Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 42 - A Score to Settle

Zayne lifted a two hundred and eighty pound weight with hardly any trouble until he got it above himself. He just as quickly let it fall down and picked it back up. He repeated this action over and over, constantly grunting with each action. Finally he lifted it up above his head and rested there for a moment, his muscles glowing dimly with sweat dripping from them. A single droplet of water ran down from his hairline all the way to his chin, then collapsed to the floor below, meeting with a puddle of water there too. He let the weight slowly drop down and he set it on a bench. He took slow, controlled breaths to try and maximize his air intake. He grabbed a towel resting on a rack to his left and wiped his face, then looked across the room to see Eli.

Eli was wearing a T-shirt he'd bought a few days ago with a dragon eye on it that read 'Guardian' across the bottom. His shorts were the same thin, black, athletic ones he always wore around at the base. His arms were fully extended and his chest was wheezing in and out rapidly, sweat dripping from his face in massive waterfalls compared to what Zayne had been experiencing. Eli's legs wobbled underneath the weight, and his arms looked like they were about to give out. His eyes were closed, his teeth gritted together in pain. Zayne threw his towel across his shoulder and walked over to his struggling friend. He looked at his stance, his position, what he was lifting with. Eli was doing everything right, everything looked perfectly in balance. But Eli still struggled with the weight. Then Zayne noticed that the Dino's Heart wasn't glowing. Eli was trying to use his own raw strength. Zayne checked the weight Eli was lifting. Nearly one hundred pounds.

"Hold on a second," Zayne said as he reached up and grabbed the weight, then held it at his side.

Eli instantly bent over with hands on his knees and chest curled up, coughing and struggling to catch a breath as more sweat flew everywhere from his sudden movements. He was straining himself too hard. It had been discovered after a quick medical exam that Eli had asthma. It didn't manifest itself unless the Dino's Heart was not active, so right now, without using the Dino's Heart, Eli looked like a pathetic puppy abandoned on the side of the road. Eli looked up, his chest rising and falling rapidly, signalling to Zayne that Eli was having issues taking in air. Eli opened his eyes and gave Zayne a very pained, very exasperated smile. He looked like he was trying to play it off cool. Zayne gave him a doubtful smile.

"What are you doing?" Zayne asked.

"Working... out... why?" Eli paused for at least five seconds between each word.

"By yourself? Without the Dino's Heart?" Zayne asked.

"Yeah... why? Is that... not a... good idea?" Eli was slowly getting better.

"Uh, with asthma it isn't. Look at yourself. You're dying on the inside and out from the looks of it. You're overworking yourself," Zayne explained as he grabbed another towel from a different rack and handed it to Eli, who promptly began wiping away the excessive sweat.

"I'm just... trying to do the same training... you're doing," Eli said.

"How have you been surviving in the government program like this?" Zayne wondered aloud.

"I've been... using the Dino's Heart then... but I feel like it's cheating. I'm not actually... getting any better with it... constantly powering me up," Eli answered as he moved over to some basic ten pound weights and started lifting them with no problem alternatively.

"Okay well there's your issue," Zayne said as he grabbed some fifty pound weights and copied Eli's actions, "I didn't get here by only using my human strength. I was using the Dragon's Heart as a charger basically. By myself I would have never gotten here. But gradually, little by little, I was able to ease off of the Dragon's Heart power. Like a child getting off of breastfeeding."