wbvwwbwbwbwb

  Chapter 14: Self-abuse

  "Damn it! You want a low-level magic stone for this broken body-building technique that doesn't even have a name!"

  Ronan walked out of the market with gritted teeth.

  In the end, I still bought the thing.

  The young wizard who sold it to him guaranteed before leaving that it would definitely be a good way to strengthen the body. He himself had practiced it for a while and even told him mysteriously that this set of body-building techniques could also be helpful for spiritual cultivation.

  "Is this true?"

  Ronan didn't quite believe it.

  In fact, he wanted to go somewhere else, but in the end, the young wizard stall owner directly released his mental power, subtly putting pressure on Ronan, as if he would make trouble if he didn't buy.

  Ronan could only hold his nose and swallow this loss.

  "If you don't have the financial resources, you will be bullied even if you want to buy something."

  Ronan returned to his home in the forest feeling depressed.

  This time, I successfully sold two [Cleansing] runes, but when I came back I still had no money left in my pocket.

  It's really like making money at the market and spending money at the market, and I want to take them home as soon as I part.

  Because of the stimulation he received at the market, Ronan immediately devoted himself to rune engraving as soon as he got home.

  In three days, he carved all the twenty new blank rune stones in one go, and succeeded in carving six in total.

  Then he sold them off in several batches and bought a large number of blank rune stones.

  It was not until the last time that the stall owner who collected runes looked at him with a slightly changed look that he decided never to go there again.

  "call--"

  Ronan took a rune stone, gently blew away the dust and stone chips on the surface, and then looked at it with a little satisfaction.

  "It's one piece again."

  Although Ronan's proficiency in the [Clean] rune is still at the entry-level stage, his success rate is now quite high.

  Sometimes when he is in good shape, Ronan can succeed two or three times in a row; when he is in bad shape, it is common for him to fail five or six times in a row.

  On average, Ronan's success rate has remained stable at around 30%, which means he succeeds basically once out of three times.

  "When conditions permit, I must have a quiet workroom where no one can disturb me. I have failed many times because of insects that suddenly flew into the house and birds singing outside."

  Ronan thought about it and put the rune stone in his hand into a special pocket.

  He has already collected three or four more [Clean] runes.

  Since he had sufficient materials, he decided to save up more at once this time, and then go directly to the dwarf market and find a regular rune shop to sell them.

  "I sold six [Clean] runes for four and a half low-level magic stones, kept one magic stone for the entrance fee, and used the rest to buy materials."

  The last time he went to sell runes, Ronan bargained fiercely with the stall owner, almost wiping out the little friendship between the two of them, and his main goal was to never see each other again.

  He stockpiled about a hundred blank rune stones, enough for him to use for a long time.

  After walking out of the house, Ronan stretched lazily.

  During this period of time, he devoted almost all his energy to rune engraving. Except for meditation, all daily activities were basically suspended.

  Now that I had some free time, I felt a tightness in my chest, so I thought of going out for some fresh air, so I strolled along the forest path and before I knew it I was at the lake.

  "Whoosh!"

  A bluish ball of light whizzed into the lake, and with a "bang" a column of water several meters high exploded.

  Then the second and third ones

  . Ronan threw four or five [Energy Missiles] into the lake in one breath. Then he took off his shoes, rolled up the hem of his robe, and waded into the lake barefoot to catch the fish that were blown up by the energy missiles.

  "Tonight's dinner is settled."

  Ronan caught a few and put them in his robe, planning to make soup with one, grill one over charcoal, and dry the rest.

  After staying by the lake for a while, letting the breeze and beautiful scenery gently wash away his physical and mental fatigue, Ronan returned with the fish.

  The dinner was very sumptuous, with fish soup, leftover venison and wild fruits at home. Ronan treated himself well.

  After dinner, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. Ronan did not make a firefly lamp bag because he did not plan to engrave runes tonight. He sat under the oak tree and read the book on body-building methods of ancient ascetics that he had bought before in the moonlight.

  "Just follow the instructions and it will be fine."  

  Ronan flipped through the entire booklet from beginning to end. There were only a dozen or so action pictures with different poses and accompanying explanatory texts. There was nothing surprising about it.

  As a rune master, he had the habit of memorizing all the pictures and words on the first page of the booklet before practicing, and then started to try.

  "What an awkward posture."

  After getting the hang of it, Ronan began to realize the difficulty.

  It may also be because his physical foundation is too poor and his limbs are stiff.

  The pose in the picture looked quite simple, but he tried for a long time but couldn't get it right, and he was sweating all over.

  "Huff—"

  Ronan was so tired that he was breathing heavily, but his mentality was very good.

  "Not bad, not bad. This amount of exercise is almost as much as my usual one or two hours of exercise. It is indeed a serious body-building technique."

  Ronan didn't care at all that he was still a long way from mastering the first posture. He stood up gracefully and wiped the sweat off his face.

  "No more practice, just meditate and go to bed early!"

  Life returned to normal and normal.

  Meditation, rune engraving, exercise, spell practice.

  The only difference is probably that Ronan changed the content of the exercise from running to practicing body-building techniques.

  This ancient body-building technique, which cost him a whole low-level magic stone, progressed slowly, but the effect was quite significant.

  Ronan's appetite increased day by day, and his body became noticeably stronger.

  "Gosh, gosh, gosh!"

  "It hurts, it hurts!"

  Ronan was half-lying on the grass at the foot of the tree, his body in an awkward posture, his expression distorted, and one hand slapping the ground rapidly and repeatedly, just like a gesture of surrender in a boxing match.

  "Bang!"

  Ronan relaxed his posture and lay on the ground with his arms and legs spread out.

  After a long while, he slowly sat up from the ground.

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

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

  The closer he got to mastering the first move of this ancient ascetic body-building method he bought from the market, the more intense the pain he felt during the practice.

  Just like just now, Ronan felt that his body was about to be torn apart, and the pain was so severe that his tears and snot were flowing everywhere.

  "If this kind of pain... wouldn't it be helpful for spiritual training?"

  Ronan gritted his teeth, knowing full well that the young wizard at the market had tricked him.

  In fact, he should have reacted earlier.

  What is the ascetic practice like?   Extreme

  heat, severe cold, fasting. Whatever the abnormality.

  This is basically a method of self-abuse designed to torture the body and increase one's tolerance for pain.

  Perhaps it has a certain body-building effect, but it is definitely not a serious knight training method.

  Unfortunately, it was useless for Ronan to understand now. So much time had passed and others would definitely not give him a refund.

  "Forget it, let's practice first. When we have more money, we can change to something else."

  Ronan sighed weakly.

  The main thing is that he is already very close to the first entry-level posture, and although this set of movements is painful, he feels quite comfortable after sweating profusely every time he finishes practicing.

  The effect of strengthening the body is also quite good.

  Ronan touched his cheek and found that the fat on his face seemed to have become much less without him noticing.

  (End of this chapter)