章 24: Forward [3]
Lying in my bed for a bit, I took some time to reflect on the day that I just had.
'What a day...'
The school day was finally coming to an end after having suffered through not only grueling training in the morning but also two very long and arduous theoretical lectures. After Mrs. Lugh's lecture, the day continued with another lecture, held by an old man, about digital resources, which was a lot more interesting to me, albeit very long and slow.
'But to think that the internet existed in this world as well... That's crazy.'
I knew about the internet from my time on Earth, and although it wasn't widely used by the everyday person, I knew that for example stocks had begun being traded online as well as some corporations beginning to use it to make their work more efficient.
However, what our teacher had shown me was mind-blowing. In his hand, he had held up some weird machinery, looking like nothing more than a screen, small enough to fit in his palm. And supposedly, that was a phone, but not only was it not connected to any telephone lines, it was allegedly able to do all kinds of things.
Searching for knowledge on the internet, typing up important documents, being an alarm clock, and... looking at silly cat pictures on an 'app', or whatever he called it, by the name of Twoot.
I was still not sure exactly why we needed something like that, however, I wasn't about to question our professor who swore by its usefulness. Then again, that old man did seem like someone who loved technology a bit too much, almost to the point where I had been a bit creeped out.
'A smartphone, he called it? Maybe I should get one.'
He had explained that smartphones, just like most electronics like cars and different kinds of lights, were all powered by small mana stones. So it was important to not just throw electronics away and instead recycle them by giving them to a licensed mana stone handler, who could then refill the stones, therefore making them reusable.
The mana stones themselves could only be acquired by mining in certain hotspots, most of which were located outside of the borders of the great nations, a place that was commonly called 'The Outside'. Which, from his explanation, sounded like quite the dangerous place to venture as the monsters there roamed freely and were a lot of the time stronger than the monsters one could find inside of the countries.
Suddenly, a very important question was raised inside my head, a question that I hadn't thought of due to being too invested in the old man's lecture, making me quickly raise my body into a sitting position.
'... wait a minute. What did he mean by monsters?'
I know for a fact that I hadn't misheard the man, he had absolutely said the word monsters, talking about it as if it was just another natural part of this world. But what in the world did he mean by monsters?
It wasn't as if I had never heard about the world, and I did know about things like vampires, werewolves, dragons, etc. yet I had a hard time imagining that I would be fighting a dragon.
'How do I even fight something like that?! Am I gonna try and punch a dragon?! Aren't they huge?!'
Things had suddenly gotten a lot more serious as I thought about trying to do a one-two combo against a beast the size of a building, serious enough that I couldn't rest any longer. So I did what any boxer would do when they came across a dilemma like this.
'Roadwork and strength training it is!'
-------
Inside of the sports hall, though it might have been more accurate to call it a sports center, I had made my way to the gym after running. A run that had been more exhausting than ever as my body had still not recovered from this morning.
'Huge...'
With sweat still running down my forehead, I couldn't believe what I saw. The gym was gigantic, with all kinds of advanced machinery spread around as well as an endless amount of free weights and bars neatly sorted beside the walls.
Just like so many spaces inside the academy, the interior was modern to the point where it almost felt like I had traveled through time, with the white walls being illuminated by the bright LEDs in the ceiling.
Although the primary space in itself was huge, there were also several doors which likely led to rooms that were designed for different kinds of training.
It was overwhelming to the point where I almost forgot why I had even come here in the first place but after a couple of moments of being awe-struck, I finally ventured forward into the jungle of strength.
I also wasn't the only student who had come here, despite there only being freshmen currently attending the academy as the older students wouldn't start until next week. Fatima was currently running on something that looked more like an industrial machine than a treadmill and Evan was doing some shoulder flys in front of a large mirror with two dumbbells.
There were also some students from other classes that I didn't recognize, but as everyone was too invested in their own training, no one even batted an eye as I walked in. Which, honestly, was very refreshing.
'Okay, let's do this! Some strength training and then I'll move on to the sandbag!'
As my body was already warmed up from running, I didn't feel any particular need to stretch before lifting. Hence I opted to just grab a couple of dumbbells and start with a pushup/back-row exercise. Unfortunately, as I made my way to the weights, I was in for yet another surprise.
'...they start at 20kg?'
Even the smallest of the dumbbells, no larger than one's palm in both width and area, weighed more than I had ever been able to exercise with on Earth. And as I looked at the long row of dumbbells, where their weight was incrementally increased for every step, I almost got a bit light-headed thinking about how much the heaviest dumbbells must weigh.
'No! Focus on the present! One step at a time!'
Shaking my head, I got rid of any unnecessary worries and instead focused on the pitifully small dumbbells in front of me. Without any more hesitation, I took them in my hands feeling the weight dragging me downwards. However...
'They are heavy... but not that heavy.'
Thanks to the new specs of my body, I was already a lot stronger than I had ever been before, and although it still pained me a bit to see Evan do shoulder flys with weights a lot larger than the ones I had in my hands, I still felt a sense of fulfillment as I began to train.
'One step at a time...!'
-------
"Grrrnn!"
'9...! And... 10!'
*Bang!*
Letting go of the dumbbells in my hands that I had held while doing squats, I was finally done with my strength training regiment, with my whole body feeling like I was made out of some liquid substance.
"Huff... huff..."
While trembling, I still forced myself to stand tall while recovering, as I wanted to get used to this kind of weakness, since there was no way that I wouldn't find myself in a similar situation in the future where I wouldn't have the privilege to lie down. And I had just the words to bring me the mental strength I needed.
Luckily I was also too invested in my own head that I couldn't hear what the other students in the gym said about me, my current image too much for them to focus on their training.
"-That guy... is a bit scary..."
"-Look at his eyes! What the fuck is he thinking about?!'
What was I thinking about? Well...
'I'll fucking kill that dragon!'
Yes, I was still thinking about the dragon, and those thoughts were also what allowed me to drag my ass to another room inside the gym where I had seen a couple of sandbags hanging from the ceiling. Instinctually, I took a fighting position, with my left leg and right hand in front of the right side of my body.
Taking a step and twisting my hip, my new body launched its first right straight, right into the black sandbag.
'Fuck you, dragon!'
*Bam!*
'...'
Sadly, the sandbag didn't even move, despite me using all of my strength and, as far as I knew, throwing the punch with pretty good form.
'Shit! What about this then?! One-two into a double left hook!'
*Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!*
"..."
It still didn't move and inside my head, my imaginary target was quickly switched out to another much more fearsome enemy.
'Fuck you, sandbag!'
And so, without further notice, I began to practice my punches against the demon lord known as the black sandbag. Right now, nothing else existed to me as I was completely and utterly invested in my most serious fight so far.
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