Adrian gasps for air. His eyes open to the ceiling of his bedroom.
He doesn't feel any pain. He examines his body to find no injuries as if he had never even been hit.
Is this how fast a Revenant heals? I feel brand new.
He slowly gets up from his bed and walks into the living room.
The face of a teenage boy is waiting there to greet him. Jack. The boy shrieks in fear as if he's seen a ghost.
"How are you walking? You came in looking like mashed potatoes just last night. How the fuck are you okay now?"
"I came in?"
"Your coworker brought you here all beaten up. You looked like you were about to die," Jack examines Adrian's body, surprised at the lack of injuries.
"It's just the danger of being a police officer, it's normal."
"Danger is normal. Healing this fast isn't. You seem completely fine after just one night."
It's probably that doctor guy's doing, Sinclair, I think? I should thank him when I see him.
"I don't know either, but whatever it is, it's a good thing."
"I guess?" Jack seems shocked but happy.
"Breakfast is ready, go eat, will you?"
Adrian steps into the kitchen to see the bland but comforting porridge there as always.
Adrian sits down and eats the porridge.
He goes back to his room and looks through the drawers for proper clothes. He finds a white shirt, black vest, and red tie, but no suit.
These will do for now. He puts them on and leaves the house, planning to commute to the station.
.....
He arrives at the PRF station, standing proud and defending Perof.
The receptionist's smile greets him as he walks through the door. "Good morning. Wow, Revenants heal really fast, don't they?"
"Good morning. I'm surprised too, I feel brand new," he says as he starts ascending the tightly packed stairs.
He finishes his ascent. A man is plopped down on the sofa, seemingly waiting for his arrival.
"Good morning, Michael."
The man doesn't respond and instead opts to throw a piece of paper toward Adrian.
Adrian catches it and examines the contents.
* 10 Kilometer run
* 2,500 sit-ups
* 1,000 push-ups
* 2,000 squats
* 1,000 curls
"What's this?" Adrian asks in fear, hoping it's not what he thinks it is.
"Your training regime. You're too weak for a PRF officer. You need to do everything on it daily to build proper strength, and I'll train you to fight properly once you get strong enough."
"Isn't this too much?"
"Bitch, this is too little. You're a Revenant for fuck's sake, you need proper training."
"Where am I meant to get dumbbells?"
"We have them in the armory."
"Does everybody in the PRF go through this?"
"Stop asking fucking questions and get to training. We don't have a case right now. Go outside and run 10 kilometers before I beat your ass," Michael gets up and clenches his fists, ready to punch somebody's lights out.
"How would I know I've run 10?"
"Run for an hour then," Michael steps closer with his fist clenched, ready to strike.
Adrian quickly goes down the stairs and exits the station.
The outside is serene and peaceful with the morning sun in the sky piercing through the clouds. Adrian checks his watch and sees that the time is 7. He starts running on the sidewalk while channeling spirit energy through his entire body.
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He feels incredibly fast. The wind breaks against his face and cools him down. It feels as if he's become an Olympic sprinter.
Carriages pass by him, seemingly in slow motion compared to him.
He continues running, passing by men commuting to work. As he's running, he sees a man holding a knife toward someone else—a mugger.
He runs toward the thief at his top speed. The thief looks at him like a deer in headlights, with a face full of fear. He puts his knife toward the black blur running toward him.
Adrian dodges the knife and punches the man in his face.
The man crumples onto the cold stone floor.
Adrian stops to talk to the victim. "Go and report him to a police station, he won't be getting up for a long time."
The victim is confused, but he says, "I will, sir. Thank you. I would have lost my entire paycheck if you hadn't helped."
"Just doing my job." Adrian continues running. His feet are starting to hurt. He pulls out his pocket watch and looks at the time—7:30.
He turns around and starts running back toward the station, the sweat flying off his face as he runs.
...
He arrives at the station's door, his heart beating fast, his breathing coming in rapid bursts, his legs shaking in pain. He checks his watch. The time is 8.
I actually did it.
He enters and ascends the stairway.
"Good, but we still don't have a case. Start with the sit-ups. I'm bored, so I'll do some with you. Don't try to match me, I'm way stronger than you."
Michael gets down onto the ground and into sit-up posture. Michael moves incredibly fast, becoming a white blur in Adrian's eyes.
Adrian has to channel spirit energy into his eyes to be able to see Michael doing sit-ups at an incredibly fast pace.
Holy shit, this guy's a monster.
He gets down onto the ground and follows Michael's lead, doing sit-ups at a fast pace, although not even close to Michael's. He keeps count of each sit-up in his mind.
...
2497... 2498... 2499... 2500... Done, finally. Adrian gets up from the ground and checks his watch. The time is 8:30.
"You're lasting better than expected. Give me 1,000 push-ups now!"
Fuck you mean? Give me some rest.
"Don't I need rest?" Adrian asks in a pleading way.
"Nope, you're a Revenant. This training is meant to push you to your limits. Look, I know this feels like hell right now, but you'll come out of this much stronger. I did the same shit, now I'm fucking strong," Michael flexes his arms. Muscles bulge out of his white shirt. His arms are thick as tree trunks.
He looks like a fucking gorilla.
Adrian seems to be motivated by Michael's stature. He gets down on his two arms and starts doing push-ups. His body hurts more and more with each push-up, encouraging him to give up. But he remembers last night. Him getting demolished by that Revenant has left a scar in his mind. He never wants to lose that easily ever again. That single thought fuels him to keep pushing and going.
I have to keep going.
....
998... 999... 1,000. Adrian manages to finish the push-ups. "Do you remember your loss last night? You didn't lose because of the class difference. You lost because you were weak. Always remember that. Now give me 2,000 squats."
Adrian stands up. His arms feel sore as hell. Just moving them slightly causes pain to jolt through his entire body. He takes a glance at his pocket watch; it's now 9.
Mostly done, only two workouts left. I can do this.
He bends his knees and starts doing squats. His legs seem to have recovered in the time that he was doing push-ups.
....
He finishes the squats. His arms have recovered, but now his legs feel like jello.
Michael comes out of the armory holding two dumbbells. He hands the two dumbbells to Adrian. "They are 40 kilograms. Start curling."
Final stretch, let's fucking do this.
Adrian grips the two dumbbells in his hands. He takes a deep breath and starts curling the dumbbells. The weight of the dumbbells slows down his movements to that of a normal human. He curls his right hand and then his left hand, repeating over and over again.
.....
Done, finally, it's fucking done. "Good job. Make sure to do this every day. For now, take a break."
Adrian swiftly moves over to the sofa and plops down on it. His body feels exhausted, it's crying out for rest. Adrian lays his head down on the sofa's arm. He closes his eyes and goes to the land of dreams.
"Oi, wake up, we got work." Adrian's eyes open to the sight of a man towering over him.
He groans before getting up. "What's the case?"
"Three people dead in the slums. High chance some Revenant has killed them. They were tortured badly and suffered before their deaths," Michael clenches his fist. His eyes have a look of pure hatred in them.
"Lead the way," Adrian says.
...
They get into their carriage. "Briarsfield, Raven's Alley," Michael barks to the carriage driver.
The carriage starts moving toward its destination.
...
The carriage jolts and comes to a grinding halt at their destination.
Michael and Adrian get out of the carriage. Looking around, the area seems incredibly poor. The buildings are small and unmaintained, the ground is stained with filth, and a tightly packed alley waits in front of them.
Michael steps into the alley and goes forward, then stops at a door that looks like it's ready to crumble.
"The body's in here, but brace yourself, it's not a good sight." Michael pushes open the door.
The room is barely lit up by the rays of sun coming in through the door. Adrian channels spirit energy into his eyes, allowing him to see slightly better.
Adrian gasps loudly. It's a horrible sight. The body of a naked woman lies on the ground, beaten, bloody, and mutilated.
Bang!
The building itself shakes as Michael punches the walls in frustration.
Adrian goes outside the building. He falls to his knees and throws up on the cold stone floor.
He takes deep breaths and braces himself before going back inside to take a proper look.
The body has blunt force trauma on her stomach and face. Multiple incisions have been made on the woman's body; her body is covered in dark red blood. She didn't get a quick death; she was tortured slowly and methodically.
"The bastard's fucking demented. I'll make sure his death is as painful as it can be," Michael says in frustration.
"Do your fucking thing already," Michael looks at Adrian.
Adrian walks closer to the body, gulps down his hesitation, and touches it.