[This bonus chapter is thanks to Monkk!!!!! Thank you so much man.]
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By the last night before his sixteenth birthday, Rowan could tell which healing potion Sir Luke was opening without looking.
He had learned to dread the one in the green bottle.
Fortunately for him, there was no bottle waiting for him tonight. The training equipment had been put away, and Celeste sat beneath the awning with Adrian while Luke checked the yard.
Rowan rubbed his wrist and remembered how confidently he had spoken about becoming like the Halo of Earth.
Luke hadn't argued with him.
The following morning, he had fastened a weighted belt around Rowan's waist and pointed toward the far wall.
"Run."
That had been the easiest part.
Over the remaining days, Luke fitted weights to his wrists and ankles, then made him climb ropes, crawl beneath low bars, and drag an iron block around the yard. Inscriptions on the equipment let him increase the weight without changing its size.
