I hunched over with my hands on my knees, panting. Despite the light training uniform I wore, I felt hot. Light from the noon sun bore down upon me, harsh and merciless, which didn’t help. Sweat dripped down my face and coated my back. A cool breeze blew through, rustling the leaves of the nearby trees and bringing with it sweet relief. My heart beat against my chest like a drum. A bitter, metallic taste coated my tongue. My body ached all over in protest. I felt a little light-headed.

“You have rather poor stamina, Lord Gabriel.” Leroy said.

I glanced over at him. He stood next me, holding out an enchanted steel canteen. To my annoyance, despite going through the same training regime as me, he looked fine. He hadn’t even broken a sweat. To him, it barely counted as a warm up. Envy filled me.

“Shut up.” I said, snatching the canteen out of his hand. “It’s not my fault that the previous owner of this body was in such poor shape.”

I opened the canteen and took a drink. It was enchanted to keep its contents cool and clean, something I desperately needed after the training I went through. The water inside tasted divine, instead of metallic. After I finished drinking, I let out a satisfied sigh.

“Weren’t you the previous owner of this body, Lord Gabriel?” Leroy asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I gave him a sideways glance.

“That was twenty five years ago,” I said. “It doesn’t count.”

“Hmm.” Leroy regarded me with a deadpan expression on his face.

I shook my head, before taking a look around. The two of us were at the newly constructed training ground for the Northern Annex. It was a few days after the rather enlightening conversation with my parents. A lot had happened during that time.

After some discussion, my parents and I decided that it would be best if I moved into the Northern Annex, so I could focus on my training in private. While certain members of House Sturm knew about murim, the rest remained ignorant. We decided it was best if we kept it that way, at least for now.

At first, my father was against the idea. The Northern Annex was reserved for troublemakers, as well as scions who had fallen out of favor. Thanks to the debacle with Timothy Jeffers, he argued that it would seem as if he were punishing me in order to appease the vassals, which would send the wrong message. My reputation was already low enough as it was. This would just make it worse.

However, my mother and I convinced him in the end. The benefits of moving to the Northern Annex outweighed the downsides. Besides, I no longer cared about what the rest of House Sturm thought of me. It wasn’t as if I planned on becoming the next patriarch. My parents loved me and supported me. That was all I needed.

To maintain my privacy, we decided against sending any servants to live with me. They showed up twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, for cleaning. Otherwise, they steered clear of the place. After spending twenty five years on Earth, I knew how to take care of myself, so I didn’t need any servants to look after me. 

However, my parents didn’t want me to live in the Northern Annex by myself, so they assigned Leroy as my personal bodyguard. This was for my protection, and to keep up appearances. I was still a scion of House Sturm, which meant I needed to maintain certain standards.

Like his mother, Leroy was a martial artist. This made him the perfect bodyguard for me. It was also something of a family tradition. Leroy’s mother protected mine, while he protected me.

Rather than keep Leroy in the dark, which could result in misunderstandings, I decided to tell him the truth about my transmigration. At first he was skeptical. However, his mother convinced him that I wasn’t lying or delusional. It helped that I displayed knowledge of mana cores and martial arts.

After Leroy and I relocated the Northern Annex, my father hired a team of builders to clear a training space for us. Not every wizard focused on combat. In fact, most of them didn’t. There were all sorts of professions out there.

In less than a day, the builders cleared out a part of the forest that surrounded the Northern Annex and set up a training ground for Leroy and I. This included all sorts of equipment, including training weapons enchanted to feel like real ones.

Ah, the power of money and magic. With enough of both, anything was possible.

Over the next few days, I developed a routine. In the mornings and afternoons, I trained and pushed my body to its limits. However, to my annoyance, I had to take frequent breaks due to my abysmal stamina. It was improving, but I still found it frustrating.

In the evenings, I either brushed up on my knowledge of Lumina, or talked with Leroy to learn more about murim. While I knew a bit about how it worked on First Murim, thanks to Teacher, this was Lumina. Things worked a little differently here.

Thanks to the Accords, anything related to murim and the Clans had to remain secret. While some of it was out in the open, such as the Adventurers Guild, the rest remained hidden.

The Martial Arts Alliance, made up of the most powerful martial arts Clans, governed murim. They enforced its laws, including the Accords, and kept the other martial artists in check. The Martial Arts Alliance also kept the Houses from interfering with murim too much. This required a delicate balance, since many of the Clans were intertwined with the Houses. In some cases, a Clan was also a House, and vice versa.

Unlike First Murim, there weren’t any martial arts sects. There were only the martial arts Clans. However, murim consisted of more than just martial artists. Like with wizards, not everyone specialized in combat. There were a number of merchants, artisans, and other folk who made a living by providing services to martial artists.

Some of them were related to the Clans, but the majority were regular Luminians who were aware of murim’s existence one way or another. As Grand Priest Darius said, things weren’t so clear cut between mainstream Luminian society and murim.

Joanne was one such person. In fact, as a healer, her services were in high demand. Martial artists lived dangerous lives, and a good healer could mean the difference between survival and death. According to Leroy, several Clans offered Joanne a ridiculous amount of money to get her to work for them. However, she rejected all of them to follow my mother.

Leroy also told me about a number of places where members of murim congregated and interacted with one another. Taverns, underground markets, entertainment venues, and so on. There were even special events, such as tournaments and festivals.

I was surprised when I learned just how developed and expansive murim was. It was as if there was another world, hidden just beneath the surface of mainstream Luminian society. However, after giving it some thought, it made sense. Murim had existed for millennia. It would be stranger if it hadn’t grown to this extent.

I wondered what Lumina would have been like if the Accords hadn’t forced the Clans and martial artists to hide their existence. Would it have resembled First Murim, or would it have developed in a different direction? I didn’t know, and speculating about “What ifs…?” was a useless endeavor.

As I drank from the enchanted canteen, I glanced at Leroy. He stood off to the side with a neutral expression on his face.

“You can continue training.” I said. “You don’t have to stand there and do nothing while I’m taking a break. Go at your own pace instead of matching mine.”

Leroy shook his head.

“Lady Sturm ordered me to look after you, Lord Gabriel.” He said.

I snorted.

“I can look after myself. I don’t need you to babysit me.” I shrugged. “Besides, honing your skills and growing your strength counts as fulfilling your duties. The more powerful you become, the better you can protect me.”

Leroy looked tempted by this, but still hesitated.

“Remember that you are my personal bodyguard now.” I said. “As long as they don’t harm House Sturm, my orders take precedence over my mother’s.”

That convinced him.

“Very well,” Leroy said, “I shall continue my training. If you need anything, let me know, Lord Gabriel.”

With that, he walked over to the weapons rack that held all the training weapons and picked up a wooden two-handed greatsword, which looked like the Scottish claymore’s bigger, beefier cousin. Afterwards, he walked over to an empty area nearby and started practicing.

Despite the greatsword’s size, Leroy wielded it with ease. While there were some flaws, his movements were quick and smooth overall. His swings were powerful. In a real fight, he would be a terror to face. I looked forward to sparring with him, after I formed my mana core.

I scowled. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Based on my current progress, it would take about a year before my body was fit enough, and that was rather fast. Back on Earth, it had taken me three years, even with Teacher’s help. 

Still, I couldn’t complain too much. A year was fine. It could’ve taken me much longer. Part of the reason why I was progressing much faster this time around was that I was drawing on my own knowledge and experience rather than relying on someone else’s. As Brandon Norwood, I reached a high level of mastery, which was paying off now.

Another reason was my current body. I was the descendant of a storm dragon. They were mighty beings who wielded strong magic. However, they also had strong bodies. There was a reason why everyone regarded them as the rulers of the sky.

I inherited some of that strength. Not only would it take me less time to form a mana core, but I would be stronger than the average martial artist. I even had the potential to surpass the heights I reached as Brandon Norwood. Now that was something I looked forward to.

Tsk. This made me want to slap my past self even more. Why was I such an idiot during my first life? So much wasted potential. Oh well, nothing to do about it now.

Once I regained my breath, I put the enchanted canteen aside and went over to resume my training. However, I heard faint footsteps approaching. I looked over and watched as my mother and Caitlyn rounded a corner and came into sight.

Departing from her usual attire, my mother wore a white blouse and a pair of black trousers. Both were still stylish, but also practical. My mother also had her hair tied up in a simple ponytail. Caitlyn, on the other hand, wore her red and black outfit.

The two of them approached the training ground and stopped a few feet away from me. Leroy noticed their arrival, but remained focused on his training.

“Mother,” I said, “This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

My mother pouted.

“What? Is there something wrong with coming over to visit my own son? We haven’t seen each other in days. You haven’t left the Northern Annex since you moved in, so I decided to visit you myself.” She sniffed. “However, if you’re unhappy to see me, I’ll just turn around and head back to the main building."