Kane wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as Rui was about the training facilities. Although his father couldn't singlehandedly match the Academy, the economic and political capital of a Martial Sage could not be underestimated. Although the scale of the infrastructure and facilities of the Martial Academy was much bigger than what he was accustomed to, the quality of the training was not inferior.
Instead, what truly excited Kane was the very prospect of living independently from his family. Not being under the shadow of his father, not being under the pressuring gaze of his mother, the hateful envious eyes of his siblings, step-siblings and step-parents was far more invigorating and delightful than he had ever imagined. He was finally free!
This was in sharp contrast to Rui, who still felt a tinge of sadness leaving his family. Furthermore, Rui himself was not that excited living with a roommate, this was an all-too-common phenomenon in his previous life.
"Who's your roommate?" Rui asked as they returned from their tour.
"Martial Apprentices have their own lodgings." Kane replied. "So I live alone. Not that I'm complaining. Being truly alone feels better than I ever imagined."
Rui smiled as he listened to Kane extoll the greatness of the Apprentice dormitories.
Before long, they bid each other good evening and went their separate ways. The day was long but Rui was truly tired mentally, even if not physically. He bade Cara goodnight only to, once again, receive a curt nod in response, before decking himself into his bed and falling asleep.
The next day was an exciting one. He excitedly wore the Academy uniform provided to novices like him before heading to the general assembly hall. There were several important things due to happen today. The first was the personalized and customized training curriculum due to be handed out to all novices. This was the main purpose of the Evaluation Exam. To detect the strengths and weaknesses of freshmen and to create a training program for each one of them designed to eliminate their weaknesses and secondarily to bolster their strengths, to create a strong foundation for their Martial Path.
Rui quickly head to the assembly hall and took his place among the gathered students, organized in multiple lines. Once the supervisors confirmed that all the students had gathered, they began calling out names of the students gathered one by one, before handing out small booklets to each student. These booklets contained all the details relevant to their training curriculum. Rui gazed at this little book with intense reverence.
"These will dictate your training regimes of the Foundational Stage of your curriculum. These booklets contain the training regimes you will be subjected to as well as the location and time period for each regime. Coordinate with Academy information guidebook all of you possess and ensure you're never late. Tardiness will not be tolerated and will be punished. Furthermore..." The supervisor continued rattling out instructions and guidelines before dismissing the students.
"...The Foundational Stage is the most important part of your Martial Paths. It serves as the foundation upon which everything else is built. I hope each and every one of you will sincerely dedicate yourselves to it. With that said, you're dismissed." He nodded before leaving the facility.
Rui quickly went through his training regime. As much as he wanted to sit down and pour through every detail of his training curriculum guide, he noticed that he had a training session immediately.
"Core building huh?" Rui nodded. "An important aspect of Martial Art, indeed."
He quickly scurried over to the physical training section.
Inside, many freshmen had gathered already. And the chief supervisor was keeping a close eye on the wall clock.
"Alright, it's time. Form lines and stand in attention." He instructed.
They quickly adhered to his instructions as he continued.
"Core building is an important part of Martial Art. For those who aren't aware, the 'core' refers to the set of muscles in you mid and lower abdomen." He explained, patting his gut and lower back. "There isn't a single Martial Art in existence that can function without the core, it is absolutely vital. Thus, core building is considered to be one of the most important aspects of physical training."
He provided all the students with small pamphlets that provided more detailed information on the core muscles. Of course, Rui didn't bother delving much into it. With his background and work, he probably knew more about the core muscles of the human body than anybody else in the entirety of the whole planet.
"And with that said, we'll begin right away. We'll start with more elementary and static exercises such as plank and bridge variations before moving onto simpler dynamic exercises like deadbugs and sit-ups. Once that's done, we'll begin with exercises that require equipment. Pallof Presses, landmine rotations, Renegate Rows, pikes and ab-rollouts, also..." He rattled out more exercises and details of the sets, durations and methodology.
Rui immediately began following his instructions diligently. Though inwardly, he had some gripes about the training regime.
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He put aside those thoughts while he began his planks. These, like most exercises, needed focus and concentration. It was inefficient to let your mind wander while exercising and training, not to mention dangerous. Furthermore, thinking about whether it was optimal or not was useless. After all, he couldn't change his training regime. He was merely a novice in the Foundational Stage, he was expected to adhere to all instructions provided by the Academy.
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