At the break of dawn, Rob was wide awake inside his room. He sat on the ground with crossed legs while numerous potion vials, some big, some small, were laid out in front of him in neat lines.

He yawned and rubbed his messy black hair. On the ground, herbs and plants were hovering above the ground by a few inches as a strange mystical power exerted its influence on them.

From the bright and colorful plants out came liquid extracts or finely chopped leaves. Beneath it, a small flame sparked into existence as the ingredients reacted near-instantaneously to the fire. Gas rose to the air while the chopped herbs were charred to a crisp.

Rob’s eyes shone brightly as he adeptly manipulated the materials with art-like ease. He then grabbed a potion bottle and willed the white gas and charred plants to enter the glass vial.

It was almost over, the potion is near completion. Only a few steps were left.

Inside a giant container, clear water floated into the air and entered the glass vial in Rob’s hands. With his divine sense, he mixed the ingredients thoroughly while raising the temperature inside so that the water would boil.

The charred herbs melted into a colorless liquid. As soon as it happened, Rob slowly lowered the temperature and allowed the gas hovering above the liquid to return back to its liquid state. When it mixed into the solution, Rob was left with a cloudy white liquid with no aroma or taste.

That’s one… Rob arched his back as he placed a cap on the vial and moved on to the next potion. He had a long morning ahead of him, so he might as well finish quickly so he can move on with his other projects.

…

A few hours into the morning, after having his hearty breakfast, Rob put on his shoes and grabbed the handle of the door. He looked back into the house and shouted, “I’m heading out now!”

“Okay!” Vivia shouted from the living room as she read a thick book in silence, enjoying the nice change of pace away from paperwork or any kind of work for that matter. This Sunday, she’ll have the entire morning to herself!

9:15 a.m… Considering I’m an Apprentice Knight already because of the surge of mana yesterday, I would need heavier weights to induce proper hypertrophy, but since I’ve never worked out in my entire life inside this body, it wouldn’t take that long to completely wreck my body.

I’ve already got all of my potions set. Now, all that’s left is to drink them!

Rob wore a dubious grin as he pulled out one of his most valuable creations yet. A potion that would sell like hotcakes back in his original world before he got entangled with the mess known as death and the need for power. This was a potion that would, in a sense, overcome his latent lack of talent.

STEROIDS! SUPREME STEROIDS OF PURE GAINS! Rob shrieked in his mind as he looked up to the bright blue sky with teary eyes. This is the insane shit right here. Argh, even in my first life, it took me years to build my dream physique, now I’ll only need a month at most!

But that’s not all! Rob pulled out more potions from his pocket. Fat Burner Potion, Pain Dulling Potion, Energy Drink Potion, and Muscular Hypertrophy Potion!

Rob unhesitatingly pulled the caps off the vials and downed them one by one as a strange sensation overwhelmed him. It was as if a fire was burning deep within his body, and he needed to expunge that flame!

His fingers twitched as he hurried over to the distant streets, his heart thumping loudly with each step as if the entire world was shaking in every single moment he breathed and lived. He soon found himself in front of a rich-people-looking gym, with clean white walls and a golden entrance, and a sign with bold letters that can be read as “Golden Weights Gym.”

Ha… yeah, golden weights indeed. Next month, I’ll have to pay a gold coin for the membership. Sigh, Papa sure is treating himself well going to a gym like this.

Rob shook his head and entered the gym post-haste. In stark contrast to the hot noble lads or the big booty lasses wearing rich-people gym clothes, he appeared as normal as you can get, wearing a plain white shirt and black pants that revealed his pudgy belly and skinny legs. He could already, physically feel the gazes landing on him, and he could tell they were making fun of him.

Most of them were either rich brats or noble cunts. It wasn’t that strange for a noble to go to the gym since most of them receive knight training from a young age alongside magic training - if they had the talent for it. In this world, power equated to influence, and a Royal Knight or Mage would give a noble house great fame, so they would invest in the training of their children heavily in the hopes of cultivating a great seed.

With a simple glance at their snickering faces, he could already tell what they were thinking.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Look at that ugly pig.

Ugh, is he staring at me? Yuck.

What’s a commoner doing here?

It was something he expected, after all, it was undeniable that he was ugly. But he simply didn’t care about those condescending smirks or disgusted eyes from the young masters and the young mistresses. Who fucking cared about his skinny fat body and ugly looks? He didn’t, so theirs didn’t matter.

He instead looked around the vastly huge gym and found a certain corner with no one around, and was surprisingly close to all of the racks and machines he needed.

How lucky… He grinned inwardly and dropped his bag to the ground. Rob then slapped his belly, grinned, and muttered, “Don’t worry, Papa, your son is gonna get swole soon!”

…

Leo Regulus stared around the crowded streets of the Royal Capital and looked up to read a line of bold words written in shining gold, “Golden Weights Gym.”

He has been going to this gym for quite a while now after moving into the Royal Capital. He of course tried out the other gyms in the area first, but since this is the highest-quality gym around, and had plenty of people he could build relationships with which would be helpful when he finally becomes Duke Regulus, Leo went on to get a year-long membership a few months back and had enjoyed his time here.

Leo walked in and greeted the worker behind the counter, showed his membership as usual, and soon found himself conversing with some of the acquaintances he had built over the months.

Some were of noble blood, others had a common lineage, but the one thing they had in common was of their respect toward him and their reverence. He was the heir to the Regulus Dukedom, a future Duke that would hold great influence in the Vizwel Empire.

As he gave his goodbyes so that he can finally do his training, he found himself arriving at a certain corner with wide eyes and a bewildered mind. In front of him, a certain person that he was quite familiar with stood at a squat rack, holding up a ridiculous amount of weight for someone so skinny, amounting to around 100 kg.

For Leo, that was simply lightweight. He’s a bonafide Knight and can stand his ground even against Orcs. The last time he checked, his personal best on a squat amounted to around 400 kg, and his strength has risen by a lot ever since he tried to check his personal best, so even he himself didn’t know how much he can squat.

But the guy in front of him was different. He was someone Leo knew was physically weak, and his exposed legs were as thin as twigs. He wanted to stop the guy from committing a great mistake but was soon shocked when Rob Fortune, a thin guy with pitiful physical strength, squatted down with a loud grunt and pushed himself up with a victorious smile.

“Huff…” Rob regained his senses and looked to the side, interlocking his gaze with Leo Regulus. “What?”

“You… How did you…?” Leo was at a loss for words. Dumbfounded was simply making light of the emotions he felt right now. That… that amount of leg strength, that’s enough to land him on par with Apprentice Knights! Of course, that’s only his legs, but he’s way too skinny to achieve something like that, so how?!

“Magic, I suppose.” Rob was in a good mood today and was more than willing to tolerate some needless social interaction. He placed the plates on the bar, placed the collar on tightly, and walked under the bar with a wide grin.

“Magic? But…” Leo stared at Rob with confused eyes but partially enlightened eyes. Mana was not just a power Mages used but was also something Knights wielded. They can use mana to strengthen their bodies like tempering steel, and can even store mana in their cells to use martial arts!

Has he secretly been doing knight training all this while? I did hear from Miss Auburn that his father used to be a Knight. But, how come he’s still so skinny? What a mystery indeed.

Leo shook his head and dismissed his needless questions. Secrets were something one can have, and he wouldn’t insist on forcing them to answer just out of his curiosity. He respected their privacy, he was not some egotistical maniac who treated everyone below him as dirt and gave them no amount of respect.

Rob continued on with his training, displaying more and more shocking feats to Leo who was training from the side. While apprentice knights can usually exert force far beyond their body weight, Rob is simply too monstrous when it came to that concept, especially with his apparent lack of muscle.

If Leo had to estimate, using Rob’s height of 5’8 as a guide, he’d weigh in around 65 kilograms, and add in the fact he’s also as skinny as a twig, the amount of strength he was exerting was impressive, to say the least.

He sighed under his breath, wondering just what in the high heavens is going on, while a flame of hope bloomed in his heart. Perhaps in the near future, he’ll finally have the rival he’s been looking for in his class - that’s when he ignored the fact he got one-shotted in their first fight, but that’s beside the point.

…

Rob soon headed out of the gym with intensely sore muscles. The Pain Dulling Potion he drank had worn off, while the Energy Drink Potion’s effect has mostly gone away. He was feeling extreme exhaustion. Even walking felt like a huge challenge for him.

But, this was something to be celebrated instead! Rob slowly pulled out one of the most integral potions he’ll need in his program to get buff real quick. If the Super Duper Steroids was his Alchemist’s Soul, then this potion would be his Alchemist’s Heart.

Normally, drinking a healing potion would allow one to immediately heal their wounds and internal damage, including muscle tears., but because it does it too quickly, the muscle tears would be healed in a way that only minimal muscle gain would form.

And that’s where this potion comes in. Rob stared at the swirling pink liquid inside the glass vial he held in his hand and removed its lid with a wide grin. A Slow Healing Potion!

To think that after hundreds of years of development, no one had the idea of developing a slow healing potion. They only wanted something that worked faster, stronger, and even more faster! Heh, now with the steroids and the Muscle Hypertrophy potion, I’ll be able to acquire muscle at a rapid rate as long as I eat enough calories. Even protein isn’t a problem with my potions!

The only reason I didn’t create a high-calorie drink is because I want to enjoy food!

As he gulped down the potion, a cooling sensation spread throughout his body and eased the soreness he felt all over his arms, legs, core, and back. There was some slight itchiness on his skin, but overall, it was a pleasant experience.

After he felt that he could finally walk normally without much issue, he slung his back over his shoulder and headed out for the Alchemist Guild.

It’s finally time to earn more money.