Chapter 353

Of course, Ash was too young to know that the drinks they were provided with were far more special than the food itself. In the morning, their milk tea or coffee had been enhanced by a special potion Darius had mass-produced for himself, the very same Rare Intellect Boost Potion. 

These were teenagers after all, and even if they had high Intellect and learning capabilities, it would be difficult for them to truly focus and absorb all the high-level information Darius presented them with. 

So he used his resources to add a diluted version of the potion to their drinks. Although it weakened the overall effect, it also lasted longer, exactly three hours instead of the typical one hour. 

Now, their lunch had a potion called the Rare Body Training Potion. It was the same as the Rare Memory Boost potion in the sense that it increased their Endurance. 

Similarly, this diluted version was stretched out to last them their three hours of training with Gunner. 

Ash and the rest finished lunch by 12.30 and left to head to the training grounds at the back of the mage tower. The grounds were large and contained everything one could need to master various fighting skills and attain mastery in different weapons. 

When they entered, they saw the massive and impressive figure of Gunner seated in the center of the grounds with his arms folded, his head lower and his eyes closed. 

His legs were crossed and he seemed like a statue of patience and calmness, making the Apprentices gulp as they felt Gunner's aura was more intense than their Master's. 

When Gunner sensed them, he opened his eyes and rose to his feet… the full 7 feet that he was. The Apprentices could only crane their necks to look up at him, their young hearts drowned by wonder. 

His green eyes latched on them as he spoke calmly. "Every day our training will begin with 30 minutes of stretching so your bodies will become limber. Otherwise, practice will only hurt you and make things worse." 

"Now, pay close attention and follow my movements carefully." Gunner instructed as he began to contort his body in strange ways. 

The moment the apprentices mimicked his movements, their faces changed as they screeched in pain. The first time one stretched properly after never having exercised before was quite intense, and could be painful for some. 

However, those who had done so before knew that the benefits outweighed the pain. Gunner, for example, roared at them. 

"Do not stop! Continue the movements!" 

Because of his shout, they could only force themselves to continue in fear while they cried, snot and tears forming on their faces, except for two who had a better time. 

Anthony because he was half-monkey and his race was quite flexible, Reina because girls were usually far more flexible than their male counterparts. 

As for Ash, Jonathan and James, they bellowed like wounded beasts, truly believing that they would tear their muscles apart if they continued. However, they dared not stop due to their fear of Gunner who was gazing at them fiercely. 

They felt that he would make them feel far worse than some mere muscle pains if they dared to collapse and fail the movements. As such, the stretches continued. 

However, the pained cries slowly reduced as time went on, the lads were surprised that the pain reduced as they proceeded on. In fact, by the time the entire thing came to an end and they returned to a standing position, they felt much lighter and more comfortable. 

It felt like their body was packed like a sardine within itself, and had now been given more breathing room to exist. 

Gunner frowned as he could see the effects were only mild compared to what he had expected, but then again, they hadn't exactly followed his example 100%. The pain had made them restrict some of the contortions, so they had missed out. 

Gunner took it with a grain of salt since this was the first day after all and then began to fervently train the lads. For today, he made them run laps around the field for as long as their stamina could hold out. 

Although Jonathan actually had the highest raw Endurance of them all, he was nonetheless beaten in this event by Anthony's physique. 

Last was naturally Reina, who only had 3 points of Endurance. The poor lass was huffing and puffing like a steam train, her usual feminine elegance gone, leaving a sweaty mess of fatigue. 

Gunner wasn't done with them. He let them rest for a minute before they moved onto the next exercise, which was push-ups. 

This time, Jonathan came first as he had the highest Strength, then Ash and Anthony tied. Ash actually had more Strength than Anthony, but once again that fellow's physique gave him an advantage that wasn't tabulated statistically. 

James did his part satisfactorily, and poor Reina's arms were shaking like noodles when she tried to push herself back up. Gunner only watched them without saying anything, gauging their strengths and weaknesses. 

After the push-ups, they were made to do sit-ups, the bane of the round. This time, all of them performed satisfactorily, and even Reina was not struggling much with this. 

As a girl, of course, she took good care of her midriff section, so she had even been the most motivated and excited to put in the work necessary. 

Gunner had naturally noticed this, yet failed to understand why. After sit-ups were squats, the believed mode of training for women. 

After all, it made their thighs and butt firmer, as well as more flexible. Since they needed such stamina and flexibility for visual aesthetics and sexual performance, it was crucial to them. 

The men didn't really see the need, but they dared not slack off before Gunner. As for Reina, the young lass was working extra hard, aware of how well it could benefit her in her desired future if she put in the necessary hard work now, she did not hesitate.