That action of mine began the rather short-lived legend of the super soldier. Everyone was shocked when they saw me easily handle the additional weight of 100 kg. They could not believe that a newly assigned rookie could handle training like that. Though that shock gave way to understanding when Captain Stuart shared that I was actually a Tier 3 aura user.
With that bit of information, my fellow soldiers began to believe that I was an exceptional rookie, slotted for the special forces, that was dispatched to their camp to gain experience at the border. At least, that idea allowed them to sigh in relief and no longer feel too bad about themselves, and just as the soldiers had convinced each other that that was the case, Mr. Stuart released another bomb, that shattered their presumption into little pieces.
His actions convinced me that Thomas, Daniel, and the others had been right to call the man a sadist. He purposefully allowed the idea to ferment for a minute or two before wrecking it, and he did not even wreck it right away. No, he first made it look like they were right before he obliterated it, and if I was not mistaken, that was at least an indicator of sadism or at least an indicator of someone that enjoyed hurting/playing with the feeling of others.
Regardless, once he revealed that I had been sent here for the military part of my practical year, everyone was floored. They could not believe that I was someone that had not even attained true adulthood, which everyone on the planet saw as either having turned 17 or having started one's official journey.
The reason the age part of the adulthood was 17, was because that appeared to be the point, at which the youths that chose the civilian or academic route either graduated from their internship/initial studies or were close to graduating. Well, at least in most cases that was how it turned out as long as they did not play around or give up.
Anyway, at that point, my short-living repute of a super soldier died and got replaced by a new one that dubbed me super rookie instead. Though reputation aside, Mr. Stuart forced everyone to do an additional two sets of 100 push-ups for wasting time, even though he was the one that allowed it to happen.
After he noticed that 100 kg did not slow me down at all, he called me over and told me to switch out my weighted vest with the one he pulled out from wherever before resuming my push-ups. After putting it on, I noticed that it was quadruple the weight of the previous one, which frankly made no difference for me considering my actual weight-bearing capacity.
I mean 400kg compared to my current unboosted maximum of about 9000 kg was a joke. Consequently, nothing changed with the ease with which I did my second set of push-ups, which resulted in me being called over by the Captain for a second time.
That naturally caught the attention of everyone else, and they watched as I once again switched out the vest I wore with a new one, which weighed double the previous one. Yet, 800 kg was no problem either, and I, under the astonished eyes of everyone, finished my third set with the same ease I did my previous two.
However, despite my having completed the assignment, including the shared punishment, I once more got called over by Mr. Stuart. Initially, I thought he was going to ask for the weighted vest, but that thought died a quick death when I saw that he had another one in his hand.
That honestly surprised me a bit, because it told me that, if that vest was double my current vest's weight as well, Mr. Stuart could carry 1600 kg with one hand. It seemed that the man was either a body practitioner, which was not an impossible thought considering his body, or he was a strong enough trainer that he got a good boost to his strength.
The reason I used the term body practitioner was that I could not feel any special energy emanating from him, and unless he was capable of masking his energy or not using it at all, I doubted that I was wrong.
Anyway, when he told me to change into that vest and do another set I considered asking why since I already finished what I was supposed to do, but I decided against it. Mr. Stuart's impassive gaze as he held out the vest, and the lesson/reminder of Steve yesterday kept me from doing that. Instead, I let out a "yes, sir", put on the new vest, and went back to do another set of push-ups.
I briefly considered acting as if doing them was straining, but I ultimately didn't. First of all, I did not want to lie about my ability and second, I was not sure if he would be able to tell that I was faking it, which was possible. If he caught me, I would get punished, and I did not want that, at least not for something like this.
That meant that I finished the fourth set with relative ease as well, though it did take me a bit longer than before. Nonetheless, my performance was enough to wow all the other soldiers. Unfortunately, it seemed that my performance also resulted in Mr. Stuart pulling out another vest, and I could not help but be surprised that he actually had heavier vests, wherever he was pulling them out.
However, I noticed that he was no longer carrying it in one hand. It seemed that the presumably 3200 kg were too much for him to carry with one hand. Instead, he had it draped over his right arm, which he was supporting with his left hand. He did that in such a way that it made it look casual to hide that he was having trouble with the weight. At least that was what I thought.
As expected he had me change into that one and it weighed just as much as I had predicted it would. By this point, doing the push-ups was no longer a breeze, but 3200 kg could still be considered easy. Nonetheless, I could feel all those push-ups starting to add up, so I really hoped that this was it.
Unfortunately, I saw Mr. Stuart struggling while holding up another vest. He was holding it with both hands/arms, and his veins were popping out, and I saw both his arms as well as the vest trembling. It was clear that he was at his limit or even beyond his limit, and I had a feeling that he would probably let the vest drop if he had to keep holding it up like that for another minute.
Yet, while I was still considering if I should delay things until that happened, he called me over and had me change into that vest before telling me to do another set.
By this point, everyone else was long done with their own sets, and they were all watching me being "abused", gaping at the fact that I could actually carry that kind of weight and still do the push-ups. Seeing them like that, made me think that I had a good chance to earn that super soldier title after all, even if they were still using super rookie for now.
Anyway, now that the vest had reached 6400 kg I was definitely starting to feel its weight, and with each additional push-up that I did, that feeling grew. It might have been due to the previous push-ups, or rather the fact that I did not get the chance to rest between them, but after the 70th push-up, my arms were starting to get that prickly feeling.
By the 90th push-up, my arms and shoulder had become warm, and during the last two push-ups, my arms had definitely started to hurt. Moreover, the last 10 push-ups took nearly as long as the first 90, which showed that my arms were starting to tire, so I was really hoping that I would not see another vest once I raised my head and looked at Mr. Stuart.
If he at least gave me a few minutes so that my arms and shoulders had some time to recover, then I would be able to do the push-ups without suffering under the effects of the previous push-ups. Thankfully, I saw no vest in his arm after looking in his direction.
However, when he still called me over I got worried and I could not help but look at the ground in front of his feet, in case he was unable to lift the weight he wanted me to carry. I heaved a sigh of relief when I saw that that place was empty. Still, since he had called me, I still went up to him to hear what he wanted.
He first praised me by comparing my strength with other Tier 3 Aura Guardians and stating that I was even better than regular First-Class ones as far as strength was concerned, which was thanks to all the gravity training I did. I could be considered half or even a full-body practitioner on top of being an Aura User.
Afterward, he admitted that he had no heavier vest at hand since the one I had used was the one he occasionally used for extreme training when he wanted to push his limits. That admittance of his caused a hubbub among my fellow soldiers. He then told me that I would be using it from now on during PT since it was heavy enough to make me work up a sweat.
Anyway, Mr. Stuart's admitted that the test took longer than planned, but he said we would still be doing the full course, according to him we'd simply have 5 minutes less for breakfast, which was not his problem. That "threat" spurned on the soldiers, who treasured every free minute they could get, and they all did their best during the rest of PT to make sure to finish everything as quickly as possible.
In the end, we finished on time, and Mr. Stuart released us at 6:30 a.m., but only after he said that he better see the same enthusiasm during the next session. I was about to head to the shower when Thomas stopped me and moved me toward the mess hall instead.
According to Thomas, it would be better to eat first before hitting the shower even if we had to deal with a bit of sweat since nearly everyone else would be doing the opposite, so I wouldn't have to bother with an overcrowded shower/bathroom, and he turned out to be right since the mess hall was rather empty for the duration that we were eating. The same was true for the bathroom as well when I went there to shower.
Though, I first pointed the shower head toward the shower cabin/stall itself for a minute or so to wash off anything others might have left behind. Even if some might call that superfluous, I thought it was necessary since it gave me psychological comfort.
Anyway, I had gun care "classes" at 8 a.m., so I made my way there once I was clean and had changed into my regular uniform. At the class, I first noticed that there were fewer soldiers at the class than at PT before I noticed that everyone except for me had 3 kinds of firearms on their table.
It seemed that there were other classes as well and that those that showed a good enough performance with all firearms were excused from this class. As for the difference in guns, according to the teacher that was because I had to start with the regular gun and work my way up. Only after I satisfied the teacher with my performance would I be allowed to dismantle and assemble the next type of firearm.
He then demonstrated how to do it at a relatively slow speed so that I could follow his actions while he explained what and why he was doing it. All in all, his demonstration of taking apart the gun, cleaning the parts, and putting it back together took 10 minutes, and he told me that I would pass if I could do it in two without fudging things.
I obviously got the idea that everyone got when they saw something that appeared relatively easy, "I can easily do that". Yet, it took me close to 15 minutes to actually do it and that was with the teacher commenting on a few things he didn't like.
Still, while I was taking apart the gun, servicing it, and then putting it back together, I got another thought that I was sure nearly everyone who did that had at least once. I could totally make one of these by myself. Only in my case, I was absolutely certain that I could do it, even if it took a few tries. Though, admittedly everyone else that said that probably thought the same.
Anyway, at the end of the class, an hour later, I barely managed to finish my 5th attempt, and it took me 10 minutes to do the whole thing, which according to the teacher was pretty good progress. I myself was not really happy with my own speed, but I was sure I would be able to reach the target within one or two more lessons.
Furthermore, after having taken apart and assembled the gun a total of 5 times, I was even more convinced I could make one on my own, so I considered whether I should attempt to do it or not. In the end, I simply had no way to enter Utopia while I was at camp, so the idea got shelved for now.
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