Chapter 340 Endurance training
?The sky was painted with the brushstrokes of pale pink and soft orange while the sun peeked the landscape from the east horizon.
It's first rays were like gentle fingers of light— gracefully reaching out and caressing the sleeping earth. While the surface resonated along with its touch as it seem to come alive with its touch.
At this moment, some moving silhouette could be seen on a certain grassy field while sounds of heavy gasps could be heard.
"Anybody who fails to finish the laps will have to run extra 20 laps"
A loud yet commanding voice, echoed.
Yet even this loud voice seem to harmonize with this peaceful morning.
"Yes sir"
No sooner had that voice dissipated, a unified roar filled with determination and vigor followed.
Currently Hiro and his teammates of U17 team were running laps around a football field in an unified procession.
"Don't stop your legs guys. Keep on moving. Just 7 more laps"
A guy dressed in black trackpants was giving command from the sidelines while they all continued their march.
Although every single one of them were answering obediently but the reality was quite harsh. Some of them right now were beyond exhausted.
And most of them were only putting up a farce.
"30 laps on the first day? Are you kidding with me?"
"Huff...., Are we training for marathon or football? Huff!! Give me... a break already"
As they continued to run laps, most of them while struggling to keep up with the intensity of the training whined.
Hiro however had no problems with such endurance training at all. It was just 10 more laps than his regular 20 laps around the field.
In fact right now, let alone running out of breathe, he wasn't even trying his best. While most of his teammates were already wobbling, he was running as if he was jogging.
Shun on the other hand was sweating profusely. Struggling to breathe, he was gasping heavily. Just looking at his miserable state, one could conjure that he was exhausted beyond his limit. Yet even so, his eyes said otherwise.
Those tired eyes were more sharper and determined than most of the players present on the field at the moment.
Those eyes were a testament to his strong will and determination. If only those who were whining could witness those spark in his eyes; may be they'd have changed their way of thinking as well.
Soon enough, holes started to appear in this seemingly perfect procession as some players started to lag behind. Many of them couldn't keep up and fell behind.
Even so, none of them were willing to stop their legs as none of them wished to run another 20 laps around the field.
Seeing their miserable state, Hiro felt quite pitiful of them. But somewhere in his heart, he also felt disappointed.
Running mere 30 laps around the field could force them in such situation then how were they going to survive against those teams with monstrous endurance?
No doubt, they were good players. But to beat the best, simply being good wasn't enough. Afterall to beat the best, you have to surpass the best.
And the best couldn't be surpassed with such feeble mindset.
To add salt to their wound, Hiro who wasn't putting any effort until now started to act. At this moment when their formation was already in a mess, even if he acted out he wouldn't get scolded by his coach.
With such thought in mind, all of a sudden, he accelerated. It was as if, he had extra pair of lungs.
His abrupt acceleration startled a lot of his teammates but he didn't care.
"Seriously? Doesn't he ever get tired?"
"Is he trying to showoff?"
Several players cried out upon witnessing his acceleration.
No sooner had he accelerated, he immediately finished another lap and caught with his stranded teammates who were gasping heavily and running as if they were on the verge of collapse.
But instead of encouraging or being empathetic towards their condition, Hiro mocked them instead, "Aren't you ashamed of yourself, even a keeper has surpassed you"
There was truth in his words. Afterall Shun despite being a keeper was quite ahead of some of the players who played as defenders.
Those words of Hiro cut deep as they felt their stomach churning with fury. All of a sudden, they then increased their pace.
'Simpletons' Hiro upon seeing the increase in their pace, mused.
After some while as the last person collapsed on the ground; completing his share of 30 laps around the field, they were given a fifteen minute break.
Huff!! Huff!!
Bodies piled on the ground while hurried gasps escaped the mouth of many exhausted players. Almost every single one of them had exhausted their whole energy completing this laps.
Smell of sweat lingered in the air as their sweat drenched body rested atop the grass.
However at this moment a inspiration struck Hiro as he decided to try something different— something he had seen Mateo do countless times.
Sprinting alongside the ball, he imagined exact movements executed by Mateo. Not only did he try to imitate exact same movements of Mateo, he even recalled the movements of the opposing players who rushed towards Mateo.
With a burst of speed, his feet danced along with the ball. Imaginary opposing players lunged towards him, desperate to disrupt his rhythm but he still glided past them effortlessly like he was dancing along the field.
"What is he doing?"
Several confused eyes looked at him with dazed expression. But soon enough as they witnessed this flawlessly executed moves, it enthralled them.
His dribbling was akin to poetry in motion, a symphony of delicate touches and lightning-fast reactions.
Some of them even imagined the movement of those imaginary opponents inside Hiro's head. And seeing those imaginary opponents made them even more curious and excited.
At this moment, while Hiro executed his flawless dribbling, gasps of admiration filled the air.
Finally as he twisted his body and made the final shot to complete his set of movements, a notification rung in his head.
[Congratulation for completing the quest]
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