The quantity of food I would have to eat every day was far greater than what it used to be. On average, a normal adult would generally eat between 2400 and 2600 calories per day; on my side, I was apparently barely eating 1800 calories every day. Now I would be eating over 3600 calories per day. Lots of rice and eggs, meat, a whole lot of chicken—in fact, well-cooked chicken with a sauce that makes it very good for sport and weight growth. Which I heavily needed since I'll be doing sports like crazy, therefore, what I gain in weight will mostly turn into muscles right away.
It was over 10 pm, but I still could eat and train. So we started right away. I mean, he started. He made me a huge bowl of high-quality rice with 4 eggs, fried eggs. 300 kg of chicken, and some vegetables to eat even though I didn't like vegetables. I would need to force myself to eat them if I wanted to maximize my growth. After that, he told me to wait at least 1 hour, or 1 hour and a half, before starting to train.
1 hour and 24 minutes later, I was ready.
Eliotte asked me to tell him the training program I had created so he could see if it had any problems.
Indeed, it had.
''Well, the 5-kilometer running is good; it's not too much to force yourself to run for 5 kilometers every day, especially with your new diet. For the sit-ups, it's good; your body is suited for that since you don't have much fat, and you'll grow insane abs in no time. But the push-ups, AH, that's too much; you most definitely want to break your bodily tissue, but not this much. 200 push-ups are overkill, and you'll lose progress instead of gaining strength. The planks are also not needed; while they are good to train abs, there are better ways to train them.''
After that, he told me about a few sets of calisthenics training methods I should use. Calisthenics is often considered one of the best, if not the best, training methods to improve your core strength and the entirety of your body.
He then told me to perform my revised training program along with his calisthenics set of exercises in order to see where my current limits were.
I did 30 pushups in a row, and my arms were dead tired. I then did 50 fast sit-ups with the proper form to maximize the solicitation of my abs; as a result, they were on fire. I then ran for 1 kilometer at 14 km/h without stopping.
After that, I stopped for 45 seconds, drank water filled with sugar, and did a few sets of Mountain Climber and chained it up with a 2-minute plank; it was painful. I then did 20 dips, 3 sets of 10 burpees, ran for 500 meters at 16 km/h, drank, then kept going.
x2
20 push-ups, 45 sit-ups, 20 squats, 15 dips.
x2
30 seconds rest:
5 second Tuck Planche, my arms were dead. 15 squats, ran for 500 kilometers at 14 km/h, and did 80 sit-ups.
x2
1 minute rest:
10-second Tuck Planche, 15 push-ups, I hardly could keep going, did 20 sit-ups, 20 squats, and ran 150 meters at full speed thrice with just 10 seconds of rest in between the sprints.
x2
After that, I was done. Well, not fully. I then proceeded to do 10 minutes of leg stretching to gain flexibility, and I also stretched other parts of my body so my muscles would not be too strained.
''Well, that was impressive; I didn't think you would be able to last that long with such a training session.''
''Aha, no need to mock me; I bet most people do better,'' I responded while breathing heavily.
''I'm not; I wouldn't dare to mock you, to begin with; I'm just honest. What you've just done would be considered too hard for even people who have over 35 battle powers and good physical strength. You've told me you weren't in good shape, and I can see you make up for it with your insane mental fortitude. You can be happy because you'll be able to progress much faster with that mental strength.''
''HA, I'm glad then.''
''So now, you will do this exact training every day for 1 week. 1 week later, your overall strength will have increased by over 20% or more, so you'll start increasing the number of repetitions and sets of different exercises every day after the first week. Then, after the second week of training is done, I'll give you new exercises to do, like pull-ups, bear crawls, jumping lunges, calf raises, V-ups, lying leg raises, and Superman holds.'' He explained.
''After incorporating the new exercises and increasing the duration and difficulty of your training, you'll keep going like that for 2 weeks. That will make it 1 month, and then maybe you will be able to do this training twice a day. In the morning and the afternoon.'' He added
''I'm rather excited to see my progress!'' I said naively.
''Oh, I bet that excitement will soon turn into tears and yells, haha," Eliotte said, which stopped my blood flow for a second.
''Oh, by the way, can't we use weight to train too?''
''That would have been a good thing to do indeed. But since all gyms have also vanished, there ain't any weights left.''
''Shit,'' I reacted.
''Well, it's not a big problem. The training you'll be following will be by far enough. If my estimations are correct, your overall physical strength may double after just 45 days. And I'm talking about every single muscle in your body. Arms, grip, legs, abs, back, calves, shoulders, hip flexors, etc. Your core will also be strengthened like crazy, alongside gaining terrific flexibility in your legs as well as better balance. With all that in mind, you'll have a perfect body to train in martial arts and perform techniques of all types."
My excitement grew stronger and stronger; I couldn't wait. If this were the results I could achieve after merely 45 days, then with 45 more days and secretly training with the dummy, wouldn't I be able to double or triple my battle score?
For now, though, I told myself that I shouldn't use the training dummy to train before the first 2 or 3 weeks of physical training. This was obviously because it would result in severe injuries on my side and would mess up my whole training. I first needed to grow stronger, and after 3 weeks of training, I was confident that my muscles would repair fast enough and would be strong enough for me to also train with the dummy.
After I came back to my senses, I said thanks to Eliotte for all he's done and is willing to do for me.
''No need to thank me, my lord; this is my duty as your servant,'' said Eliotte, in utmost sincerity and devotion.
''Also, you may text me at any time so I can prepare your meals... actually, you know what, I'll prepare a planning for when you should eat and train. That will make things easier,'' he added.
I couldn't thank that guy enough.
For now, though, it was time to go to sleep for me and the others too, so we parted ways after the final preparations.
While I was lying in my medieval bed, I recalled how I've always complained about being weak and having trouble training because my muscles were always strained, even when I didn't train. But it seemed like the problem came from my mental state. Being overly negative all the time, anxious, and eating poorly all added up to my body being strained and me finding stupid excuses to not train.
I could have trained all along and made changes, but my mind poisoned my body, and I kept sinking deeper and deeper into that sea of illusion that veiled the truth. I kept lying to myself, trying to escape from my reality. But now that reality itself has changed, I could restart and become a better version of myself.
''I'll change for the better, for sure.''
8 hours of sleep later, I woke up. My body ached, but not as hard as I thought it would. I stretched as per Eliotte's instruction and massaged myself. I ate my special breakfast with lots of calories and fast sugar, I then did a few easy exercises and went for a run.
I was oddly filled with energy despite the training from yesterday. I went outside and ran for, like, 8 kilometers in 48 minutes.
I ran faster than expected and much more than I intended; I was stronger than I thought. Coming back to the castle, I met a lot of people; they all greeted me respectfully and praised me for doing sports. I also noticed Kal, Arthur, and Clark talking together. I marched in their direction, and they saw me. We all talked for a moment about casual things before I left to wash myself.
Things seemed to be in order in the castle and the residents' area. People were organized and were doing their jobs as they were told. On the way to the private bathing area, because yes, I had a private bathing place, I caught sight of many people training on their own or with friends. I was happy that I was not the only one preparing myself for future challenges.
After bathing myself, I decided I would check my 'stat window,' and it took me well 10 seconds to begin realizing what I saw. My battle score was 29.
I had gained 2 points in the span of 1 day; this was crazy. But I knew it was impossible for me to gain 2 strength points every day, or else that would mean that in 90 days, I could increase my overall strength by more than 6 times.
In fact, the higher the battle score you have, the harder it is to increase it, obviously. If someone with a battle score of 10 were to train crazily but efficiently for 2 days, he could perhaps rise to 12 or more. But if a person with a battle score of 40 were to do the same training, but for 1 week, he could potentially stay at 40. This means that being weaker makes overall battle power improvement faster. Hence why I could get such an improvement.
After cleaning himself, Aiden sent a message in the council chatroom to ask if he needed to do anything. Unexpectedly, they all said he shouldn't do anything for now and could do whatever he wanted. It really felt weird; he was the leader, but his subjects were doing everything for him. 'Isn't that the equivalent of slavery?' Aiden thought.
But at least his free time allowed him to train more. Training more didn't mean that he would do more push-ups and sit-ups, but that he would make smart use of the dummy's training mode functions. He said he wouldn't fight against it for the first 3 weeks because it would be too dangerous and could ruin his body training, so instead he would ask the dummy to perform martial arts techniques in front of him and try to copy them. He intended to learn new martial arts and improve his own. He knew that trying to mimic swings, leg kicks, and other techniques at a slow pace and without much strength wouldn't tire his muscles at all.
Therefore, Aiden had the intention of remembering the form of each technique he would learn and trying to replicate it at a slow pace in order to completely master the base form and concept of it.
He said to his colleagues that he would be busy for a few hours today, 'so he could secretly train with the dummy'. They responded that it was fine and that they would call him out if he was needed.
Aiden's secondary training starts now.
''Activate level 1 dummy [Training-Mode]''
''I pick boxing, karate, taekwondo, wing-chun, Muay Tai, jiu-jitsu, and dim-mak as the martial arts.''
'System Notice: Level 1 Dummy [Training-Mode] using 7 different martial arts has been activated.'
'System Notice: You can now scroll through the technique panel, which includes over one hundred different of the best techniques from each of those 7 martial arts.'
'Jesus...' My startled mind spoke out.
''Please can you make a selection of only 5 of the best techniques from each of those martial arts? I want footwork, counter, dodging, slipping, and body-shot techniques for boxing.''
[System Notice: Done]
''For both Muay Tai and Taekwondo, pick what you think is best; it has to include knee blows, elbow strikes, and leg kicks.''
[System Notice: Done]
''For Kung-Fu, the best defensive techniques and other attacking techniques.''
[System Notice: Done]
"For Wing-Chun, the best counter and defensive techniques, hand blocking and counter, dodging techniques, vital point knowledge, and strikes.''
[System Notice: Done]
''For Dim-Mak, everything regarding vital points and meridians, and for Jiu-jitsu, the best throwing techniques.''
[System Notice: Done]
[System Notice: You can now start whenever you want]
''Start"
[System Notice: The dummy will teach you first where to locate vital points since it seems you are interested in them.]
[System Notice: Wing-Chun and Dim-Mak will be used by the dummy first. But before all, the dummy's body will be covered in yellow dots, which will represent the pressure point. In red will be the meridian.]
[System Notice: You can take as much time as you want to memorize them; after you are done, the dummy will perform the best Wing-Chun and Dim-Mak techniques to successfully attack pressure points and meridians.]
''Start the martial arts demonstration.''
After saying this, the dummy immediately started performing various complex techniques from both Wing-Chun and Dim-Mak. It told Aiden when it did either Wing-Chun or Dim-Mak, all the attacks were done in a shadowboxing way. There was only 1 dummy, sadly, so it couldn't attack another one.
Aiden asked the dummy to stop after he witnessed the 10 techniques 30 times over. 30 minutes had already passed.
''Could you now let yourself be hit by me? I will try to use each of the techniques you have demonstrated on you. You must tell me when my form is correct or wrong, and then tell me how to improve it.''
[System Notice: Of course]
The dummy became a statue, but it could talk through the system.
It's important to note that despite me only having 10 techniques for hitting vital and pressure points, all of them were meant to attack almost every single one of them.
Hence I already had quite an impressive panel of things that I could do to hurt people with few.
I henceforth went forthwith, trying the techniques.
'Low blow to the abdomen, angle: 35 degrees'
[System Notice: 'You failed'] "Your shot was too low; swing with less strength but more speed, and completely turn your hips to bring in more power. You must hit slightly higher. Try again"
So I tried again and again, hundreds of times till exhaustion.
[System Notice: 'You've succeeded in landing a proper blow to the vital point for the seventh time in a row.' You can now be considered a proficient user of the first technique. But you're far from the level of an expert or even a master.]
This struck my pride like a burning hammer strikes cold iron. Indeed, I may have gotten used to using this one technique, but I surely can't even use it efficiently in a real battle. And that's just one technique. With more determination than ever to make progress, I continued.
But I rested for 5 minutes before.
''Show me all of the techniques again, 40 times, and I will perform at the same time. You must go to the next technique only when I have successfully performed the technique with good form, enough speed, and enough strength, at least 5 times in a row.''
I was definitely crazy. But this time I had the best method to try the techniques again and engrave their forms in my head and get experience in using them at the same time.
[System Notice: Alright]
''Start''
And so I copied the movement, the speed, the accuracy, the strength, and the rotation of my body, hips, arms, and legs. I tried to do everything perfectly. But things weren't so easy...