The test of strength was, as David had already said, a tug of war.
Because the teams had 16 people each, a long rope had to be used, and everyone walked to their side.
BEEP
As soon as the alarm rang out, they all grabbed the rope and started pulling.
The rope had a red cloth tied to the middle, and each of the teams had their own white line on the floor.
The team that managed to pull the cloth beyond their line would win.
Everyone thought that it would be a fast win for Finn's team, but his opponents weren't planning to go down easy, so they used every part of their bodies to hold on.
Unfortunately for them, they only managed to make the rope not move for a minute, and once some of them became too tired to keep pulling, the rope started moving.
And with a strong tug from Finn and David, the tired team fell and lost.
"The win goes to my team."
David announced the victory, and the losing team only grumbled in return.
The bodyguards on the winning team became happy and filled with pride because they managed to win against their peers.
Finn, on the other hand, who always showed respect to the bodyguards because he knew that they protected Sophie when he wasn't with her, walked over to them and started helping the ones who fell.
"You did great, guys!"
He kept smiling while handing them water because he really did appreciate them being Sophie's bodyguards.
The bodyguards that lost the match had their pride hurt, but seeing Finn help them and remain respectful made them think that they were seeing an angel.
"We will cheer for you, Finn!"
"You better win this!"
They started crowding around him with smiles.
Most of them were ten or twenty years older than him, and so they started acting like proud fathers who would cheer for their kid in a school sports festival.
Finn was already used to the attention, so he kept thanking them while laughing with them.
---
"You had some time to rest. Let's start the second round, which will be an eight versus eight."
After ten minutes, David gathered his previous team and started to divide them into two teams again.
Soon eight names were called out, but Finn wasn't among them. David also didn't say his own name, so the second round would have Finn and David together again.
"This is rigged, sir!"
"We want to reroll the members!"
The team that didn't have Finn with them started complaining, but with one glare from David, they shut their mouths because they were taught to never go against their superior.
Complaining was one thing, but challenging David's authority was something even they didn't dare to do.
After that, the teams walked over to the rope, but the team that didn't have Finn knew that their chances of winning were very slim.
And as expected, the second round was very fast, and Finn's team managed to win.
"Next one is four versus four."
After giving everyone a small break, David started calling out names again, and this time it was a quick process because there were a lot fewer people competing.
Finn also noticed that Sophie was sitting in one of the corners of the gym, where there was a chill-out zone that consisted of some sofas and a coffee machine.
She was sipping on her coffee while looking at Finn.
Jonathan was next to her, but they weren't talking.
Sophie planned to log into Second Life as soon as Finn left her room, but she wanted to do that because she thought that Finn would go home after he left her room.
But now that she had the choice to see her boyfriend exercise, she decided to not play SL and watch Finn do her father's tests instead.
"Finn."
Finn wanted to wave at her, but he suddenly heard his name being called out.
Looking around, he noticed that his team already had three bodyguards, but David wasn't among them.
"Finally! The clash of titans!"
"David versus Finn!"
The bodyguards that were already out of the game had started to watch the tug of war, and they were currently cheering because they wanted to see Finn go against David.
David went to take his position, and Finn put his game face on.
He had already lost twice to David, so he wanted to at least win once.
BEEP
The alarm sounded, and both teams grabbed their ropes.
Finn stood at the end of the rope because that's where the strongest member is supposed to stand.
And although Finn's body didn't have huge muscles but rather a lean build, he still had a ton of strength in his body.
Everyone had to exercise to keep their muscle mass, but Finn just had to enter his capsule and leave to make all the muscles that he had lost appear on his body again.
The first minute was a little uneventful because both teams' strengths were around the same, so the real battle would begin once some of them got tired.
Slowly, another minute went by, and the bodyguards were starting to feel their arms go sore, but because Finn and David were pulling with full force, the cloth stayed in the middle.
"One, two! One, two!"
Both Finn and David kept shouting to lead their teammates into pulling at the same time.
But alas, Finn's stamina was lower than David's, so his team was slowly being pulled towards their opponent's side.
"Just a little more! One, two!"
David also wanted to win, so he started smiling when he saw that his team was going to win.
Pulling the rope, the cloth was almost touching their line when suddenly...
THUD
One of David's teammates slipped on the sweat that was accumulating on the floor, and his fall made one other bodyguard behind him also lose his footing.
"PULL NOW!"
Seeing the opportunity, Finn's team pulled with all their might, and they managed to not only save their situation but also make the cloth cross their line.
"…Finn's team wins."
David was breathing heavily while shaking his head.
He didn't like losing, and he knew that he only lost because of an accident, but he wasn't unjust, so he didn't ask for a rematch and announced Finn's win.
The bodyguards stayed silent because they didn't know what to say.
They had never seen David lose.
He was undefeated, and he had always won in everything they did, but they finally saw him lose today.
"WOOO!"
All the bodyguards suddenly shouted and rushed to Finn, who was on the ground gasping for air.
His chest was rising and falling, his body was covered in sweat, and he felt like he had just pulled an airplane.
The bodyguards grabbed him and started throwing him into the air while cheering.
They didn't care that Finn won in a team game, and they didn't care that the competition wasn't over yet. They were just happy to see their captain finally taste defeat.
"FINN! FINN! FINN!"
They kept chanting his name while throwing him up and down, and Finn was happy for like five seconds after that, he felt like throwing up.
If he were to throw up now, though, his vomit would spray all over the crowd, so he kept trying to tell them to let him down.
"Stop."
Jonathan, who was watching from the side, walked over to the crowd, and with one word, the bodyguards stopped celebrating and let Finn down.
They then saluted, and even the ones that were still panting from pulling the rope just a minute ago stood straight with a salute.
"Let's end the tug of war here. This wasn't a competition to determine a winner, but to show me Finn's strength. Now that I have seen that, we will move onto the last test."
Finn raised his wobbly body and looked at Jonathan, waiting to hear what the last test would be.
"But first, everyone will rest up, shower, and change again because you are starting to stink of sweat."
Holding his nose, Jonathan gestured with his head towards the showers.
"Understood!"
All the bodyguards shouted in unison and went into the changing room that was connected to the showers.
Finn took a few seconds to calm down and then followed after them.
---
Once they were done showering, replenishing their liquids, and changing their clothes, they all went to the gym again, where Jonathan and David were already waiting.
"Last test will be sparring. I want to see how Finn manages in a fight against you guys."
Jonathan turned to look at Finn as he spoke.
Finn was happy to hear that because he wanted to learn hand-to-hand combat techniques from them.
He did train in Second Life, but his training mainly consisted of wielding a sword or assassinating someone with a dagger, so he wanted to learn how to use his body as a weapon too.
Jonathan didn't scold David for losing because he saw the match and also saw how David was supposed to win but lost only because of an accident.
Instead of shouting at him for losing to someone with a lot less experience, he decided to give David a chance to redeem himself.
"Now for the first match. It will be David versus Finn. Both of you, enter the boxing ring."
With a slight smirk, Jonathan pointed at one of the boxing rings in the gym.
"..."
The bodyguards were surprised, and their mouths opened in shock.
They thought that this fight would be the last one because it was the one that everyone was looking forward to the most.
But soon their mouths changed their shape into a smile, and they started grinning.
They didn't shout like last time because that would be a rude thing to do in front of their employer, but all of their faces showed excitement.
'…'
Finn was also speechless, but it wasn't because of excitement but because he didn't want to fight David in a sparring match.
He did want to learn from the bodyguards, but fighting David would be more of a one-sided beatdown than a learning fight.
Ignoring Finn's silence, David stepped into the ring and took his shirt off.
His body, which was already intimidating because of the huge muscles, became even scarier.
Scars in the shape of bullet wounds or knife slashes covered his entire upper body, and there was also a large scar going from his right shoulder to his left hip.
Looking at the scar, Finn didn't know how a person could survive a wound like that, but he had already fought some intimidating opponents like WhiteTiger in his animal form, so he proudly stepped inside the ring.
Finn didn't know if taking the shirt off was a rule, so he also took it off and prepared to fight.
His body had almost no fat, and it was filled with toned muscles.
He was smaller than David, but his body was nothing to scoff at.
Sophie blushed when she saw Finn take his shirt off, and she covered her eyes with her hands. But she wanted to see the fight, so she made a gap between her fingers and looked through it.
She was used to seeing the bodyguards train shirtless, but seeing a boy she loved take his shirt off in front of her was a completely different thing.
Jonathan first looked at David and then at Finn.
Seeing that they were both ready, he decided to start the fight.
"Three, two, one… Begin!"
And so the fight, or rather the bully session, began.