Finn was exhausted to the bone!
The buzzing sound by his ear, the clear sound of his heart throbbing as if ready to explode in his chest cavity. Golden stars flickered before his eyes, and aplenty dense snowflakes appeared in his field of vision.
His hands and feet were almost unresponsive, each step forward sent shivers through his entire skeleton.
One of the daily mandatory physical training: long-running. The general trainees were assigned to run five laps on the field, but Casio and Finn were to run ten. The challenge was not as simple as doubling, as the human stamina dwindles towards the end, making running increasingly taxing.
A training routine meant to test the trainee's willpower extensively.
"Huff... puff..." Finn thought he was about to smoke from his throat, a burning sensation rushed from the nostrils and windpipe all the way into the lungs.
There was the "tap... tap... tap" ... "tap... tap... tap"... sound of footsteps coming from the left.
A skinny silhouette appeared in Finn's peripheral vision, Casio, who was also being punished in another group, was running consistently. Although visibly drenched in sweat, his steps seemed more effortless than Finn's, his speed visibly faster by a great margin.
In the beginning, when Finn was running alongside Casio, he pretended to speed up, so as to spare himself the embarrassment. But eventually, he ran out of strength and he just kept his head down and ran.
Just as Finn finished running his seventh lap and moved onto the eighth, Casio on the left field had already briskly walked out of the white running lane and into the shade of the trees, resting against a tree trunk while massaging his leg.
His glances occasionally shot this way.
"He finished running already?!" No sooner did this doubtful thought enter Finn's mind than an overwhelming sense of fatigue from all over his body got rid of it. Wet, hot sweat squeezed out of his pores, and the tiny droplets flowed from the forehead along the eyelids and nose wing, all the way to the chin.
"Ninth lap... I simply couldn't run any further..."
On the field, Finn let his hands drop. He staggered along, his chest heaving, panting like a cow.
"Get back!!! Keep running! Two more laps!"
A gigantic figure walked towards him from the shade of the trees, nearly 1.9 meters tall, sporting a crew cut, an incredibly stern face.
Dondon, the trainer, was upright and serious. Among the five main trainers, he was the most stern, he only acted by the rules.
Finn's scandal—getting drunk and harassing a female student—had severe impact. Even though some trainers tried to intervene, it was inconceivable that the head of the Youth Training Camp would simply let such gross misconduct go unpunished. Hence, after Finn had recovered, he was directly sent under the supervision of Dondon—the punishment, double the training time for ten days, and during which, he had to strictly adhere to the punishment terms.
Which means, something like what Lixia the trainer did for Casio—keeping meals for him—would not happen here under Dondon's supervision.
"Now, go back!" Dondon lifted his muscular arm and pointed at the running lane with an emotionless expression.
"Trainer, I can't run anymore... I... cough cough cough..."
Finn said breathlessly, his mouth tasted bitter, his mouth and throat were so dry that they fired up his urge to cough.
"I'm saying this one more time! Now, go back immediately!"
Finn lifted his head, completly shrouded by Dondon's towering figure, with trainees in the shadow of the trees pointing fingers.
"I'll only count to three. I don't exactly have a great temper, don't force me to personally teach you how to run!" Dondon slightly lowered his head.
"Three..."
"Yes!" Finn instantly cowered and ran back at once.
Not far away, there seemed to be muffled laughter coming from under the trees.
Finn gritted his teeth and resumed his jog.
After an entire morning of physical training, Finn was about to drop. If it weren't for his early development and stronger and more robust body compared to his peers, he would have been screaming and crying for mercy already, despite forcing himself to finish the challenge.
Lunchtime arrived. The entire field of five groups of trainees had all left for the cafeteria. Only Casio and Finn were left exercising, supervised by two assistants from the groups.
"Sigh, what a poor luck. Even lunch break is getting shorter, I was hoping to get some more sleep during noon," said the assistant supervising Finn, hands on hips, standing on the dividing line while shifting his gaze and talking.
"Well, I'm not really tired," said the assistant supervising Casio, arms folded across his chest, engaging in conversation out of boredom.
"Stop slacking off, Finn!"
The assistant of the third group suddenly turned his head and yelled.
The weather was gloomy, and today's temperature was still relatively cool.
The two assistants chatted on and off for just over an hour, supervising and chatting made the time pass not too slowly.
"Report, the final set of squats has been completed," Casio ran over, stepped up to the assistant of the fourth group, and said.
"Well done, you finished quite quickly today, just over an hour, half an hour earlier than usual." The assistant of the fourth group checked the pocket watch left by Lixia and then patted Casio on the shoulder.
"Good job, good job, let's go eat."
He then turned and said, "Let's go."
"Mmm." The assistant of the third group nodded slightly. Watching the two leave the sports field, he suddenly turned to look at Finn.
"Hurry up! You still have three groups of squats, two groups of push-ups, one group of pull-ups! Are you trying to save your training for tomorrow?! We also have basic fighting technique training in the afternoon!!"
"Yes." Finn clenched his teeth and resumed his exercises.
By the afternoon, everyone was training in basic fighting technique, and of course, the most tired were Casio and Finn.
However, there was a slight difference. One was reluctant and unwilling. The other was training rather actively, even seeming to enjoy it? The sun gradually moved through the clouds.
Unfortunately, it started to rain.
Casio extended his hand to catch a few drops of rainwater, cursed the ghost weather in his heart, and immediately raised his arms to forcefully hit the wooden stake.
'Combat Movements (Beginner): 9.2%'
'Training Frame (Stage 1): 8.7%'
He had originally planned to get his combat movements up to 10% today, but this rain would likely decrease his training efficiency significantly.
"Why?"
"What do you think this is? It's a punishment! Li Wei over there can do it, so what's your excuse for avoiding the rain and not training?"
Not far away, the sound of arguing faintly carried over.
Casio squinted his eyes and looked over. The trainees on the sports field had all scattered and left. The fine rain fell from the gloomy sky, growing heavier, gradually wetting the ground.
Over in the third group, Finn was arguing with Coach Dondong.
Or rather, Finn was being one-sidedly scolded.
Because he was some distance away, Casio couldn't hear very clearly. However, his name would occasionally flash through the conversation.
The sky grew darker and darker, the layers of dark clouds pressing lower, like a large accumulation of black waves.
The rain became heavier and heavier.
Under the eaves of the building next to the sports field, Casio and Finn, separated by a distance of fifty or sixty meters, were each hitting the wooden stake in front of them.
The raindrops hit the ground, and water splashed onto their trousers from time to time. This was the place where Casio fought Finn that night.
Revisiting the old place, Finn's expression was somewhat unnatural, and his gaze occasionally swept over to Casio, who knows what he was thinking.
About an hour and a half past dinner time passed.
Casio pulled back his fists, applied to the stand-in supervisor Coach Dondong to finish, and then hurried off to the dormitory in the rain.
As for Finn, it would probably take him another one or two hours...