Act II Part 8

[You became too excited partner…]

"Haa…. Haa… Haa… shut up… I at least finished faster… than… haa… any of those two… That all that matters…"

I felt like shit right now. My whole body was aching. My mind felt like it would crack open at any moment now and my gaze was unfocused, to be exact, everything looked blended with the darkness within my eyes.

It was definitely not a good sign.

"You finished the laps?" I heard the surprised voice of the old man, causing me to look at him with slight difficulty. What was he talking about?

"Really, what a surprise. I didn't really think anyone would complete the laps, but seriously, what are you made up of?"

"Heh." I smirked before my vision darkened and I slumped to the ground, losing consciousness. I guess, even though I'm becoming a dragon, putting too much stain isn't something I should be doing often.

Often being the key word, because I will do it again hahahaha….

…

"Ugh… My body hurts." With a groan, my hand over my head, I opened my eyes.

It hurts. My whole body, especially my legs was screaming with pain. I probably got cramps and I'm sure of it.

It reminded me of my first day at the gym. It was the same. My whole body was in pain for days and I felt like shit. This one was just worse, like multiplying the pain hundreds.

"Of course it does. You have pushed your body beyond your limits, it is already a miracle that you woke up so fast. I thought you would be out for at least a day or two."

"My will extends beyond what you can imagine, old man." I said, slightly dramatic, just to get a cane on the head. Fuck! What's the problem with this person? Does he like hitting people on the head or something?

"You should be glad you didn't get a heart attack and die, or that not a single one of your vessels popped due to overexerting your muscles and system."

While rubbing my head, I asked. "If you knew that such an exercise was impossible, why did you even give it to us?"

"Well… I wanted to see how determined you three are. It seems that I underestimated all three of you." He looked towards his side, Zanitsu and Kaigaku lying there and breathing heavily. It seems that they also finished the ten laps, just not as fast as I did.

"Humph! I don't like doing half-assed shit. Since I said I will learn Thunder Breathing Style, even at the expense of my life, I won't stand back."

I wasn't capping. After all, it was one of the things I liked about myself. I usually wouldn't get interested in things, but once I did, I won't half-assed them. I at least try to give my fullest to make sure I see the end result that satisfies me.

Not once did I think about giving up the training. And such feelings of mine only intensified after getting Dragon Marrow. My blood seems to boil at the mention of a challenge now. I didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

"It seems that I found some good seedlings then." He smirked. He looked smug. I wanted to punch him in the face. "Now rest. We will start the proper training after all three of you get better."

Proper training? That really was not a part of training? Even though I could kinda see myself learning Balance Breaker if I kept the work for 2 years straight…

[You can still keep on doing it. It's not like someone is stopping you from doing so. As said before, you need a really good physique and a good amount of stamina if you want to learn Balance Breaker. So keep it up]

Was this dragon cheering me? I almost had goosebumps. He grew up so fast, I'm crying.

[I will punch you]

'Heh! Yeah, I know, in your dreams because you can't do it physically anyway. Hahahaha!'

[....]

'Haa…. That was some good laughs. Now then, don't disturb me. I want to relax so I can continue doing my training tomorrow.'

I loved seeing results at the end of doing anything, and right now I could physically feel my body healing at a faster rate than normal. It was even becoming stronger with each second, something that wasn't present before.

[If you keep at this rate, then you should be able to assimilate more than fifty percent of Dragon Bloodline within your body. Though it won't give you an instant power up or anything, you can at least boost about being a genuine baby dragon]

I nodded my head. It was hard to hide the smirk on my face that showed how much I enjoyed this feeling.

'Time to sleep now then.' With that, I closed my eyes and entered the land of dreams, the only place where Ddraig had any chance of punching me.

[....]

…

"Now do thousands of sit-ups for starters. Don't worry. You have all day to complete this and I won't ask for any other training than this for a week. But remember, if you didn't complete it by dawn, your training will be increased by tomorrow. We will keep following this routine for a month until you do your sit-ups in the allocated time. Now then, start!"

With a wooden backpack filled with wood, I started to do my sit-ups. According to the old man, this training was to make our leg muscles strong enough to bear the burden of using Thunder Breathing.

Apparently, if your leg muscles are not strong enough to bear the strain of using Thunder Breathing Techniques, there is a high chance that the user will end up as a cripple.

And to make sure such a thing does not happen, Thunder Breathing users need to have VERY strong leg muscles. At least strong enough that they won't cripple after one use.

"Why do I have to do this?! I don't want to become a Demon Slayer in the first place." With tears streaming down his eyes, Zanitsu cried injustice to the world. "I don't want to do this, gramps!"

Even though he was complaining and crying, he still did the sit-ups. Talk about saying and doing different things.

"Stop crying like a kid, Zanitsu! And put more strength into your legs instead!"

"B-But…" He gritted his teeth, pulling himself up with all the extra weight on his back. "I AM STILL A KID!!"

Gotta say, no matter how cowardly this dude sounded, he seems to try his best to improve himself. I have to respect that thing about him.

On the other hand, I am starting to feel pain in my legs. It was inevitable. What would you expect anyway? Do you think cramps heal themselves after a day or two? No! It takes time!

In short, despite our legs still not being healed, we were further damaging them. What a beautiful day to be alive.

'Get yourself together Eric! Complaining won't make you strong!' Shouting at myself in my mind, which did absolutely nothing of notice, I continued with my training.

These two years are going to be long.

---

AN: Do not blame me. I write a novel that gets more support and review. While this is something like a try-on 1st POV for me (first time writing) so there are going to be many discrepancies compare to my other novels. I mean, even I feel this novel's start is slightly weird. But it does get better around 30 or so chapters.

Anyway, for those wondering what other novel I am writing currently than it is about a guy reincarnated as Gin (Bleach) with Essence of Merchant. I get more review and support on this one so yeah.

You can find it here: https://discord.gg/s2b4zkSp (My Server)

or here: https://discord.gg/w5HBtNUM (Dragon's Server)

Since ppl in my server are dead mostly, I am pretty much active in Dragon's server. I will also upload it on WN once I am free to edit it.

Anyway, do support me on patr3on if you can. Your support is always appreciated!

Link: patr3on.com/meatball_chan (+15 chapters! I will probably still keep the difference of fifteen here and there XD)