"A good blacksmith and a tailor, I need those two." His body needs constant pressure to improve all the time; weight bands and cloth fitted with heavy materials will do just that.

He himself doesn't have the expertise to create such objects; he needs a professional. Arriving at the home of the only blacksmith in the village, he knocks on the wooden door.

The door clacks open, and from inside comes a short but bulky man with well-defined muscles and thick facial hair, looking like a dwarf.

"Ooh! Master Shen, good evening. What could have been the occasion for you to come to my humble hut?" he asks while bowing his head out of respect for the old gentleman.

"It's nothing special. I just had a request for you, blacksmith-kun."

"Please do so, Master Shen. What would you like me to make? I will put my whole heart into it if it's for you, sir!" he thumps his chest.

"I need you to make me a heavy back weight that I can carry like a backpack, something like a turtle's shell. Along with that, I need a pair of heavy arm, shoulder, and leg pads. They need to be easy to put on and shouldn't hamper my movements."

"Lastly, I want you to work with the tailor and make me a set of heavy, full-body attire."

For a moment, the blacksmith is overwhelmed by such requests, but then he claps his face with both of his palms and focuses his eyes on the old hermit, wondering why he would need a set of heavy armor instead of light and nimble ones.

However, it is beyond a common man like him to comprehend the workings of a hermit's mind. His only job is to fulfill his customer's request.

"The first part of your request is easy to fulfill, but the latter is hard and complicated. Heavy clothes... I haven't made such a thing in my entire life... but as this is your request, Master Shen, I will try my best."

Shen shows a satisfied smile. "That will do... there is a first time for everything. I am sure you can do it."

Even if the villagers couldn't complete the second request, Shen could just go to the city, so it wasn't a very big deal. Though currently, he was in no mood to leave the school; he wants to first properly adjust to this new body and reality.

The blacksmith, heartfelt by the trust, happily takes the measurements of Master Shen.

Before leaving the place, he assures the blacksmith not to worry about the cost. In his long life, Crane Hermit had accumulated quite the wealth, and even if that were to someday run out, he had other methods for the future.

"I will now pay a visit to the tailor. Farewell." He heads to the tailor shop and again explains his request to the tailor too.

Completing what he wanted to do in the village, he returns to the school.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

In only two weeks after the request, his first set of training equipment is completed. During that time, he had trained while carrying stones and smashing rocks. This in itself had been a rather fruitful endeavor.

Though for better efficiency, the heavy weights are certainly better.

The training set didn't disappoint Shen. The five-centimeter-thick arm and leg weights are quite heavy in themselves, and with the addition of the heavy back weight, they are more than 400 kg altogether.

Putting on the heavy weights, he feels his muscles pulled down due to gravity. Although not at the level to immediately tire out a person of his caliber, if worn for a long period of time, the accumulated pressure will give even a master like him a hard time.

He walks out of his personal courtyard and goes into the large, unoccupied rocky ground. The mountaintop is rather wide, so there won't be anyone to disturb him here.

Just as he is about to throw a kick, the ground starts shaking as loud squalling and hollering of a giant creature can be heard...

As he looks behind, he sees an animal that looks like a giant purple hog with two branch-like horns and a pair of butterfly wings, galloping on its hooves.

"Inoshikacho!"

Rushing up to its master, the pig takes a sudden break, lifting up a small dust cloud in front of it. "Oink!"

The pig slowly bows its head in a respectful manner, totally contradicting its beastly appearance.

"Haven't seen you for a while. How were your days roaming around the forest? You were gone for nearly two weeks; I was sure you became someone's dinner."

The pig jerks its head and grunts, implying the joke isn't funny.

"Hahahah!" He laughs, confusing the pig. The Master Shen it knew rarely laughed, and even if he did, it would be a mocking, smug laugh. This genuine laugh reminded the pig of the old days, when it was just a piglet and its master was a lot more joyful.

The pig starts tearing up a little. "Huh? Oi, what happened? You want a mate or something?" He soothes the pig, patting its head and rubbing its back like it's some kind of dog.

After a minute or so, the pig walks away, hopping around with joy, finally letting its master start his training.

First, to test his strength, he starts off by throwing some kicks and punches in the air. Spinning and jumping, he checks his agility with the extra weights on.

Most of the time, the training he does isn't really unique or groundbreaking. They are just your regular old pushups, sit-ups, and such. Simple and common exercises are always the effective and useful ones.

The only exercise noteworthy enough is the different balancing exercises he does, such as one-arm handstands and meditating while stabilizing on only a single set of toes.

Absorbed in his desire to get stronger, another four mundane weeks go by like a packet of potato chips inside a fatty's belly. He didn't even notice it.

Today, his students deliver him the newly made heavy cloth he had requested. They had done a great job.

The dress includes a heavy but comfortable cap; this one has no weird crane figurine at the top. There's a long black tunic with red borders, a sleeveless vest coat to wear outside the tunic, and a pair of heavy wristbands and slip-on shoes worn by martial artists. And of course, a regular-looking black pant.

"The blacksmith and especially the tailor have really outdone themselves. Who knew there were such talents in this out-of-nowhere village."

Muscles tweak and bones compress as he walks. When he runs, the ground itself starts shaking. The combined weight on him has now nearly reached 700 kilograms.

"This is perfect. The strength exerted while moving around with these heavy weights stimulates most muscle fibers in my body. But this may be a little too much, even for me." He shakes his head and shuts his mouth. Gulp! He takes a deep breath, then exhales all his doubts and uncertainty.

After his mind freshens up, he continues on with his daily training. Nothing other than the weights he carries has changed. With heavier weights, he will just have to take a longer time to do each exercise.