Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 247 Ardra's Training Camp! (2)

"Alright! That's 500 kilometers! You have five minutes to rest!"

Ardra's cute and playful voice sounded demonic in Aster's ears, as if she had just told him his execution date, making him feel his fatigue even more intensely.

"Gah...! Haaaa... Haaa... Urp!"

With fireballs exploding behind him, he had been forced to run at his top speed to avoid getting killed. He was so exhausted that his legs were trembling, and he was so out of breath he felt like he might hurl.

But, as expected, one hour for the full distance of 500 kilometers was too short. Aster ended up using 1 hour and 55 minutes, which meant he had run at about 250 km/h.

The first half was hell since he hadn't yet gotten used to moving his body with his newly increased stats. However, after being forced to run to his limits and dodge all the deadly attacks exploding behind him, he gradually improved his control over his body. Of course, there were times when he almost got hit, but he used his Ground Shrink skill to increase the distance instantly.

By the second hour, he was already keeping a safe margin from Ardra's fireballs.

"Alright, time's up! Let's go straight to 10,000 pushups! 1,000 reps, 10 sets!"

*SNAP!*

With another snap, Aster found himself lying face-down on the ground, already in the pushup position. "Eh?"

But that wasn't all. Holes with sharp spikes appeared on the ground beneath him, slowly rising to poke his chest, stomach, and thighs, forcing him to try and stand up—but to his surprise, there were also spikes aimed at his back, limiting his movements.

"Kuh! Kill me!" Aster cried, realizing what was going on.

The two sets of spikes moved at regular intervals, forcing Aster to perform perfect pushup motions if he wanted to avoid getting skewered. In short, just like before, he was being forced to exercise!

'If I let go, I'll get injured, but...' Aster thought, deciding that suffering a few wounds might not be too bad. But when he lost focus, his thigh was poked lightly.

"Arshghfk!"

At the same time, intense pain coursed through his entire body. The spikes were cursed items that inflicted excruciating pain on anyone injured by them! He lost control of his body from the pain, causing more injuries, and thus more pain.

Half a step more forward and slashing without gripping the sword too tightly. As he did, the sound of the air being cut changed drastically, matching what Ardra had described.

*SHING!*

A crisp sound came from his sword!

"Oh! You're quick to pick up! You're talented with the sword, little brother~!" Ardra praised, watching him repeat the motion several more times.

Once she was sure he had mastered the Vertical Slash, she moved on to the next step: a horizontal sweep. "Watch me demonstrate first, then you'll copy it!"

Ardra didn't bother summoning her own weapon, so she simply borrowed Aster's sword. She gripped the hilt firmly, but not too tight, maintaining flexibility in her wrist. Then, she swung the sword once, twisting it along the swing.

*KIIIIIN!*

The casual strike swept in a 180° arc, cutting the air with a ringing sound. It was a flawless execution, letting Aster grasp the movement instantly.

He tried to mimic her, but failed on the first attempt.

"No, not like that! You should step like BAM! Then, let your hips go whoosh and your wrist goes giiiin! Then slash like Tatatan!"

"..."

Unlike the vertical slash, which followed a simpler motion, the horizontal slash was more complex, despite looking simple. And to make matters worse, Ardra's explanations were terrible, leaving Aster to figure it out mostly on his own!

After about a dozen failed attempts, Aster finally got the hang of it.

*SHING!*

The same crisp sound of air being cut, just like with the Vertical Slash, echoed. Still, Aster wasn't satisfied. After seeing Ardra's perfect Horizontal Sweep, he wanted to match the sound of her slash!

Ardra watched him diligently swinging his sword, a smile on her lips. She could tell that, by the end of one month of training, Aster would transform.