"ALRIGHT, YOU GOURDS WITH LEGS! LET'S SHOW HIS HIGHNESS HOW WE WARM UP EVERY MORNING!!!" Captain Ripper roared as he turned toward his men, and instantly, everyone rushed into position, lining up in a neat row.

"SIR!! YES SIR!!"

"NOW DIVE AND GIVE ME THIRTY PUMPKIN-UPS!!"

"YES, CAPTAIN RIPPER, SIR!!!"

The knights instantly dropped to the floor with their arms bulging as they pushed against the ground in unison and began to count.

"ONE! MUSCLE!"

"TWO! MUSCLE!"

"THREE! MUSCLE!"

"FOUR! MUSCLE!"

Each shout echoed off the garrison walls and Ripper urged Aster to join them.

"You too, Your Highness."

Aster then stepped towards the very first line and dropped down like everyone else.

"It's an honor to sweat beside you, Your Highness," One of the knights said as he continued his exercise.

"Likewise." Aster smiled before doing what everybody else was doing.

"ONE! MUSCLE!"

"TWO! MUSCLE!" Aster repeated the chant, his own voice mixing with the others.

By the time he had reached thirty, his arms were now burning and it felt like his breath was sawing in and out of his chest.

Ripper gave Aster a couple of minutes to rest before starting the next exercise, and then everyone began doing their squats, including Aster.

Unlike the push-up they had just completed, the target for the squat was fifty and by the time Aster was done with it, his legs had turned to jelly.

But luckily for him, Ripper allowed him to rest once more before moving on to the next exercise.

"Are you warmed up now, Your Highness?" Ripper asked.

"Yeah."

"That's good, cause now I want you to run ten laps."

"Ten laps? Oh, okay." Aster eagerly stood up because running ten laps around the garrison didn't really look difficult to him but…

"Oh, Your Highness, you won't just be running."

"I won't ?"

"No, you won't. I need you to focus on controlling the amount of aura you release to your feet while three of my slowest knights chase after you." Ripper gestured towards the three slow but muscular knights who were already waiting for their prince to begin the race.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. They won't be using their aura to chase after you. They'll be dependent solely on their raw speed and endurance, but mind you, their pure speed is more than enough to catch up to a Zero Order Demon, so I suggest you don't let them catch up to you or else…" Ripper chuckled softly as he trailed off at the end of his sentence and Aster couldn't help but wonder what could be so funny to him.

"What happens if they catch up to me?"

"Let's just say it's better if you don't let that happen," Ripper replied vaguely before stepping back.

But then, Aster turned around to face the three muscular knights, and all three men cracked their knuckles and necks before flashing Aster a funny, ominous grin and sending him a kiss.

"Eiii!!" Aster shrieked as sweat began to gather on his forehead.

He quickly turned around and pretended not to have seen what they just did.

Of course, the knights had no affection toward him, and Aster knew that, but he wasn't going to slow down to find out what these knights would do if they ever caught up to him.

The point of this exercise was for Aster to learn how to control his Aura while being under pressure.

Since he could already direct the flow of his aura toward any part of his body, Ripper wanted him to learn how to control the amount that he could channel to his feet while simultaneously remaining calm enough to avoid getting caught by the three muscular knights chasing after him.

But that was easier said than done, because Aster could barely maintain a stable amount of aura on one foot, let alone both feet, and now he had to do it on both legs while having three muscular guys chasing after him.

That was definitely not going to be easy for anyone to do.

"ALRIGHT!! ON MY MARK!!" Captain Ripper raised an arm. "THREE! TWO! ONE! RUN!!"

Aster immediately bolted as he ran across the track that circled around the garrison.

The track curved along the outer walls and the cold morning wind brushed sharply against his face.

As his boots pounded the floor, his aura helped to propel him forward like a rocket, but Aster began to hear thudding sounds coming from behind.

"MUSCLE!! MUSCLE!! MUSCLE!!" All three knights chanted loudly as they chased after him with their eyes completely focused on him.

In fact, from an observer's point of view, it seemed like the three knights were chasing after a prey, with all their might and concentration focused only on catching up to the target in front of them. But Aster didn't let their speed and determination intimidate him.

Instead, he gritted his teeth and tried his best to lengthen the distance between them and he was able to do this successfully.

Realizing this, a wide grin appeared on his lips. But since his mind wasn't focusing on his aura distribution anymore, the amount of aura on his right leg became higher than the one on his left leg, and this made Aster's balance unstable, causing him to almost stumble on the floor.

But this also allowed the knights to nearly catch up to him as their hands came so close to tapping his shoulders. But Aster swiftly balanced the aura on both legs and he tried to keep his mind in a focused state as he ran and finished all ten laps without allowing any of the three knights to touch or tap his shoulder.

By the time he had completed the tenth lap, his breathing was already ragged and his back was drenched with sweat.

Aster staggered across the finish line before bending over with his hands braced against his knees while he continued to gasp for breath.

"That was impressive, Your Highness." Hallie complimented him as she offered Aster a waterskin.

"Thank you, Hallie." Aster took the water and swigged it in three gulps before finding a good spot to sit and rest.

But Ripper approached him right after. "You did well, Your Highness, but we still have a lot to do today, so rest up now that you can because training resumes in the next fifteen minutes."

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