Two days after Leo woke up:
"Ahhh, finally, I can start my training," Leo said, stepping out of the house, ready to begin.
He began running, determined to push himself, and kept going for at least two hours.
"Ahh-ahh-ahh, I need to keep running. This is just the beginning," he told himself, panting heavily as exhaustion set in.
An hour later, Leo finally stopped, utterly spent. "Ahhhhh, this is all I can manage right now," he muttered, dunking his head into a bucket of water. "I can't even walk properly after that, but it's amazing. In my previous life, even after awakening, I couldn't run this much."
"Leo, come back to the house! It's noon, and you need to eat!" Claudia called out from inside.
"Yesss," Leo responded, dragging himself back inside.
As he entered, Claudia noticed his fatigue. "Why are you exhausting yourself like this? Are you starting to train already? You're still only ten years old, you know."
"N-no, it's just... my body is so weak, so I wanted to train," Leo explained.
Claudia sighed but smiled gently. "Keep it up, son, but don't overwork yourself, okay?"
"Okay," Leo replied, returning her smile.
"Hey, why is my Leo training so hard, huh?" Rose teased as she approached.
My Leo? Haha, Leo thought, chuckling to himself.
"It's just exercise because I'm so skinny," he replied.
"Uhh, but you owe me after these two years," Rose said with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"I-I'm lonely, you know?" she added, pouting.
"Uh, okay, I'm sorry si—" Leo began, but he stopped when he saw Rose smirk and start laughing.
"HWUAHAHA, I've been waiting for this!" she exclaimed.
"Huh?" Leo was confused.
"You're going to act as my princess in my castle!" Rose declared, her tomboyish energy shining through.
"W-wait... Whatttt!!!" Leo stammered, realizing what she meant.
Rose grinned mischievously. "I can't wait to see your cute face in a dress and makeup."
Leo looked desperately at his parents for help.
Help me, he pleaded silently with his eyes.
But when he saw his mother and father smirking, he knew they weren't going to save him.
Do you really want me in a dress too? he thought, despairing.
After lunch, Rose triumphantly brought out a dress and started dressing Leo up, much to Claudia and Simon's amusement.
"Our son is so cute," they laughed, watching as Rose transformed Leo into a reluctant princess.
Ahhh, I want to die, Leo thought.
Later that day, in Leo's room:
Leo was finally alone, scrubbing off the makeup Rose had smeared on his face.
"Ahhh, I'm so exhausted. Playing with my sister really takes it out of me. But in my previous life, I could have kept up," he mused, sitting down to meditate.
As evening approached, Leo felt himself nearing a breakthrough to the 1-star level.
"Ekkk, ahh ahh ahh, it's so hard to break through to 1-star because I have two mana cores," he groaned. "It would be easier if I only had one."
He clenched his fists, frustration building. "I would have already reached 1-star if I had a single mana core. Why is this so difficult?"
Then it hit him. "Wait, is it because I awakened both cores while I'm still only ten years old? Did that make them expand?"
Though the struggle was intense, Leo knew he had to push through. "It's hard, but I need to achieve this. It'll be my advantage when the dragon attacks. If I can master this, I'll be able to kill the dragon."
Half an hour later, he was still fighting for the breakthrough.
"Ekk, ahh ahh, just a little bit more... almost there," he panted.
If my focus weren't more stable now, I'd be unconscious already, he thought.
Finally, Leo broke through to 1-star.
"Ehkk, ehkkk, ahh ahh ahh ahh... I... did it..." he gasped before collapsing, unconscious.