First Day

"Yawwwnnnn*"

Waking up from my bed I let out a long yawn.

I never had problems waking up before, whether when it was before or especially after receiving my gift. After gaining my gift I noticed that no matter how hard I pushed myself, a good sleep is all it takes to return me to top condition.

Although that alone would've been great already, I always notice improvements after waking up. I've read somewhere that the body grows stronger after you heal slightly torn muscles, if I do return to top shape every time I sleep this meant that this was within my gift's influence on my growth.

{It has been quite hectic these past few days, so the fact that I have increased recovery has been a lifesaver.}

Getting out of bed, I went inside the bathroom to brush my teeth using a high-class toothbrush. We were prepared numerous essentials after gaining our ranks, so there was no reason not to use them.

After gurgling out the foam in my mouth, I then used a facial cleanser to wash my face and a towel to dry it.

Leaving the bathroom, I then proceeded to do my new daily routine in the living room. Picking up a weighted shirt that I requested from the staff, I then placed myself in a pushup position.

My daily routine consisted of me doing 100 weighted pushups, 100 weighted squats, 100 weighted sit-ups, 5 minutes weighted planks, and 100 weighted jumping jacks twice a day. One in the morning and one in the evening.

It used to be more than that but since it was now time for the project to start, I modified it so that it was doable in a short amount of time and a limited environment.

"hah…hah…. hah..."

Breathing hard after finishing my routine in under 30 minutes, I took out cold water from the fridge and poured it into a glass to drink.

It was now exactly 7:30 am, and the program was to start at 8:30 am.

Taking off my sweaty clothes I then proceeded to take a quick cold shower.

Patting myself dry, I then picked out clothes from my now large cabinet.

Although there were heaters installed all around the fortress, at the end of the day we were still inside the treacherous and cold Everest.

Considering that, I decided to wear a white sweater and black shorts. This made it so that I am warm at the top but cold at the bottom, a combination which I found quite satisfactory.

But just when I was about to leave, I found Fred still sleeping, sleep talking about something baseball related.

Looking at the time and seeing that It was currently 8:03 am, I slapped his butt hard to wake him up.

"Yowch!"

Jolting out of his bed with tears in his eyes, Fred looked at me clearly angry.

"What was that for!"

"Look at the time."

"Time?! What do you mean time-"

[8:04]

"…"

"I'm heading out first, it's the first day after all so quickly catch up."

"..Wh-why… didn't you wake me up sooner!?"

Ignoring his outburst, I went outside with my tongue stuck out.

{Your fault for staying up late}

After going outside, I was immediately greeted by now-familiar voices.

"Good morning Boss!"

"" Good morning Boss! ""

It was Darius and his 2 fat lackeys, Cole and Archie. Cole was the one who wielded a mace gift while Archie was the one who was lower ranked than me despite his background.

These 2 weren't actually Darius' lackeys but rather childhood friends. Before he started losing self-confidence Darius was originally a very kind and respectful kid. Although he did sometimes overly boast about his father, he saved both of their father's businesses when they were struggling.

Thanks to this, despite knowing it was wrong they still followed Darius' every word when he ordered them to gather all the lower participants they could find.

"Good morning to you guys too."

I greeted them back and proceeded to head in the direction of the "training facility".

Darius walked beside me while the two walked behind us. According to the map, the training facility was located about a few kilometers away from us, sandwiched between the standard and advanced dorms.

And if you're wondering If whether or not it was safe for four kids to go there when it was so dark outside, it was revealed that the organization was just actually doing an annual energy-saving procedure when we first arrived.

Yesterday, they suddenly activated a mechanism that could mimic the skies according to the time of the day. Since it was early in the morning right now the skies also lit up, turning sky-blue with numerous fluffy clouds. Although there was no heat from the sun, the fact that the entire fortress now had light was mentally assuring.

Just imagining living here in the dark for years has been biting down on my determination for a while now. And although we had to regularly take vitamin D supplements to counter the effects of having no real sun, I was more than satisfied.

Walking for a few more meters we suddenly saw something strange. Rather than a straight path, the road was leading us directly to an artificial hill.

The hill from the looks of it, had uneven steps to make it harder to climb. And although we thought that we accidentally went in the wrong direction, we could faintly see that on top of the hill stood a pitch-black cube with black tinted windows.

It was the spitting image of what the message we received described the features of the training facility.

"Hmm…I think that this is some sort of training as well."

"""Training?"""

"Yeah… more specifically, physical training that is."

"What do mean?" (Darius)

"Just follow me."

Not saying anything more I started traversing the steep path.

Although it was hard, I eventually managed to make it to the top with Darius coming right after me and the other two struggling a little.

"Oh… I didn't expect you to catch up so soon."

"Hehehe, my gift is [weight manipulation] not [weight increase]. If I could make myself heavier then the other way around is possible too."

"Oh? The gift's more versatile than I thought."

"Hehe, I know right?"

After a few minutes, the two also managed to make it to the top with little time to spare. Fred was also with them, looking like he ran all over here from the dorm.

Now that all five of us were together, we then started going inside the cube. It has to be mentioned that quite a few children had already passed us when we were waiting for the other 3, so after going further we were able to see all the other participants gathered in front of a man with a scar on his right eye.

But the most concerning thing about the man wasn't his face, but rather the black uniform he wore.

{High position combatant!}

It was the first time I saw one so my surprise was understandable.

Looking around the other participants most of them looked exhausted, it also seems that the 'advanced' participants were also here as I could see Millie waving at us from the corner of my eye.

Noticing our arrival, the man wasted no time and started to speak.

"Physicality. No matter how strong your gift is or how good you are with it, building up enough physical strength will always stay a necessity if you want to live longer. That is the purpose of the hill, to enter the facility, you have to go through that hill every single day. Although it isn't much, the more this is repeated the physically stronger you get."

"Ehem! Listen well fledglings! My name is Gold, and I will be the new head instructor from now on!"

{Head instructor? What about Philip?}

"Although Philip was supposed to be the one who'll handle this, after looking at the reports and seeing some particularly bright children, I thought it would be interesting and decided to train you guys myself. Aren't you glad?"

With a ferocious grin, he flashed his sharp teeth at us.

"""Gulp..."""