The Quest for Guidance

Kael woke early, the first rays of dawn casting a soft glow over the orphanage dormitory. Today marked a significant step in his journey; he would begin a rigorous training exercise to build up his body. He already had a training regiment set up.

Morning Strength and Conditioning

(6:00 am- 8.00 am)

1. Warm up(6:00 AM-6:15 AM)

Light jogging: 5 minutes

Dynamic stretches: 5 minutes

Jumping jacks: 5 minutes

2. Strength Training (6:15am-7:15am)

Monday/Thursday: Upper body

 Push ups: 3 sets of 12 reps

Pull ups: 3 sets of 10 reps

Dips: 3 sets of 10 reps

Plank with shoulder taps: 3 sets of 20 taps

Tuesday/Friday: Lower body

Squats: 3 sets of 20 reps

Lunges: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg

Calf raises: 3 sets of 20 reps

Glute bridges: 3 sets of 15 reps

Wednesday/Saturday

Sit ups: 3 sets of 20 reps

Russian twists: 3 sets of 20 reps

Mountain climbers: 3 sets of 30 seconds

Burpees : 3 sets of 10 reps

3 Agility and Coordination(7:15am-7:45am)

Jump rope: 10 minutes

Side steps, High knees: 10 minutes

Cone drills: 10 minutes

4 Cooldown(7:45am-8:00am)

Deep breathing and relaxation:10 minutes

Stretches: 5 minutes

AFTERNOON: ENDURANCE TRAINING(4:00pm-5:00pm)

1 Cardio(4:00pm-4:30pm)

Monday/Thursday: Running

Warm up: 5 minutes of jogging

Sprints: 10 rounds of 30 seconds

Cool down : 5 minutes

Tuesday/Friday Swimming (if available)

Warm up: 5 minutes of light swimming

Swim laps: 20-30 minutes

Cool down: 5 minutes

Wednesday/Saturday: Cycling

Warm up: 5 minutes of light cycling

Interval cycling: 10 rounds of1 minute fast and 2 minutes slow

Cool down: 5minutes of easy cycling

2 Endurance drills(4:30pm-5:00pm)

Monday/Thursday: Hill sprints

Sprint up: 10 minutes each with breaks of 5 minutes

Tuesday/Friday: Circuit training

Jump squats: 1 minute

Push ups: 1 minutes

Sit ups: 1 minutes

Rest: 1 minutes

Repeat circuit: 3 times

Wednesday/Saturday:

Plank hold: 2 minutes

Wall sit: 2 minutes

High knees: 1 minute

Flexibility and Recovery(6:00pm-6:40pm)

Focus on full body flexibility and relaxation

Include poses such as Downward dog, Cobra, Child's pose and forward bend

Hold each pose for 5 minutes each repeat twice

Sunday: Rest and recovery

With a training regiment already set it was time to begin. He quietly left the bed and walked out into the hallway, making sure not to be seen since the children would be woken up at around 8:00am thus he had enough time to train. He made his way out of the backdoor of the orphanage and crawled through a small opening of the fence before rushing into the forest behind the orphanage.

Once he made it to a clearing he began to train and by the time he was done, he was lying down face first on the ground, his entire body was sore.

"God this is painful." He complained. But knowing it was almost time for the children to wake up, he slowly stood up and made his way back to the orphanage and quietly slipped back into bed before a bell was rung in the hallway.

"Get up children, it's time for breakfast." A voiced shouted.

"Fuck me." Kael cursed.

He stayed under the covers of his bed until Peter came and dragged him out of it. He made his way to the mess hall, where he had a filling breakfast before some of the sister's began on the lessons of the day.

When it became 2:00pm, the children were released to have fun at the playground, while Kael went back to bed to rest up for his exercise's in the afternoon.

Kael continued following the exercises for about three months and he began to notice some difference's, both good and bad. The good part is that his eight year old frame began to gain some muscles, giving him a slightly lean build. The bad part is that he still his having trouble advancing his basic ice manipulation and martial arts training. He tried asking sister Cynthia on how to manipulate mana, but all she said was that he'll learn it when his older.

He has been stressing over this matter since he didn't wish to be caught lacking as the plot of the novel will only begin when first year student's begin attending the number one school for awakened student's, Arcane Hunter Academy, in a few year's time. He already had a good foundation for martial arts but he didn't know how to get started on manipulating mana.

One day, Kael was coming from the local supermarket, it was late in the evening and he decided to take a shortcut through the park to get back to the orphanage faster. As he was halfway through, he saw an old man standing still underneath an old willow tree, staring at the setting sun. Just as Kael was wondering what he was doing the old man took a pose and begun to swing his fists.

It wasn't just moving his fist, but his entire body, he was performing a type of martial arts. Kael just stared in shock as he was entranced, the old man's movement seemed to have captivated him. His movement's were neither fast nor slow, hard nor soft, they seemed to be a perfect blend of harmony, as if the old man was part of nature. Kael didn't seem to understand what he was seeing but he continued to stare, not willing to miss a single detail.

It was after an hour did the old man finally stop and turned to stare at Kael who seemed to be in his own world. Kael finally blinked and shook his head as he came back to reality.

"That was so cool mister!" Kael said excitedly.

The old man was shocked for a bit before he let out a chuckle. "Why thank you young man, glad to see my martial arts can still capture the younger generation's attention."

"Hey mister can you teach me that?" Kael asked.

"Mmh, you want me to teach you martial arts, why?" He asked quizzingly

"I plan on becoming an amazing hunter, but I'm growing up in an orphanage and have no one to teach me." Kael answered.

"Ohohoho, so you plan on becoming a hunter, that's a nice dream to have." He said" How about this if you come here everyday at around this time, I'll teach you my martial arts."

"Really? Alright!" Kael jumped up excitedly.

The old man sent him off and Kael ran back to the orphanage. At the same time the following day Kael came to the park to find the old man waiting for him.

"I'm here master and ready to start!" Kael said excitedly.

That's good, a proper mindset when coming into something is very important." The old man said while nodding slowly. "Now have you been doing any sort of exercise?"

"Yes" Kael answered and proceeded to explain the type of exercises he has been doing.

The old man nodded his head as he slowly stood up and placed two fingers o the center of Kael forehead. Suddenly waves of information flowed into his head as he heard a ding sound.

You have received the Martial Arts Technique: Celestial Wind Dance (Legendary)(Incomplete). Level: 1 -A fluid and graceful technique that mimics the movements of celestial beings, combining elegance with deadly precision.

Kael looked at the system message in shock and slowly looked up at his master who was smiling calmly. Before he could say anything his master spoke first.

"Now let us begin with the basic, now do what I do." His master said.

Kael quickly shook his head and began to listen to his master's instruction, carefully analyzing every single detail.

(Master Winston's pov)

It was just another regular day for me, I was heading to the small park close to my dojo to unwind after a long day. I was just about to start practicing when a young child, of about 8-9 years old stopped walking to stare at me.

I figured he was wondering what an old man like me was doing this late in an almost deserted park this late in the afternoon. I ignored him momentarily and began to practice the core martial arts of my dojo the Celestial Wind Dance.

It was only when I practice this technique do I finally feel free. It was only after an hour was done that I turned back to see the young man still there watching me with an entranced look on his face, looking deeper into his eyes it seemed that he had gained a small understanding of my martial art.

When he noticed I was done he ran to me asking me to teach him, after asking him a few questions I figured that there will be no harm in teaching him since he was able to gain an understanding behind it. 

The following afternoon he came back to the park and passed down half of my technique to him, I wished to test him, in both his comprehension and character. Soon we began to practice and I can proudly say that I've never seen such a talented young man, he took my teachings in stride, absorbing every piece of knowledge I gave too him. My granddaughter was the same but this boy's talent was a level above hers. 

Soon I brought him to my dojo to train him earnestly, after talking to the Sisters taking care of him at the orphanage and assuring them that they wouldn't have to pay for his lessons, they agreed. Since he was the same age as my granddaughter it will be a good thing to be each other's sparring partner and they can keep pushing themselves as they grow.

A few months have gone by and I must say this boy is the definition of a prodigy, whether it be weapon's training, mental training or even hand-to- hand combat, he took everything in stride and went above and beyond my expectations, even my granddaughter began to train earnestly as soon as he became her sparring partner and rival.

These children will surely go far in the future and I feel nothing but pride as I watched them grow up into the future pillar's of humanity. I truly hope I will live long enough to watch them shine brightly.