บท 2: Chapter 1: Getting Started in Training
From the next week Alex realized that he definitely didn't value the free time he had. His preparation for entering the exorcist academy under the guidance of Father Joseph, started right after the completion of his regular lessons and ended only when Alex could no longer move even a finger.
As he was already aware, this world was very different from the world in which Alex had lived his first life. Training, which would have driven him to his grave long ago, was one of the few ways to get stronger relatively quickly here. It was only by pushing his body to the limit of its capabilities, and it had to be the limit, tricks didn't work here, that it was possible to climb to the next stage. Contrary to everything else, the very content of the training was quite standard. Various exercises to develop physical strength, speed, proper breathing, also special emphasis was placed on pumping endurance.
The main difference was that, after a few hours of intensive training, it was time to "increase strength". Each day gave Alex a chance to make a small leap and get a little stronger, but it was really not easy.
- Hmm," Father Joseph walked over to the bar in the courtyard of the orphanage and looked thoughtfully at the boy standing next to him, wet with sweat. - Today you did a good job...do twenty pull-ups and you're free.
- Okay, father, - Alex nodded tiredly and went to the bar and after a painful second of doubts, after fixing his gloves on his hands, he hung on the bar. - And one...and one...and two...and three....
He was only six and a half years old at this point, and he wasn't at all sure if he was capable of doing a single pull-up at that age in his first world. However, things were different here, now doing this exercise 6-7 times was not a problem at all. The real obstacle was the tired body after the training and the fact that it was almost two and a half times more.
The first three or four were relatively easy for him, three more with considerable difficulty, and one more from the last of his strength. And then all hell broke loose. It wasn't the first time he'd done this and he always thought he'd be ready next time, but he wasn't. His hands were shaking, and his fingers were literally begging for him to unclench them, but Alex persisted as if pulling the bar towards himself, already knowing that pulling his head or shoulders up would not count. No jerks or leg movements, the exercise had to be done almost perfectly.
His chin was finally just above the bar and with a long groan he lowered his body down, letting it hang loosely from his arms. His arms themselves were no longer just shaking, but almost vibrating with tension, and his mind was slowly beginning to fog up. The encouraging voice of his trainer was barely audible over the growing noise in his ears. Any normal person would have stopped torturing himself long ago and let go of the bar, but Alex knew perfectly well that if he did that, the whole training day would be wasted. He started to stretch again, including every possible muscle in his arms and back.
At the same time, Father Joseph, who was standing nearby, looked with undisguised sadness at the torment of the child who had grown up within the walls of the orphanage. Secretly, he always prayed to God that he would not have to be a teacher of future soldiers of the church. But fate, as if laughing at him, regularly threw him new students. He himself was also an exorcist in the past, though not a very capable one, so he was well aware of the difficulties on this difficult path.
Alex had almost crossed the line of his body's maximum capabilities before his eyes, but it was still not enough. Having brought his body to the limit of its capabilities, he had only two choices. To try to go further, or to give up and try again next time.
The boy's chin slowly reached the crossbar and there, intolerably slow, it rose even higher. A sad smile blossomed on Father Joseph's face. At least this agony had not been in vain. A second after the tenth pull-up had been completed, Alex's incredibly tired half-lidded gaze suddenly flashed with an energy that flooded him. Lowering his body down once again, as if he were at the very beginning of his journey today, he began to do the pull-ups with extraordinary ease. It was as if the fatigue had left his body.
Watching the exercise with the same sad smile, the old teacher involuntarily recalled long-forgotten sensations. He knew perfectly well what had happened. This was what made people stronger.
At those moments when Alex's willpower overcame the weakness of his body and he did one or even two more exercises, it was as if a second breath opened in him. An extraordinary burst of strength, which allowed him to do almost as much as he had done before. But there was a second side to this effect. The very thing that made him need a teacher.
When Father Joseph saw that the boy had already done nineteen pull-ups and was confidently starting the twentieth, he quickly came closer and waited until his chin was once again above the bar, and with one hand he put his arm around Alex's waist, taking him off the machine. The boy's eyes were full of genuine surprise, he didn't even feel that he had already accomplished the task at hand. Right now, his body was still brimming with energy, but the moment the exercise was interrupted, the effect began to disappear. The fatigue was quickly returning.
Putting Alex on his feet and by no means letting him fall to the ground, Father Joseph waved his hand to the girl waiting patiently near the courtyard gate. The man looked carefully at the body of the boy, whom he still held by the hand, searching only for signs that he knew.
The thing was that the so-called "power boost" had a temporarily tangible effect that allowed a person to surpass himself for a short period of time. However, after a few seconds or minutes, depending on the circumstances, the effect would wear off and the power would quickly roll back, leaving the person completely exhausted if he did everything right, or badly maimed/dead if he overdid it. In the training of a future church warrior, this stage was the most important.
- Brother!
Asiyah, who had run up in a hurry, immediately shoved a heavy mug of water under his nose.
- S-thank you, - Alex nodded gratefully, bringing it to his mouth with a trembling hand, he already felt the fatigue returning to his body.
- In small sips! - Father Joseph reminded him just in case, still looking at him attentively. - ...And now, at a slow pace, around the courtyard....
Nodding silently, there was no strength left to answer, Alex tore his lips off the mug and supported under the arm of the excited Asia, wandered forward. Of course, now his only wish was to collapse on the ground and lie down for at least half an hour, but he also knew very well that a sudden transition from incredible strain to complete relaxation would do no good.
Having walked about half of the measured distance, having recovered his breathing a little and brought the rhythm of his heartbeat to a relative norm, Alex smiled gratefully at his sister and finally freed himself from her support.
- Thank you, my angel, I'll take it from here.
- Brother! - Sweetly blushing, Asiya wagged her finger at him. - You can't say that, God will be angry.
- We are all sinners, - Alex laughed tiredly, continuing to follow the route he had set. - I think he'll forgive me for such a small thing....
After a few minutes he finally walked around the courtyard and returned to his room with the same leisurely steps, where he immediately fell on the couch. The weakness in his body was indescribable. Asiya sat next to him for a while, but then one of the orphanage girls came and called her to play in the yard, and Alex didn't bother her at all. Left alone, he spent another half hour in bed before he finally got up and went to the bathroom. There wasn't much time left before the evening prayer and dinner, and he didn't plan to make everyone sitting at the table with him inhale the aroma of his terribly sweaty body.
When he got to the bathroom, he spent half a minute looking at his tired face in the mirror before the water in the shower finally warmed up enough. He hated it when his beautiful blond hair was bunching up in sweaty wisps, but he hated warm, not hot, water even more.
When the pressure of water from the shower finally slammed into his childishly naked body, Alex felt again how tired he was. Every limb was literally begging for no action. His training had been going on for a couple weeks now and the difficulty still continued to increase. However, Alex was determined to keep going. Every time he woke up to a new day, he actually felt a little stronger. Not as strong as at the moment of "promotion", but every time he stepped over himself like that, his body evolved, making even if not a big, but still a step towards such a sweet and tantalizing power.
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