"Very good, Linley, Hadley. Hold on, hold on! Ross hasn't wavered at all!" Hillman said beside the three of them.
The three boys, all around eight years old, wore long pants, their bare upper bodies covered in sweat. They lay face down, taut as bowstrings, their hands planted firmly against the ground like the tangled roots of old trees. They remained motionless, supported entirely by their hands and the tips of their toes.
Static Tension Training!
It was a very simple yet effective exercise. If they could maintain this position for an hour, their bodies would have nothing to fear from ordinary blades.
Drip.
Sweat slid down Linley's forehead and past the corner of his eye. His right eye began to sting, and he couldn't help squinting.
"Ross, Linley, and Hadley are really amazing. Ross is nine, but Linley and Hadley are only eight! In Static Tension Training, those three can keep up with fifteen- and sixteen-year-olds."
Many of the boys nearby who had already given up watched the three of them and talked among themselves.
"Come on, Linley! You have to beat-beat Ross!"
"Come on, Hadley!"
"You can do it, Ross!"
The three kept holding on amid the other children's cheers. Linley and Hadley wouldn't give up easily before reaching their physical limits.
Ross was much more casual about it. Through all these years of training, he had never felt what a limit was. He only trained every day without interruption because he didn't know what else to do, so he might as well exercise with everyone to pass the time.
A long while later, finally-
Thud!
Hadley was the first to collapse to the ground, utterly spent. He clenched his fists in frustration. He had indeed completed quite a few daily quests over the past two years, but