The next day, Uncle Silva woke up early and went to Tini Bras's room to wake him up, but he was not there. Silva smiled calmly, realizing that the boy had woken up before him and had already gone to train.
Silva walked into the training hall and called out to him, asking him to follow.
Tini Bras asked in confusion,
"Where are we going?"
But Silva did not answer.
Instead, he walked toward one corner of the training hall and began examining the stone floor carefully. After a moment, he lifted one of the floor stones that was not firmly fixed.
Tini Bras was surprised and quickly moved closer to help him. He lifted the second stone, then the third, and finally the fourth. Beneath them were four stone pieces shaped like keys.
At the center of the hall stood a massive statue of a dragon staring straight ahead.
Silva approached the statue and noticed a symbol carved near its right leg.
He carefully moved the statue's right leg, revealing a lock that perfectly matched the stone keys they had found.
Silva inserted the key and opened the lock. Another symbol appeared, written in a strange and ancient language.
Silva took an old piece of paper from his pocket and sat down on the ground, carefully analyzing the symbols.
Hours passed.
Tini Bras began to feel bored from the long wait.
Finally, Silva stood up and said,
"I found it."
He stood at the statue's right foot and walked seven steps forward in a straight line, then turned two steps to the left.
There, he found a symbol carved on the floor pointing toward the wall.
Silva approached the wall and began pressing the stones one by one.
Suddenly…
One of the stones flipped inward with a faint sound.
Tini Bras stepped back in surprise.
Behind the stone was an old iron lever covered in dust.
Silva grabbed it slowly and said,
"Get ready."
He pulled the lever down.
At that moment, the floor of the training hall began to tremble slightly. The sound of ancient stones grinding against each other echoed through the hall.
Grrrrrrrr…
The floor slowly split open, revealing a staircase leading deep underground.
Tini Bras stared in shock as a cold wind rose from the darkness below.
Silva said calmly,
"This place has been hidden for decades."
Then he began walking down the stairs.
Tini Bras followed him.
At the bottom, they arrived at a vast underground chamber that looked like a giant stone labyrinth.
Silva looked at Tini Bras and said,
"This place is one of the secret training grounds where the greatest warriors of the Kingdom of Salimar once trained.
If you want to increase your strength quickly, this is the perfect place."
On one of the walls was an ancient inscription carved into the stone.
Tini Bras walked closer and began reading.
The place contained six types of training, each leading through a separate corridor to a sealed training room.
He read quietly:
First: Body Training
To strengthen the muscles and bones so the body can withstand the power of warriors.
Second: Spirit Training
To push the spirit to its absolute limits.
Third: Meditation Training
To control inner energy and calm the mind.
Fourth: Bone-Breaking Training
A brutal training method that destroys the body so it can be rebuilt stronger than before.
Tini Bras shivered slightly when he read this part.
Then he continued.
Fifth: Entity Training
A mysterious training meant to strengthen the very essence of a person, where the body, spirit, and energy merge into one existence.
Finally...
Sixth: King's Training
There was no explanation for this one.
Only a single sentence was written beneath it:
"Only those born to rule can survive this training."
A chill ran through Tini Bras's body.
Silva looked at him and said,
"Start with Body Training."
Then Silva left the underground chamber, confident that Tini Bras could handle the challenge.
Tini Bras began the first stage of Body Training.
In front of him was a massive stone, ten times larger than his own body.
He bent down and tried to lift it.
But it did not move.
He tried again.
And again.
Sweat poured down his face as his arms trembled from the effort.
Days passed.
Then weeks.
One day, Tini Bras let out a loud shout as he pushed with all his strength.
The stone finally moved.
After three weeks of constant effort, he finally managed to lift it.
But he knew the hardest part had not begun yet.
The second stage began.
He tied a rope around the stone and started dragging it through the long corridor for twenty meters.
At first, the stone moved slowly.
After only a few meters, intense pain tore through his muscles.
The skin on his hands cracked, and blood began to appear on his palms.
On the first day, he collapsed from exhaustion.
He stared at the ceiling while breathing heavily.
He almost gave up.
But the image of his mother appeared in his mind.
He tightened his grip on the rope and whispered,
"I won't give up…"
He stood up again.
After six days of relentless effort, he finally managed to drag the stone to the end of the corridor.
At that moment, he realized something important.
Willpower can achieve the impossible.
The final stage remained.
Tini Bras stepped into a stone pool filled with boiling hot water.
The moment his body touched the water, it felt as if his skin was burning.
He screamed in pain.
But Silva's words echoed in his mind:
"If you leave now… all your training will mean nothing."
Tini Bras clenched his teeth and remained in the water.
Hours passed slowly.
It felt as if his entire body was on fire.
But after many hours, he suddenly felt a strange energy moving through his veins.
It was as if the blood inside his body had begun to awaken.
Suddenly—
A small burst of energy spread from his body.
He opened his eyes in shock.
He had finally broken through to the first stage:
Blood Awakening.
After finishing the training, Silva told him to take three days of rest so his body could recover.
Tini Bras went to a nearby town, where he met Emilia from the Veradis family.
She smiled and asked,
"Are you ready for the competition that will take place in a month for the noble families?"
Tini Bras stood there in shock.
It was the first time he had heard about such a competition.
Emilia began explaining the details to him.
Tini Bras also noticed that the people in the Kingdom of Salimar seemed unusually restless and noisy.
He asked Emilia about the reason.
She replied,
"Prince Jack, the king's son and the crown prince, wants to marry Lara from the Kars family."
Tini Bras thanked Emilia for the information he did not know before and then returned to the castle.