(A single day later, Leo's POV, The Ti Stilled World)
The relocation happened quickly.
Within a day of making the decision, Leo had already begun shifting
his family and the closest inner circle of the Cult into the Ti Stilled World, as he restricted access to the entrance routes and reduced external communication to the bare minimum necessary for
governance.
For the rest of the universe, the Cult Master had simply vanished.
But inside the mana rich expanse of the Ti Stilled World, Leo began preparing for the most important years of his life.
His routine beca ruthless.
The first major change he implented was to double his daily contemplation sessions.
Previously, the projection of the Tiless Assassin had only allowed him to contemplate the secret of ti for one hour a day, however, Leo now began to defy him, as he ditated inside the fourth dinsion for two hours a day instead.
"You are wasting your ti."
The projection said, as at first he did not take kindly to Leo's defiance.
"You do not yet possess the ntal maturity required to extract aning through brute force alone.
You need patience and consistency."
The projection warned, yet despite his protests, Leo continued to do as he pleased.
In the blink of an eye, a hundred days passed within the Ti Stilled
World, and although Leo made no tangible progress in
comprehending the law of ti, where he did make progress was in grooming Caleb.
Ever since the incident on Ixtal, Leo realized the necessity to train his boys to beco warriors that could fend for themselves, and hence, he got rid of Caleb's tutor and instead began to teach the boy himself.
Every morning before the pale light of the Ti Stilled World brightened the endless plains, Leo would take Caleb to the training grounds where their routine began.
At first, the boy had been excited by the prospect of training with his father, imagining thrilling combat and heroic victories.
However, Leo's training was nothing like the gas Caleb had imagined.
Instead of excitent, there was repetition.
Endless repetition.
Footwork drills across the stone platform, balance exercises while holding weighted rods, and striking the sa wooden target again and again until the boy's small arms trembled uncontrollably.
"Again," Leo would say calmly, his tone steady and unwavering as Caleb swung the wooden practice dagger forward.
The boy struck the target.
"Again."
Another strike followed, slower this ti as fatigue began creeping into Caleb's limbs.
"Again."
At first Caleb tried to keep up with enthusiasm, pushing himself through the drills with the determination to impress his father, but as the days turned into weeks the excitent slowly faded.
Leo did not praise him easily, nor did he tolerate half-hearted effort.
If Caleb's stance faltered, Leo corrected it imdiately, and if his strikes slowed even slightly, Leo made him repeat the exercise from the beginning.
Because to Leo, discipline was not negotiable.
By the hundredth day of training, Caleb's exhaustion finally caught up with him.
The boy stood on the training platform gripping the wooden practice blade with both hands, his small chest rising and falling rapidly while sweat ran down his temples.
His legs trembled beneath him and his arms shook violently as the weight of the training finally overwheld his young body.
"Again," Leo said.
Caleb lifted the blade slowly.
His hands quivered violently as he attempted to take a step forward, but halfway through the motion his strength failed him.
The wooden dagger slipped from his fingers and clattered against the stone floor.
Caleb looked down at his trembling hands before slowly raising his gaze toward Leo, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"I... I cannot, Father. My body... it just will not move anymore."
Leo remained silent as the boy's shoulders sagged under the weight
of exhaustion.
"I am trying," Caleb said quietly, his voice thick with fatigue and
frustration.
"But I cannot."
A long silence stretched between them.
"I am not a great warrior like you, Father," Caleb said after a mont,
shaking his head slowly, as Leo finally let out a deep sigh.
"You do not need to be a Great Warrior to be in command of your own
mind.
It doesn't matter to if you pass out while training today.
I myself must have passed out dozens of tis when I was first.
beginning.
However, you need to show that your will power is greater than
your fatigue."
Leo demanded, as Caleb felt a small tear run down his cheek.
"But.... I am not a Cult Master like you, nor am I a conqueror of
worlds."
The boy lowered his gaze again, his voice small and uncertain.
"I am just a child."
For a mont Leo studied him quietly, his expression unreadable as
the boy struggled to steady his breathing.
Then Leo stepped forward.
"Listen carefully, Caleb," he said, his voice calm but firm enough to
command the boy's full attention.
"They call a Cult Master, but they forget sothing very important
about how such titles are earned."
"Cult Masters are made."
"They are not born."
Leo crouched slightly so that his eyes were level with Caleb's.
"Before I conquered lands, I had to conquer myself, and before I could defeat armies I had to defeat my own fear."
Caleb listened silently as Leo continued speaking.
"I learned very early in life that the world does not reward the loud or
the talented."
"It rewards discipline."
"The person who can command his own mind can command
anything."
Leo pointed toward the fallen wooden dagger resting on the stone
floor.
"You think strength cos from victory," he said slowly, "but that is not where true strength is born."
"Strength cos from the nights when nobody believes in you, from
the monts when your body tells you to stop but your will commands it to move."
Leo tapped lightly against Caleb's chest.
"Inside you there is a kingdom, Caleb. It is small right now, but it
belongs entirely to you."
"In that kingdom, doubt is the enemy, fear is the devil, and discipline
must beco the law that governs everything."
The boy stared up at him quietly.
"If you cannot rule that kingdom," Leo continued softly, "then you will
never rule anything else."
"Not your dreams."
"Not your future."
"Not even your own life."
Caleb's breathing slowed slightly as he listened.
"When the world questions you, when obstacles block your path, and
when your own mind tells you that this is sothing you cannot do.....
that is precisely the mont when your will needs to stand firm."
Leo's voice hardened.
"That is the point where you tell your mind to be silent, and let your
ego push you beyond your limits."
He leaned closer.
"You tell your mind.... You are not there to be stopped."
"You are there to carve your na into eternity."
The training ground fell silent.
For several long seconds Caleb did not move, the weight of Leo's
words settling deep within his young mind.
Then slowly, the boy bent down and picked up the wooden dagger
again. His arms still trembled and his legs still shook beneath him, yet his
stance steadied slightly as he lifted the blade once more.
"Again?" Caleb asked quietly. Leo nodded once.
"Again."
And the boy stepped forward.
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