Chapter 4: Martial Arts!
Time had gone by and Adamus had opened his bread store. As expected, it was a massive success; as slow as it had grown, by the 2nd year of the shop being open, there hadn't been a single family in the town that hadn't tasted the famous Dandren bread.
All of that time Adamus had worked alone, and then in the first few months he had hired a few capable but needy hands; he had gone directly to the families of widows or those without a father. If they had a capable son, he took him in to work; if they didn't, and the mother wanted to work, he didn't refuse.
As time went by and the shop had stable income, he hired the 3 children of Daniel: Jack, Jackson, and Jackal.
It had grown bigger, allowing him to buy a few shops next to him and a bigger one in the center of the town, and he even went as far as certifying the bread as his.
The town he was in wasn't developed by much, but it was as if the human race had a rich history, and many cultures and rules had grown from that and it was everything but a lawless place for men to run rampant.
So, while it was under-developed when it came to architecture and science, they were that way because most of human resources was focused on improving their strength.
and not just any strength, but magical strength.
The humans were surrounded by enemies, and through what little information was made available to the common populace, they knew that the dangers beyond the human territory were deadly.
Though the human territory itself was huge, most didn't know just how big.
These common people of the town probably knew more martial art techniques than they knew human cities around them in their own vassal kingdom, let alone how big the entire human territory was.
That is because the permanent trend and never-dying trend since forever was for one to study all kinds of martial arts and then go on to join dojos, schools, families, and clans to ascend in ranking and gain more resources and knowledge.
For some reason, knight techniques, mage techniques, and even some primitive breathing techniques and beast consumption methods and bodybuilding techniques were rampant far and wide.
Each family had at least one technique that their children could start learning very early in their lives to have an upstart.
That was how widespread they were; even Adamus now had managed to buy his first technique, which he used most of his time after work just to learn it and read it, as he had been unlettered before.
And from what he saw from this technique alone, he would later learn that it applied to most knight techniques, which were separated into two parts: one was the training and some movement, and then there was the most important, the breathing technique.
Adamus wasn't meager; he got one of the best techniques there was after saving like a maniac for quite some time. Almost all of his profit from a few months had gone by; still, he had enough to buy a few more techniques, which he obviously didn't need.
The technique's name was "Fierce Wind Knight" technique, and it was, as it's name sounded, a deadly offensive-based technique.
Adamus had never slacked on exercising before, following a series of movements and sets he had learned from one uncle of his, and that worked well, allowing him to keep and develop his well-sculpted physique.
And that was his routine for a few months.
People normally took even a few years to reach the breathing part of the technique, as they either started too young and couldn't afford the risks or had to first develop their bodies, both cases of which Adamus had no worries about.
And the grand day had come when he was going to explore the breathing of this technique.
Merely two years after setting up the shop, and as soon as he entered the age of 20, the young man had a stable business, a sharp mind, and a strong body; everything one could ask for, yet these were merely the foundation he needed to achieve more of his goals.
At this point in time he was so self-sufficient he could leave his business, which already had two stores, and he could live happily ever after, get married, and never worry about money.
Yet, this wasn't what his vision was about.
He needed more; he had to get more; otherwise, he would die as another nameless individual in the wide sea of history.
Thus, in his own room within his house, where the only source of lighting currently was a lamp embedded with a fire crystal, he sat cross-legged.
It didn't matter if he was sitting, sleeping, or running, but seeing as this was the first time he was trying the breathing, he wanted to focus totally.
"Here we go." Adamus couldn't contain his excitement and calmed himself before he closed his eyes.
*Pheeew* *Huff* *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
The second he tried, he couldn't follow the breathing; slight panic overtook him as it shouldn't have been like this, but he calmed down and tried again.
*Huff* *Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
Again he couldn't; he stopped for a few minutes, took the book, and reread it; nothing was wrong.
"Again!"
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
Adamus...
couldn't follow the breathing instructions.
-----End-----