He got up drenched and exhausted after his arms recovered enough strength for him to get up. He was breathing heavily and his body was burning up. Not to forget he was pumped up too.
"That was better than I guessed," Alaya said, giving him a water bottle.
"Thanks, but I wanted to reach fifty," He said, feeling disappointed.
He took the bottle from her and drank it all in one gulp. He was thirsty and tired.
"You shouldn't be disappointed. You did great, considering that you haven't trained for two years," She said, trying to cheer him up. She patted his back and smiled.
He had fifteen minutes to rest and recover his stamina and strength. He needed it because his body was aching and burning from the exercise. And it was even harder under the double gravity.
He had just finished his rest and was ready for the next exercise: weighted squats. He loaded the barbell with 50 kilograms of plates and positioned himself under it.
"1...2...3, here we begin boys," He said, placing his hands on the barbell.
He lifted it off the rack and walked back a few steps, feeling the weight on his upper back. He stabilized his stance and took a deep breath. He began to lower his body, keeping his chest up and his knees out. He went below parallel and then pushed back up, exhaling as he did.
"One... Two... Three...," He said, counting the repetitions.
He continued to squat, counting each rep in his head. He maintained a steady rhythm, not too fast or too slow. He paid attention to his form, locking his knees at the top and avoiding any unnecessary movement making sure to perform the perfect form.
"TEN! Goddamn I hate doing legs!" He muttered to himself.
He reached 10 squats. He felt his legs working hard, but he didn't let the pain distract him just like before. At the 10th rep, he began to sweat crazily. The amount of sweat he sweated completely wetted his clothes. His breathing became heavier and warmer, his face turned red, and his heart rate increased.
'Keep it up I can do more than this!' He tried to power up himself.
He was halfway there, but he still had a long way to go. He encouraged himself to keep going, to push through the fatigue.
'It has surely gotten harder than before but this won't stop me!' He said to himself.
He reached 15 squats and felt a surge of adrenaline. His speed of performing a rep slowed down. The aching and burning doubled.
He somehow pierced through the and pain reached 20 squats. Now, he felt his legs shaking. His back was sore, and his hips were tight. He slowed down, finding it harder to complete each rep.
'I can push through! Just a few more and I will be done!" He grunted.
Now, each rep after it felt infinitely hard to complete. The muscle burning and aching were now on another level.
'23... J-just a little more,' He said, grunting.
He was almost there, but he was also almost done. His legs were shaking vigorously. He felt like his muscles would snap. He was barely managing now. His entire body was burning up with his completely reddened.
"That's it... I'm done!" He said, dropping the barbell on the rack.
He reached 25 squats and felt his legs give out. He dropped the bar on the rack, unable to stand up again. He had reached failure. The sound of the barbell dropping echoed throughout the training ground.
*Huff...huff...huff* He inhaled and exhaled loudly with his mouth.
He collapsed on the floor for a few seconds, panting and gasping for air.
Just like before, he had a fifteen-minute break to recover after each exercise. He used the time to catch his breath and drink some water. He was ready for the next challenge.
He did many more exercises with the same rules: do as many reps as possible until failure, then rest for fifteen minutes. She made him work every muscle in his body until he couldn't move anymore. He was completely drained when he finished the last exercise. He didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
'I'm done! I can't do any more than this. I'll die if I do. I just want to sleep right now,' He thought, exhausted.
His body was in agony. He felt pain in every inch of his skin, every fibre of his muscle, every bone of his skeleton. He couldn't describe how much he suffered.
'Fuck! FUCK! FUCK! EVERY PART OF MY BODY IS SORE!' He cursed.
'This is nothing like fantasy! I didn't use any magic or aura in this segment. It was all just brutal physical torture! All those novels lied to me! There's no way any hero would enjoy this!' He thought.
But his ordeal was not over yet. There was one more test waiting for him. The final test of the segment. A five-mile run.
She tapped his shoulder and said, "Get up, the rest is over."
"Rest? What do you mean? Isn't the segment over?" He asked, confused.
"I never said that the segment was over," She said.
He felt a surge of despair when he heard that. He had hoped that he was done with the segment, but she had another test for him. He was too tired to get up, let alone run. He just lay on the floor and closed his eyes.
She shook him and said, "Don't lie down on the floor like a rag doll. Get up and finish the test."
She thought, 'I might have pushed him too hard, but he needs to toughen up. The outside world is much more cruel than this training.'
She looked at him and saw that he was really exhausted. He had given his best in the exercises, and he had no energy left. She felt a pang of pity for him and decided to give him some more time to rest.
She said, "Alright, I'll give you an hour to rest and recover your strength. But after that, you have to run the five miles. No excuses."
She didn't hear any reply from him. She realized that he had fallen asleep as soon as he closed his eyes. She sighed and let him sleep. She hoped that he would wake up refreshed and ready for the final test.
*****
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