The light disappeared from the sky. It was getting quite late.

Mikey, the caretaker of the training camp, walked outside with a lantern dangling from his hand, and he went to every outdoor lamp to make sure they were all lit.

Those outdoor lamps gave off ambient light that illuminated the campgrounds. It was warm-colored light, and it cast a cozy glow over the entire area, making it feel like a safe haven in the darkness of the night.

"..."

Watching him work, Della sat at the front steps of the resting quarters, just enjoying the outside air.

After she was done with training, she pretty much just rested for the rest of the day.

’They haven’t come back yet. It is quite late.’

She thought.

Della knew that the whole training camp’s purpose was for Rock to train Fang Raon in silence and peace.

She just tagged along, so her training wasn’t the priority, and she was completely fine with it.

She just wondered whether Raon could handle it, as Rock’s training could be very extreme, even for those with years of experience.

In that moment.

One of the nearby cabins opened with a bang, and Maquella stumbled out of it with wild hair and a tired look on her face.

’She is the dancing instructor. It looks like she has also been sleeping.’

Della thought.

She watched as Maquella headed for the Healing Hot Springs for a quick bath.

Then, she looked around for Mikey and saw that he was over at the gates, just standing and waiting.

He was waiting for Rock and Raon to come back from their training session.

"Welcome back!"

At that moment, she heard Mikey greet someone, and from the gates of the camp, two figures stepped through.

One was Rock. Hands in pockets. Walking casually like he was on a stroll.

And the other one was Raon or a shadow of him, at least. His head was hanging low, he was dragging his feet behind him, and he looked soulless.

The face looked thin, and his eyes were hollow.

"Is he alright?"

Mikey asked.

"He’s just tired. He’ll be fine!"

Rock patted Raon on the back, which sent him stumbling at the ground, and Raon had to catch himself before he fell.

"Shall I prepare the bath for him?"

Mikey asked.

"Do you want to?"

Rock eyed his student, and surprisingly, Raon actually shook his head.

’He doesn’t want the Healing Hot Springs? Why? It could easily wash off all the exhaustion of the day.’

Mikey wondered in surprise.

Rock smirked.

It was a choice that he gave Raon, and it was entirely up to him. He wasn’t going to force the decision on him.

The choice was whether he wanted to take the easy or hard route to strength.

The easy route was to use the Healing Hot Springs to get rid of the exhaustion, and the hard route was one where he embraced the exhaustion.

If he embraced the exhaustion, it could speed up his training drastically, as it would allow him to learn Maxima faster.

Raon, for now, decided on the hard route, but there was, of course, always a chance that he would change his mind later on.

"Get the bath ready for me."

Rock then said to Mikey.

Mikey nodded and started running towards the Healing Hot Springs, and Rock turned his gaze back to his student.

"See you tomorrow, six sharp!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He said firmly.

Without using any words, Fang Raon just nodded tiredly and started walking back to the resting quarters.

He had no strength to lift his head.

"Hey, Raon, is everything alright?"

Then, he heard Della’s sweet voice, but he had no energy to entertain any conversations, so he just walked right past her.

Della watched him enter the resting quarters, slightly disappointed that she got ignored like that, but saw how exhausted he was, so she decided to give him some space and let him rest.

She then turned to look at her grandfather and saw him head over to the Healing Hot Springs.

’I feel... kind of alone.’

...

Swoosh~!

The Virtual Reality Pod opened.

And a tired-looking young man climbed out of the pod and immediately jumped onto his bed, desperate for some rest.

"Ah... So... tired..."

He was tired, but he didn’t feel like he could sleep at all, as his body just needed to lay down for a moment.

Tiredly, he reached out to his phone on the nightstand, and he checked the time.

’I am supposed to meet Anna in a couple of hours over at the second character... Ah, maybe I should’ve just taken the bath...

’No... Rock told me that if I took the easy route, it might take me months longer to learn Maxima and the other Five Pillars of Power.

’Dead Redemption didn’t have Healing Hot Springs to help them recover, so I don’t need it either!’

Fang Raon thought firmly.

Rumble~! Rumble~!

At that moment, the desire for food overcame him, and he also really needed a visit to the bathroom.

He quickly went to the bathroom to relieve himself, and then he left his room and headed for the kitchen.

Everyone already had dinner, so he just hoped that there were some leftovers left for him.

"Master!"

"Master..."

The servants greeted him as he walked by, and Raon nodded in return and kept walking towards the kitchen.

With the way he was walking, even the servants could tell that he was extremely tired.

They just couldn’t understand what could’ve possibly made him so tired because he was playing all day.

In that moment, he arrived at the dining hall, and he heard some ruckus over at the kitchen, as the cooks of the family hadn’t left yet.

Knock~!

He gave one hard knock on the door, and then the door slung open with force, almost knocking him over.

"What is it?"

A pissed-off-sounding cook asked, but at that moment, he saw who it was, and he had a complete turnaround in attitude.

"Oh, young master. I didn’t see you there. I apologize for my raised voice!"

The cook, in panic, lowered his head.

He wouldn’t have been as scared as before, if Fang Raon was the same old third son of Aizen, but now it was way different.

He was the heir to the family, and in the near future, he would become his boss!

"That’s fine. Is there some food for me? I am quite famished."

Fang Raon said.

"Yes, there is!"

The cook said, and he ran to get a tray that was covered by a metallic lid, and he carried it carefully over to Fang Raon.

"Yo, young master!"

In that moment, as the rest of the kitchen staff saw him, they greeted him enthusiastically, and Raon waved back at them.

"Here you go!"

The cook energetically handed it over to him, and Raon nodded and said, "Thank you," and then with the tray in hand, he walked to the long table.

The long table could fit nearly a hundred guests, but since he was here all alone, he sat down at the very end.

All alone in the dining room.

He didn’t care much.

He lifted the metallic lid and saw the delicious food of roasted duck, steaming rice, braised red cabbage, white bread, and green salad, with a glass of water placed in front of him.

It was a mouth-watering sight, and Raon could already feel his stomach rumbling with anticipation.

He picked up a fork and knife and attacked the roasted duck with passion, savoring every bite and taking in all the delicious flavors.

With another knife, he spread some butter on the white bread and ate it with gusto and drank it down with water.

BANG~! BANG~!

And at that moment.

The doors of the dining hall slammed open.

Raon thought that it would be just some servant hurrying to get somewhere, but once he looked over, he became surprised.

It wasn’t just some servant.

It was his father—Fang Aizen—looking straight at him with a steeled gaze.

He didn’t look angry. Nor pissed off. Nor sad. Nor happy.

Just ordinarily calm.

"Son."

Aizen said casually, but for some reason, his voice had power that helped his voice reach Raon’s ears, even though he was quite far away.

"Yeah?"

Fang Raon said, but he had to basically shout it so his father could hear it.

"Once you’ve eaten, meet me at my office. We’ll start our training."

He said, and before Raon could speak a word, he already turned his back to start walking back.

"Training of what?!"

Fang Raon shouted.

"Read! Obviously!"

Aizen stepped out of the dining hall and slammed the doors behind him with a loud bang that frightened the cooks in the kitchen.

’Read... I forgot that my father actually planned to teach me. Oh god, I will be so exhausted by the end of today.’

Fang Raon already felt the exhaustion coming crashing down on him, and he lost his appetite pretty quickly.

However.

His stomach still rumbled, so he kept eating while mumbling curses under his breath.