Training Part 2

After two exhausting hours, Vishnu approached the finish point with his team. Michael was already waiting at the endpoint. Vishnu finally finished the trail that seemed to go on forever. The only solace that Vishnu had was the joy from finishing first. He noticed strangers standing by Michael.

"Who are they?" Vishnu inquired. Several people dressed in camouflage were standing around while holding clipboards.

"They are the camp instructors. They will be helping me keep track of everyone's performance. I will be using that data to determine each week's winning team." Michael nonchalantly replied.

"So what's the prize?" Vishnu asked.

"For the weekly competition, the winning team will enjoy luxury treatment throughout the week. Meals prepared by private chefs, access to saunas and massage therapists. Plus other amenities."

"What about the price for the overall competition?"

"That's a surprise." Michael refused to give any clues.

Vishnu turned his attention to other important matters, he realized that Michael was not even out of breath. Just what kind of a monster was he? Michael just ran 16 Kms without even breaking a sweat. Clearly, Michael had more powers than healing. For now, Vishnu decided to just wait and see what Michael reveals.

The red team headed towards breakfast. Michael briefed the camp instructors to send the stragglers to the cafeteria. After breakfast, everyone stepped into the lecture hall. Michael handed out iPads with study materials. Vishnu received his and briefly perused the powerpoints; only to be shocked.

There was a seal of the US Navy at the bottom of the pages; these manuals were used to train Navy Seals! How did Michael get these? Vishnu did not even want to find out what would happen if the US Military found out about this leak. He was puzzled by Michael's blunder. Why didn't he remove the seals?

Then Vishnu thought of a possibility that chilled his heart. What if Michael left the seal on purpose? To show them what he was truly capable of. In hindsight, Vishnu realized that Michael was constantly revealing ridiculous abilities. First, it was the miraculous healing, then the indomitable physics and stamina, then the US special forces manuals. All these revelations left one question in the minds of the soldiers. How many abilities was Michael hiding?

Regardless, this was only a good thing for everyone. The more capable Michael was, the more benefits they would get by serving him. Vishnu focused on studying the textbooks. Michael let them study on their own and did not bother them. After two hours he told everyone to meet up by the pool in swimsuits.

The teams switched out to the color-coded swimsuits provided by the camp and met at the pool. To call it a pool was an understatement. It was larger than even an Olympic size pool.

"Alright everyone, gather around your teams and pick a lane. Each team has to complete 200 laps back and forth. You can choose to complete them any way you want to. The scores will be determined by the order of completion." Michael announced.

Vishnu turned to his own team. " Let's split the laps evenly. That's 40 laps for each person. We can line up and go alternatively. I will start first." Vishnu dived in and started swimming to the other side. He approved Michael's decision to incorporate swimming into the training. Swimming is a more thorough workout and burns more calories than running. Not to mention, one has to use more muscles of the body when swimming.

Furthermore, swimming is a skill that all soldiers need to master. Especially elites that are meant to handle any environment. With 70% of earth being water, there are plenty of missions that require swimming. Vishnu finished his lap and walked to the back of the line. He turned to see how the other teams approached the competition.

Amir's Team decided to do the same thing as Vishnu's team; Prakash was actually trying to get everyone to swim at once. Prakash was at the front and his four members followed him. Vishnu shook his head with displeasure; Prakash's team would soon run out of stamina and burn themselves out. It was foolish to go at once and not choose to take turns. Vishnu ignored the fools and turned to Daas's team.

Daas actually took the middle approach; he had two of his team members line up on the other side and start swimming from there. This way only two members are swimming at once. It was certainly a less exhaustive method than Prakash's, however, Vishnu thought it was still too shortsighted. Either way, he would find out soon enough.

Time seemed to slow down as the soldiers raced in the water. The soldiers were terrified when they saw Michael join them; he even completed all 200 laps by himself. The fact that Michael finished first only astonished them even more. Nearly twenty minutes after Michael, Vishnu's team completed their laps. Followed by Daas's team and Amir's team.

The three teams went to the locker rooms to change out; when they came back, Prakash's team still had not finished. By now the men were struggling to even stay afloat.

"Alright, you can come up now. We need to go to the next event." Michael announced.

The squad looked relieved to be thrown a lifeline in such a desperate situation. However, their joy did not last long.

"Don't worry. You can come back tonight and finish the laps when everyone else is sleeping." Michael ordered.

Vishnu had never seen anybody shift their expressions so drastically. He was confident that Prakash and his squad learned a valuable lesson.

Next up was shooting practice at the target range. For this Michael did not have to do anything. The soldiers were expert marksman; they only needed to practice and retrieve their skills.

The shooting range was not conventional by any means. The targets were fixed on a rail system and kept moving around. Not to mention, there was a speaker system that randomly blared out with battlefield noises. It was actually an excellent simulation that almost resembled a battlefield. At least it was much better than shooting at stationary targets in a normal gun range.

After an hour of intensive shooting practice, Michael led the four squads to the cafeteria for lunch. The food was not lavish but it was much better than what the soldiers received from the military. Michael ended up giving everyone enough time to take a short nap after lunch.

The soldiers woke up feeling refreshed and spent another two hours studying. After that Michael led them to a rock climbing course.

Vishnu has never tried rock climbing before and enjoyed the experience. It certainly tested his balance and judgment; especially since they were climbing up an actual cliff that was located at the back of the training camp.

As expected, Michael reached the top before anyone else. Vishnu's team and Daas's team actually tied; with the overall team finishing at the same time. Vishnu realized that Michael assigned the best soldiers to his and Daas's team on purpose. The current teams will probably be turned into the squads that do missions together once the training is over. Of course, all twenty soldiers were considered elites. But Vishnu's and Daas's teams were definitely the cream of the crop.

After rock climbing, they moved on to their last activity for the day. Vishnu was awed by the expansive airsoft field and realized that Michael saved the best for last. They put on their combat gear and picked from an assortment of premium airsoft guns. The first round was a battle royale with every team pitted against each other.

It was the most fun Vishnu had in years, although it was not the same as real combat. Vishnu could feel the adrenaline rush that he missed for two years. As the time flew along, the soldiers forgot about the competition and training; they were just having fun. They played until they ran out of ammo and energy. Everyone had bruises all over their body from the pellets. The walk to dinner was a silent one as all the soldiers cherished the feeling of soreness in their healthy bodies.

During dinner, Vishnu stood up and spoke to Michael. "Thank you."

Michael looked up with a puzzled expression.

Vishnu continued."For healing us, We would not have been able to train again if you didn't heal us."

Everyone got up together and thanked Michael. Vishnu started clapping and everyone else joined him in applauding Michael for his actions. Michael smiled and thanked everyone.

" Don't think this means that you don't have to run tomorrow." Michael warned.

The soldiers grumbled and rushed to their beds. Vishnu went to sleep while looking forward to the next two months.