The Demon Queen's Royal Consort

"I understand why stretching the way I was doing is pointless."

The moment the energy surged vigorously through my meridians, every fiber of my body awakened. No stretching could ever replace something like this.

But what truly surprised me was how my energy seemed to have a will of its own.

'I'll have to research more about this.'

"Let's start slow and gradually increase the pace to your limit," Lesley explained.

I estimated that the entire training field was about six to eight soccer fields in size. The running track circled the entire underground floor, which should average about three kilometers per lap.

I was also curious about the capabilities of this body. To be honest, I hadn't run since I was eight years old. I spent ten years battling cancer and three years trapped in the mines. It had been exactly thirteen years since I last moved my body vigorously. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach with high expectations.

'How far can I go?'

Lesley gave a positive signal, and we started moving. For the first hundred meters, the pace was a light jog. My body felt fine, with no signs of fatigue, arrhythmia, or breathing issues.

"Let's pick up the pace," Lesley ordered.

The pace doubled, shifting to a rhythmic run. Still, no signs of fatigue or exhaustion in my body.

"Again," Lesley encouraged.

The pace doubled once more. Lesley and I, side by side, ran like seasoned marathoners in a five-thousand-meter race. I estimated we were going around twenty to twenty-five kilometers per hour.

"Let's go!" Lesley shouted.

Our speed increased every hundred meters. As I ran, I carefully analyzed my body. My legs moved fluidly, my arms kept up, and my lungs pumped air steadily into my body without any apparent fatigue.

We had already slightly surpassed the speed of a hundred-meter sprinter. My body acted as if it were putting in minimal effort.

'Incredible!'

In nine seconds, we left the hundred meters behind, and once again, Lesley increased the pace.

Now, this was insanity. The speed we were running could be compared to that of a moving car. In four seconds, we broke through the hundred meters.

Here, things started to get tough.

By my rough calculations, we were running at least twenty-five meters per second, which was around ninety kilometers per hour. And yet, Lesley doubled the speed.

The intervals between speed changes grew exponentially. At twenty-five meters per second, my body began to show typical signs of overheating. This speed was already more than double what a world-record hundred-meter sprinter could achieve.

"Keep accelerating!" Lesley commanded.

The speed doubled again, and my feet, legs, torso, and skin felt the friction of the air. My footsteps produced sharp noises similar to those of an automatic weapon. I was pushed to my limit, my body giving everything it had. I felt the energy flowing through my meridians fueling my bones, muscles, blood, and skin. The more extreme it got, the more prana and mana were consumed.

But now, there was no way to accelerate every hundred meters. The running pace remained constant. And I mean, I was running at over one hundred and seventy kilometers per hour. Four times faster than the fastest man on Earth.

At this speed, the first lap was completed in less than three minutes. At the end of the first lap, Lesley's voice sounded in my ears again.

"Let's speed up to one lap per minute."

'Speed up even more?' I thought.

Her pace increased, this time not doubling. It was a pace I could keep up with—at least for now. That's because my body began to show clear signs of fatigue, overheating, breathing issues, and muscle pain.

At a steady pace, another lap was completed. And after that, six more.

"Huff... Huff... Huff... Huff..." I panted heavily.

We had already covered the distance of a half-marathon in less than ten minutes.

"Good, three more laps at maximum speed! Give it your all," Lesley commanded.

'What? Speed up more?'

Putting all my strength into my legs and pushing everything I had, my speed increased a bit more. However, the effects were devastating.

In the first lap at maximum speed, I felt my heart pounding in my throat, as if it were looking for a way out.

My breath was extremely hot, with steam exhaling from my body, my sweat evaporating.

My legs were burning. Every muscle, from the quadriceps to the calves, felt like it was on fire, as if small embers were lodged under my skin. The burning was deep, a hot, pulsating pain that spread with every step I took. The tendons were stiff, tense like ropes about to snap, and my knees trembled, threatening to give out at any moment.

Never, at any moment in my short life, had I felt anything like this. The feeling of being at the limit, pushing past the boundaries of the possible, challenging myself to the breaking point.

Even with all these signs of fatigue, agony, and pain, unconsciously, Glenn's face expressed a wild expression. A beastly smile stretched across his mouth, and sharp eyes like those of a predator shone in his intense golden irises.

Three kilometers in less than a minute. In the second lap, all the effects began to connect in a complex chain of sensations, trying to shut Glenn down. His vision began to darken, and at one point, he was almost thrown flying when his stride faltered slightly. But he refused to give in.

And in less than two minutes, the last three laps were completed.

Lesley watched silently, observing the limits of Glenn's body.

'It's far above standard,' she analyzed. 'An initial awakened with a saturated innate core would be, at most, three to four times more resilient than a normal, unawakened person. Glenn clearly surpassed a normal person by more than five times.'

Lesley's face showed a hint of resolve, and in her mind, she had already made a decision.

'I'll push him to the farthest limits possible. Such potential has to be honed properly.'

The last lap ended, and I quickly slowed down. Midway through the deceleration, my body, seized by involuntary spasms, stumbled, and I was flung a hundred meters, spinning across the ground at high speed until I hit one of the side walls.

"Aggggggh," I screamed as my back took the hit.

Curiously, the pain didn't last long. There were no abrasions on my skin, and I hadn't broken any bones. However...

"Baaaaaaarf..." I vomited, emptying everything I had eaten for breakfast.

Lesley walked slowly toward me and observed me with enigmatic eyes.

"That was a good warm-up," she praised. At least, I think it was praise.

"Alright, let's do some strength training now."

"Already?" I asked. "Give me a few minutes," I pleaded.

"No, get your ass up and follow me. No breaks for you," Lesley replied.

"Pheeew..." A long sigh escaped my mouth.

'I have a feeling this is going to be a long, painful, and traumatizing day.'