Chương 61: Training Routine

Evel lay on the bed for another few minutes, taking slow, rhythmic breaths relaxing his body. Then, he forced himself up. After a quick shower and getting all his items in order, he walked out into the streets, glowing from the morning light. Evel made his way through the streets, politely nodding to passersby and dodging the school children late for their classes. He himself had never gone to a school, but had been taught everything he needed to know.

If there was one thing his mentor prioritized teaching more than tricks and pranks, it was basic education. At least, education for Evel. He himself hated those classes. Evel face softened His mentor hadn't known very much either, forcing them to learn the more difficult concepts together. As one of the only well educated people at the circus, it had been Rick who had been responsible for teaching them the advanced topics. The poor guy had the worst students. He lightly shook his head.

The past had been a good time, but it was just that. The past. If he wanted a good future, he'd need to work hard, even harder than he currently was. His hands curled into a fist as he continued to leave the busy roads behind and stepped on the footpath leading to Albert's house. As he closed in, he noticed Albert was already in the process of tending to his garden of flowers. Upon seeing Evel, he signaled his head to the door. Understanding his intention.

Evel immediately went inside and was welcomed by a still steaming plate of food. One thing was certain. Albert was an angel sent down by the Emperor himself to keep him fed. There was simply no other explanation. Evel happily chowed down on his breakfast. It was the same as the day before – eggs, crusty bread, a spiced sausage. After finishing his meal, he immediately walked over to the basement and began training by himself, repeatedly punching the bags. This time however, Albert didn't make him wait as long.

"Lower your mass."

"Brace your core."

"Bend your knees."

"Meh, good enough. That type of training won't really be a priority anymore." Albert walked over to the weights in the corner of the basement.

"From now on, you'll be doing strength training for two hours, followed by two hours of getting knocked around by me. I also recommend doing some running later at night at least a few times a week. For Laymen, training so frequently is counter-intuitive and actually stunts your growth. But you're not a Laymen. Your body is capable of handling Energy." Evel nodded.

"Right now, let me show you how to properly train with weights." Albert said, as he lifted two heavy looking dumbbells and brought it over to Evel.

"The key is to always train as close to failure as you can. If you're not almost failing by the end of your final set in any given exercise, you're not lifting heavy enough." Albert placed the dumbbell down and walked back to grab some more for himself. Despite their similar volume and physical size, it was clear Albert's weights were significantly more dense.

"Today I'll join you to show you around but mostly you'll be training on your own." He explained, raising the dumbbells over his head.

"These first exercises are for your shoulders." The time rapidly passed by as Albert explained each exercise and which part of the body it would help strengthen. Because it was the first day, they trained everything just once or twice, rather than the focused training on a single muscle group as Albert recommended. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Between sets, Albert explained the importance of each muscle group in a hand to hand fight, which ones needed to be prioritized, and when. Two hours vanished in a blur, leaving Evel panting on the basement floor. Fern had coached him through the simplest basics, but she had never reached the level of mechanical detail Albert was now dissecting.

"Fifteen minutes of rest, then we'll get to sparring. Get as much of your breath back as you can, you'll need it." Those fifteen minutes vanished in a heartbeat. Though Evel's limbs were trembling from the strain, he knew he wouldn't get any mercy. Not that he wanted it.

"Yesterday, we did just generic sparring since I wanted to understand your fighting style and the starting point a little more. Today, your job is to run."

"To run?" Evel brows knitted together as he pushed himself up to his feet. What was that supposed to mean? Albert nodded, but didn't explain further. Instead, he slowly walked over to the opposite side of the basement and yelled from across the room.

"If you get hit, you lose!" Then, Albert accelerated. Evel's eyes opened wide as Albert's instructions started making a lot more sense. He was moving a lot faster than the day before. Slowly understanding what was expected of him, he scrambled to the side, able to avoid the incoming hit. But the second one came in faster, and Evel wasn't prepared. Thankfully this time it felt more like a light tap than a punch.

"3 seconds." Albert walked to the opposite side of where Evel stood. Then, he accelerated once again.

"5 seconds." And again.

"8 seconds." Again.

"11 seconds."

"9 seconds."

"10 seconds."

"12 seconds." Like this, the two continued sparring for the remainder of the two hours, with only a brief break in between. … Evel slowly sipped his cup of tea, enjoying the lunch Albert had made. Across from him, Albert was chewing on his own sandwich.

"So," Albert began, swallowing his food.

"Location decided?" Evel pulled out a poorly drawn map that Mateo had given him. Despite the lacking art skills, the actual information conveyed was highly accurate. One spot was repeatedly circled.

"Here."

"And it's an empty area?"

"We asked the neighboring shopkeepers. Nobody who has funds wants to invest in the slums, so the land never got built up. Right now, it's basically a plot of grass."

"Hm. That'll probably make things easier if nothing else. Told Avid yet?" Evel nodded.

"It'll probably be done by tomorrow then." That quick? His thoughts must have shown on his face, causing Albert to snort.

"There are people who specialize in this sort of stuff and have gotten really good at it. For most, rather than being a soldier on the frontline, they'd rather make themselves useful enough so it isn't even worth sending them." I guess it makes sense…

"The frontlines…" Evel still knew nothing of them, nor when or even if he'd be sent there. Was it Agent that chose who to send? Was it the Imperium? Was it volunteer based?

"You'll be forced to go, if that's what you're asking." Albert spoke flatly.

"Unless you have such a marvelous ability they just can't afford to lose you, everybody gets sent at least once."

"Did you?"

"Oh yeah. Don't have great memories of that place, but not many great memories of the recruitment trials either. Although…" Albert paused, giving him a curious look.

"Based on the amount of points you racked up in the trials, maybe the frontlines will be a vacation." Evel was amused at the idea. The trial had been everything but a vacation, but he had still gained a lot. Even ignoring all of his credits, he had gotten much stronger and much more skilled in an insanely short timeframe. Wait, had it been a vacation? If he were to compare it to the weeks leading up to the trial… At the very least, he had gotten to eat multiple times a day, hadn't he?

On top of that he had enjoyed his time with Diana and Bremin, and had for once finally felt like he was making progress. Taking another bite from his sandwich, his mood lifted. Even now, it seemed he was still on vacation.

"Yesterday, I saw an item titled 'Basics of Martial arts'. I considered buying it to supplement some of my training but I thought I'd ask you first.

"That one?" Abert scoffed.

"Pure trash. I mean, it's not the worst but it really only touches on the surface of most routines. Don't waste your points, the things I teach you are already much better." Swallowing the last piece of his sandwich Evel nodded and helped Albert clean up. After thanking Albert for the meal and training session, he finally took his leave. Including the time spent warming up, resting, and eating, it had been about five and a half hours. 1: 50 PM.

The circus hadn't been built yet, and Mateo was still on the job until 5pm, giving him some time to spare. Evel had tasked him to bring along his friends for interviews, but it was still too early. He returned back to his room to check to see if he had any incoming messages from Avid. Nothing yet. What was he supposed to do? He was already training with Albert, he couldn't begin training his troupe members nor interview for more. Evel's eyes landed on the book and the newspaper on his desk.

I suppose I can keep reading for now. Recovering the Energy in his core took about three hours from empty to full. Because of the sparring, he had a little less than half his reserves, so for the next one and a half hours, he read. This time, more in detail. Then, he pushed his Core to its absolute limit, and after five minutes of mental recovery, he got back to reading. Before long it was already 5pm and Evel headed towards the slums. It was time for some job interviews.