Chapter 18: Don’t Skip Leg Day
Garion had been training Dahlia nonstop for days.
At first, she could barely hold her form, but now her breathing was quite steady.
Her back stayed straight, and her movements were sharper than before.
Each squat looked cleaner, each curl felt smoother, and even her push-ups no longer looked like she was collapsing.
Every time she completed a set, Garion’s system told him his gains.
[Disciple Dahlia completed one set of perfect squat. Owner gains 10x the results]
[Disciple Dahlia completed one set of perfect bicep curls. Owner gains 10x the results]
[Disciple Dahlia completed one set of perfect push-ups. Owner gains 10x the results]
[...]
All of them stacked up like a never-ending stream.
Garion stood with his arms crossed, watching Dahlia finish another rep, sweat dripping down her face.
He grinned as the system screen appeared again. His own body responded instantly as it grew stronger from it.
He flexed one arm and laughed to himself.
"This is really insane. I’m getting stronger every single time she trains. This is even better than steroids, better than any magic potion, better than anything."
Dahlia dropped to her knees, panting.
"Master... I feel like I’m dying every day..."
Garion crouched beside her, patting her shoulder.
"No, no. You’re living better. Look at your form. You don’t even wobble on the twelfth rep anymore. That’s progress."
She groaned, rolling onto her back.
"Progress feels like dying."
Garion smiled back, reminding her.
"Dying makes you stronger. Trust me. I have been there."
Dahlia ignored him and tried to rest, but just as she closed her eyes, an unknown sound suddenly appeared.
Before either of them could react, several shadows jumped over the wall and landed inside the courtyard.
A rough voice quickly appeared.
"Hand over everything you have!"
Dahlia was shocked and quickly pushed herself halfway up.
"Damn it. I’m too tired to even run right now."
Garion, however, only burst into laughter seeing the new guests.
He didn’t even stand at first, just slapped his knee and shook his head.
"Oh, this is perfect. I was just thinking about something to do for a perfect cooldown exercise, and now some idiots come delivering themselves."
The five intruders ignored what Garion said and quickly spread out across teh courtyard.
Then, the leader, the one with a scar, stepped forward and sneered.
"What’s so funny?"
Garion stood slowly, stretching his arms and cracking his joints loudly.
"You really want to know, huh? What’s funny is that you all climbed over that wall just to enter the tiger’s den."
The big one in the back frowned.
"Tiger? You? All you do is lift shiny sticks and yell at your disciple. What can you do, huh?"
The youngest one also snickered.
"Yeah. You only do weird postures all day long. You don’t even cultivate. What part of you is tiger?"
Dahlia pushed herself into a sitting position before scowling at them.
"Shut up. You don’t understand them at all."
She didn’t accept that the workouts she had painfully done these few days were being ridiculed by them.
If she didn’t argue back, then she would feel that she was doing nothing but wasting her time, and she hated it.
The bandit leader ignored her, focusing on Garion.
"Hand it all over. Your treasure, money, everything you have, and we’ll let you crawl away alive."
Garion’s grin only widened. He finally stepped forward toward them, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.
"Dahlia... don’t move. Just sit and watch. Today, I’ll show you how the real members of the God Gym fight."
She bit her lip and couldn’t help but be worried about it.
"Master..."
Garion waved his hand dismissively, turning back to the bandits.
"Relax. These guys are just tempering stage cultivators. Nothing special. Just consider this... a live demonstration or a show."
The bandits, hearing what Garion said, muttered angrily among themselves.
"This old fool doesn’t know what’s coming."
Garion clapped his hands together once before grinning widely, showing his teeth.
"Alright, gentlemen. Before we start, let me ask you something important."
The leader raised an eyebrow.
"What? What did you want to ask before your death?"
Garion only smirked as he slapped his thigh once.
"Tell me. Do any of you... skip leg day?"
The bandits froze for a moment, glancing at each other in confusion.
"What the hell is leg day? A day for leg? A day only to use the leg?"
Meanwhile, Dahlia groaned, covering her face with both hands.
"Oh no... he’s doing it again..."
Garion cracked his knuckles one by one and planted his feet firmly on the ground.
"Good. It seems that all of you skip it. Because if you don’t, today will be less painful for you."
The bandits shuffled their feet.
"Is this guy crazy? What the hell is he talking about? Does he think we’re weak?"
Dahlua peeked out from between her fingers, lips curling into a smile.
"I’ll pray for you, bandits. If you did train your legs, then maybe Master will let you off lightly."
She tilted her head, her smile turning slyer.
"But if you didn’t... then Master will surely force you to do leg day. His style."
Dahlia also sighed in relief, enjoying the rare chance to sit out.
"Well... at least this time I’m not the one suffering. Let’s see how these idiots handle Master."
Garion looked at them and waved his hand casually, mocking them.
"Come. Let me see just how strong you really are, that make you dare to rob me."
The big man cracked his knuckles and smirked.
"Boss, let me handle him. I’ll teach him a lesson for daring to belittle us."
The leader smirked, nodding once.
"Go and crush that stupid bastard."
With a roar, the big man charged forward, swinging his arm wide.
"Take this! Bear Punch!"
Garion didn’t move his feet as he faced the attack. He just raised one hand and caught the punch in his palm.
"Is this it? Are you sure you’re going to kill me with just this?"
The big man’s eyes bulged widely.
"WHAT THE HELL!"