"Can I even do a single pushup? How am I supposed to do 10 if I can't do one?" He wondered, beginning to bend down to complete the third task.
However, he saw that his palms were immediately sapped of their heat once he placed them both on the cool, damp floor. This feeling initially made him faster in his movements to try and complete the task before his hands would get cold.
Dropping down after a calm exhale, he was startled to realise that he could, indeed, do a pushup. From the constant demoralising bullying inflicted on him, he had almost ingrained in his mind that he was an utter weakling. Of course, he was no bodybuilder in terms of strength but for him to regard himself as completely powerless was quite simply incorrect.
Feeling more determined to finish this task, he dropped back down and continued the pushups. What soon came was the discomforting pain in his palms and fingers. Each push intensified the coldness in his hands but he was unwilling to stop now. If he wanted to accomplish his new mission, failure couldn't be an option. Brandyn gave himself rests at the ground to rejuvenate his tiring muscles but what he didn't do was completely stop.
In due time, he pushed up for the last time and his 10 full push ups were complete.
[Daily Tasks: 3/4]
[Run 100m: 102m/100m]
[Lift 80kg: 82kg/80kg]
[Eat 100g protein: 0g/100g]
[Do 10 push ups: 10/10]
"100g protein? Do I even have that much protein at home. I mean, the price of chicken plummeted a while back so I was able to stockpile on that? How much do I even have left in my savings?" He thought to himself, whilst pulling out his phone.
The phone looked quite modern but it definitely looked out of place compared to the futuristic architecture that surrounded him. The people strolling past the alleyway he was in seemed to possess far more advanced devices, with some projecting aesthetically pleasing cyan holograms.
All that he had was a simple black phone with a screen, that looked more than 20 years too old. There were also visible cracks across the face and the device was clearly starting to slow down.
"I've got quite a bit left. If I take away all the costs, I should be at approximately 21 Marks and 50 pfennigs. That might pay for the first few days of these tasks but that's definitely not enough to continue paying for the 100g of protein. I'm going to need to get some form of a job. What field could I go into, though. Nothing physical. I'll probably have to be a store cleaner of some sort." He thought to himself, gazing off his phone to contemplate the next strategy for him.
He was too weak to be involved in more physical fields and he wasn't exactly skilled enough to delve into the more technical fields that require intelligence. Brandyn wasn't actually stupid, he was actually quite the opposite. Besides his non-existent power, he was pretty much a star student. His grades were averaging a clean A* and he managed to record an IQ of 155.
Well, he couldn't be too sure with that reading since his test was disregarded and almost trashed once the officials gained the knowledge that he was a regular-born. They almost acted as if they were running a test for some random animal and not actually a human being.
The main problem with these fields was that they required certain experience and scholarly knowledge that he simply hadn't got to knowing yet. Therefore, his only option was to get a low-income job somewhere in the massive city. He knew it wouldn't exactly be a hard job since there were more than 11 million people living in Primos and almost 700,000 people living in his borough, the borough of Salham.
Brandyn then walked to the regular train station that he would go to to return back to his apartment. What did change about his walk though was that his posture was slightly lifted. Not fully correct, but definitely lifted.
The station went underground but the walls were a sleek white with futuristic blue streaks across the white walls. Inside was also a man wearing an advanced suit, which was completely black but it clearly had an intricate, complex design. His face was left unmasked and he wielded a katana, which was currently sheathed. What was noticeable about his demeanour, though, was that he would constantly scan the surroundings with squinted eyes.
He continued on to the platforms of the train station and upon arriving at them, there was a slight rumble.
The lights above were rattling and vibrating upon this odd, ominous feeling. However, no one even cared to pay attention to the sound and in fact, simply turned towards the platform in reaction.
Suddenly, a streamline, magnetically lifted bullet train arrived at its destination.
Ding-dong!
Brandyn entered promptly and sat in one of the clean, white chairs that actually had a seatbelt and nice armrests. There weren't many people standing up and if they were, they were tightly hugging the poles near them.
Grrr.
VROOM!
The train shot forwards and as it crossed the underground paths, its speed increased until it was reaching as high as 550 mph. It took only 3 minutes for him to arrive at the station closest to his apartment complex and he instantly got up to walk to his home.
The evening sun started to redden as it steadily approached the horizon, shining its weakened rays of light across the town. Only a single star could be viewed in the dark blue sky up ahead, with several stars popping into the view after a few minutes. The air had a cool and enchanting feel to it and instead of making Brandyn cold and irritated, it soothed and slightly calmed him.
What was noticeably different about the buildings that surrounded him was that they seemed far less developed than in the main city. The buildings were pretty much all brick and there was only one glass skyscraper in view that seemed to be quite out of place from the surrounding infrastructure. The cars zooming and vrooming across the roads were also much less advanced than the cars within the city centre, with a far less futuristic build but more of an older modern build.
Brandyn didn't even take acknowledgement of his surroundings but what he did do was surveil any hidden paths that surrounded him. He had to do this everyday since many of the people from his school were intent on following him to harass him and physically abuse him. He wasn't exactly doing this because there were any preventative methods, it was simply an ease of his conscience to know of someone's presence than to not know.