Deep in sleep Danny finds himself experiencing a pleasant dream but it is abruptly interrupted by a long ringing sound. The sound immediately wakes him up and looking around in confusion he finds his uncle looking at him from the doorway bell in hand.
"Rise and shine Danny it's time to wake up. I made breakfast so wake up and eat, when you're done meet me in the backyard."
Alaric takes his leave leaving Danny in a confused state. Still reeling from being abruptly awoken Danny sits on his bed for a few minutes before heading to the kitchen. Upon finishing his food Danny heads to the backyard and finds his uncle waiting.
"Took you long enough, under normal circumstances I would already deduct points for being late but I'll let it slide this time."
"Oh sorry uncle."
"It's fine but now that you're here I'll start with explaining a few things mainly your disadvantages in your current situation."
"My disadvantages?"
"Indeed, look I'll be blunt with you, you are in a disadvantageous situation for three particular reasons. Firstly you're pretty late in terms of preparing for the entrance exam for the academy."
"Huh?"
"Let me elaborate, you see only people aged thirteen are allowed to take the entrance exam and it is for that reason that families with children who are to enter the academy normally begin training prior to that time and on average training begin at age six meaning that you're two years begin your peers already."
"So I can't catch up to everyone else my age."
"Not through conventional training methods and that brings us to your second disadvantage being your inability to use magic despite being eight years old. Simply put your peers are already stronger than you so you'll need to overcome that hurdle."
"So without magic I can't become a knight."
"I never said that, I just said it would be harder to do so. Now to your final disadvantage which might be your biggest one is your pierced lung. Due to your lung issue your stamina has been greatly affected and for a knight that isn't good. A knight needs to be able to stay in battle for as long as possible."
"Hey uncle, do you think I can even enter the academy with all those disadvantages?"
"I believe that with my training you should be able to. Now with all that said it's time to begin."
Understanding his uncles words Danny quickly grabs his father's sword prompting Alaric to look at him with confusion.
"Hey Danny what are you doing?"
"I'm just getting ready for training."
"No I'm afraid you'll have to drop that, you aren't ready to wield a sword yet not even close."
"Then what are we going to do."
"Well we're going to build up your body from the ground up and with that said drop and give me ten push ups."
"Push ups? What are those?"
"Push ups are an exercise meant for building up your upper body strength as well as improving your core stability. I see a demonstration is in order."
Alaric then laid down on the floor with his back turned towards the sky and both arms spread out hands touching the ground and at that moment he began lowering his body using his arms using the tip of his toes to balance himself afterwards he raised his body up once again using his arms and toes, he repeated this process ten times before standing up and signaling Danny to mimic his actions.
Follow his uncle's example Danny laid down on the floor with his back turning towards the sky afterwards he positioned his arms and toes accordingly before lowering his body. Unfortunately for him his arms could not hold his body weight which resulted in him falling face first onto the ground.
"I'm sure you now realize the importance of this exercise, your upper body strength is not up to standard hence you won't be able to hold a sword properly let alone swing one."
"But I followed your example, what am I supposed to do now?"
"Isn't that obvious? You keep on trying until you can do one properly and once you get to that point you continue on until you can do ten push ups in rapid succession. Once you can do that we'll move on to the next training exercise."
"I'm not sure if I can do ten of these push ups."
"Unfortunately you'll have to. You want to be a knight don't you, well knights go through hell and back but they never give up. I suggest you pick up that mindset quickly. Well then I should be heading out now, call me when you finally finish the exercise."
Alaric then left for his knightly duties leaving Danny groaning in pain on the ground. Several minutes passed before Danny eventually pick himself up. The experience left Danny questioning whether or not he could do this. He then looked at his father's sword which brought back the memories of that day.
"Dad, mom... No I can't quit now, I'll do this... No matter how long it takes."
Wiping the tears off his face Danny stood up showcasing a look of anger and unwavering determination he once again began laying down on the ground and positioning himself he attempted the push up once more. Once again he fell face first to the ground but this time he just stood up and quickly attempted the push up again.
"Again... Again... AGAIN... AGAIN."
Danny continued on and on until the sun began setting and eventually Alaric returned. Looking around he was surprised to find that Danny was still trying to do a push up. Heading into the kitchen he quickly grabbed two flavored drinks before approaching Danny, handing one over to him.
"Uncle? You're back!? Wait, what time is it. IT'S ALREADY DUSK!!?"
"I'll be honest I'm a little bit surprised that you're still going on, it seems you have more determination than I gave you credit for."
"Thank you unc..."
"But you're being stupid right now, you trained the so much so that you lost track of time."
"But if I train hard I know I'll be to achieve the goal quicker."
"Look under normal circumstances I'd actually commend that kind of thinking but in case you've forgotten you have a ruptured lung losing your breath can easily be the death of you meaning that you don't have the luxury of surpassing your limits the conventional way."
"But uncle I can do this."
"No you can't end of story. You know what, new rule, from now on when you train and you feel your consciousness slipping that will be your sign to stop for the day. Understood?"
"Yes uncle."
"Good now come inside and eat, you'll start fresh tomorrow."
Heading in the two proceed to eat dinner and afterwards Danny takes a quick bath to remove all of the sweat and odor he accumulated from his training before heading to bed.
Six days has passed and during this time Danny has attempting to do one push up but falling short every time although with each passing day he has been getting closer and closer. It is now the seventh day and Danny begins his morning in his usual manner before heading outside to train.
"Alright let's do this. I'm getting close, I can feel it I just need to push on a bit longer."
So with a heavy sigh Danny begins laying down on the ground with his back towards the sky and positioning himself accordingly he prepares himself. With his body on the ground Danny begins trying to lift himself up, slowly but surely his body starts ascending until eventually his arms reach full length from the ground.
Seeing this Danny can't believe his eyes, blinking rapidly he stares once more. The realization then struck him, he finally did it he finally managed to do a push up.
"I did it? I did it. I ACTUALLY DID IT, YAHOOOO!!"
Immediately afterwards Danny got up from the ground and began running excitedly until he started feeling dizzy. Realizing that he begging to run out of breath he quickly halted his celebration but now he knew that he could do it.
Wrapping up for the day Danny heads back into the house. Now his determination was greater than ever. The next day Danny woke up eagerly and after he morning routine he immediately went to the backyard. Positioning himself he managed to do a push up once more.
"So it wasn't a fluke? Alright then now it's time to do ten of them like uncle said."
Positioning himself once more Danny prepared to do another push up this time with the goal of doing ten simultaneously. He manages to do one and going in once more he manages to do another, now confident he gets in for a third one but this time his arms give in resulting in a fall face first.
"Dang it, I really thought I could do it. You know what, fine I'll just have to keep on training until I can get to ten."
Danny positioned himself once more. He starts doing the push ups, doing one he continues on, doing two he keeps on going. On the third one he struggles for a bit but he pushes through until ultimately he does it but not stopping here Danny decides to push further.
With all of his strength he does the fourth push and with unwavering determination he continues onto the fifth one but as he pushes himself he starts to feel dizzy. Seeing this Danny remembers his uncle's words and ultimately decides to halt his training for the day. Hours pass by and Danny can be seen in his room sitting on his bed and with a smile he looks at his hands before sleeping.