As the first rays of dawn shone in through his window and onto his face, Lucas' eyes fluttered slightly before opening. Stretching a bit to shake off the morning stiffness, the young boy soon pulled off the thin sheet he was using and got out of bed.
It had been about a month-and-a-half since his accident, and unlike before that fateful day, where young Lucas would typically curl up and try to sleep for a while longer after being woken by the sun, he now had a habit of getting up right away and beginning his morning exercises.
Lucas wasn't certain why this had become his new normal, but he figured it had something to do with the new memories he had acquired a while back. The vast majority of these memories were still vague and unclear, but the routine of waking with the sun and moving his body seemed so ingrained in him now that not doing so felt wrong.
After changing into some light training clothes he requested his mother get for him, Lucas left his room, put on his shoes, and walked out into the backyard.
Summer had now fully arrived, so despite it being quite early in the morning, the air wasn't cold and instead even felt a bit warm.
Not wanting to delay, Lucas began practicing the 22 Stances of the Unarmed Foundations Martial Art.
Breathing deeply and with determined focus, the boy progressed through each Stance one-by-one, continuing until he had completed three full sets. He then moved on to perform the 41 Figures.
Unlike the basic poses that the 22 Stances were comprised of, the 41 Figures, while still stationary exercises, emphasized tensing and stretching the body's muscles while training one's balance and strength equally.
Once again, Lucas completed three full sets of the 41 Figures before he began practicing some of the 94 Motions.
While the 22 Stances and 41 Figures could easily be practiced every day as they conditioned the body more gently, the 94 Motions were far more demanding as they focused on improving reflexes, rapidly transferring one's weight, and unleashing built up explosive power.
For today, Lucas was practicing defensive Motions only, so he retreated, blocked, and side-stepped numerous times until he had worked up a good sweat.
Now all warmed up, Lucas completed his morning routine by performing 12 of 284 Forms.
The Forms of the Unarmed Foundations Art were like set combinations of the 22 Stances, 41 Figures, and 94 Motions, meant to further refine one's focus and teach how to fluidly move one's body.
In truth, the 284 Forms were only a framework for how one could put together the Stances, Figures, and Motions. New routines could be created by swapping, adding, or removing certain moves, but the basic 284 Forms provided the initial structure upon which all others could be built.
After nearly an hour of training, Lucas relaxed all his muscles and sat down cross-legged, basking in the early morning sun as he closed his eyes and began some calm breathing exercises. Exhaling slowly, the young boy emptied his thoughts and tried to feel the world around himself.
While the dynamic parts of the Unarmed Foundations Art also had specific breathing patterns to follow to maximize effectiveness, this cool-down routine emphasized integrating with nature was equally important as it helped focus the mind, relax the body, and cleanse the spirit.
Opening his eyes a short time after, Lucas got up and walked over to the well, where he used the bucket to draw some fresh water to drink and clean himself with.
Stripping down to his underwear, the young boy, whose body was only now beginning to develop some muscle mass, shivered slightly as he used a clean cloth and the cold water to wipe himself down.
While he was washing up, though, Lucas' mind began to wander slightly. It was true that morning exercise had become routine for him because it felt natural and helped develop his strength, but there was another important reason the boy religiously practiced the Unarmed Foundations Art every day.
At first, the only thing Lucas could clearly recall from his new memories was this Body Tempering Art, but after about a month of continuously practicing it, he slowly began to recall other physical exercises as well.
Unsure of what was happening, Lucas tried out some of these exercises and soon discovered that they consisted of a wide variety of general workout and specialized training methods. There were even some exercises that required special equipment like weighted clothes or oddly shaped metal disks, bars, and staffs to execute properly.
Having decided not to hide anything regarding his new memories from his parents going forward, Lucas went to his father, explained the new exercises, and asked if he could forge a few of the simpler pieces of equipment he had thought up.
Drake found the request a bit odd at first, but after listening to his son describe his reasoning, he ultimately agreed to help.
Anna also became quite interested in this new equipment specifically designed to help build muscle strength and flexibility and very quickly 'borrowed' them from her son after he explained how to use them.
As a result, Drake had to forge another set of such equipment for his son, then another couple of sets for Eris, Sasha, and Charles who had seen Lucas and Anna using them for training.
Fortunately, all these pieces of exercise equipment could be forged from cheap scraps of metal and wood that were just lying around, so Drake didn't suffer any kind of loss from their creation. He even had the idea to create a few more sets to sell in the future, though he was eventually dissuaded from doing so as without the corresponding exercises and training methods, the equipment by itself wasn't nearly as valuable.
Want to train your arm strength by swinging something repeatedly?
Use a stick.
Want to build your leg strength by lifting something heavy?
Use a rock.
In any case, the point was that Lucas, over the past month-and-a-half, had started to realize that when he focused on and repeated certain activities enough, some of the vague memories he had acquired in the accident became clearer.
One such vague memory was currently bothering him quite a bit, in fact.
As the young boy wiped himself down, he couldn't help feeling that something was missing, like he wasn't properly cleaning himself by simply using water to rinse his sweat away. Even when he completely soaked himself in the shallows of the nearby river, something gnawed at Lucas, telling him he needed some other item or product in order to really get the dirt, sweat, and smell off his body, something far more effective than simply scrubbing himself with water.
Today, finally unable to get this particular thought out of his head, Lucas quickly finished scrubbing up, dried himself, threw on a set of clean clothes he had prepared beforehand, and filled up two big buckets with water from the well before dashing back into his house.
Upon entering the kitchen through the back door, Lucas immediately spotted his parents. His father was preparing breakfast while his mother was setting the table, nothing out of the ordinary for this time of the morning.
Glancing over at her son, Anna couldn't stop herself from smiling lightly as she commented, "It used to take me quite a bit of effort to get you up in the morning, but now you're always up even earlier than us."
Smiling back, Lucas nodded, "It feels good exercising in the morning sun. It's almost like I'm being filled with strength every time I practice the Forms."
Saying so, Lucas hauled the two buckets over to the kitchen water barrel and emptied them into it before turning around, furrowing his brow, and asking, "Mom, Dad, have you ever used or heard of something that people wash themselves with?"
Slightly confused by this rather unexpected question, both Anna and Drake turned to look at each other before they realized that this must be something related to the memories their son had inherited. In fact, this wasn't the first time Lucas had asked them a seemingly random question out of nowhere, and the reason was almost always related to his vague foreign memories.
Still, Anna and Drake had pretty much gotten used to the new quirks their son had acquired, so they didn't think much about them anymore.
Unbeknownst to themselves, they had also started treating Lucas a bit differently, similar to how one would treat a 16-year-old youth who was preparing to enter the world, rather than just a 9-year-old child. This wasn't done consciously by Anna or Drake, it just happened naturally as a result of Lucas' behaving more maturely.
Still, this question was especially odd to them as previously, Lucas had mostly asked about things like exercise, training, or various kinds of new and innovative equipment for working out. For their son to suddenly ask about special bathing materials was quite a departure from the new normal they had just barely gotten used to.
"Hmm, you mean like, washing yourself with something other than water?" Anna pondered, adding shortly after, "I've heard of some wealthy nobles bathing in water mixed with special flowers or herbs. Supposedly that leave a pleasant scent on them."
"There was also that story about that count who bathed in milk, wasn't there?" Drake commented from the side.
"You can bathe in milk?" Lucas was dumbfounded by the very thought of this.
Redwood Town had quite a bit of farmland around it, so while it wasn't a daily thing, Lucas drank milk fairly frequently, but never more than a cup at a time. To collect enough milk to actually bathe in almost seemed absurd to the young boy.
Seeing his son's reaction, Drake couldn't help chuckling as he explained, "It was just something your mother and I heard once while we were in a certain town up north. Apparently, the count who ruled over those lands was quite eccentric and enjoyed experimenting with different cultivation methods, including ones to prolong one's life. The story goes that he thought by bathing in milk, which is fed to babies when they're born, he could somehow regain his youth."
"I remember that story," Anna chimed in, "I don't think it was true though. It was probably just a rumour someone started."
"Possibly," Drake nodded in agreement, also thinking it was a bit far-fetched for a powerful and wealthy count to think he could become younger by bathing in regular milk.
Of course, the lengths to which some people would go to in order to live longer bordered on, if not crossed into the territory of insanity, so it's not like such a story couldn't be true.
Shaking his head, Lucas brought the conversation back to his original question, "No, not something like that. What I meant was…"
Concentrating, Lucas tried to empty his mind and focus only on what he wanted to recall, a trick he had gotten better at after practicing many times.
Unfortunately, even after concentrating hard for some time, young Lucas could only come up with one additional clue, "Something that… foams? Bubbles? Something like that."
"Bubbles? You mean, like when we boil water?" Drake asked, now a little concerned about what his son was thinking about; after all, you don't 'bathe' in boiling water, you cook in it.
"Ah," suddenly, Anna exclaimed, as if she had thought of something, knitting her brow right after as she seemed to sink into contemplation.
Encouraged, Lucas turned his full attention to his mother and waited for her to speak again. Likewise, Drake removed the porridge he was cooking from the stove and set the bowls down on the table as he too was interested in what his wife had thought up.
A short time later, Anna finally said, "I remember once when I was a girl, my mother bought a very expensive bottle of thick cream-white liquid which she used to wash herself with. She let me use it once as well and I remember it foaming up the more I scrubbed myself with it."
"That's it!" Lucas almost jumped for joy, thinking he had finally figured out the mystery which had been plaguing him recently. This was the magical item he was looking for!
Turning to his mother, the young boy fired off a series of questions, "Do you remember what it was called? Or how it was made? How much did it cost?"
Taken aback by her son's enthusiasm, Anna felt a bit awkward as she really didn't recall much else; it had been a long time ago, after all.
Even though she didn't want to disappoint Lucas, Anna eventually shook her head and apologized, "I'm sorry, Son, I really don't remember anything else."
Lucas' expression sank as he inevitably felt some chagrin, but he quickly shook it off and smiled, "It's fine. At least I know what I'm looking for exists. Now I just have to figure out how to get some or make some."
"Is that really necessary?" Drake couldn't help feeling a bit baffled by his son's interest in this subject, which quite frankly was even stronger than his apparent interest in all the new Martial Arts he had introduced to them.
Squirming a bit under the inquisitive gazes of his parents, Lucas muttered quietly, "I always feel unclean for some reason, even after I wash myself thoroughly, so it's become a bit annoying."
Knowing that this was a side-effect of their son's new knowledge, Anna and Drake held back their laughter and tried to come up with a way to help him, suggesting everything from crushing some wildflowers into the water before he washed himself to scrubbing his clothes with some fine firewood ash, a trick they had picked up when they were adventuring to get blood stains out of their equipment.