Chương 58: Chapter 57: The Sleeping Dragon Wakes Up!

Ren had several days before they needed to start pushing Hadrik toward the known chain of events, and he intended to use them. His best tools for Mana Sense and Mana Manipulation were still with Little Yara, so training either skill properly would have to wait until he reached her. Appraisal remained available, along with the increasingly capable little body he had spent several lives grinding into usefulness.

Tessa helped with the physical training, although naturally she insisted on deciding what helping involved. By midday she had turned most of the bedroom floor into another exercise course using blankets, cushions, the low stool, and several objects Ren suspected Elna would eventually object to. Ren stood at one end and looked across it.

"You ready?" Tessa asked.

"Yes." She pointed solemnly at the first folded blanket.

"Then climb this mountain!" It rose perhaps two inches. Ren looked at her.

"It's a big mountain!" Arguing with a six-year-old over the geological classification of bedding seemed like a poor use of training time, so Ren stepped forward. Ren crossed uneven folds, stepped over rolled cloth, ducked beneath the stool, climbed over a cushion, and repeated the route while Tessa rearranged anything he began handling too easily. His body had come a ridiculous distance, but its proportions were still unmistakably those of a baby.

His stride was short enough that clearing a rolled blanket forced him to lift one foot high and balance on the other far longer than an older child would need to. In previous loops, that would often have been quite a hurdle. Now his ankle shifted, his hip corrected, and he carried on. Tessa watched him complete the obstacle, considered the problem, and added another cushion. Ren glared at her. She smiled.

A dozen rounds later his thighs had begun to burn, his breathing was heavier, and one leg trembled when he stepped down from the stool. Ren sat before the shaking became worse, waited until it eased, then stood and started again. A few rounds later, the familiar message appeared. [Skill Level Increased: Athletics Lv. 14 -> Lv. 15] Ren smiled. Tessa noticed immediately.

"System?"

"Yes." She pumped one fist into the air.

"Ha! Mountain training rules!" Ren glanced back at the folded blanket and decided she could call it whatever she liked. It was undoubtedly effective. It could be made more effective still, and Ren had asked Elna to make the cloth weights again. But until they were ready, he worked with what he had. A rest and feed cycle later, he focused on stretching.

"Your leg goes there."

"No."

"It did before."

"No."

"You are more flexible now."

"Not mean to. Detach it." Tessa giggled. Ren worked through the familiar sequence, bending until the pull settled through the backs of his legs, easing into careful hip rotations, crouching, reaching, and holding each position until the strain became difficult to maintain cleanly. Flexibility was still one of his newer skills, but by now he knew enough to recognize the difference between useful resistance and simply forcing his body past what it could handle. One leg eventually began to shake.

Tessa pointed at him immediately.

"Rest."

"One more."

"Mama says one more means you are already tired." Ren frowned at her. His sister was weaponizing parental wisdom, which was deeply unfair considering she was also correct. He released the stretch and rested until the trembling stopped. When he returned to it, he reached the same position with less strain and finished the set. [Skill Level Increased: Flexibility Lv. 5 -> Lv. 6] Ren smiled as the message faded. Progress made stopping considerably less appealing. Tessa disagreed.

"Done." Ren began setting up for another stretch. Three minutes later, his thigh pulled sharply enough to make him flinch. Ren backed out immediately, shifted his foot, and tried the position again with more care. The sharp pain disappeared, leaving the ordinary deep discomfort of a muscle being stretched near its limit. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He continued on, and soon Tessa crouched in front of him and studied his face.

"Ren."

"I'm fine."

"You have the face." Ren looked at her.

"What face?"

"The stupid face." She pointed directly between his eyes. Ren crossed his eyes, and she burst laughing. Ack! He fell for the oldest trick in the book! Darn his clever sister! She stopped laughing, and suddenly tried to look very serious. He stared back at her while Tessa maintained the grave expression of someone delivering an important medical diagnosis.

"Take a break!" Betrayal! The next stretch after mandatory rest pulled harder as his muscles tired, but Ren kept his breathing even and stopped fighting every pulse of discomfort. It still hurt. The difference was that he could pay attention to the position itself instead of instinctively tightening around the pain each time it flared. A System message appeared in front of him. [Skill Unlocked: Pain Resistance] Ren's concentration broke so abruptly that his supporting hand slipped.

He caught himself before falling sideways and sat up, staring at the message. Then immediately set to testing it out. He flexed his leg cautiously. The ache was still there. The System had not made the pain disappear, and Ren doubted it had suddenly made damaging himself a good idea. It was simply a little more tolerable. Useful enough! And unlocked many potential improvements to his training regime! Tessa leaned closer.

"What happened?"

"New skill." Her eyes brightened.

"What one?"

"Pain Resistance." Aaand her excitement vanished. Tessa looked at his leg, then back at him.

"That sounds bad." Ren opened his mouth, paused, and looked down at himself. He was sitting on the bedroom floor in the middle of a training course, one leg stretched out in front of him, explaining to his six-year-old sister that he had just gained a skill for enduring pain. From her perspective, perhaps it really was bad.

"It is useful," he said. Tessa frowned harder.

"Pain is useful?"

"No. Resistance."

"That is still pain." Ren searched for a concise explanation and discovered that Tessa had positioned herself remarkably well for this argument. Before he could try anyway, footsteps sounded outside the room. Elna appeared in the doorway and stopped. Her eyes moved over the blankets and cushions scattered across the floor, the low stool shoved into the middle of the course, and finally Ren sitting with one leg extended while Tessa crouched beside him looking deeply suspicious of his latest life choice.

"What are you two doing?" Tessa turned immediately.

"Mountain training." Ren closed his eyes. Of course that was the part she chose to explain. Elna looked at the folded blanket serving as the first mountain, then at the stool, then back at Ren.

"Mountain training."

"Yes! It just works!" Tessa said confidently. Then, because apparently the situation had not deteriorated enough, she added, "Ren got Pain Resistance." Ren opened his eyes. Elna's attention snapped back to him. Tessa pointed.

"See? He has the face again." Betrayed twice in one afternoon! Elna inspected him thoroughly enough afterward that further physical training became impossible. She checked his legs, made him walk, asked whether anything still hurt sharply, and eventually informed both children that Pain Resistance was not permission to collect more pain. Ren knew that already. Mostly. With Elna keeping a much closer eye on him, Ren switched to Appraisal while his body recovered.

The skill had been sitting stubbornly near the milestone for far too long, and he had enough mana to keep working on it between rests. Without Yara's tools, he might as well get it done! A wooden cup was the first target. [Wooden Cup] Ren frowned. This skill really was the worst. He already possessed eyes, and it told him less than he saw with them. He tried again, this time paying attention to the worn rim, the slight staining inside, and the places Bren had sanded smooth. [Well-Used Wooden Cup] Better.

But still not enough. He kept working whenever enough mana returned for another attempt, changing what he wanted from the skill instead of simply asking for another name. What was the object? What was it used for? What had changed? Sometimes the answer sharpened. Sometimes the System merely confirmed something he already knew. By evening, Appraisal had still refused to move. Ren was beginning to take that personally. His legs had also started reminding him exactly how enthusiastic the afternoon had been.

Stiffness gathered whenever he sat too long and returned when he stood again, so when Elna put him to bed, Ren went without protest. He fumbled around, got himself perfectly cozy… and relaxed. Sleep took him quickly.

Morning light was already creeping across the room when Ren woke up. He lay still for a moment before moving, expecting the usual heaviness after pushing his body hard enough to earn two physical gains in one afternoon. It was not there. His thighs were stiff, certainly, but the deeper exhaustion had faded. His thoughts felt clear, his body rested, and when he flexed one leg beneath the blanket the soreness was manageable rather than demanding. Then the System appeared. [Skill Level Increased: Sleeping Lv. 9 -> Lv. 10] [Skill Milestone Reached - Initiate: Sleeping Lv. 10] [Sleeping Initiate Bonus: Improves recovery efficiency during natural sleep, including restoration of physical and mental resources. Does not reduce the body's required sleep below healthy limits or replace other forms of recovery.] Ren read the message twice. Then he grinned. His baby body already demanded an unreasonable amount of sleep.

He had already spent several loops learning how to stop treating that as wasted time, and merely part of the training loop too. And now he was reaping the benefits!. Ren sat up and stretched one leg experimentally. It still complained, but far less than yesterday's training deserved. Better recovery meant he could return to the grind sooner. Ren's grin widened. The Sleeping Dragon had awakened! His dreams of cultivation might still come true after all! …

Admittedly, the dragon was still a baby who needed to be very careful going downstairs, but every legend had to begin somewhere! He looked toward Tessa, still asleep nearby, then toward the door. Today he had more important work than blanket mountains. Little Yara had his magical training tools, possible answers about the Divines that his parents could not give him, and no idea yet what had happened in the previous loop. It was time to visit his Master.