Chapter 36: Ashoka's influence
Ashoka entered the indoor gymnasium, excitement pulsing through his veins.
'I finally feel warmed up.'
Thanks to the two weeks of constant training, he managed to get up to the level of the middle-tier group while using only 50% of his power.
At that rate, it looked like he would catch up to Vikram and Ahmed's level before the test.
'Let's start today's training.'
When he lifted the shoulder equipment, Tishya approached to his left.
"Huff!"
She started lifting a weight way heavier than his with a glazed expression as if she were going to start drooling.
{The dumb-looking girl is here again.}
'Let her be.'
Since she wasn't bothering him, he ignored her and kept working.
This time around, he could hear someone sitting down on his right side.
"I… I'm sorry. Am I bothering you?"
It was the weak determinant kid.
They have developed a rather good relationship in the past few days and he was the only one who would speak to him other than Sudhatta on the training grounds.
'His name was Jean Paul?'
He got scared by Alberad's instructions each time, but he was fast-footed and tenacious.
"Do you want some?'
Paul offered him round crackers from his belly pocket.
"Ah…"
Ashoka unintentionally took it. When he was about to give it back, he could feel a powerful gaze from his side. Tishya's purple eyes were sparkling like a snow field.
{It's my first time seeing that dumb girl with that expression.}
'Does she like crackers?'
Her eyes were fixated on the cracker.
"Do you want it?"
"…"
Ashoka extended the hand holding the cracker towards her. After thinking about it for a bit, moving her finger like a wild cat, she took the cracker.
"…Thank you."
Showing her appreciation to Ashoka and Paul, she bit the cracker like a rabbit nibbling a leaf.
Her lips drew a soft arc, looking like she enjoyed the cracker.
She was like a cat when she took it, and a rabbit when she ate it, and an idle puppy at other times. She was peculiar in many ways.
"Erm… Sir Ashoka?"
Paul turned his head, after putting the rest of his crackers back in his pocket.
"Can I also train next to you?"
He said he wanted to learn the posture as well.
"If you want."
Ashoka nodded. His quick progress was thanks to the '<Enhanced art of mana circulation>' and the dragon grimoire system, copying his posture was not an issue.
"Thank you!"
"It's nothing."
Waving his hand at Paul's expression, he focused on his lifting once again.
Creak!
When he was stimulating his muscles as much as possible, he could hear Paul's equipment moving at the same speed and range, and the same could be heard from his left side, where Tishya was located.
'They're weirdos.'
{This monarch likes the guy that looks like a red raccoon.}
Draco said pointing at Paul who was trying hard to lift the weights.
'Why?'
{He bowed to this monarch. This is the first respect I've received since I woke up.}
'…'
Ashoka wanted to tell him that it wasn't directed at him, but since it would be annoying, he didn't say it.
'There are three children around me now.'
Ashoka thought gazing at one blond, one red, and another silver-haired kid.
***
Five Weeks In.
Ashoka passed the middle tier in the daybreak sprint and caught up to the middle-upper tier while only using 50% of his power.
During that evening's training, another person was added to his group, on top of Tishya, Paul, and Sudhatta.
Ten Weeks In.
Ashoka was the fastest among the middle-upper tier, and one more trainee was added to his group that evening.
Fifteen Weeks In.
Ashoka caught up to the highest tier. The six people next to him also improved drastically.
Whereas Sudhatta was now in third place next to Vikram and Ahmed.
* * *
Four months had passed since the fifth training ground's temporary training had begun.
Alberad kept instructing various kinds of training, and the difficulty kept increasing as well.
Training began before daybreak and continued into the evening, and even the children from the upper tier, who had excellent stamina, were starting to show their exhaustion.
Of course, the training was fundamentally the same.
Everything was up to the trainee's decision, including the daybreak and afternoon training that Alberad instructed, and the independent training that happened in the evening.
Alberad and the instructors never scolded anyone for giving up or skipping the independent training.
If trainees asked for a posture or advice, they thoroughly taught them, but that was it. They never told them to work harder, nor to work out more regularly. At that point, they seemed more like observers rather than instructors.
Leaving seven to eight-year-old children to decide everything was an innovative way of teaching.
In fact, the arrogant noble children, who were proud of their abilities, didn't do their best. They completely skipped the independent training.
They seemed to believe that they could become official trainees without going through all that.
However, there was one person who made them change their mind.
Ashoka Maurya.
The infamous boy started to change the fifth training ground for the better.
When training first began, Ashoka was the last to finish the running exercise.
He managed to run until the end of the first sprint, but he couldn't catch up to the middle tier.
But he kept running.
He managed to withstand training that made even those with better stamina give up. When it came to independent training, he was the first to start and the last to leave.
He wasn't just panting but breathing out white steam as he trained, and he showed results the next day.
His stamina, strength, and agility all improved drastically, and he had gone from the lower tier to tenth among the one hundred sixty trainees in ranking.
The children that saw it happening right in front of their eyes were speechless.
The children from noble families, and the recommended children didn't take it easy anymore. They started to do their best and didn't skip independent training.
Ashoka, whom everyone doubted at first, had become their rival.
Of course, that wasn't the case for everyone.
Ahmed and the collaterals that followed him still believed that training their stamina to that extent was unnecessary and practiced the sword and fist that their families had taught them.
Whereas Vikram tried to copy Ashoka and even worked out as much as Ashoka did.
They all thought that Ashoka was trying his best and they should not lose to him, little did they know that he was only using 50% of his power.
Anyway, in such a misunderstanding time passed, with everyone doing their best in their own way.
* * *
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone