My Pro Boxer System

The next morning, Ivy joined me on my 15-mile run. As I stepped out of my house, I spotted Ivy waiting for me outside. She looked like a zombie, her eyes droopy and her back hunched over.

"Do you always look like this when you wake up?" I teased.

"Morning. I'm not really a morning person," she yawned loudly.

She looked like she barely knew where she was. We started the run shortly after, and she began to lag behind me. Soon, however, she snapped out of her drowsiness and started to match my pace.

But that only lasted for seven miles, which was impressive in its own right. I left her behind and continued on my own. I ran the full 15 miles, then met up with her again in the park where I usually exercise.

She looked at me with a bewildered expression.

"How are you so fit?" she muttered. Her face was pale from the earlier run.

"Practice. You'll get used to it over time."

After that, we proceeded with my morning training, which included stretches, push-ups, sit-ups, planks, and shadowboxing. When I finished my training, I moved on to help Ivy with hers.

She was completely drenched in sweat. She was in better shape than most people, and I could tell she worked out quite a bit, but she simply couldn't keep up with my training. It was pushing her to the limit. Which was the point. I wanted her to be fully committed to learning my fighting style.

By the time we were done, she lay sprawled on a park bench, her chest heaving as she took ragged breaths.

"Do you train like this every morning?" she asked, and I nodded.

"I honestly thought you were a slacker. A slacker with a talent for boxing who doesn't have to work hard."

"Think that's most people's impression of me," I said.

"Yeah, that's because you don't show how hard you're working. You hardly put in anytime at the gym. A lot of the members in our club practically lived there." Even Cassian and Ken has been spending more and more time there. Compared to them, you look like a slacker."

We rested in the park for a while, then decided it was time to go home and get ready for school.

Cassian and Ken didn't show up at school today either. They were spending the whole day training, just like yesterday. The two of them were going to the gym to spar with some of the upperclassmen who were free.

Just as I settled into my seat, a message popped up on my phone screen.

[Remember you have your match today. Don't be an idiot.]

It was a message from Yuki. She still didn't trust me, even though I had shown up to my match last week. To be honest, I don't think she trusts anyone. On the other hand, she stopped following me everywhere I went. Maybe that was a sign she was beginning to trust me.

I sent her a quick message reassuring her that I would be there. Just then, Ms. Dalton stepped into the room to start homeroom.

Since Cassian, Ken, Adam, and I normally ate lunch together, I expected him to join us, but the moment the bell rang, he rushed toward Kiki and her group. I couldn't hear their conversation, but I guessed he was asking them to eat lunch with him.

It didn't bother me much. Before I became friends with Cassian and the others, I used to eat lunch alone. I opened my bag and took out the lunch I had prepared the night before.

Alexa was no longer making lunches for me; instead, she taught me how to prepare them myself. There were also a few items in the meal that Thalia had added. She was really eager to make lunch for me, but the meals she prepared weren't suitable for my diet, so I only allowed her to add a few things.

Just as I was about to start eating, I heard the creak of a chair and desk being pulled up in front of me. I glanced up to see a surprising visitor in my class. It was Lulu. She had drawn a desk and chair close to mine and set her lunch down.

"Mind if I have lunch with you?" she asked, flashing me a cheeky smile.

"Sure."

She sat beside me and wasted no time eating her lunch. Her lunch was just as hefty as mine. Normally, girls were a bit stingy with what they ate, but Lulu looked like she couldn't care less.

Her face lit up with a red blush as she stared at her lunch. She was practically drooling, but the moment she saw me staring, her expression morphed into a frown.

"Don't judge me. I need energy to perform my best during training," she said.

"I didn't say anything."

"Well, your eyes did. They were calling me fat," she pouted.

"Well, I apologize on my eyes' behalf."

She giggled at my joke.

"Good job during your race, by the way," I said. "You might be the fastest first-year on the girls' track team."

"I don't know about that. We all work pretty hard. I just managed to win this one, that's all." She was being modest. None of the other girls even came close to her time.

She then looked up at me, and a smile spread across her face.

"I think your race was way more interesting than mine," she said.

"How so?"

"Because, for someone who doesn't do track, your time was really impressive. You even beat some of the first years who are in the track club. I think that's even more amazing than me, who has been doing track her whole life."

The two of us continued to talk back and forth as we ate. During our conversation, I could feel the eyes of my classmates pressing down on us, but Lulu didn't seem to mind. I guess it would look strange to see the two of us interacting all of a sudden, since we never talked much at school before.

After school, I didn't bother going to club practice. Since I had a match today, plus a quest with Alexa that I still hadn't completed, I would be too exhausted if I actually went. Ivy and I had trained enough this morning, so I didn't have to worry much about that. I would have to apologize to the coach afterward, though. This would only worsen my reputation as a slacker, but there was nothing I could do. As I stepped out of school, I got another message from Yuki reminding me about the match.

When I got home, I immediately went to my room to do the daily quest with Alexa. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as the others. It was a simple marathon—a 25-mile run that would last for hours.

I completed a few stretches and then began the run. I went through the first 15 miles relatively easily since my body was used to it, but after that, all the strength I had was zapped from me. Soon, it became a battle just to lift my feet off the ground.

My blood felt as if it was boiling inside my body, and my lungs were deprived of air. I had to take huge, ragged breaths just to keep going.

By the time I reached the 20-mile mark, I was barely slugging along. I had run 15 miles with a lot of energy to spare, but now… just running an extra 5 miles had drained all my energy. Going another 5 miles seemed all but impossible. Every muscle in my body was protesting.

Soon, my body completely shut down, and I collapsed to the ground. Everything went quiet as I slowly closed my eyes and passed out.

…

I slowly opened my eyes what felt like hours later. The first thing I noticed was Alexa standing over me with a huge grin on her face.

"You failed," she said with a smirk. "This is actually the first time you've failed a quest."

I had a sneaky suspicion that she planned it. She somehow knew I wouldn't be able to run 25 miles, so she set an impossible goal.

"What will be the punishment?" I asked, already dreading it.

She placed her index finger on her chin as if thinking.

"That is to be decided. Just know it won't be pretty. The punishment that will come from this will be pretty severe. It might take us a while to decide what to do with you, so don't worry about that for now."

I sighed deeply, then climbed to my feet. I was still a little lightheaded, so I staggered a bit.

"Careful, remember you have a match in a little bit. Don't hurt yourself," Alexa said.

"How late is it?"

"Your match starts at 8. It's only 9, so you have an hour left to go."

I nodded, then went home. I immediately collapsed onto the bed with a loud thud. I couldn't help wondering what Alexa had planned to pull such a dirty trick.