The time after receiving Senjuro's book, I stepped outside with the black katana hanging at my side and the old book tucked beneath my arm.
The training grounds were still quiet.
Perfect.
I opened the book and flipped to the first lesson.
The breath of nature.
The instructions seemed simple.
Relax your limbs.
Tighten your stomach.
Breathe deeply until you reach your limit.
Then go beyond it.
I stared at the page.
"That's it?"
No diagrams.
No explanations.
No teacher.
Just a few sentences.
Still, Senjuro had trusted me with this book.
I wasn't about to quit before I even started.
I closed my eyes and followed the instructions.
Relax my limbs.
Tighten my stomach.
Breathe.
The air filled my lungs.
For a brief moment, I felt something strange flowing through my body.
Then—
"AGH!"
I crashed face-first into the mud.
Pain exploded through my stomach and chest.
It felt like someone had punched my lungs from the inside.
I rolled onto my back, gasping for air.
"Ow..."
The book hadn't mentioned that part.
But even then, I didn't give up.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Every attempt ended the same way.
Mud.
Pain.
Failure.
Yet somehow, I felt like I was getting closer.
The next day, training resumed.
The recruits lined up as Dorna blew his whistle.
"Begin!"
Immediately, everyone started running.
Tobisa jogged beside me.
"Hey, Tom."
"Yeah?"
"How many laps can you do now?"
I shrugged.
"I don't know."
Then I looked around.
"By the way, where's Marie?"
Suddenly—
"BOO!"
"AHH!"
Marie appeared right behind us.
Tobisa nearly tripped over his own feet.
Marie burst out laughing.
"Your faces were priceless."
"You almost killed me!" Tobisa complained.
The three of us continued running together.
One hundred laps.
Two hundred.
Three hundred.
Eventually, we reached the four hundredth lap.
At that point, everyone looked half-dead.
Tobisa was practically dragging his feet.
Marie was breathing heavily.
Even I felt like my legs were made of stone.
Then an idea struck me.
What if I tried using the breath?
Carefully, I followed the instructions.
Relax.
Tighten.
Breathe.
A rush of energy surged through my body.
Suddenly, the exhaustion faded.
My feet became lighter.
The world around me seemed slower.
Without realizing it, I sped up.
Fast.
Very fast.
I passed recruit after recruit.
"Wait... what?" Tobisa shouted.
I kept running.
Lap after lap.
The strange feeling remained.
For nearly a hundred laps, I ran faster than I ever had before.
Then my body finally gave up.
My legs buckled.
I collapsed onto the ground.
"Tom!" Marie shouted.
Tobisa ran over.
"Bro," he said, staring at me, "that was awesome!"
I grinned weakly.
"Thanks..."
Before I could say anything else, a familiar voice echoed across the training grounds.
"FOGO!"
My smile disappeared.
Dorna.
I slowly stood up and walked over.
The giant elf crossed his arms.
For several seconds, he simply stared at me.
I started getting nervous.
Then he nodded.
"You're doing well."
My eyes widened.
A compliment?
From Dorna?
"I am?"
"If you keep progressing at this rate," he said, "you might be able to free your friends from this training."
I blinked.
"What?"
"The day one recruit reaches the required level," Dorna explained, "the rest of their group passes as well."
I turned toward Marie and Tobisa.
They looked just as shocked as I was.
And honestly...
I was only thirteen years old.
Hearing praise from someone like Dorna made me feel like I could conquer the world.
That night, while everyone else slept, I sat alone beneath the moonlight.
The black katana rested beside me.
Senjuro's book lay open on my lap.
I took a deep breath.
Then another.
And another.
If Nature Breathing was the key to becoming stronger...
Then I would master it.
No matter how long it took.