Only I Am A Reader
chapter-16

"This spot should do."

As Leo let go of the cart's handles, he looked around before taking a deep breath of fresh air, getting ready to start the long-term part of his plan.

His back slightly ached from pulling the cart all the way to a hidden part of the forest, but it wasn't yet time to get an animal to pull it, that was something to worry about once the approaching crisis was dealt with.

"Let's start with a light warm-up."

Pulling out two pieces of metal through the short metal rod that connected them from the back of the cart, Leo swung his right arm a few times before pulling out a similar object with his other hand.

After repeating his movements for a few seconds he switched the position of his arms before swinging his arms once more.

'I didn't expect the first training that I would do in the world would be weightlifting…'

According to most of the fantasy novels that he read, protagonists would usually start by training some 'mysterious practice method' to gain strength, even those who transmigrated from Earth didn't bother using Earth's methods. As such, Leo couldn't help but feel slightly awkward.

Despite that, Leo's plan didn't change much, he still continued warming up using the crude-looking metal dumbbells!

Since he had to deal with the approaching crisis in less than a month in this young body of his, he needed to use whatever method possible.

'Things would have been different if I brought my body along.'

If he were asked to deal with the Fanged Wolves' attack using his first body or at least with access to items from the modern world, things wouldn't have been too complicated. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Unlike fictional time travelers or transmigrators, he didn't have cheats or critical knowledge like a 'mysterious practice method', he wasn't even a novel-jumping protagonist who had a good base start. In fact, Leo couldn't find a proper term to describe himself other than the term used by the 'personal book'.

He was nothing more than a 'Reader'. His only advantage was what he read, whether that be the novel he was currently in or the numerous books he read on Earth.

'I need to build up endurance.'

Although he was doing weightlifting, Leo didn't expect this to increase his strength significantly in just two weeks, that was simply farfetched, especially when he was using weights that only ranged between 2.5 kgs and 5kgs. However, the purpose behind this training was to increase his body's endurance.

Regardless of the actual plan that he planned to act on during the night of the attack, it was obvious that it would put a huge strain on his current young body. Even if territory tactics were used, he was just one person against many. Moreover, his expected enemies had the aid of sword breath while he didn't.

"Hah… hah…"

Thanks to the big favor that Crane owed to Leo, asking for training equipment wasn't that hard. Although they hardly looked anything like modern dumbbells, they still did the job.

'It was only three hours yet it felt like eternity…'

Since he planned to do 'General' training with the target of increasing endurance, Leo decided to designate 3 hours of his day to this training as he relied on repetitions instead of increasing the weight. He wanted to spend more time on it owing to its importance, but that was his limit. After all, too much training was more detrimental than too little training.

Even though Arthur's body wasn't overweight or underdeveloped thanks to his daily working routine, he was still malnourished due to the Orphanage's financial state. Just these three hours made him feel broken all over.

Taking that into consideration, Leo didn't plan to push himself more than it was acceptable to. Besides, there were other tasks that he needed to do in preparation.

Naturally, he didn't dive into the next task immediately, he threw himself on the ground and lied down to rest for the next twenty or so minutes.

'Time to refresh!'

Even though he was feeling very sweaty from the training, Leo had held himself back so his muscles could recover. However, after proper time had passed, he picked up a bucket from the cart and dashed with his exhausted legs towards the stream…

It was time to take a shower!

Despite the fact that showering using a bucket wasn't as comfortable as using a 'shower', Leo anticipated the shower all the same. Nothing felt better than a shower after hitting the gym regardless of the current time, era, or world!

Splash!

"Haaaa…"

Let out a satisfied sigh, Leo wiped away the water as he gradually changed his wet clothes. Now that he had money, he wasn't cheap to himself, especially when it came to something like clothing.

"It's definitely tastier after working out!"

Taking a bite from the meat stuffed bun, Leo couldn't resist pushing the rest of it into his mouth. Although the bun was no longer freshly baked, it tasted at least twice better as an after-training meal!

After eating and resting for half an hour or so, Leo got up once more and headed towards the cart. While his endurance training was over, he wasn't done with 'training' just yet.

The object that he pulled out this time was none other than the prototype sword that Crane had crafted the earlier day! This also became Leo's property thanks to the favor that he chose.

'Now that I think about it… this is my first time holding a real sword.'

Taking the sword out of its sheath, Leo brushed his hand along the blade's flat face, feeling incredibly smooth to his touch.

'Crane's skill is undoubtly nothing to scoff at…'

As he admired Crane's smithing skills, Leo got into a basic stance as he remembered what he read about basic swordsmanship moves.

Although he had yet to become capable of nurturing sword breath, Leo didn't plan to wait till then to train his swordsmanship. He still needed to get used to a sword for the last stand in his 'home defense' plan.

Moreover, he didn't have all the time in the world to waste. Since he would get a low start on sword breath nurturing, he might as well get familiar with sword-wielding in advance.

However, as Leo swung down the sword in a basic chop, also known as a vertical cut, the voice that had been silent since he received his 'personal book' sounded out once more!