At the ship's helm, the old captain Oblitus yawned deeply, rubbing his shriveled, baggy eyes. Above him, the grey sky seemed indecisive, unsure when it would finally turn blue as morning approached. Below him were his wooden dwarves—some busy with daily cleaning chores, while the rest manned their posts as sailors, keeping the ship moving.
"And the day's just started, and me arse is already bored!" the old man yawned again, leaning on the helm.
While quietly picking his nostrils with his dried fingers, Oblitus's eyes suddenly lit up as the door leading to the cabins opened. Fully armored knights began to emerge in an orderly fashion, marching in sync. They were led by a single young woman, who walked with cold composure, her silver hair tied back in a ponytail.
Judging by her visually superior armor and her demeanor among the knights, it was obvious she was their superior. She was Crystal, Captain of the Inquisition's Omega Squad.
With all her knights deployed on deck, she nodded, instructing them on their daily training. It was her turn to monitor their exercises, as Decus had done so the previous day.
On the other side of the deck, two young men stood face to face. One was handsome, seemingly older with his mustache and long hair. He wore a constant, small smile, making his otherwise intimidating Inquisitor armor appear less threatening. This was, of course, Crystal's second-in-command: Decus.
He stood before a younger man whose presence was less striking by comparison. Nothing stood out about him except for the beautiful flower patterns on his white clothes and his slightly messy hair. Despite his otherwise ordinary features, there was a glint in the young man's eyes—one that shone brighter than Decus's entire being.
"Body conditioning?!" Spes smiled widely upon hearing what Decus had just said to him.
"Normally, we wouldn't start body conditioning yet; you should be focusing on your meditation until your Dantian is fully nourished. But since it's the captain's orders…"
"Um…" Spes smiled wryly, scratching his head.
"Should we tell him?" Spes spoke to Liber mentally, as his Dantian had already been fully nourished.
"It's better if you do. Your training should be proportional to your Knight Stage," Liber answered logically, as usual.
Spes sighed slightly, readying himself to tell Decus about his recent progress.
"Um… My Dantian is actually already fully nourished…" Spes smiled wryly.
"It's too early in the morning for jokes, Spes…" Decus smiled, thinking Spes was making a joke.
"I'm not joking…"
Decus's smile faded as he saw the young man's serious expression.
"Let me see for myself…" Decus approached Spes and placed his palm on Spes's lower abdomen. He closed his eyes, and after a few breaths, opened them again—this time, confusion and disbelief written all over his face.
"Impossible…" he whispered, retracting his hand from Spes.
"Even the strongest genius in the Kingdom's history could only fully nourish their Dantian within a month… but you managed it in only two days!"
"M-me too, I'm quite surprised!" Spes laughed awkwardly, cursing Liber internally. This was one of the reasons he'd been reluctant to inform Decus about his breakthrough. He did his best to restrain his growing anger as Liber even dared to chuckle at his predicament.
"You're either a one-in-a-billion genius monster or extremely lucky, Spes."
"It's surely the latter," Spes laughed.
"I highly doubt it…" Decus shook his head, his smile finally returning.
"Anyway, since your Dantian is fully nourished, it's only a matter of time until your Meridians fully form, allowing you to break through to the Middle Stage. Of course, what I'll teach you next could aid the process of forming your Meridians."
"Body conditioning?" Spes asked again, curiosity ignited.
"Yes, one of the two core foundations of the Knighthood path. One is meditation—the accumulation of Ki. Body conditioning is completely different. As the name implies, it's the process of training the body to achieve peak strength, improving its adaptability to Ki in the process," Decus explained slowly, emphasizing the importance of what he was about to teach.
"Your strength, speed, endurance, and physical body—these are the main focuses in body conditioning. We'll start whenever you're ready. Your mind must be at its peak, as everything we do will bring great exhaustion to your body."
"I'm ready," Spes said seriously, prepared to face another challenge.