Working hard

Akki was startled. Then he suddenly became happy and relieved. Aisha was alive. He might not have known the exact location and condition of Aisha, everything was okay since she was still alive. But soon he calmed down and started thinking. Aisha's voice only reached him when he opened the void using voidblade. And as soon as he closed it, he couldn't hear it anymore. It was obvious that her soul was trapped somewhere. Akki recalled the details about Aisha's story. She was similarly trapped somewhere in the past in an explosion and had just recently arrived on earth. He regretted not asking for more details earlier.

But one thing was certain. Akki could reach that place using voidblade. But the problem was that the voidblade technique drained him of his stamina. He could grit his teeth and maintain it for 2-3 seconds. But after that, his body would be drenched in perspiration as if he had run 10 km. Although he had started paying attention to his fitness recently but nobody could become fit instantly. He had to take it step by step. But now he started feeling a sudden sense of emergency.

He had seen a popular training regiment before. In a tv program, the protagonist seemed to have reached an invincible state using the training regiment

100 Push-Ups.

100 Sit-Ups.

100 Squats.

10KM Running (that's 6.2 miles) every day.

He couldn't stop screaming nonsense at the absurdity of this. No one could become as strong as that protagonist in real life by following this. But fortunately, his goal was to increase his stamina. His legs were fully healed and he started training regularly. But he couldn't follow the full regiment right away. He planned to start with 10% of the regiment and improve from there.

Running on the road was monotonous. And there was a chance of getting hit by a vehicle. Therefore after some time, he started going to the park during the morning. There he could appreciate the "greenery" and the greenery. There were also many fitness enthusiasts and dog walkers in the park. He started running with them regularly. This also kept his attention on finishing the goals as he ignored his obese body's physical condition.

Rome wasn't built in a day. And stamina couldn't be raised significantly in a short time no matter the efforts put in. After weeks of practice, Akki was getting impatient. Aisha was trapped and was probably very lonely. But there was a silver lining. He just had to practice enough that he could open a rip in the void as large as his palm. Then he would throw his smartphone inside for Aisha's soul to occupy. Thus he started practicing again with renewed motivation.

Ujar and Rhabati were first surprised but happy after observing the changes in their son. Their son was good at studies but had always neglected his health. But after the incident, Akki must have realized the importance of being fit and healthy. Rhabati was very enthusiastic. She even went to the market every day to bring fresh fruits and vegetables. And she would cook green leafy vegetables for him everyday. But soon, Ujar was miserable. Rhabati started forcing everyone to eat a healthy diet. 'But what about my fried snacks, my sweets' Ujar screamed.

Akki was happy to see his parents joking around. He also indulged in some fun family time. He requested his mom to make some of his favorite foods. Some of them included pasta, sandwich, momos, upma, and various curries with rice. He couldn't be at his home for long as soon his holidays would be over and he had to return to his college. He set a goal for himself - return college with Aisha. Thus the sooner the deadline came, the more focused he became.

Akki could now do 20% of the regiment everyday. The fellow fitness enthusiasts of the park were happy to see an obese person focusing on fitness. They were sad that kids these days would get obese by sitting in front of the computer all day and living a sedentary lifestyle. Fitness was an important part of life and the key to living a long life. They encouraged Akki every time he would get tired. Akki was also grateful for the support.

Akki estimated that as soon as he developed the stamina for doing 30% of the regiment, he would be able to get Aisha out of the place. But the problem was that he was stuck at 20%. And he had to go to college in 2 weeks. He decided that he would forcefully carry out 30% of the regiment no matter how tired his body felt. He started eating a large amount of proteins and energy-boosting food. He also thought of taking steroids but soon rejected the idea as it would be against his moral values and would be detrimental to his body in the long run.

Akki would be tired and would lay hours on the bed after he returned from the park everyday. Rhabati's initial happiness turned into worry. She thought that he was overdoing the exercise and his body couldn't sustain it. She and Ujar even talked to him about it. But he was determined. Even though it was hard, he gritted his teeth and completed his goals. Sometimes he would think that mental work is very different from physical work. He had studied hard and performed well in tests in the past. But physical workout required much more effort than studying for tests for him.

Finally, the deadline that he had set for himself arrived. Today, he would rip apart the void and get Aisha out of there. He retrieved the new smartphone earlier. And instead of going to the park, he went to a secluded area in the forest outskirts of the town. After making preparations such as finding a good spot and making sure that nobody was around, he started doing the preparations. He ripped apart a tear in space with his hand and threw the smartphone inside it. He then shouted with all his might.

"Aisha, come out"