“Come Little Ryu, you’ve spent too long sitting in one place. You must exercise your body.” Imperial Doula Miriam’s once soft and lovable features suddenly became stern, surprising Ryu. He couldn’t see her face, but he could very clearly hear that she was leaving no room for objection.

Ryu’s brow furrowed slightly. He was too intelligent to not pick up on the fact that something was wrong. But, he somehow felt that asking now was useless. The old Doula had become used to his intelligence long ago, so he lost the ability to corner her with words anymore. Whenever she felt like he would succeed, she would simply break whatever rules of engagement he lay by using her seniority.

Smiling triumphantly, Imperial Doula Miriam helped Ryu stand. “Look at you, you’re even more frail than before. You’ve lost what little muscle mass you had before.

“We need to start slowly, overdoing it will only harm you. How do you expect to bring me little babies to play with like this? Up you go.”

Thus, just like this, Little Ryu was forced into a training regimen he wanted no part of. Still, the old Doula was right, his body really was too weak. In fact, his muscle atrophy had only gotten worse in recent months due to the fact he sat in silence for such long periods of time. This was a good change of pace for him.

In the beginning, simply walking around his courtyard would cause Ryu to gasp for breath. Despite being ostracized by his family for reasons still largely unknown to him, he still had more than a hundred acres of land to himself. Just a single trip around was just slightly under two kilometers. Heaven knows how he covered the distance between the Palace and the Agnes Clan.

However, even throughout his “torturous” walks, Ryu discovered something interesting. His ability to delve into his world of dreams became greater the more he pushed himself. Could it be that it was possible to train one’s Mental Realm through physical exercise as well?

A new world was opening up to Ryu. What had begun as an effort to appease the only person he cared for in this life had suddenly become something he strove to do even without her persistence. Some mornings, Imperial Doula Miriam would come by to find that Ryu had long since awoken. Although she was used to the young boy being awake by dawn, he would usually be meditating. But who knew that hell would have frozen over and the fourth prince would have found a love in physical torture?

Over time, Little Ryu progressed from only being able to walk, to briskly quickening his pace. Eventually, he could just barely manage a light jog for a few minutes before collapsing. It wasn’t long before Ryu learned that there were ways to push his body to its limits without physical training. Sometimes he would see how long he could go without sleep, other times he would wake up before the moon set to jump into the ice-cold waters of his property lake. As though this wasn’t enough, he would even fast for weeks at a time, wondering what limits his body could endure.

Truth be told, if it wasn’t for Imperial Doula Miriam’s care and experience in the medical field, Ryu would have long since passed the point of no return. The kinds of things his mind was prepared to do, weren’t the sorts of things his body could survive.

“You must understand, Little Ryu. Growing stronger is just as much about rest as it is about work. A body can only grow with time. In the same vein, there needs to be a balance between all things. Strength is just as importance as flexibility.”

Under normal circumstances, Imperial Doula Miriam would have stopped Ryu at all costs, even if it meant tying him up. But, she suddenly realized that if she didn’t allow him to punish himself now, there was only death waiting. She had to prepare Ryu… It wasn’t that she had any faint hope that he could survive the Coronation Games. In fact, she had no such hope at all. She only wanted his body to grow strong enough so that he could run… He needed to run.

**

“There you go, reach down as far as you can. Your elastic and well-stretched muscles will thank you later. Always emphasize this balance. What is the use of big muscles you can’t make proper use of?”

Little Ryu reached toward his toes as best he could, grasping a hold of his feet. The strain on his face was clear, but he continued to persevere, making use of the breathing technique the old Doula taught him. Another one of her sayings was about the importance of oxygen, but that just made Ryu wonder if he could train his Mental Realm by holding his breath for extended periods of time as well.

By now, it had been almost three months since Ryu had begun his training. He made about as much progress as one could expect in such a short period of time. Still, he had begun to fill out his immature body to a certain extent, at the very least, his spine didn’t protrude from his back like it once had.

Truth be told, the old Doula was shocked by Ryu’s recovery ability. But, this realization only made her sigh. He had such a good constitution for cultivation, but it had been barred from him.

“Are you ever going to tell me why you had me start training my body?” Ryu’s question was perfectly timed, spoken just as Imperial Doula Miriam displayed a slight mental weakness and pity toward him. It was a bit underhanded, but Ryu felt like he needed answers.

The old Doula sighed. She knew she couldn’t keep this from Ryu forever, but she felt like telling him would have no use. What would happen? Wouldn’t he just hate his family more? Disdain his life to an even greater extent? Lament his misfortunes and scorn the heavens? What good would that do?

Ryu shook his head, realizing Miriam had no intention of telling him. “What about the reason why this is my life? Can you at least tell me why my father hates me? Why my brothers don’t treat me as one?”

Imperial Doula Miriam trembled. This was yet another story she withheld from Ryu. The truth was that she wasn’t born on this Plane, so its history wasn’t at the forefront of her mind when Little Ryu was born. But, when she found out the truth, she couldn’t help but hold a deep disgust for the methods of the royal family. At first, she had wanted to spare Ryu this pain but… If Little Ryu succeeded in running away from this depraved life, he needed to know the truth so that he could protect himself.

“You’re very good at cornering this old lady…” A breath escaped Miriam’s wrinkled lips. “I don’t know how you’ll react to this story, but you must stay strong, okay Little Ryu? Never blame yourself for the narrowmindedness of others.”

The old Doula paused, collecting her thoughts.. “As you know, many years ago, the Mortal Planes were embroiled in war. What many don’t know is that this war was a trickle-down affect of matters that occurred in the highest Immortal Plane…”