Chapter 13 - Training

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"Come in, Aldrich," a voice came from inside.

I opened the door and walked in. Inside, my father was calmly signing documents at his desk.

I didn't quite understand what dragons had to do with paperwork, but I didn't question it too much.

"What is it, Aldrich? What's the reason for your visit?" my father asked.

"I came to tell you that I have formed my foundation," I said.

(Foundation = The first stage of all cultivation types)

"You are really quick, Aldrich. Those who awakened with you haven't even started cultivating yet," my father said.

"No matter how talented I am, I have to work harder than the untalented beings to reach the peak, Father," I said.

"HAHAHAHAHA, it's good that you realize this, Aldrich," my father said. "Even though your mother, I, and the Phoenix family are the strongest, we still worked very hard to reach this stage."

"Come on, Father, you're only a few hundred years old," I said.

"HAHAHAHAHA, Aldrich, I may be only a few hundred years old, but that's only relevant to the planet I live on. If you count the years I spent in the hidden realms, I easily reach a few thousand years," my father said.

What I heard from my father both surprised and excited me.

While the existence of hidden realms excited me, the idea of spending several thousand years in these realms genuinely scared me. The fear of spending much more time away from my family and loved ones than I would on Earth worried me. I guess I'm not ready for that yet.

"I will send you a few things to speed up your cultivation and help you focus. You can go now," my father said.

"Yes, Father, see you later," I said and left his room.

I went to the cultivation room and prepared to start cultivating.

[!DING HOST RECEIVED A TASK.]

Just as I was about to start cultivating, I saw the system's notification.

"Show me the task, Ande," I said. (Ande is the system's name.)

[ -BODY TRAINING- ]

[ RUNNING 0/1000 KM ]

[ PUSH-UPS 0/1000 ]

[ SIT-UPS 0/1000 ]

[ SQUATS 0/1000 ]

[ REWARD: SURPRISE ]

[!DING IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED THAT THE HOST IS VERY STRONG, THEREFORE THESE TRAININGS WILL BE DONE UNDER 100x GRAVITY.]

Ah, shit, I think I'm screwed. I guess I'll be doing the daily task before starting cultivation.

Let's start with running. This small area is really big.

As soon as I started running a bit faster, a huge pressure descended on me.

"Hahaha, the system's training method is really effective."

What is this? I'll die, god, how can I run 1000 km like this? Even 10 km will be very difficult.

"Hahaha, you're experiencing the consequences of crossing me, brat," Diaval interrupted.

"Shut up, Diaval," I retorted.

"Hahaha," Diaval continued laughing without paying any attention to me.

"AGH, damn you, Ande, seriously, reduce this damn gravity a bit," I complained.

[!DING GRAVITY HAS BEEN RESET TO 50x.]

As soon as the gravity became 50x, I relaxed and continued running. Even 50x was too much, but I could do this.

30 MINUTES LATER

*Huff *Huff *Huff

"Ah, I'm really about to die," I shouted.

"You need to rest, Aldrich, someone at your level can't run 1000 km in one go even without gravity," Nocturne said.

"You're right, so I'll just lie here now," I said as I sat down.

"System, show me the task progress," I said.

[ RUNNING 274/1000 ]

Ah, I think I can finish this if I run for another 2 hours. Let's see, there are 14 hours left in the day.

I think I can finish push-ups, sit-ups, and squats in 10 hours.

Damn it, why is everything so difficult today? On top of all that pain, I have to deal with this... I thought all I needed to do to become stronger was take a few pills and cultivate. Why is body training necessary? Won't I get stronger as my cultivation level rises?

Huff, I need to get up and run some more.

1 HOUR LATER

[ RUNNING 842/1000 ]

Huff* Huff* Huff*

I'm about to die. I'm running faster than I thought, but why am I doing this? Haaaa.

15 MINUTES LATER

[ RUNNING 1000/1000 ]

Ah, it's finally over. It's finally over. I thought I was going to die.

I need to sit for an hour because if I don't, I think I'll die. I blinked and as soon as I did, I fell asleep.

"Hey Aldrich, wake up..." I heard a voice.

"5 more minutes," I mumbled.

"HEY ALDRICH, WAKE UP," I heard a voice, but this time there was a killing intent, and it made me wake up instantly.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Nocturne and Diaval looking at me.

"What is it, Nocturne?" I answered.

"You've been sleeping for an hour, Aldrich," Nocturne replied.

"Ah, I see. I need to get back to training," I said.

I got into push-up position and prepared myself. I gradually went down to see which stage the system would accept, and when I reached the stage the system accepted, I lifted myself back up.

1 HOUR LATER

Huff* Huff* Huff*

I need to rest. My arms really hurt. I sat down and checked the system.

[ PUSH-UPS 800/1000 ]

Almost there. If I do push-ups for another 10 minutes, I can finish this.

"You are really diligent, Aldrich. You are truly strong for someone your age," Nocturne said.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I need to get back to the push-ups," I said, chuckling.

15 MINUTES LATER

"System, show me my progress."

[ PUSH-UPS 1000/1000 ]

Huff* Huff* Finally, it's over.

"Nocturne, please wake me up in an hour," I said to Nocturne.

"Okay, Aldrich, I'll make sure to wake you up," Nocturne replied.

1 HOUR LATER

"WAKE UP, ALDRICH, YOU NEED TO GET BACK TO TRAINING," I heard a voice and woke up instantly.

"Hah hah hah," I woke up out of breath. Because waking up with a killing intent and a shout on top of such exhaustion is really scary.

"You really need to stop emitting killing intent, or I'll die of fear," I said.

"It's surprising enough that you can endure this level of killing intent without dying," Nocturne said, laughing.

"What kind of killing intent do you use to wake me up?" I asked.

"Enough to kill someone perfected at the foundation level," Nocturne said in a neutral voice, as if he wasn't about to kill me.

"WHAT? Nocturne, are you seriously trying to kill me?" I asked, shouting in surprise.

"HAHAHAHAHA, no need to worry, Aldrich. I'm just trying to wake you up. If I wanted to wake you up, it would be very easy," Nocturne said.

I sighed deeply and decided to ignore it. Let's forget about it and start doing sit-ups.

1 HOUR LATER

Huff* Huff* Huff*

"System, show me my progress."

[ SIT-UPS 1000/1000 ]

Ah, finally, it's over. Damn it, there's still squats. Why doesn't it end?

"Let me sleep for another hour," I said to Nocturne.

"Of course, sweetie," Nocturne said kindly.

1 HOUR LATER

"HEY, WAKE UP ALDRICH," I heard the voice again, but this time it was Diaval.

"Alright, alright, I'm awake, stop shouting," I replied.

"Get up and continue your training, brat," Diaval said in a gruff voice.

"Shut up, Diaval, your voice is grating my ears," I said.

"Tsk, annoying brat," Diaval said.

I could hear Nocturne giggling from the side. She was laughing at our fight again. I really think she's a mother. She was watching us like children playing a game.

Hah, screw it. Let's do some training.

1 HOUR LATER

"System, show me my progress."

[!DING CONGRATULATIONS FOR COMPLETING THE TASK, HOST.]

[!DING AS A REWARD, YOU HAVE REGAINED ALL YOUR ENERGY.]

[!DING AS A REWARD, YOU HAVE GAINED +20 TO ALL STATS.]

[!DING AS A REWARD, YOU HAVE RECEIVED A TRAINING OUTFIT.]

[!DING AS A REWARD FOR YOUR FIRST TRAINING, YOU HAVE GAINED +100 TO ALL STATS.]

[!DING AS A REWARD FOR YOUR FIRST TRAINING, YOU HAVE RECEIVED 5x BASIC STRENGTHENING PILL.]

Hah, it was really worth all my efforts.

Great, that's enough for today. I'll go and sleep for the rest of the day.

TO BE CONTINUED...