The next day I awoke and my sister had already disappeared like a cheap one-night stand. The sun was already high in the sky and she had gone to take care of the warehouse market. I decided to lament the loss of my +2 heavy blanket later and join the rest of the living in activities.
Today was the first work day of the week. In Eternia weeks were 6 days long with 4 work days and 2 rest days, the naming of the days was quite simple starting with the first workday it was Monosol, Disol, Trisol, and Tetrasol. Then the rest days were Pentasol and Hexasol. There were 5 weeks to a month, and the months followed the same pattern Monomoon, Dimoon, Trimoon, and so on. The 1st day of the year corresponded with the spring equinox. If there were ever any errors in the calendar, a day was added to the final month, Duodecmoon. I arrived in the summer on a Hexasol. Specifically, on the 6th sol of Tetramoon in the 1023rd year since the founding of Eternia.
Hours, minutes, and seconds were not very well monitored here. There were hourglasses and minute-glasses, but mostly people just referred to the sun's position in the sky for time or a sundial. There were somewhere between twenty-three and twenty-five hours in a day.
I received tutors twice a week, on Disol and Tetrasol. Monosol and Trisol were my self-study days. As it was my self-study day, I decided to start training. In my system was a carefully tailored exercise routine, as if I had my own professional trainer. First, though, I had to get breakfast. So I headed to the kitchen and jumped up on a counter.
The chef seemed used to this behavior and she asked what I would like today. The system recommended loading up on carbs for breakfast, so I asked for a short stack of pancakes with a side of fried eggs. I also snuck in a few pieces of bacon against the system's recommendation. I swung my feet from the counter while waiting for the food and animatedly talked about my plans for the day. The chef said there was a training yard behind the house where the guards exercised and practiced which would be good for exercise. She added that I shouldn't be worrying about such things so young. I ignored her, quickly grabbed my plate, and disappeared from the kitchen.
I chose a random alcove and sat down on the floor to eat my breakfast. I was evading my personal bodyguard so I could be free to do what I wanted. The bacon was heavenly. The swine were a little different here, and the bacon was even more savory than I expected. Or maybe it was the brown sugar curing. Either way, I could see why the system didn't recommend it, one bite and I was already addicted. Tomorrow I would order twice, no, four times as much. It took all my willpower to not run back to the kitchen immediately.
I snuck back into my room and changed into my outfit for the day. I found the one tunic Zoey possessed and, in the absence of any pants or shorts, I selected a rough linen skirt I wouldn't mind getting dirty. For shoes, I picked out some leather moccasins. They had terrible arch support, but the boots were too restrictive. Then I ran off to the training yard. The last place my personal guards would look is a place swarming with other guards and I doubted any of the other guards would be busy-body enough to report my location.
Finally, I looked at the exercise routine the system prepared, the first task was 3 sets of 10 push-ups. Did the system look down on me? Sure my base strength was only 5, but one of the moons was in the sky somewhere boosting it to 10, the standard of an adult. My goal should be 100 no? I decided to ignore the system and aim for 100.
I made it to 13 before my struggling arms gave way and I fell flat on my face in the dust to a chorus of laughter. Saitama would be disappointed in me. A burly-looking guard with a chin-strap beard helped me up, his name was Cleveland, I think.
"What ya doing there missy? You need to pace yourself. Where are your tails, Fred and Andrew?" He asked.
I shrugged, "Those sticks in the mud? I ditched them. They never let me do anything fun."
Another chorus of laughter.
Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, Cleveland asked "Whatchya up to? I don't think I've seen you sweat a day in your life."
I replied, "I want to be strong!" And put on the most adorable pout I could muster.
"You're going about it all wrong. You need to slowly ease yourself into it. I know you're strong for a kid, but without training, repetitive exercises will quickly sap your strength, you've got to build up to it." Cleveland delicately explained, tip-toeing around the fact that I'd lead a life of utter leisure up until 5 minutes ago.
Now I knew why the system only recommended 10 push-ups per rep. On paper, my strength was 10, and I could indeed put out a burst of strength equivalent to an adult. However, I had no endurance. Training was more than just about increasing my strength. It would solidify my weak foundation.
Dusting myself off I continued to the first set of each exercise: squats, lunges, planks, inverted rows, hip extensions, and sit-ups. Then repeated my sets. By the last set, I almost planted my face in the dirt again just getting up to 10 pushups. For the inverted rows, I used the lightest of the weights set out for the guards.
Then I began a stretching routine. This was much easier. I could even do the splits with ease. To add to the challenge I even propped a foot up on a weight to get a better stretch. To train my reaction speed, I got a clay pot, filled it with water, poked a hole in the bottom, and suspended it on a tree branch. Then I put my hand under and tried to evade the drips.
When the pot drained, I turned to my last exercise and the reason I evaded my guards all day, jogging 10 km. And yes the system was in metric. I knew the town was about 4 km away from the villa. So round trip I would get 8 km, add some jogging around town, and I should easily get 10 km total.
And so I jogged into town. The journey was uneventful until I approached the river where some town kids were playing. By this time, every inch of my skin not only glistened with sweat but there were full-on rivers of sweat. I had no idea what temperature it was, but I'd be sweating even without the jogging. Perhaps jogging shortly after noon in summer wasn't the best idea.
"Wheweeeeee! Princess, what pig's sty did you crawl out of? We could smell you when you were still a speck in the distance." A chubby kid twice my size jeered.
Not to be outdone I jeered back, "It's the smell of hard work, you wouldn't know it, if it bit you."
"Oooooooooooo." the other kids helpfully chorused.
"Oh yeah, well I hear your mam's a junk whore ..." The chubby kid retorted.
My eyes flashed red. The other kids instantly sensed danger and gave me and the still oblivious antagonist a wide berth.
He continued to blabber on "... I even hear she takes bits of junk and stuffs them ..."
*THWACK*
My fist landed hard on his chin. The kid's significant mass lifted from the ground and was propelled several feet back until he landed on his back. He was out cold.
Oh, there's my strength, maybe I should've held back a little. I felt a tiny bit guilty for laying the obnoxious kid out, but only a tiny bit. After an awkward silence, I decisively turned about and jogged towards a bridge into town. The great me didn't need to deal with the aftermath after all right?