Elkend awoke from his nightmare with a startling gasp as he sat in bed, and he held his throat to check for any injuries and assure his brain It was all just a dream. His body was slightly shaking and he was sweating.

He quickly started taking deep breaths to calm down his heart. It wouldn't do If his mother opened the door and saw him in this state.

While It was easier to brush off his nightmares when he was a toddler or a kid, he didn't know how she would response If she realized he's been still having these nightmares even after all these years.

Thank the Gods he didn't scream every time he woke up from his nightmares.

He was already grateful that she never questioned his mild sedatephobia, so he wasn't going to push her tolerance of his eccentricities even more.

He quickly gave himself a check-over and, deeming himself presentable to his mother, he started going down the stairs to join her for breakfast.

The excess sweat can be easily explained; there was no such thing as air conditioning in this world, and opening the window could risk mosquitos.

As soon as he turned seven, his mother transferred his bed to the attic for him to take it as a room. This was her way of giving him privacy now that he was growing up and a little bit of responsibility.

Having arrived at the dining room, Elkend gave his mother a "Good morning!" while walking to a barrel of water to wash away the residues of sleep.

After that, Elkend went and took a seat opposite to his mother at the table and started eating the boiled eggs and the boiled potatoes with a loaf of bread.

Now, Elkend wasn't dense or stupid. He could feel the glances and looks his mother sent him between bites of food, and he recognized those glances for what they told; she was waiting for him.

It's already been a day since her offer to train him in swordsmanship, and he still hasn't responded. If today would go like yesterday, this would mark the second day with no response.

Elkend didn't know why he was still hesitating. Had he not already decided he was going to accept the offer? What was he doing?

He let out a quiet sigh once he finished his breakfast and put the wooden utensils back on the table. This is getting troublesome, and he's getting sick of the expectant glances and looks his mother would send him between bites.

He sighed again loudly. It was time to end this clusterfuck.

He started first, "I want to train in swordsmanship."

Veanda blinked and then grinned at the tone of resignation in his voice and cupped her ear in a mock show of not hearing him, "Hm? Did you say something, honey? I can't hear you."

He frowned at her teasing and repeated himself in a clipped tone, "I said I want to train in swordsmanship."

She chuckled at the frown on his face and stood up to take the empty plates and wooden utensils to clean them while continuing to talk to him.

"Good! I knew you were going to accept the offer sooner or later, so I prepared some leather armor that will protect you during our practice. Even if they are wooden smallswords, they can still cause some damage. I put your sword in your closet with a wooden box that contains your armor, go get them and meet me in the backyard. "

At that, his brows flew into his hair, he never left the house yesterday, so when did she...?

Veanda laughed at the expression on his face and explained, "What do you take me for, my dear boy Elkend? I specialize in stealth, thought I already told you that?"

Realization and embarrassment crept upon his face, and when his mother glanced at him from her shoulder while washing the dishes, she laughing even louder at the blush he was spouting.

Wanting to get away from his mother to avoid more teasing, Elkend ran stumbling up the stairs into the attic and went right into his room.

He took a moment to mentally recompose himself after getting over the fact that he forgot his mother was an adventurer and that stealth was literally her forte.

After recomposing himself, Elkend turned to the closet next to his bed and opened it with more force than necessary. He didn't spare the assortment of clothes a glance and went straight to the pointy smallsword in the corner and the wooden box.

He took both the smallsword and the box and laid them on his bed. The box wasn't large by any means, Its length was only roughly half the distance between the ground and his kneecaps. He first opened the box and took out the contents.

The contents of the box were the following; A brown, sleeveless, leather chest plate that looked slightly large so that he would grow into it in a few years, a pair of brown leather gloves that would add extra protection and a good grip to his hands, and a pair of small, brown elbow caps that also looked slightly large on him.

He frowned at the size of the training armor.

It was obvious that his mom was expecting his spurt growth in a year or two, but that was unrealistic. He was only seven-years-old, so why?

He recalled the blacksmith that he went to visit. That guy was unusually tall. He continued his thoughts with hesitance.

Maybe.... Maybe there was something different about humans in this world....?

Elkend shook himself out of his stupor. There was no point in wondering about questions that he doesn't have definite answers to. Sometimes things are better left unquestioned.

He put on the training armor and stretched, finding them heavy and uncomfortable, but he can't—could not make excuses when he's in the middle of a fight, so he'd have to make due with what he has right now.

He went downstairs and stepped out from the back-door to find his mom waiting for him in the middle of the medium clearing, smallsword held in her right hand.

Before, in his past life, Elkend would have no doubt held the sword in his right-hand in a sword fight. But, apparently, this new body was left-handed, so he was also left-handed.

It was actually interesting to think about. Reincarnation put you in a new body, but the new body's physical traits would fight with his mental traits. So in theory, If Elkend was reincarnated into a female's body, he would be attracted to males but since his mind, soul or whatever, was attracted to females before, he would probably have a seizure because of the conflicting sides.

The body would be attracted to male because, biologically, his body was female. But his mind would be attracted to females, since originally, he was a male before. It was interesting and terrifying, Elkend thought.

Shaking himself out of these thoughts, Elkend held the smallsword in his left hand and stepped up to his mother and asked, "So, uh, how, I mean, I've never trained, so I don't know how this would normally go...?"

His mother nodded at him with a thoughtful expression and then after some thinking it turned into a sheepish smile, "Ah! Actually, I don't think you will need to train in swordsmanship Immediately, your body is weak, It practically has no muscle and your stamina is low.

She shifted uncomfortably at his glare and started again, "So first things first, we'll need to get you fit before training... Haha..?"

Elkend sighed at her impulsivity but complied. He started stripping the training armor and laying it down on the table; It'll only slow him down while exercising.

His mother nodded approvingly and then smirked. Elkend felt a shiver run down his spine at that. She started talking.

"Jog half a lap around the village and then come back here."

Elkend felt all the blood drain from his face, leaving it pale.

Their village wasn't small by any means. It was one third the size of Smulstig, and Smulstig was a large town.

To run half a lap around that...?

He wouldn't survive half the way before collapsing.

Veanda smirked at the obvious fear in his face and urged him to go jog as soon as possible.

Safe to say, Elkend came back home for dinner that day, not lunch.

The days went by like this in a routine. Wake up, eat breakfast, stretch the muscles and joints, and go on a run for about half a lap around the village.

It was only a two weeks later that Elkend noticed an increase in his stamina and fitness. He didn't breath as heavy as he did in day one of running and he was panting less and less when he came home the more he went on runs.

For once, Elkend felt comfortable in his own skin. He didn't wake up in the morning like a sluggish cat as like before. It was completely the opposite. He woke up feeling rejuvenated like he splashed a cold cup of water on his face everyday.

Elkend absolutely loved it. Is this how doing exercise felt like? He should do this more often, training or no!

It was only into his third week into running that his mother interrupted him after breakfast while he was stretching to prepare for a morning run.

He finished his breakfast before her and was in the middle of stretching and warming up his legs before she started with a thoughtful expression, "I think It's time we incorporate a new element of exercise into your routine."

Elkend practically swerved his head in his mother's direction with the speed of light and an excited grin on his face, thinking that this new 'element of exercise' would give the 'rejuvenating' feeling that he became to love in his morning jogs.

His mother smiled at his enthusiasm and started to explain before he accidentally combusted on the spot from excitement.

"You've been constantly training your legs and slowly increasing your stamina. We obviously can't just ignore your other parts of the body, so from today, you'll do thirty push-ups and twenty sit-ups after you come back from your morning run."

Veanda took a breath before she started again, "Since you'll be doing push-ups coupled with sit-ups, we'll need to cut the distance of your run in half. Understand this is for your safety, alright?"

Elkend feverishly nodded without a single complaint. He personally didn't care if she cut his morning run in half. He'll be getting to do more forms of exercise and that's all he cared about.

 

 

Elkend was wholly wrong; in absolutely every aspect and sense.

Sit-ups and push-ups were absolutely horrible.

They made him feel like his arms were about to fall off and that he was about to vomit his intestines because of how his abdomen hurt after the sit-ups.

But he knew that he didn't—couldn't just not train.

He didn't want to die; not again. And if he didn't want to die, he'll need to become strong enough so that he wouldn't need to be scared about dying ever again.

This strong desire to survive and thrive pushed him to his limits—No, rather, It made him want break his limits.

So the first week into his new routine, Elkend blurted out to his mother that he wanted to increase the amount of sit-ups and push-ups a little more. She agreed, but he was only allowed to do so under her careful and judging eyes; It would not do for him to accidentally go over his limit and tear his muscles, after all.

 

Safe to say, five months later, Elkend Bulruk's birthday arrived and he became eight-years-old and would delve into the way of swordsmanship.

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I'm so sorry guys! This chapter was a little late and somewhat rushed. I apologize in advance If this isn't to your liking!

I finally got this chapter to 2,000 words!