Forge 2

"Overtraining, muscle soreness—is there any way to relieve it?" Xu Lingqu asked.

Doctor Li stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "Fine, come here."

This time, she took out something like a medicated patch—transparent material with a wire connecting to a machine, resembling a polygraph from old Earth movies.

"Can't we use that?" Xu Lingqu pointed at the Siraec coagulant device.

"Do you think you're an Empire protected species?"

Doctor Li had Xu Lingqu lift her clothes and slapped the patches onto the severely sore areas. The machine beside them hummed to life, and Xu Lingqu immediately felt as if thousands of tiny tentacles were pressing and kneading her aching muscles.

Xu Lingqu sat off to the side, and soon both her psychological guard and physical exhaustion began to dissolve under the machine's effect. Interstellar technology truly was advanced—she leaned against the soft cushion nearby, on the verge of dozing off.

Doctor Li watched the semi-conscious girl before her, slack and relaxed, and adjusted her glasses.

When she'd first come to Moye Military Academy for this trial period, the senior school doctor's advice had been simple: sit back and relax, since few students ever showed up. In general, trial training wasn't intense enough to cause injuries.

Doctor Li had naturally assumed this was a cushy gig. What she hadn't expected was to walk straight into the trial reform championed by those two madmen, Kai Ang and Instructor Chen—day one had served up a combo of teleportation combat, river surprise attacks, and a full-course meal. She'd been on high alert ever since. At least those two had been called back to the main campus for education duties now.

"So set on this, signing up for a military academy," Doctor Li muttered, pulling up Xu Lingqu's physical data. This female student actually had a terrible innate constitution. She hadn't retrieved the detailed records during that first visit to the simple medical tent, but yesterday's look had been a shock.

For an ordinary person, a body like this would mean gasping after one extra step and coughing blood after running a bit longer. Yet this girl had gritted her teeth and enrolled in a military academy on that very physique—and reportedly taken on seven opponents in hand-to-hand combat, with rescue operations and command on top of it. That day in the medical room, she'd slept through it; her injuries weren't just on her hands but all over her body, with numerous bruises and wounds that looked alarming. Doctor Li's heart had softened. Even knowing Xu Lingqu had only been tired, not unconscious, she'd directly applied the Siraec coagulant.

Xu Lingqu's absurdly impressive performance had even made Doctor Li wonder if her data was faulty. Looking at today, though—her physical foundation alone was enough to drain her this badly. So her data seemed correct after all. Doctor Li felt reassured.

Watching the sleeping Xu Lingqu, she couldn't help stretching herself. As far as she knew, Instructor Chen's schedule for the next week was all physical conditioning, and it wouldn't change until Kai Ang returned.

Could Student Xu hold up? Doctor Li raised an eyebrow. She imagined a lot of people were wondering that.

But Xu Lingqu herself certainly wasn't.

Once the machine treatment ended, she went straight back to the dorm and slept. The next day, at the sound of the bugle, Instructor Chen was already out in an off-road vehicle first thing in the morning, having them warm up for a 30-kilometer weighted run carrying 10 kilograms. That was today's training quota. Each person could also bring a small pack with supplies.

Xu Xiqin was immediately worried upon hearing this and wanted to go find Xu Lingqu. At that intensity—and given how her sister had been yesterday—even finishing the run today would be extremely difficult. She needed to stay by her side.

But at that moment, Instructor Chen announced yesterday's score rankings—the cross-country run was far more dangerous than the training base, so students would be split into groups by score, with corresponding instructors driving behind each group.

Xu Xiqin was naturally assigned to the first tier. Instructor Chen gave a total of five group divisions, and when the fifth group's roster appeared on the smart device, all the students exchanged glances.

The fifth group had exactly one person: Xu Lingqu.

"So even the instructor's basically admitting she's the worst?"

"With that little training volume, how does she have the nerve to sign up for a military academy?"

"Tsk, can't say that—ask and you'll hear, 'well, she's in the command department'..."

Those who disliked her seized the opportunity to mock her immediately. Lin Xiao couldn't take it anymore and shot back loudly, "So what? Her points are still ahead of yours!"

Xu Lingqu had lost two points yesterday and still ranked first.

Sun Liao snorted coldly. "She'll keep losing points today, and keep losing them every day. Eventually she'll hit negative. Just wait and see."

He turned back smugly, wanting to see if Xu Lingqu's face showed any embarrassment—but his shoulder was bumped.

Sun Liao was about to flare up when he turned and saw it was Shen Shouli who'd bumped him. He instantly turned into a quail, shrinking his neck and shutting up, sidestepping to make way. But Shen Shouli stopped right in front of him and didn't move.

With visible disgust, Shen Shouli took out his handkerchief and wiped the spot where he'd touched Sun Liao. He didn't say a word—just that single gesture made Sun Liao's face flush crimson, his fists clenched.

He knew perfectly well this was Shen Shouli finding him filthy.

Jin sauntered over at that moment, grinning as he looked at Sun Liao. "Weren't you just talking big? Why so quiet now?"

His demeanor was as arrogant as his red hair. Sun Liao didn't know his background, but anyone this familiar with Shen Shouli was clearly someone he shouldn't cross, so he didn't dare speak.

Jin found it boring and pulled Shen Shouli forward, then stopped beside Xu Xiqin. "Why aren't you going to defend your sister?"

Xu Xiqin rarely had a cold expression, but now her face was blank as she pointed at the map on her smart device. "I'm looking for a spot where I can kick him into the river ditch."

"..." Jin's eyes lit up. "Count me in!"

The cross-country run began quickly under the instructors' organization. When it was Xu Lingqu's turn to start, only she and Instructor Chen remained on the training field.

"You're driving an off-road vehicle just to babysit me?" Xu Lingqu looked back at Instructor Chen.

Instructor Chen pulled the door shut and started the vehicle with a fingerprint. "What else? You think I'm running alongside you?"

"That's going to seriously unbalance me, psychologically." Xu Lingqu walked out of the training field, strapped on her weighted gear, and began running along the route marked on the smart device.

The instructors had scouted this route beforehand and cleared some obstacles, but it still wasn't easy terrain—especially a stretch that fell within the flood zone where they'd released water to drown the tents. That part was especially slippery, and one misstep could send someone tumbling.

Instructor Chen's off-road vehicle, meanwhile, handled it like flat ground. In those spots, it simply transformed into a hovering flyer, then landed and reverted to a car once past the narrow, slippery sections.

"Isn't switching back and forth tiring?" Xu Lingqu complained.

"Not as tiring as you." Instructor Chen shot back, glancing at the training traces of everyone on the smart device. "We're now dead last, all because of you. I'm dead last among the instructors too."

"So sometimes, choice matters more than effort." Xu Lingqu wasn't taking the bait at all; she actually slowed down even more.

She was still confident she could finish this training—she didn't know where the confidence came from, but it was there.