Chapter 7: During One Month 3
How often do people see the dawn and take the sun for granted? They watch as the darkness transforms into a vista—the world they love, their home. Yet afterward, do they think about the light and how it brings the world to life? Do they consider how it reveals color instead of only gray, warming them from their skin to their core, igniting their thoughts with beauty, inviting that light and warmth to enter their hearts as well, before respectfully giving them time to dream and accept it as part of themselves if they wish? And yet, it always gifts them the moon and stars. So, this dawn, as the blackish-greens took on their vibrant and verdant hues, he let it soak in a little deeper. As the sky shifted from charcoal to soft dove gray, he already cherished the blue that was to come. For dawn was the invitation to the day, a gift that was the present if one had the courage to see it fully and to love it with all that they were.
"Well, time to start working and work harder than yesterday," he mumbled as he left his bed to prepare for his daily routine. He packed his bags with medicine and left the house.
Today, he trained harder than ever, increasing the difficulty. He immersed himself in medicinal herbs, cooked his meals, and read books. He repeated this routine for three weeks. His physique improved, his bones grew harder, and his skin became tougher. He could break bricks with his fists, and his regenerative ability increased as well. His other skills improved too.
Another week had begun—the last week of the month—and he didn’t change his routine.
In that welcome amber glow, the time for slower thoughts arrived, those moments when, with open eyes, his mind became a perfect empty horizon, seeing yet content to simply sit. He felt the soothing breeze and became absorbed in the music of crickets, letting the gentle energy of nature wash over him.
As he enjoyed the evening, he began to contemplate his next course of action. In the past three weeks, while focusing on intensive training to reach his current state, he also engaged in other activities, such as sneaking out to do odd jobs to accumulate money for traveling and the admissions fee. Currently, he had around two hundred thousand Zeniths (Ẕ); Zeniths were the universal currency, a form of paper money. The entrance fee for Glory Academy was 120,000 Ẕ, and the remaining 80,000 Ẕ would be used for transport and other mischievous endeavors.
"Sigh! I must go see the family head and do what must be done." He heaved a long sigh, knowing that he didn’t want to go there, but what had to be done must be done. He had already sent a formal request to the family head and needed to meet him before leaving this place, a place he would probably never set foot in again.