A Will Sovereign Chapter 36: Chapter 36— Back to the summit.

Read chapter 36 of A Will Sovereign by Sloche on NovelPedia.

----- Morning arrived before the sun. Soldret had barely finished his morning stretches when Radahn appeared, carrying two pairs of thick, dark metal cuffs — one for the wrists, one for the ankles. They looked old and brutally heavy. Soldret's stomach sank. "Master… what are those?" Radahn's single eye glinted. "The final part of your foundation training. You will wear these from now on." He tossed the cuffs at Soldret's feet. They landed with a heavy **thud**, sinking slightly into the ground. Soldret crouched and tried to lift one. His arm strained immediately. "How do you expect me to climb with these on…" He groaned. "I can barely move." Radahn looked at him for a few seconds before saying calmly, "Stop complaining like a little kid." Soldret replied immediately, "I *am* still a kid." Radahn coughed, as if trying to push that aside. "The cuffs will force your body to adapt — strength, speed, endurance, control. Everything." Soldret stared at the cuffs, then at Radahn. "How long?" "Until you stop struggling against them." The old man grinned. "Or until you collapse. Whichever comes first." --- The first few days were pure hell. Climbing with the cuffs took nearly six full days just to reach a decent height. Each step felt like dragging his own corpse uphill. The added weight turned every slope into torture. His legs burned. His shoulders screamed. Sweat poured nonstop. He slept on the mountainside, too exhausted to hunt properly, his body healing slowly through natural rest and whatever food he could find. Descending was even worse. He tried using gravity like before, letting it pull him forward. The cuffs made it impossible. The momentum became uncontrollable. He fell multiple times, tumbling painfully down steep sections. Each impact left new bruises. Because he was already half a step into the Body Forging realm, his body healed faster than he expected even without the medicinal bath — though the process was still agonizing. Every night he lay awake, muscles throbbing, wondering how much longer he could endure. But he kept going. --- As the days turned into weeks, Soldret adapted the only way he knew how — through stubbornness and repetition. He stopped fighting the weight and started working with it. On the ascents, he focused on efficient, grounded steps. On the descents, he practiced redirecting momentum rather than surrendering to it. The constant climbing sharpened his control over strength, speed, and endurance far more than any previous training. He also began imitating Radahn. Even without proper techniques, he remembered the old man's movements from their previous spars — the way his shoulders rotated before a punch, the explosive power in his kicks, the perfect balance in every step. Soldret practiced those movements while wearing the cuffs, throwing slow, heavy punches and kicks against trees and boulders, adjusting his stance, and learning how to generate power despite the extra weight. It was clumsy at first. Painful. Frustrating. Many times he lost balance and crashed. But every failure taught him something new. --- The process took almost two months. By the end of the first month with the cuffs,he could complete full round trips in far less time. The cuffs no longer felt like foreign punishment — they became part of his movement. His steps grew heavier but far more grounded. His balance sharpened dramatically. His muscles thickened with new density and resilience. Without the medicinal bath, every bruise and strain healed naturally, making each improvement feel more real. More *his*. On the final day, Soldret stood at the foot of Martial Peak after another full ascent and descent. The cuffs still weighed heavily on his limbs, but he no longer struggled against them. He moved with them. Radahn appeared beside him without warning. The old man studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. "Not bad." Soldret wiped sweat from his brow, breathing steadily. A tired but satisfied grin appeared on his face. "Is