Chapter 5: Training (2)

Edward was still giddy about receiving his skill from the previous training and got straight to the push-ups. He looked at the timer and saw that there were only 12 minutes remaining.

'No time to waste,' Edward said to himself as he started doing the push-ups.

Again, he didn't feel much from the first few ones other than the general weird pressure that he felt from the start.

'6…7…8…9…10' Edward counted in his mind and expected something to happen, just like with the blade training.

Still in the position of doing push-ups, he felt a sharp pain course through his entire body. It was as if the adrenaline he was on had just worn off. Since the start of the training, he did not recover his strength at all.

Till this moment, whatever he was doing was due to the adrenaline from the fight against the puppet. Now, just like a river that had its dam lifted, the pain flowed throughout his entire body and he was barely able to hold his position. Moving was a thought that didn't even come to his mind as a possibility.

The smart decision would have been to complete the physical training first. With the reward of his strength increasing, Edward would have had an advantage carry over to the blade training. With what he did, however, instead of an advantage, he was at a serious disadvantage.

Edward looked at the Interface window and saw that nothing had changed. It just said that he had completed 10/30 push-ups.

He couldn't even tell if the pressure had increased because of the backlogged pain he was feeling. In such conditions, it was nearly impossible for him to finish this training. His body was aching because of the training and his mind was in pain due to his stupid and rash decision.

Even though he had screwed up real bad, Edward still didn't give up. Since this was the Training Mode and not real life, he was pretty sure he wouldn't die from the pain. At the most, he would faint and would return to the real world.

Since there was nothing to lose, Edward continued the push-ups and decided to completely ignore the pain. If his mind didn't think of it, there would surely be some positive effect on his body as well.

'11…12…13' he thought as he still did the training no matter what pain he felt.

Edward has dripping in sweat and parts of his body were even shaking. He felt like his muscles would explode due to the stress and his bones were about to crack. He was countering his reckless decision with an even more reckless and dangerous one.

'27 …28…29…' he had practically lost feeling in his limbs at this point, but he wasn't going to give up once he was so far in, '30!'

Edward fell on the floor face first and was barely able to lift his head to see the window.

[Congratulations.

The Player has successfully completed the Basic Training task 'Complete 30 pushups'.

Pushups: 30/30

Time Remaining: 03:42

Reward: Strength +2

The user has completed an extraordinarily hard task under seriously unfavorable and disadvantageous circumstances and therefore awarded given extra rewards.

Extra Rewards: 'Novice Pain Resistance' Skill, Defense +1]

[Novice Pain Resistance

Level: 1

Type: Passive

The Player suffers less pain from attacks, injuries and in general.]

[Displaying Status Window…]

[Name: Edward Locke

Age: 20

Date of birth: April 14

Condition: Normal]

[Level: 1

Health: 28

Mana: 10

Strength: 10

Defense: 8

Perception: 8

Agility: 6

Intelligence: 8]

[Ability: ???]

[Skills:

Active: Bless 'Apprentice'

Passive: Novice Blade Mastery, Novice Pain Resistance]

[Player will make a full recovery and will be transported back outside the Training Mode.

*Training Mode will not be available for 12 hours from now.]

Edward suddenly got lifted up into the air and a bright light radiated from him. He had now returned to his peak condition, technically, even better than that due to his increase in stats. All of the fatigue and pain was gone and Edward felt better than ever.

The weird pressure he felt from the training mode had also gone and he was back at his house once again.

This magical recovery was almost unbelievable to Edward. He felt like dying just a few moments ago and yet he felt like he could take on the entire world now. Once again, Edward realized how different everything was for Players compared to the normal civilians.

It had already started to become night and since the next day would be one of the most important in Edward's life, he decided to call it a day and get ready to sleep. The earlier he woke up the next morning, the earlier he would officially register himself as a Player and subsequently venture into the labyrinth.

***

Edward woke up to the faint ringing sound of his alarm at 6:00 AM sharp. He got out of bed and started brushing his teeth and washing up. It was still hard for him to believe what happened the last evening.

While brushing his teeth, he opened the status window to check if it wasn't some kind of a dream he had, which was fortunately not the case. The status window still worked and he was in fact a Player.

After this short reassurance, Edward's mind felt a sense of peace. Coming to terms with such a major change in one's life takes most people a couple days at least, but Edward had already accepted it with joy within less than a day.

After taking a shower and putting on a semi-formal suit, Edward booked a cab for the nearest branch of the Player Association. To become an official Player, a license from the Player Association is required and to attain that license, Edward had to take the verification test at the Association.

This much was common knowledge, but the actual testing methods remained a mystery from the public. Edward didn't really care much about it, as he definitely won't fail a verification test, nor was there any need to prepare for it.

Before getting to the Association, though, Edward remembered to keep his 'Enhanced Dagger' in his inventory. The inventory was a storage space to store items in; and since it wouldn't look good to walk around the Player Association with a knife in hand, he thought that the inventory would be the perfect place to keep his Artifact.

He ate his breakfast quickly, after which he waited for the cab. Even though he wasn't really nervous, Edward was quite excited for getting his Player license. Soon, Edward received a notification on his phone and the cab had reached his house.

"Good morning, are you Edward Locke, the one who booked a cab for the Player Association?" the cab driver asked with a curious and slightly excited tone.

Naturally, anyone would be excited when escorting a to-be Player to the Association. The driver was a man who looked like he was in his 30s and was slightly balding.

"Yes, that's me," Edward answered as he got inside the cab.

"Hello sir, I am Joseph, your cab driver for today. It's my first time talking to a Player… I never thought I would be able to interact with someone like that as a mere cab driver."

Joseph was a bit nervous, which again, was a natural reaction while meeting a player for the first time in his life.

"No need to be so polite," Edward wasn't treated with such respect previously and he felt a bit awkward, "I'm not officially a Player yet, though."

"No, no, you are practically a player. I will make sure you reach the Association branch as soon as possible, sir. It will take about 15 minutes from here."

The driver was still a bit nervous, so Edward decided to calm the atmosphere a bit, "There is also the possibility that I wasn't a player and was just going to the Association for other business. There is no need to be so formal."

"Anyone related to Players and the Player Association is a big shot, sir. I can't afford to speak casually, sir."

The cab driver was a little too cautious, but his behavior wasn't that out of the ordinary. Players and people related to them had a very high position in society. Now that Edward was one of them, he would knowingly or unknowingly command a degree of respect from normal civilians.

Since Edward didn't really mind it, he decided to ignore the driver's overly polite way of speaking and looked out the window, waiting patiently till he reached the Player Association branch.

After about 15 minutes, just like the driver predicted, Edward had reached the Player Association. He had seen this grandiose looking building a lot, but had never actually entered it.

"Good luck, sir." Joseph wished Edward.

"Thanks," Edward replied, walking into the Player Association branch less than 10 meters from him.