All three of them were in pain caused by their first week of training. Unfortunualy for them it was only the first week of their training and they would now train themselves with Aldrich, he concocted them a drastic muscular reinforcement.
In their bed the night before the start of Aldrich's training they apprehended it, Jess and Arnold even had some regret about their decision to embark this early on the body cultivation road but Zach, with his two lives, had already lived for 35 years so he was perseverent and kept his motivation even if he realized that cultivation might bit more harder and put a greater strain on his body than he thought.
It was very early but the sun was already rising in the sky and it slowly lit up Tionys village, Zach was already woken up, he was doing some stretching because his muscles were still sore from the first week of continuous spar against Arnold's father even if it was more of an execution each time than a spar.
He went down the stairs, his father and mother were already taking their breakfast, his father saw him, winked at him and made a sign for him to come.
"Get a good breakfast, even if you are my son my training will not be easy and you will need a lot of energy to surmount it for the whole week." He declared to Zach with a beaming smile.
"Don't worry honey I am sure he knows that, moreover I'm certain he will become a powerful and self reliant warrior who will be as respected as feared" Lara said giving Zach a kiss on his forehead when he passed by her.
"Don't worry dad I know, I will be diligent. You will see how a powerful grown up man I will become, it will make you proud of me." Zach promised his dad while hiding his overflowing happiness from his mother kiss.
"Ha ha ha, don't worry Zach with this mind set of yours, I am confident that you will always be my pride" Aldrich said confidently with a smile which was even more beaming than a few moments ago.
"Thank you dad." Zach mumbled, he was very glad about what his dad said and what he was thinking about him.
Zach sat down at the table and started to eat his breakfast because he knew that a few hours later he won't have any break and he will have to give his all.
The time for them to gather and listen to Aldrich's instructions had come. Zach was obviously the first to be there as it took place in his garden. Zach could see Jess not too far, she was the second to arrive.
"Hi, Zach, how are you ?" Jess yelled cheerfully to him while waving her hand to him. Zach seeing that waved his hand to her while smiling. When she got before him, she was a bit out of breath and she heard Zach answering her.
"I'm fine and you, how are you Jess ?"
"As you can see ... I am a bit out of breath but apart from that ... I'm fine."
"Hey guys, are you ready !" Arnold, who appeared out of nowhere, exclaimed.
"Hey Arnold, last as always !" Zach said to him while winking.
"As ready as ever and you Arnold ?" Jess replied.
"I am more than ready, as for being the last you seem to forget someone, Zach, your father is still not here." he boasted with the little he could.
"Ha ha ha, even if I am the last it doesn't matter because you are waiting for me and if I wanted to I could make you wait even more !" The three of them got surprised by this voice but it didn't taken more than a few milliseconds to recognize it, it was Aldrich's voice.
"Yeah ... that's right mister." Arnold said a little embarrassed.
"Ok kids you should know about the physical cultivation ranks, but keep in mind that you are still in the realm of humans and are still not low rank 1 cultivator, once you complete my entire training you should be at the peak of the human realm, just one step away from the low rank 1." Aldrich explained to them what level they had and what level they should reach.
"You will begin by strengthening your endurance so you will start by running around our village and you shall do 10 laps." Aldrich commanded them.
"But it will take us at least 12 hours." Jess complained.
"Moreover we won't be able to eat before supper with that." Arnold added.
Zach on the other hand started stretching himself while shooking his head hearing his friends complains. 'Some sacrifices and devotion are needed to walk on the path of cultivation, I am afraid you won't go very far if you keep this weak mind of yours, my friends'.
Zach was willing to go very far to become one of the stronger cultivator, he felt like he never really lived in his last life, not so surprising for a man whose life would be summed up by surviving death, so he wanted to be free to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted.
Zach wasn't a fool he knew that if he wanted to achieve it he needed strength so an unshakable resolutness in becoming stronger was born the momment he knew how this world worked.
"You are right but I don't care you will run those laps even if you end in spitting your blood !" Aldrich said shooking his head in disappointement, he expected much more from Jess and Arnold, nevertheless he was very pleased with Zach's attitude.
Arnold and Jess were very surprised about Aldrich's reaction, at first he seemed very easy going and friendly but when it was about cultivation he was very strict and definite, he looked like a completely different man.
Zach, Arnold and Jess started to run, each lap was about 12 kilometers. In total they had to run 120 kilometers, it must be reminded that they were only 9 years old, this made them fear what Aldrich had prepared for them in the next day or for the next sessions.
Even if in the first lap they more or less like it, they runned and went through a few hills and even a not so high mount, but at it's peak there was a view on the whole region, it was so breath-taking that they couldn't help but stop to admire the view before them. They could see the big forest at the south that bordered the village, at the north they could get a glimpse of the outline of the capital.
They runned and they runned, they already runned for 13 hours, they were on their last lap the sun was setting, they were drenched in sweat and they felt like all the joints in their legs were about to break.
Zach during his run he never thought about stopping even if his body was aching and he felt it was about to break, as for Arnold and Jess they tried to take a break but each time they stopped Aldrich was there.
It scared them because they didn't have even a second to stop before Aldrich kicked their asses, it made them instantly run again and even if they knew that they should not stop again their body made it otherwise and they got their asses kicked a few times.
Zach was the first to finish the 10 laps, he then waited about 15 minutes before he saw Jess and Arnold arrived, Aldrich was there, he was like a ghost they did not see him but he was there. When Arnold and Jess reached Zach they heard Aldrich voice.
"Good job kids, I didn't think you would go to the end of this run, especially you two even if I had to kick you a bit you achieved this training." He said with a tinge of pride.
This hell of training continued for the whole week, at the end of each day their body were in so much pain that they had trouble to even return at their home, the first day 3 days the only thing they did is to run around the whole village as for the remaining days of the week in addition to the 10 laps they had to do some muscular reinforcement.
At the end of the week, they only needed about 9 hours to finish the 10 laps whereas the first day they needed 13 hours. They were now getting ready for the week of training with Jess' dad about their speed and refelexes, they didn't know what he had in store for them and feared it because of the surprise Aldrich gave them.
It's with this in mind that they fell asleep.