“Am I crazy?” Ken asked himself.

  “Maybe I am,” he answered, having thought for a couple of seconds.

  “Ken, I am going to participate in the marathon that is coming up on November 16,” said Andrew.

  “Where does it take place?” Ken asked with curiosity.

  “Calydria,” Andrew replied.

  “Can I come with you?” asked Ken.

  “You are going to run?” Andrew asked, shocked.

  “I haven’t run the marathon, I will just come and watch,” Ken replied.

  “You can run, but it needs a lot of practice, so I am going to skip training with Roger up until the marathon,” he said.

  “Oh, he needs to practice, then only I will train with Roger,” Ken thought.

  “Good luck practising,” he said, even though he would have wanted him to accompany him for the training.

  “I will tell Roger today in the evening training,” Andrew said.

  Then the classes resumed, but Ken wasn’t in the mood to listen to his classes as he was busy thinking about something.

  “He is doing everything he can to achieve his dream. What am I doing?” his self-reflection session began.

  “I don’t have any goal, I don’t know what even to do next year now that I am graduating,” he was concerned.

  “Will I be able to Lucera, Andrew and others, next year?” he couldn’t resist thinking.

  “I wish I could just travel around the world and make a living out of it.” his imagination had no end.

  “I should trust myself,” he finally concluded after over 2 hours.

  After college was over, he went home, freshened things up and left home at 4:30 pm for training.

  “Let’s walk slowly for today,” he muttered while leaving home.

  “Why am I feeling lonely? I am not alone,” his head started hurting.

  He remembered his father’s words and felt something different afterwards.

  “Why am I worried about these things? I don’t have any problems now,” he came back to his present state.

  He reached Roger’s house at 4:55 pm.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “You came early,” was the initial reaction of both Roger and Andrew.

  “You too, Andrew,” he said.

  “I would come early every time,” Andrew replied.

  “What should I teach them, now?” Roger had a thought.

  “I am going to teach you what my coach taught me,” he said after thinking for about 5 minutes.

  “What is it?” Ken felt excited.

  “This is my last training session, I must learn something new,” Andrew thought.

  “Have you both heard of Core Ignis?” Roger asked them.

  “No,” was the answer from both.

  “Let’s say it is power that can be activated from our body,” Roger said.

  “Power from our body,” Ken couldn’t understand.

  “Why do I always remember that whenever I hear the word power?” Andrew thought.

  “Sometimes, we unknowingly use this power due to situations,” Roger started explaining.

  “Some say that our body has as much power as the universe.”

  “No one has fully used these powers, but even using some of them would cause significant impacts.”

  “All powerful people in this world, such as the knights, kings, are using Core Ignis as both a weapon and shield,” he added.

  “Weapon, shield?” Andrew was excited.

  “So, my power is different from this power, huh?” Ken thought.

  “It is harder to control when you are using a lot of power,” Roger muttered.

  “This is forbidden as misusing it might hurt you or the people around you,” he said.

  “I have faith in both of you, so I am training you,” Roger said with a smile.

  “I will become stronger, for sure,” Ken was motivated.

  “I would explain from the fundamentals,” Roger started explaining.

  “The key to this power is our mind, soul and pulse,” he told.

  “Pulse, this feels new, obviously, mind and soul are crucial, I have even seen in many comics,” Andrew’s thoughts.

  “Emotions are wildcards as they sometimes unlock the ceiling, but most of the time, it drains and makes you lose control of it,” Roger said.

  “The calmer you are, the more control you have,” he added.

  “Let’s start with patience, both of you sit here,” he ordered.

  Both Ken and Andrew sat in front of Roger.

  “See that tree for 10 minutes, don’t speak, just see it,” he pointed out the tree in front of them.

  Both followed his order and began seeing the tree.

  “What is this? I thought he would give some actual training,” Ken thought.

  “Is this helpful? Whatever, I would see it,” Andrew was more focused.

  “These 2 have a lot of potential, especially Andrew, as he is more balanced,” Roger was having a thought.

  “This should be a piece of cake, but when you focus on something sincerely, your brain avoids other things; you would have a peaceful mind,” Roger thought this was his reason for this training.

  “Focus is the key to everything,” he muttered.

  Ken wasn’t just seeing, he was thinking about a lot when he looked at the tree.

  “3 minutes might be over; I should get over this pretty easily,” he thought.

  “It’s kind of hard to focus suddenly, the sound of the vehicles, birds are distracting me,” his mind is not really calm at that time.

  “Wow, this is unexpected. I can feel the pleasant air around here; my mind is a lot calmer, now.” Andrew felt the opposite of Ken.

  “Maybe, this was the plan of Roger, to calm down,” he felt more energy just by focusing.

  5 minutes passed, and Ken now has an opportunity to use his power on Roger.

  “I can use it, but I am not feeling it. I need to focus now,” Ken decided not to use his powers.

  9 minutes passed as both Ken and Andrew continued to focus.

  “It is a lot different from then; I am feeling a lot better now,” Ken thought.

  Meanwhile, Andrew hasn’t really thought about anything.

  Roger could see the difference between Ken's and Andrew’s faces.

  10 minutes had gone by, and Roger told them to stop.

  “You both did a good job,” he praised them.

  “Now, you can go home,” he said.

  “Go home?” Ken was shocked.

  “I thought there was more to it,” Andrew was shocked, too.

  Roger saw the faces of both and said, “Tomorrow’s training is not going to be as easy as today. I want you to rest and come fresh tomorrow”.

  Andrew then explained about the marathon.

  “Well, it’s your choice, moving towards your dream is a great thing,” Roger said to Andrew.

  “Good luck, you should give your best,” he said to Andrew.

  “I would, I would return with even more confidence,” Andrew promised Roger.

  Then both Ken and Andrew left for home.

  “Dream, huh? I wish I were young,” Roger thought, smiling.