Self-Torment

"Damn it, a nameless piece of trash body-tempering technique cost me a whole Low-Level Magic Stone!"

Ronan walked out of the market, gritting his teeth.

In the end, he had still bought it.

Before he left, the young wizard who sold it to him had guaranteed that it would definitely strengthen his body. He claimed to have practiced it himself for a while and had even mysteriously told Ronan that this body-tempering technique could also benefit the cultivation of mental power.

"Was that true?"

Ronan did not quite believe it.

He had actually wanted to look around elsewhere, but in the end, the young wizard stall owner directly released his mental power cultivation, faintly pressuring Ronan. He looked ready to make Ronan regret it if he did not buy.

Ronan could only grit his teeth and swallow this loss.

"Without strength, even buying something gets you bullied."

Feeling thoroughly depressed, Ronan returned to his home in the forest.

On this trip, he had successfully sold two Cleaning Runes, yet he still came back with nothing left in his pockets.

He really earned money at the market and spent it at the market, without bringing a single coin home.

Provoked by what had happened at the market, Ronan threw himself wholeheartedly into Rune Inscription the moment he got home.

Over three days, he inscribed all twenty newly acquired blank Rune Stones in one go, successfully producing six in total.

Then he sold them off in several batches and bought another large supply of blank Rune Stones.

By the last time, the rune-buying stall owner was looking at him a little differently, so Ronan decided never to go there again.

"Whew..."

Holding a Rune Stone, Ronan gently blew away the dust and stone chips from its surface, then examined it with some satisfaction.

"Another one succeeded."

Although his proficiency with Cleaning Runes was still at the beginner stage, Ronan's success rate was quite high now.

When he was in good form, he could succeed two or three times in a row. When he was not, failing five or six times consecutively was also common.

On average, Ronan's success rate had stabilized at around thirty percent. He could basically succeed once every three attempts.

"When I have the means, I need to set up a quiet workspace where no one can disturb me. Several times, I only failed because insects suddenly flew into the house or birds chirped outside."

As Ronan thought this, he put the Rune Stone in his hand into a special pouch.

He had already accumulated another three or four Cleaning Runes.

Since he had plenty of materials on hand, he planned to save up a larger batch this time, then go straight to Dwarf Market and sell them to a proper rune shop.

"I sold six Cleaning Runes for four and a half Low-Level Magic Stones. I kept one Magic Stone for the entrance fee and used all the rest to buy materials."

The last time Ronan had gone to sell runes, he had haggled fiercely with the stall owner, practically wiping out what little goodwill existed between them. The whole point was that they would never see each other again.

He had stockpiled around a hundred blank Rune Stones, enough to last him quite a while.

Walking out of his house, Ronan stretched lazily.

During this period, he had devoted nearly all his energy to Rune Inscription. Aside from meditation, all his other daily routines had basically been put on hold.

Now that he had some free time, he felt terribly stifled. Wanting to get some fresh air, he wandered along the forest path and unknowingly arrived at the lakeside.

Whoosh!

A bluish orb of light whistled into the lake, exploding with a bang and sending up a water column several meters high.

Then came a second, then a third. Ronan threw four or five Energy Missiles into the lake in quick succession, then took off his shoes, rolled up the hem of his robe, and waded barefoot into the water to collect the fish blasted up by the Energy Missiles.

"Dinner's taken care of today."

Ronan caught several fish and carried them in the fold of his robe. He planned to make soup with one, grill another over charcoal, and dry the rest into fish jerky.

After lingering by the lake for a while and letting the breeze and scenery gently wash away the fatigue from his body and mind, Ronan carried the fish back.

Dinner was plentiful. Fish soup accompanied by the remaining venison and wild fruit at home made for a fine reward.

After dinner, beneath a bright moon and sparse stars, Ronan did not make a firefly lamp pouch since he was not planning to inscribe runes tonight. He sat beneath the oak tree and read through the book on the Ancient Ascetic Body Tempering Method that he had bought earlier.

"So I just practice according to this?"

Ronan flipped through the entire booklet from beginning to end. There were only around ten diagrams of different poses, along with explanatory text. Nothing about it seemed remarkable.

His habits as a Rune Master made him first memorize all the diagrams and text on the booklet's first page before he began trying them.

"What an awkward pose."

Once he tried it, Ronan began to realize the difficulty.

Perhaps his body's foundation was simply too poor. His limbs were stiff.

A pose that looked quite simple in the diagram took him ages to get into properly, leaving him covered in hot sweat.

"Huff, huff..."

Ronan panted heavily from exhaustion, but his attitude remained quite positive.

"Not bad, not bad. This amount of exercise is nearly equal to one or two hours of my usual workouts. It really is a proper body-tempering technique."

Ronan did not care at all that he was still far from even getting started on the first pose. He rose smoothly and wiped away his sweat.

"Enough for today. I'll meditate early and sleep early!"

His days returned to being orderly and uneventful.

Meditation, Rune Inscription, exercise, spell practice. The only difference was that Ronan had replaced running with practicing the body-tempering technique.

The Ancient Ascetic Body Tempering Method, which had cost him an entire Low-Level Magic Stone, progressed slowly, but its effects were quite noticeable.

Ronan's appetite increased day by day, and his body visibly grew stronger.

"Damn, damn, damn!"

"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

Ronan was half-prone on the grass beneath a tree, his body twisted into an extremely awkward pose. His face was contorted as one hand rapidly slapped the ground, like a boxer signaling surrender in a match.

Smack!

Ronan released the pose and sprawled flat on the ground.

Only after resting for a long while did he slowly sit up.

"Damn it, why does it hurt more the deeper I get into it?"

Ronan wiped the sweat from his face, his eyes full of irritation.

The closer he came to mastering the first movement of the Ancient Ascetic Body Tempering Method he had bought at the market, the more intense the pain he felt during practice became.

Just now, Ronan had felt as if his body were about to be torn apart. The pain had made tears and snot run all over his face.

"If it hurts like this... then of course it helps with mental power cultivation."

Ronan ground his teeth, fully aware that the young wizard at the market had conned him.

He should have realized it earlier.

How did Ancient Ascetics temper their bodies? Scorching heat, bitter cold, starvation. The more extreme, the better.

This was simply a self-torture method specifically meant to torment the body and increase one's tolerance for pain.

Perhaps it did have some body-tempering effects, but it was definitely not a proper Knight Training Method.

Unfortunately, realizing that now was useless. So much time had passed that there was no way the other party would take it back.

"Forget it. I'll keep practicing for now. Once I'm better off, I'll switch to something else."

Ronan sighed weakly.

The main thing was that he was already quite close to getting started on the first pose. Besides, while the movements hurt, every practice session left him drenched in sweat and feeling rather comfortable afterward.

Its effects on strengthening the body... were not bad, at least.

Ronan touched his cheek. Without him noticing, the puffy fat on his face seemed to have diminished considerably.