Illuminated by the moon's pale glow, Adam's ethereal, misty body flickered ominously as he gazed at the sleeping boy. "Wake up," He said, his solemn voice disturbing the peaceful silence of the night.
However, Arun didn't offer the expected reaction. "Five more minutes, please." The boy said sleepily, turning on his soft mattress and dismissing the command, unaware of the fast-approaching mage's hand.
A ringing slap, accompanied by a startled yelp of pain echoed in the room. Arun rose to his feet, holding his reddened cheek as he gazed at the ghost with trembling eyes.
"Ask Julius. I'm an expert at slapping people during their sleep. So, you'd better wake up tomorrow or be woken up." Adam said with a satisfied smirk, remembering his time in the Riverwood manor. The culprit's identity remained a mystery to Lucius, even after six months.
After reminiscing briefly, he pointed his finger towards the door and said, "Move out silently. I'll double the training if you wake Julius up."
Upon hearing the ghost's words, the boy's eyes widened in realisation while his mind descended into chaos. He had thought yesterday's discussion was just a part of their banters. But here he was, waking up in the middle of the night to suffer. An icy shiver ran down his spine as he remembered Julius' words. Unable to remain silent, he whispered, "Me dying because of the training was a joke, right?"
"Of course. I'm not a savage," Adam answered with an innocent smile, causing the boy to sigh in relief before adding, "You'll just wish to be dead a few times, tho. Now, get out and stand before the window."
As the ghost's words registered in Arun's mind, sweat dripped from his forehead, his brain envisioning the worst imaginable tortures. Sadly, he knew he had no chance against his mentor and would be forced to do as told.
With a dejected expression and cursing his mouth, he walked outside. Thoughts of escaping flashed through his brain before he shook his head. 'His training can't be worse than Asha's lectures, right?' He thought, gathering courage from the potential gains and remembering Adam's fight against the beast-like Thomas. Determination sparked in his eyes as he imagined becoming as strong.
His heavy steps gradually lightened as he reached the courtyard and stood before the window with resolution, ready to face the challenges thrown at him.
As he readied himself, Adam nodded approvingly, understanding why he liked the boy. Arun was his opposite, a scared boy who pushed forward despite his fears. Despite his trembling legs and apprehension, he always did his best to achieve what he set his mind to.
"We'll start easy since you are a total beginner. Run for ten minutes straight while building mana blocs. Be careful. If I see you walk or stop, I'll add five minutes." He said, hints of recognition in his words, offering a regular workout plan contrary to his teasing words.
He gazed at the youth's firm nod as he ran and focused on mana control simultaneously, with a relieved look, thinking it wouldn't be that hard.
"Focus on your breathing, and guide mana into your muscles, too." He said, aiming for triple the result with one time the effort. Running and breathing mana for body reinforcement, building blocks for mana control and learning to multitask. If Arun could take everything he taught him this month, he had no doubts the boy would easily surpass his father in a few years.
But to attain that, mere training wouldn't suffice. His methods had to be ingrained into the boy's mind, like he did with Julius. Once done, he could use it as a reference to improve or tweak the parts not fitting him and continue on his own.
But to attain that target, he had to show him hell by forcing him to his limits daily. With the benchmark for hard work set, Arun's later training would look easy, making him believe he was slacking compared to what he did this month.
As he pondered and made plans for the running boy, he noticed him slow down after four minutes and hold his side, his breathing ragged and his shirt wet. One minute later, he stopped building blocks, and his speed dropped to a crawl, slower than a walking man.
"Tsk, I'll have to put in extra effort." He said, clicking his tongue in annoyance. Then, he hurled a sharp mana arrow behind Arun's feet and added, "Run and keep building blocks before I hit and trust me, I will if you keep fooling around!"
Scared by the sudden swift attack and gazing at the hole in the ground, the boy's hair bristled as he shivered, understanding why he could die during training. 'It's because you shoot if we stop!' He screamed inwardly, tears welling in his eyes as he pushed his body to accelerate for the next five minutes.
Yet, running was only the beginning. After a five-minute break, Adam made him do push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, squats and other bodyweight exercises in quick succession under the strict surveillance of his mana arrows for the next hour and a half.
He held until the end, pushing his body beyond its limits until he puked and almost lost consciousness. Sprawled on the ground, sweating buckets and drained from all strength amidst the terrible odor, his thoughts raced in protest. 'Is he crazy?! Even body cultivators don't train so much, and that's only day one?! I'm sure to die!'
As he complained and thought of ways to survive the following days, Adams' smirk widened as his voice echoed.
"My part of the training is done. Stop pretending to sleep, or you'll join him, Julius." He said, his words causing the blankets to tremble widely before the boy jumped to his feet in a panic.
"I-I just woke up. How are you doing today, big brother? Wow, look at the sky. The rising sun is so beautiful. Hum, I'll head out for breakfast. See you later!" Julius blurted out, trying to make a quick escape.
However, Adam hurriedly said, "Stop, fool! I'll be dragged behind, anyway." Then, after the boy calmed down, he pointed his finger towards the miserable-looking Arun and said, "Teach him footwork and the basics of combat for an hour before breakfast this month."