Golden Carnation

Chapter 3: Exhaustive Training

"Heup… heup…!"

"3 more laps!"

For  the past few hours, all I've done is jog and do squats. I would've given up 10 minutes into this exercise, but the problem is that I'm currently being supervised. 

"Do you really think you could study swordsmanship at this rate?!"

"Haah…!"

Since this morning, I've already finished 4 laps containing 1 mile each. My lungs felt like giving out, my throat as dry as the dead sea. My body's current capabilities caused this regime to be difficult to perform.

This knight… no matter how hard I pleaded with him for even a small, 5-minute break, he never budged. He wouldn't even give me a single drop of water.

"You're slowing down!! Faster!"

"Hhh– Yes s-sir!!"

All of my decisions in this life led to me suffering even more, I fear the length of my survival in the long run.

Gulp

An hour after the stamina training I had drowned myself into drinking water, parched and sluggish whilst my body felt weak. The tendons in my muscles felt stretched and all I anticipate to happen once this day passes will be my inability to move once I take rest.

'I wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow…'

"I'll let you take a break for a day, be sure you'll be in great condition once we start training again."

Jasper stated, handing me another bottle of water as he saw the one on my hand that was emptied. I weakly grabbed it but then struggled to remove the cap. He noticed how long it's taking me to open the drink and decided to steal it away and open it, before returning the bottle back to me.

"Don't overexert yourself, young master."

Several aches on the side of my head persisted as I heard his advice, knowing full well how he massacred my 15 year-old body from his strict training just earlier. Though, I was the one who signed up for this so I don't think I have the right to complain.

"You may rest."

'Did he really think 1 day of rest could suffice after that hellish work out?!'

My body still felt sore even after a day of resting. Throughout my break, I could barely even lift a finger and was bedridden for the whole day. I also thought the pain would go away after lazing around… but surprisingly, my body still feels like being stung by a thousand needles in each of my joints and muscles.

"Can we just move this session tomorrow?…"

A raspy voice was heard from my mouth, attempting to ask for an additional break to be able to rest my body.

"If you keep asking for rest days, there wouldn't be any development in your body. This training would just be wasted."

Being shot down immediately, I mentally lamented and mourned for the state of my physical health. Jasper might've noticed my displeasure, seeing his expression grow softer while I looked at him. The pain in my body then abruptly disappeared as coldness lingered on my chest, eventually realizing that the knight had placed his palm on it.

"What was that?"

"I just replenished your strength."

Ah, I forgot. Magic exists in this world. Experiencing this in person still leaves me in awe; something you could only encounter in fiction.

"If you're finished dawdling around, let's start the training."

"Yes, sir!"

“Young people…”