Future
After finally finishing the 500 push-ups, Michael collapsed on the ground drenched in sweat, panting like a dog and looking as red as a tomato.
"That's enough, come back tomorrow and we will continue with other tests. Come here at the same schedule ask Kai, just as him for it."
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The next day, with Kai besides him, Michael arrived in-front of Kai's training place again. He had asked Kai for his schedule and surprisingly his training was mostly in the early morning, which was what he most preferred. It totaled to 12 workouts in a week, with Thursday as rest day.
Michael and Kai walked up to the coach that was standing besides the pool.
"Now that both of you are here. Kai, do a 800m warmup in the pool and then call for me. Michael, we will continue with the tests, follow me."
While Kai was warming up, Michael was standing in-front of the coach.
"You're going to punch my hand with as much force as possible." The coach said.
Nodding in agreement, Michael positioned himself correctly and threw a right-handed punch to the coach's palm.
"Your explosive strength is lacking, but that's not an issue as you're an endurance swimmer. Now, onto the next test. You will run to the end of the pool and back, and then do 10 burpees. Do this set three times, and finish as fast as possible."
"What is this supposed to test exactly?" Michael asked.
"This will test your VO2 max. I'm assuming you don't know what that is, so I will explain. VO2 max is how much oxygen you breathe in while exercising as hard as you can. The more oxygen you inhale, the more energy your body can use. Higher VO2 max usually means better physical fitness. A high VO2 max is especially important for endurance athletes, so I will be expecting a good score here."
The coach pulled his stopwatch out of his pocket and said, "Three, two, one. GO!"
For the first 2 sets, Michael felt that this test was too easy, until he got to the last set. By that time, he was struggling to breathe properly. His heart felt like it was about to explode and he was desperately breathing in as much air as possible. He finally finished the third set, though it was a bit slower than the first two.
"I expected to be impressed but looks like my expectations were wrong. You barely qualify to be an endurance athlete."
The coach paused for a bit then added. "I have decided to accept coaching you, you will have the same schedule as Kai starting from tomorrow. Don't let what I said get in your head, If I see you slacking off for one day I will kick you out and never train you again. My name is Sebastion Hoch, but only refer to me as 'Coach'.
After accepting a handshake from Sebastion, Michael went home to rest and take his DMP.
-----------------
In the blink of an eye, 1 month had already passed. Michael completely immersed himself into his training and could barely tell apart the days from each other.
He would wake up, take his DMP with a light breakfast and go to his training. Then, he would come back home and take a nap. Afterwards, he would eat a lunch serving for 3 people. He would then go to his second training after a few hours. He then would come back home to play video games or visit his mom at her factory for about an hour and a half, and then sleep.
With the magical DMP, Michael felt himself getting stronger and more athletic after everyday.
While Michael lay on his bed ready to sleep, he checked his status for the first time in a month.
'Status.'
[SWIMMING SYSTEM
NAME: Michael Alexander
SPECIES: 89.9% 'Homo sapien', 10.1% 'Homo aquatilis'
AGE: 22
SYSTEM LEVEL: 1 (15/100 sport points to level-up)
SPORT POINTS: 15
TALENT ASSESSMENT: C-
EVALUATION: A decent swimmer, still a long way away from becoming any good.]
----
[USER MENU
*USER STATS*
*SKILLS*
*MISSIONS*
*SHOP* (locked)
*WHEEL* (locked)]
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[USER STATS
Strength: 1.6
Agility: 1.9
Stamina: 1.9
Constitution: 2
---------
[USER SKILLS
Freestyle technique: LV.3 (127/300)
Breaststroke technique: LV.1 (27/100)
Backstroke technique: LV.2 (109/200)
Butterfly technique: LV.2 (16/200)]
'That is very good. These improvements are more than twice as fast than when I was training alone, while I think it's partly due to the DMP, Sebastion still played a huge role.'
Speaking of Sebastion, Michael got reminded of the guy's attitude after he accepted him. He would during training constantly shout at him and get him as hyped up as possible.
'That guy really has infinite energy, he always looks more immersed in my training that even I am.'
Just as Michael was about to fall asleep, he heard a familiar sound.
[DING!]
[A NEW MISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED]
[PLEASE CHECK THE MISSIONS TAB FOR MORE INFORMATION]
Author's note: Apologies for the current lackluster update schedule. But I currently have final exams and I am an actual swimmer in my real life. So my schedule is filled to the brim, but I will try as much as possible to keep updating. Thank you guys for all the support, I see all of your comments <3.