Dinner was simple but filling, a hearty stew with fresh bread. The atmosphere was warm, the smell of cooked meat and vegetables filling the house. As we ate, my parents continued chatting about minor vilge happenings, while the twins talked endlessly about what they wanted to do tomorrow.I mostly listened, feeling the fatigue of the day finally settling in.Once dinner was finished, I helped my mother clean up while my father rexed in his usual chair, smoking his pipe. The twins, now full and sleepy, yawned and stumbled off to bed.After finishing the dishes, I stretched and let out a yawn myself."I'm turning in."My mother smiled. "Rest well, Kael."My father simply nodded. "Tomorrow's another long day."With that, I trudged up to my room, my body sore but my mind still active. Meeting Adrian had been interesting, and what my father said about why people move to pces like this…It stuck with me.As I id in bed, staring at the ceiling, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to our new neighbors than they let on.But for now, I was too tired to care.With a final exhale, I closed my eyes and let sleep take over.The days blurred together into an endless cycle of pain, discipline, and battle. A month passed, yet neither Elise nor I could tell where one day ended and another began. It was the same routine, over and over again.I woke up before dawn, body aching in pces I never thought possible. No matter how much rest I got, the soreness never left. The moment I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, a dull, throbbing pain shot up my muscles, a constant reminder of the torture I was putting myself through.I washed up, threw on my usual worn-out clothes, grabbed some bread, and dragged myself out the door.By now, my parents had stopped questioning my routine. They had accepted my madness, much like I had.The sky was still dark as I made my way to Orm's Forge, Bear Paw.As expected, Elise was already there, standing near the entrance, arms crossed, her silver hair catching the dim light of the forge's glow. Her once delicate features were now sharper—leaner, harder, stronger.She turned when she heard my footsteps, raising an eyebrow."You're te."I grunted in response.Inside the forge, Orm was working as usual, hammering away at a bde, while Sui sat barefoot in the courtyard, sipping zily on what I suspected was st night's leftover booze.And then there was the real enemy.The damn ankle weights.Sui had forced us to wear them from the moment we entered the courtyard until the moment we left. He had spped them onto our legs without warning, barely giving an expnation."Your movements are sloppy," he had said. "You need to fix that."At first, they seemed manageable—just an extra burden to carry. But as the days stretched into weeks, we started realizing the nightmare we had unknowingly signed up for.The weights felt like shackles, dragging us down every step we took. Running had become a special kind of hell, every movement feeling like we were wading through mud.And yet, we never questioned it.We simply adapted.Sui, as usual, barely acknowledged us as we arrived. He continued his bizarre dancing ritual, moving with unreal grace, as if the ws of gravity didn't apply to him. His bare feet glided across the ground, his hands weaving through the air in a slow, controlled rhythm."You know the drill," he muttered, eyes still half-closed.And yes we did.We ran until we fall down from exhaustion. Every day, without fail after the run we do sets of exercises 100 each.At first, it was just a light jog around the courtyard. Then it turned into sprints. Then it turned into sprints with obstacles.Then it turned into a nightmare.Sui never let us rest, pushing us until our bodies refused to move.The weights on our ankles felt ten times heavier, the burning in our muscles unbearable. Each morning, I colpsed sooner than I did the previous day, only for Sui to tell us to get back up and do it again.But something strange was happening.Despite the exhaustion, despite the soreness, Elise and I found ourselves sting longer.We barely noticed it at first, but the impossible was happening.We weren't just surviving the training anymore. We were getting faster.At the beginning, I could barely run for an hour before my legs gave out. But now? Two hours. Three.Elise, too, was changing. Her breathing was steadier, her movements smoother. She no longer gasped for air like she had in the first week.Yet, neither of us realized it.Not fully.We were too exhausted to notice the monstrous progress we were making.Sui, on the other hand, noticed.But he said nothing.Instead, he simply smiled—a rare, knowing smile.After our bodies were pushed to their limits, it was time for the next nightmare.

  We barely had time to recover before we dragged ourselves to the Dungeon Diver Guild.By now, we had earned ourselves a reputation.The first time we had dived into the dungeon without armor, we had been called idiots. Reckless. Foolish. Suicidal.But now, the whispers were different."They're still alive?""They're diving every day. That's insane.""No armor, no support party… Just what kind of training are they going through?"We ignored them.

  Inside, the Bck Labyrinth Dungeon welcomed us with its usual stale air and suffocating darkness. The cavern stretched high above us, the flickering torchlight barely illuminating the endless tunnels.Goblins.They attacked in waves, shrieking from the shadows, their rusted bdes fshing in the dim light.And yet—they were nothing now.My axe moved before I even thought about it.The weight behind my strikes had changed. Where once I had struggled to bring down a goblin with multiple swings, now a single, well-pced strike shattered through bone.Elise moved differently too.Her mace, once hesitant, was now an extension of her body. She no longer wasted energy on unnecessary movements—every step, every thrust was measured and deadly.We barely noticed it, but we were no longer the same weaklings who had first entered this dungeon a month ago.After hours of battle, we dragged ourselves back to the surface.As usual, the onlookers whispered as we walked past, their expressions shifting from mockery to curiosity."They're doing it again...""How are they still walking?"At this point, I barely cared.We cashed in our loot at the guild, except for the medium-grade crystals, which we secretly hoarded.Then, as always, we made our way to Bck Rose, the potion shop owned by Zyra.She never changed.Bored eyes. Lazy smirk. Same unimpressed tone."Still alive?""Barely," Elise muttered in a low voice.