Chapter 8: Foundation is Everything
"One fucking year of this shit," Grim thought as he finished his fiftieth squat of the morning, sweat dripping down his five-year-old face. "At least I can wipe my own ass now."
Every morning for the past year had been the same brutal routine: 5-kilometer run at dawn, followed by 50 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and 50 squats. All before breakfast. All supervised by his increasingly demanding father.
"Good form," Rowan commented, watching Grim with an appraising eye. "Your endurance has improved significantly."
"Thanks," Grim managed between heavy breaths. In reality, he wanted to collapse on the training yard's dirt floor.
His body had grown stronger, there was no denying that. At five, he was taller and more muscular than other noble children his age, who spent their days with tutors rather than training like soldiers.
"One more lap around the garden to cool down, then you can clean up for breakfast," Rowan instructed.
Grim nodded and began his cool-down lap. As he jogged, he reflected on the past four years at the Imperial Palace. His father had risen further in the Empress's favor, now serving as one of her trusted military advisors. Meanwhile, Grim had been building his foundation—both physically and magically.
[Your mana heart is now at 80% capacity,] the voice in his head noted. [An impressive achievement for your age.]
"Still just one heart though," Grim thought back with frustration. "Most adequate of the noble kids my age already have two."
[Quality over quantity. Your single heart contains more concentrated mana than their two underdeveloped ones combined.]
Grim wasn't entirely convinced, but he couldn't deny the results. His water manipulation had grown precise enough that he could form shapes and simple constructs, and his light affinity, while harder to control, produced bursts of illumination that could temporarily blind opponents in training. Though his light affinity was only shown to his father, the Chancellor, and the Empress.