Leon spent the rest of the day not doing much. With it already being late in the day, he decided to relax in his room. He also took the liberty of pretending to finally 'wake up' after the incident with the peaches.
And using the commotion he made sure to fill his belly with some high-quality food. It was obvious that the Empress had caught wind of the situation as news of the accident had begun to spread like wildfire amongst the nobility community.
Nobles loved to gossip so a ripe topic such as this wouldn't just be glossed over. In fact, Leon truly believed that some scheming nobles would use this situation to their advantage one way or another to lower the popularity of their competitors.
Leon also spent some time writing out a letter for his sister Rosie Maxwell and handed it off to Ren. He knew he couldn't approach her before the upcoming banquet but he really wanted to give her some good news that he was attending the next banquet and she should find him there.
After all, he was her little brother, so even if it was something simple like giving her something to look forward to, then he should...
"With that out the way, I have just less than 4 days until the Empresses Banquet and with nothing else to do, shall I finally begin training again?"
Leon was of course speaking out loud to himself, a habit he had grown when he was wandering the battlefields as the bloody demon. He much preferred voicing his thoughts when he was alone as opposed to just being a walking iceblock, always thinking things and never saying them.
"Yep, it's decided for the next 4 days, I'll seclude myself and begin training. After all, I can't protect anyone, if I don't have the strength to do follow through with my actions."
The training Leon was referring to was Knights training. In fact, every noble and some higher class commoners would undergo training in hopes of becoming a valiant knight for the Maxwell Empire. It normally began from a young age at home under the guidance of a family member or a suitable tutor. This way they could build a strong foundation before attending the academy at the age of 14 and progress on the path of Knighthood.
"Well, no time than the present..." Hopping off his comfy bed, Leon approached the centre of his room and sat down in a lotus position.
Closing his eyes he began to breathe rhythmically. Slowing his breathing ever so slightly and exhaling deeply. He began to hear the sound of the distant wind coming from the open window. The sound of water dripping from the tap in the next room and the feel of the carpet beneath his body.
It was as if Leon had become attuned with his environment.
[Now then shall I take a look at my situation before I plan out how I should progress later on?]
Focusing his attention towards himself, Leon stopped spreading his awareness to anything outside of himself. As if he had completely shut the door to everything surrounding himself, he began to picture his body in more depth.
He could see different parts of his body more clearly, like he had upped the quality of a lens on a camera. Now he seeing himself in a 4k resolution as opposed to a 720p. He saw his skin, even his bones, veins and even the individual blood cells, flowing around his body.
This was a technique he had mastered in his previous life, Inner vision.
The main point of focus was towards his stomach area and his muscle qualities. He wanted to get a complete understanding of his current constitution.
[16 meridians, all closed. Although small right now, they are slightly bigger than I had expected... Not bad.]
[As for my muscle groups, well it wouldn't be an understatement to say I had none... Truthfully my body seems to be borderline malnourished.]
Opening his eyes, Leon exhaled and returned to his normal breathing. "It really is tiring to carry that technique out for very long in my current state. Who would think that the legendary bloody demon would be so weak eh..."
Leon laughed to his own mocking, "Seriously though if it was no surprise that master would always say that I was completely worthless when he met me and if it wasn't for his pills and helping, there would have been no chance he could have developed to the level he did..."
Mentioning the word 'master' made Leon express many emotions. His master was a man of many meanings to him. He was a father figure, a teacher, a best friend but he was also a difficult man. He was always stubborn, sometimes too much for his own good. It was the main reason he had come to die the way he did, which broke Leon for a second time after the situation with his brothers.
"I will make sure to come and find you when things have all settled down!"
****
-The Next Day-
Under the excuse of stretching his legs, Leon and Ren went out to his hideaway spot early into the day. Ren didn't know what the youngest prince's plans were for today but he had assumed he was just going to relax, given that he had strictly told Ren to make sure it was just himself and Ren.
Walking close to the tree that he used as a shade to block out the beaming sun, Leon took off his suit piece and pulled up his sleeves. Even going so far as to unbutton the top button of his shirt.
"Ren, I plan to begin my training from today onwards." Leon didn't bother to make eye contact with Ren but the onlooking Ren could tell from his voice alone that he was being serious.
"Training?" Ren asked once more, in case he had misheard.
"Yes, I will begin my knight's training."
Ren paused for a moment as he had a face of inner conflict. It wasn't that he didn't want the young master to train in the way of the sword but there were many eyes on him. Doing this might lead to his demise.
As if reading his concerns, Leon spoke up, "Relax Ren, I have no intention of showcasing my training to the outside world. In fact, apart from you and me. Nobody will come to know of this unless I'm forced into a situation of having to protect my life."
Ren hearing those comforting words nodded, "I understand. This is a good thing, that I was meant to bring up to you but truthfully, I didn't want to put you in any more danger if you weren't 100% about going through with it."
"After all, if anyone finds out then they will surely not stand back and do nothing. From there your life will grow even more difficult. You do understand this, right?"
"Of course, I have given the matter a lot of thought lately but what is the point of living if it's constantly in fear. Where you have to bow your head at the will of others. Where you can't even meet your own sister when you want to see her face. Where you can't even eat a plate of food normally without checking whether it's been poisoned let alone what ingredients were used..." Leon spoke with slight anger but his words were true. Ren looking at the young master saw a semblance of his father the king in him for a moment, which caused him to open his mouth slightly before closing it once more.
"I see..." Ren smiled, "Well I wish the young master, good fortune on your new path. May you grow strong enough to cut through any problems that arise!"
Leon didn't bother making any more small talk as he nodded and then walked to a clearing on the grass and began his workout.
Leon had spent the majority of last night thinking about his training objectives and what he could do to maximise his time and increase his strength the fastest. And there was no better way than doing his master's hellish training routine but this time even better.
Firstly, the world Leon was in was called Terra. It was a world of beauty and home to a unique and powerful energy source called mana.
With this mana, humans, plants, beasts and many more living things could grow infinitely stronger. This was the path of what humans referred to as cultivation.
Humans had two normal routes of growing stronger on their path of cultivation. The first route is Knighthood and the second is to become a Mage.
To become a knight was through hard work and determination but for the most part, anyone could become a novice knight with some guidance. However, as for becoming a mage well, that was more difficult.
You see, only some people in the world could manipulate mana in a certain way, to release attacks in a form of a spell, like a mage. This was the reason why Mages were so rare and worshipped in any Empires army. As even a beginner mage could decimate an intermediate knight. They held power beyond belief but of course, they had their downsides too.
When it came to cultivation, the world was fair. Although some might be more talented than others, it didn't mean they were untouchable.
So what were the ranks of a knight and of a mage?
Simple they followed a path that went a bit like this, Novice < Beginner < Intermediate < Advanced < Elite. Then it progressed to higher ranks such as, Master < GrandMaster < GreatGrandMaster
And above that were the legendary realms that there is no point discussing now.