Morning arrived quietly at the church in Hage Village.
But today felt slightly different.
The younger children were already gathered around the long wooden table, whispering excitedly.
"Are they ready yet?" Nash asked impatiently.
Sister Lily smiled softly as she placed another dish on the table.
"Be patient."
Today was special.
It was the day both Asta and Yuno had been found at the church ten years ago.
Their birthday.
The celebration was simple, just like everything else in the village.
There was no cake.
But the table held more food than usual.
Fresh eggs from the chicken coop.
Goat milk.
Warm bread.
Even roasted quail.
Warm honey bread brought from the nearby villages
To the children, it felt like a feast.
Asta scratched the back of his head awkwardly as everyone stared at him.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Nash grinned.
"Because you're old now!"
"I'm ten, not fifty."
Yuno sat quietly beside him as usual, eating calmly while the other kids laughed.
Father Orsi raised his cup slightly.
"Well then," he said warmly, "happy birthday to both of you."
The children cheered.
For a short moment the church felt brighter than usual.
---
That night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Asta lay awake on his bed staring at the wooden ceiling.
Ten years old.
Five years had passed since the day his memories from another life had awakened.
Five years of training.
Running.
Climbing.
Fighting.
Most people from his previous world wouldn't last a week doing what he had done.
Even in his old life, he had been the type of person who started exercising with excitement… only to stop after a few days.
So why had he managed to continue for five years here?
Asta thought about it quietly.
Then he realized something.
His Limit Break Physique didn't only heal his body.
Every night when he slept, the soreness disappeared.
The fatigue vanished.
And every morning…
felt like the first day of training again.
No exhaustion.
No mental burnout.
It was as if his body and mind reset every night.
"…So that's why."
He sat up slowly.
If his body could recover endlessly…
Then maybe he had been training only half of what he could.
Until now he had focused almost entirely on strengthening his body.
But real fights required more than strength.
They required awareness.
Reaction.
Thinking while moving.
"…Then I should train that too."
Asta lay back down again with a small smile.
"Starting tomorrow."
---
The next morning began the same way it always did.
Asta finished his regular training first.
Running through the forest paths.
Strength training.
Climbing trees.
Swimming in the river.
All the exercises he had repeated for years.
Only after finishing those did he begin the new training he had decided on the night before.
The first exercise started during his run.
Asta sprinted through the forest path at full speed.
Branches rushed past his face.
Roots and stones constantly appeared under his feet.
But today he added something new.
"Three steps… inhale."
His breathing followed the rhythm of his running.
"Three steps… exhale."
At the same time he counted each step in his mind.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
A low branch suddenly swung into his path.
Asta bent his body and slipped under it without slowing down.
Twelve.
Thirteen.
Fourteen.
Maintaining the rhythm while running through the forest required intense focus.
If he lost count, he forced himself to start again from one.
It was far more mentally exhausting than normal running.
But that was the point.
---
Later that day he moved to the river.
Large rocks surrounded the water, and tall trees cast shadows across the area.
Asta climbed into a hollow section of a tree trunk near the riverbank.
From the outside it looked like nothing more than a broken tree.
Inside, it was the perfect hiding place.
He sat quietly and closed his eyes.
This was the second exercise.
Listening.
Animals often came to the river to drink.
With his eyes closed, Asta focused on every sound around him.
The wind brushing through leaves.
Water moving over stones.
Tiny insects buzzing near the surface.
At first the sounds blended together.
It was difficult to separate them.
Then a faint rustle came from the grass.
Soft steps.
Light weight.
Probably a rabbit.
Another sound followed.
Two quick wing beats.
Birds landing somewhere near the water.
But while focusing on those sounds, something else happened.
A quiet movement passed through the bushes not far away.
Asta didn't notice it.
Several seconds later the bushes moved again.
That was when he opened his eyes.
A long snake slowly slid through the grass, its body moving silently over the leaves.
Asta stared at it for a moment.
"…Missed that."
He hadn't noticed the first movement at all.
Only the second one.
Which meant his awareness still wasn't sharp enough.
He leaned back inside the hollow tree.
"Guess I still have a lot to improve."
---
Later that afternoon he approached Yuno.
Yuno stood quietly near the clearing, practicing his wind magic.
"Hey."
Yuno looked up.
"What?"
"I need help with training."
Asta pointed toward a pile of stones nearby.
"Use your wind magic to launch those at me."
Yuno blinked.
"…You want me to throw rocks at you."
"Not one by one," Asta said quickly. "Try two or three at once."
The wind around Yuno's hand began to swirl.
Several stones lifted from the ground.
The air vibrated slightly as Yuno focused.
Then—
Two stones shot toward Asta from different directions.
Asta twisted his body immediately.
One stone passed near his shoulder.
The other flew past his legs.
Before he could relax, a third stone launched toward his back.
He jumped forward just in time.
"Hey! That one was sneaky!"
Yuno's expression remained calm.
But the wind around him grew stronger.
More stones lifted from the ground.
This time three flew at once.
Asta's body reacted instantly.
He ducked.
Stepped sideways.
Then twisted away from another stone.
The clearing filled with the sound of rocks striking the ground.
For Yuno, the exercise improved his control over multiple streams of wind magic.
For Asta, it forced his body to react to attacks coming from different directions.
After several minutes Asta finally dropped onto the grass, breathing heavily.
"…Alright," he muttered, staring at the sky. "This training might actually kill me."
Yuno lowered his hand as the wind faded.
But a faint smile appeared on his face.
Their training had just become far more interesting.
And for Asta…
this was only the beginning of training his mind.