Reminiscence of the Past

IX. Duel

"You did well for your first day," Caius said, handing me a cup of water

I gulped the water down and handed the cup back to Caius.

"I don't think I'll be able to wake up tomorrow," I told him as I stretched my legs out in front of me

"Your body will just be sore. You'll be fine,"

"Is this what every day will be like?" I asked him

"Yes, but soon after you all get the hang of this. You'll be learning how to swim, run properly, and do long-distance jumps. You'll also be training on sword fighting and then with other weapons like a Pilum. At the end, you'll be marching in armor,"

"So, I'm going to be sore constantly," I said, stretching my arms

"You'll get used to it, so don't worry about that, just keep doing the training,"

"And what if I can't keep up, what would happen to me?"

"You're worried because you saw the boys who were far behind, right?"

"Yes, even I don't see them here," I said as I looked around

"They are going to have their own diet and exercise plan," Caius said

"Really? I thought they would return home,"

"No, we try our best to help these men become milites, but it's all on them. They have to do their very best and push themselves to their limits,"

"Do you think I'll be with them?"
"For now, no. Just keep eating the meals, rest as much as you can, and follow the training and practice on the ones you need," Caius explained

"Okay," I nodded to myself

"But, I was surprised that you got through the whole training. I thought you would've been the last ones,"

"I thought I was. My ankle is in bad condition. I even sprained it again," I frowned as I looked down at my ankle

"There's nothing we can do about that," Caius looked down at my ankle, "The only way to make it better is to do exercises on it like rolling it in a circular motion or stretching it out,"

"I'll try to do that, but I don't want to put any unnecessary pressure on it because it hurts,"

"You did well even with a sprained ankle, just keep doing what you did today,"

"I'll try to," I smiled up at him

"Come on, let's get you freshen up before cena,"

"Wait, it's already time for cena?" I asked, shocked

"You took the whole morning and afternoon to complete those exercises. Later on, it'll get more difficult so just be glad, its just running and walking up a hill,"

"I don't think my body can take this anymore," I whined as I dragged my feet, following Caius

"It's barely your first day, you'll get used to it,"

『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』『』

For the next few days and weeks, we would run 5 laps around the fort and walk or run up the hill, carrying the bags filled with rocks. I could feel it getting easier for me also I could see my biceps getting bigger and I was getting the outline for a six pack. I was too excited as it had never happened before.

"Today, were going to try something different," Centurion Servius announced as he looked at all of us, "You have all tried out this exercise, but were going to spend the rest of the day, learning the spatha, gladius, pilum while wearing lorica hamata with a garment called subarmalis underneath it," He held up a metal chain vest and white padding, "I'll have two of your mentors show you how to put it on then you'll put it on yourselves,"