To begin, Ryder looked for something heavy he could use to condition his muscles.

Gym equipment was nonexistent in this world, so Ryder had to come up with ways to make his own. Looking around his chamber, nothing he wanted was in plain sight.

Besides his notes, there were only fragile equipment and substances everywhere. Not giving up, he went to Brigitte and Kade for help.

Brigitte, like him, did not have much besides more equipment. But Kade said he could make a weight rune for him, which was exactly what Ryder was looking for.

A weight rune could either make a person or object heavier or lighter and in this case, Ryder wanted it to make something heavier.

Ryder wanted multiple weight runes since he was planning to progress at a rapid pace. He started with 40 kg weight before working his way by adding 10 kg per additional rune.

In the end, he wanted to have around 20 runes with the cap at 140 kg.

Since a weight rune wasn’t nearly as valuable as a command rune, Kade agreed to his request. He was glad that Ryder seemed to have calmed down.

However, he also told Ryder to return them once he was done using the runes.

Making the weight runes was also relatively simple, and it didn’t take long before Ryder had all the runes in his hand.

He couldn’t carry them all at the same time, so taking multiple trips was required. Ryder noticed that as the weight increased, the difficulty of carrying them grew exponentially, a phenomenon he didn’t quite understand.

Once he was back in his chamber, Ryder placed all the weight runes before him before deciding what to do.

It had been a while since he exercised, and the last time he remembered doing so was back at the castle. But even then, all he had been doing were normal exercises such as push ups and sit ups.

Looking around his chamber, Ryder found a long rod used for creating stands that he used to make his own makeshift barbell. He then attached a 40 kg weight run to each end.

To make his bench, all Ryder did was combine three stools into a straight line. And there it was, his makeshift gym equipment. He took a step back to admire his creation.

Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.

Ryder also created dumbbells that he would use to increase his strength. He also created a weighted vest by sewing pockets into a normal vest and inserting weight runes into it. Doing so would add resistance to his movements and help produce muscle burns.

Finally, it was time to start his intense training routine that will hopefully grant him immense strength.

But before that, Ryder wanted to warm up first. He started by stretching his limbs and then cracking his knuckles.

He also did some jumping jacks and running in place. Before long, Ryder had already spent 30 minutes on warm up alone.

‘This can’t continue.’

He knew he was wasting too much time but he also couldn’t help it.

Ryder was never a gym enthusiast as he was more of a techy kind of person. That’s why he was a bit hesitant to start right away.

Maybe it was the idea of injuring himself, or maybe it was the idea of finally engaging in “real” strength training. The nervousness made him unable to start right away.

However, he also knew that time was running out and the pressure was more than enough to overcome his nervousness.

First, he planned to start on his upper body. He laid down on his bench before placing the makeshift barbell next to him.

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He would be considered a newbie in the gym, but Ryder at least had some knowledge regarding the equipment and what benefits it had.

That was his mistake, not only did he overestimate his knowledge but also the equipment itself.

Ryder was by no means weak, and his strength was comparable to that of a young adult even though he was in his late teens.

But he had only lifted the barbell three times before it crashed down onto his chest.

“Pfft!” Ryder choked.

Thankfully, the barbell hadn’t landed on his neck but rather on his chest thanks to his bad posture, but it was still extremely painful.

Stunned, Ryder hadn’t expected it to be so heavy. He had carried it around just fine, so why did it get so much heavier when he tried benching it?

Shaking his head, he quickly commanded the nanobots to heal him before moving on to the next set of exercises.

He tried wearing the vest, but he also severely underestimated the sheer weight it acted on him. Wearing an 80 kg vest was like carrying a fully grown male adult.

Ryder quickly removed one of the runes to make it 40 kg, but it was still heavier than he could handle.

His inexperience showed, and Ryder knew that, but he couldn’t afford to stop now.

Thinking for a bit, he decided to abandon his pride before taking off the entire vest. He will wear it once he has gained enough strength to use it.

So what if he was weaker than he thought? He just had to work his way up there.

He went back to Kade to request lighter runes, and this time starting from just 20 kg. Kade was a bit annoyed but still complied anyway.

Now equipped with lighter runes, he immediately tried to bench press again. Removing the 40 kg runes and replacing them with 20 kg, he laid down on the bench before lifting the barbell up.

Unlike last time, Ryder was able to lift it at least 20 times before stopping. It was significantly easier than he had imagined.

But by the time he was finished with 3 sets of 20 reps, Ryder felt extremely sore in his triceps and deltoids. He could barely even extend his arm in front of him.

Knowing he couldn’t continue like this, he immediately commanded Epoch and the nanobots to get to work.

The nanobots quickly accelerated the healing of the microtears in Ryder’s muscle fibers, fusing them back together. Since his muscle fibers were being healed at a rapid rate, Ryder felt an unbearable itching sensation in his arm. It was as if there were millions of ants crawling inside his muscles.

However, Ryder could only bear with it. This process was far too important as it would cause his muscles to become stronger than before.

Since the process was relatively simple, it didn’t take long before he was back in peak condition again.

After just half an hour, Ryder felt the itching sensation stop. During this time, he was busy jogging around his chamber, trying to build up his stamina.

Flexing his arm, Ryder felt a bit disappointed at the results. He didn’t feel any stronger than before, even after the nanobots healed his muscles.

‘Is it because I only did 3 sets?’

In his imagination, he thought he’d become a lot stronger after just 3 sets of bench presses. It seemed like a lot to him, but in reality, it was barely enough to enhance his muscles by just a bit.

Ryder groaned out in frustration. He’d barely gotten stronger and the deadline was approaching closer every minute.

Even worse was the fact that he didn’t know just how much he needed to train before truly becoming stronger.

Because of his lack of experience and the added pressure, Ryder trained beyond his limits.

He was scared that if he trained too little, then his muscles wouldn't grow at all.

That's why instead of stopping when his muscles were sore, he kept going till he could no longer raise his arms.

Instead of stopping when his heart was bursting out of his chest, he kept going until his legs gave out.

His enhanced heart allowed him to continue to train beyond his limits, continuously pumping out oxygen throughout his body.

Ryder also commanded Epoch and the nanobots to continue fixing the muscle tears even during his workout, making each training session more efficient.

Although this required him to visit Brigitte more frequently, he didn't care since that meant the nanobots were doing their job to the best of their abilities.

The muscle pain combined with the itching sensation became nearly intolerable, but Ryder continued to persist through.

"If only there were music in this world," Ryder muttered to himself. How he wished he could listen to his favorite songs while working out.

Before long, from the initial routine of doing only 3 sets of 20 reps with 20 kg on each side, Ryder had already advanced to 4 sets of 30 reps with 30 kg on each side before 3 hours had even passed.

That didn't mean he only bench pressed, he also made sure to use the dumbbells to train his biceps.

Now, he was able to curl up to 50 kg on each arm.

Ryder was training like his life depended on it, because it really did.

After he was done with his set of bicep curls, he immediately went back to doing push ups.

The grind never stops.