as time passed and his strength increased, his father would continue to increase the intensity, gradually making it more difficult.
—–—
December 10, Year 52
Clusius continued to train consistently for two years, causing his physical strength to slowly increase. Although he had no friends, he had a younger sister named Ana who was around four years old that year. When he was bored, Clusius would usually play with his sister and their pet cat, so he did not feel too lonely.
That day, Clusius was playing with his sister and their cat. Ana asked him for something.
"Big brother, please get the ball from the storage shed. The red one, about this size, for playing with Meong," she said while showing the size of the ball with her small hands.
Clusius immediately headed to the storage shed behind the house. However, he then remembered that the shed was always locked, and the key was usually carried by their mother.
He went back into the house to look for his mother and borrow the storage key. But he couldn't find her anywhere.
"Looks like mother is out shopping," Clusius muttered, slightly disappointed.
However, as he stepped into the kitchen, he saw a key lying on the floor.
"This looks like the storage key," he said as he picked it up and ran outside. He didn't want to make Ana wait too long and get upset because her request wasn't fulfilled right away.
Upon arriving at the shed, Clusius unlocked the door and went inside. He began searching for the red ball Ana had mentioned.
While rummaging through a pile of items, he accidentally bumped into an old barrel filled with swords, causing all the swords inside to spill and scatter across the floor.
Clusius hurriedly began putting all the swords back. However, his eyes were drawn to one sword wrapped in white cloth. He slowly unwrapped it and looked at the sword. Although it was slightly rusted, it looked incredibly cool in his eyes.
As he examined the sword more closely, his index finger was accidentally cut by its blade. A drop of blood fell onto the rusted sword.
Suddenly, the sword emitted a dazzling bright light, forcing Clusius to close his eyes.
Within that light, the sword showed a brief glimpse of the past, a white-haired person who looked gallant and dignified, helping those in need. Clusius was mesmerized by the sight and began to wonder in his heart.
"Who was the true owner of this sword in the past?"