"Ugh..."
I groaned as I woke up. My back hurt like hell from sleeping on the hard surface.
'Another day, huh.'
I mumbled internally as I sat up on my bed.
Anyway...
There were still a few minutes left before breakfast would be distributed to us, and since I had nothing else to do at the moment—
"I should do some light workout."
I muttered that, rubbing my eyes with the palm of my hand.
...
After saying that...
"Huff...!"
Fwish—
I started doing some body weight exercises like push-ups and squats.
"Haa..."
My body ached like hell when I moved, the soreness from last night's training hitting me hard.
But still—
"Tch..."
I just gritted my teeth and pushed through it.
I was currently down on the floor, doing some push-ups.
"Three... Four..."
I lowered my body until my chest almost touched the cold hard ground before pushing myself back up.
The soreness on my arms and chest screamed at me to stop—I ignored it.
Then after doing a set of ten push-ups...
Fwip—
I immediately stood back up and began doing squats.
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and bent my knees slowly, keeping my back straight as I lowered myself down.
"Ugh..."
I could feel the burn on my thighs and calves, every repetition felt heavier than the last.
But still, without slowing down, I kept moving.
I could only frown from my exhaustion and at the sight of my skinny legs and arms. I really want to do something about them.
Then after a while, as I was doing squats—
Bam! Bam! Bam!
A loud banging was heard from my door!
And before I could even ask who it was—
"Food's here, kid. Wake up!"
I heard Brock's voice shout from outside.
'Breakfast is here.'
I thought to myself as I straightened my body and started catching my breath.
"Fuuuu... I'm coming out!"
I replied to Brock. And after wiping my sweat and fixing myself up a bit—
"I'm hungry as fuck."
Creak—
Tap—
I opened the door and stepped out of my room.
...
...
...
Getting out of my room, I immediately took my portion of breakfast from the guard without a word.
After that, I joined Brock, Khan, and Jin, who were already sitting in the corner, chatting casually as they ate.
They were sitting on the ground. There were no chairs in this cell.
I sat down with them, tearing into my bread and small amount of meat.
The four of us talked about random things as we filled our stomachs. Then, in the middle of it—
"What...?"
I mumbled in surprise, blinking as I caught something Brock just said.
And opening my mouth again—
"Mister Jin is fighting too? In the same event that I'm in?"
I asked that, raising my brow slightly.
""Mhm...""
All three of them—Jin, Khan, and Brock—just silently nodded in unison, their mouths too stuffed with food to bother talking.
Then after swallowing a mouthful, Jin leaned back a little and smirked—
"My match is right after yours. So don't go losing, yeah? Let's celebrate together after we both win."
He declared that confidently, flashing a grin.
"..."
I stared at him for a moment, seeing the hint of excitement in his eyes.
Then, after a brief pause—
"Sure. I'll enjoy the prize room for my second time there."
I responded with a similar smirk of my own.
We all laughed a little at that and continued eating, talking about random stuffs again—sometimes about fights, sometimes about nothing but stupidity at all.
...
...
After eating breakfast, I immediately headed back to my room after saying goodbye to the three and excusing myself.
Thud!
Closing the door behind me, I stood there for a moment, breathing in slowly.
"Fuuuu..."
It's time to get serious again.
Fwip—
I grabbed my short sword and javelin from the floor. I strapped the buckler onto my left forearm too, adjusting it tightly.
"Hup..."
I slung the javelin onto my back, using a rope I had prepared for this exact purpose.
Clench—
I gripped my short sword tightly in my right hand, feeling the familiar roughness of the handle.
And with everything ready—
Swoosh—
Fwish—
SLASH—
I started shadow fighting.
I swung my short sword in the air, moving around the small space, imagining an enemy in front of me.
My movements were a bit clumsy—especially when I tried to coordinate the shield into my flow—but I kept going.
'I would block like this... then counter here...'
SLASH—
I thought to myself as I raised my left arm, simulating a block against an invisible attack, then slashing out in retaliation.
Every step, every movement, was me trying to get used to the new equipment.
I had done something similar before my first fight with the short sword—but back then, I barely had any time. It wasn't enough to make the weapon feel familiar to my body.
But this time... I had a bit more time. And I wasn't going to waste it.
Swoosh—
Slash—
Fwish—
I swung in all directions, imagined different attacks and responses, trying out different moves, different angles.
Again and again.
I kept going, not stopping until my breathing got heavier and sweat started forming on my forehead.
I wasn't just fighting an imaginary enemy.
I was carving these movements into my body.
...
*****
I continued shadow fighting for hours.
I only stopped when it was time to eat lunch. After all, eating was important—I needed the energy and nutrients.
'Not that the food they give us is anything healthy.'
But still, it was better than nothing.
After having lunch with Brock and the others, I quickly went back to my room and continued my training. I made sure to take occasional rests too, because no matter how much my mind wanted to keep going, my kid body couldn't handle it for long.
And just like that...
...
...
Night came.
And at night—
"Here, enjoy."
Rai came and handed me two roasted chicken breasts again, packed neatly inside a big paper bag. A bright smile was plastered on his face.
"Thanks, Rai. You're a big help."
I told him as I took the bag from his hands.
"Hehe..."
Hearing my words, Rai's smile widened even more, almost proudly.
I just smiled at him and thanked him again.
Rai left not long after giving me the food. We just checked on each other for a couple minutes.
And me?
I went straight back to my room.
Then immediately—
Nom—
I bit into one of the chicken breasts.
I was already starving like hell, my hands are shaking.
And after finishing one and finally getting something into my stomach—
"It's time to train my body."
I was done with shadow fighting for today.
Now it was time for my night workout.
Fwip—
I reassembled my makeshift weight set, carefully balancing the sandbags on the javelin bar again.
And with that done—
"Urgh...!"
Fwoosh-!
I started training my body like hell.
Pushing myself to the limit this time.
I was able to do this because earlier, Rai had given me a small pouch of water too.
I didn't ask for it. I didn't pay for it either.
He just... gave it to me as a gift.
'I'll pay that kid back in the future.'
I thought to myself as I lifted the improvised weights, doing curls, squats, shoulder presses—anything I could think of to strengthen my body.
...
...
I trained for about two straight hours.
And when I was finally done—
"Ugh..."
It was already deep into the night, and I was exhausted as fuck. Sleepiness was starting to hit me like a truck.
Nom—
I grabbed the remaining chicken breast and ate it lazily, barely tasting it as my body screamed for rest.
And after stuffing myself—
THUD!
"..."
I dropped onto my bed, lying flat without even bothering to fix anything.
Today was productive, if I might say so myself.
And it didn't just end with today...
Because everything I did—shadow fighting, training, working out, eating properly—
It all became my daily routine.
I did it for days, nonstop.
Until finally...
...
...
It was time for my second match.