A Will Sovereign Chapter 34: Chapter 34— The beauty of martial peak.

Read chapter 34 of A Will Sovereign by Sloche on NovelPedia.

------ Morning arrived before the sun. Soldret was already awake. The sky was still dark when he climbed out of the medicinal bath. Cold mountain air brushed against his skin, carrying the scent of pine, stone, and distant waterfalls. For the first time in a long while, his body didn't ache the moment he moved. Instead, it felt lighter. More stable. More complete. The conversation from the previous night lingered in his thoughts. Half-Step Body Forging. Even now, the words felt unreal. A faint smile appeared on his face. He stretched his arms. His muscles tightened smoothly — no stiffness, no lingering soreness. Only readiness. Today would be another day of training. Another day of being beaten unconscious. Or perhaps another form of torture disguised as training. And strangely… he was looking forward to it. The old version of himself would have thought he had gone insane. The current Soldret simply accepted it. After all, this was Martial Peak. --- By the time the first rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon, Soldret had already arrived at the training field. Yet the moment he stepped inside, he paused. Radahn was already there, standing quietly near the edge of the field. No tea. No book. No romance novel. Nothing. The old man simply stood with his hands behind his back, gazing toward the winding mountain roads below. Soldret immediately became suspicious. "Master. What are we doing today?" Radahn glanced at him. "There is no training today." Soldret blinked. "…What?" "No training." The words struck harder than most of Radahn's punches. For several moments, Soldret simply stared. His excitement instantly collapsed. He had mentally prepared himself for another brutal day — another exhausting battle, another painful step forward. Instead, he got this. "Then what am I supposed to do?" Radahn pointed toward the distant mountain paths. "You lack stamina, Soldret. Your eyes can keep up. Your body can mostly keep up. But your stamina cannot. You exhaust yourself too quickly. Every time, your perception surpasses your endurance. The fighting style you're building cannot be supported by your current stamina." Soldret frowned. Unfortunately, he couldn't argue. Everything Radahn said was true. His greatest weakness right now wasn't perception or movement — it was the fact that his body ran out of energy long before his mind did. Radahn folded his arms. "So today… you will be running." Soldret looked down the mountain, then back at Radahn. "That's it?" "That's it." For a brief moment, Soldret almost felt relieved. Then he remembered something important. This was Martial Peak. Nothing here was ever simple. Seeing his expression, Radahn narrowed his eye. "Stop looking happy. You'll understand soon enough." Soldret immediately became wary. --- Not long after breakfast, he began running. The morning air was cool. Mist drifted through the forests. The mountain paths were covered in dew. At first, it felt relaxing. Almost peaceful. Birds sang from hidden branches. The sound of flowing water echoed through the mountain. The rising sun painted everything gold. For the first time since arriving at Martial Peak, Soldret wasn't focused solely on surviving. He was simply observing. --- The deeper he traveled, the more Martial Peak revealed itself. Ancient bamboo forests stretched endlessly across entire valleys. Massive trees towered above everything else — some so large that entire homes could have been built upon their branches. Crystal-clear streams flowed beside the paths, so pure that every stone on the riverbed was visible. Schools of silver fish darted through the currents, their scales glittering like tiny mirrors. Further ahead, waterfalls cascaded from towering cliffs, shimmering like silver silk descending from the heavens. Soldret couldn't help slowing down slightly. The mountain was beautiful. Far more beautiful than he had expected. --- Yet beauty wasn't the only thing Martial Peak possessed. Danger existed everywhere. While passi