Chapter 69: Pain is an obstacle
In two days, Max Fury would face Jerry Blaze for the Grindhouse Omega Championship Title Rematch, this time as the defending champion.
There were few things Arnold had come to discover as a champion... Basically, there was an entirely different tension he felt having to defend his title. There was a strange feeling that came with "Defense", different from any other forms of tension one could feel...
Although they lingered no matter how he tried to force them out, he was still getting himself prepared for a battle.
The championship match at "Siege" was more like a chaotic clash with Jerry Blaze. Now that this man desperately wanted his title back, there was undoubtedly another great showdown on the way.
"No matter what, I wouldn't lose," Arnold said to himself, masked up with courage and seriousness.
"And once I am done with Jerry Blaze, Tristan Black would be next," he added.
...
Come Monday and Tuesday, Arnold spent at least 12 hours training and practicing alone. He even decided to visit the hills in aim to make advanced running goals.
Arnold often ran up to hills twice to thrice whenever he came with Mark and Lila, but today, he had suggested surpassing that achievement.
Getting five points for his Agility, six for his strength, and four for both his Endurance and Attack Power, his overall attribute points had reached 118, giving Arnold a confident feeling.
Getting to the hills, having to run up and down ten times made Arnold feel dubious for a moment, but there was no harm in trying after all. That was the way of the Pro Wrestling System, he always urged his host not to give up.
Easily, Arnold finished the first run as quickly as he always did. Then he finished a second, then a third... To his surprise, running 1 km up the hills for the fourth time wasn't as difficult as he had thought. Although he was getting exhausted, deactivating his Attributes from manifesting at that moment, he still found himself striving and trying to reach the endpoint.
For the fifth time, it unfortunately turned difficult. Although it weighed him down, Arnold made sure he didn't fall on the hills without reaching the end. The great part was that the system only gave him thirty seconds to rest after every run so that he wouldn't regain all his strength. If he regained his strength, it was only going to look as if he started the race again.
To make a fairly repeated 10KM Hill Run, Up and Down, Arnold had only half a minute to rest every time he reached the end point after running Upward.
Fortunately, his strong willpower had assisted him massively. Arnold completed the fifth... And the sixth. His muscles already hurt like they were being ripped off, yet he ignored them and kept running.
Although his speed couldn't help but decrease due to the growing tiredness, he was still running!
All he could do was to keep running, without the help of the advanced Attributes, but with the motivation of his Advocate.
[Keep pushing. Never fall... Tiredness is a distraction, pain is an obstacle!]
With these words sounding loudly in his head, that was an assisting force itself. Arnold would never dare to slack even though it felt like he was in use of his last breath.
Remarkably, he completed the seven runs, and after thirty seconds, he commenced with the eighth. The more he ran, the more the pain and heaviness in his muscles increased. Arnold's limbs felt like they had been tied to something massive, feeling like they would be dismantled if he made another step forward.
But they didn't. Somehow, what the system said was true.
Tiredness is a distraction...
Pain... DAMN IT! It was only an obstacle to be crossed. If one can endure the dream-killing temptation of pain, there is nothing that could hinder his goals.
The more Arnold kept this in mind, the more it worked for him. And in every passing second a huge progress was made.
[Eight completed. Common!]
'Ahh, my chest hurts...'
'And I should pay it any attention.'
Arnold became an enemy of his health at that moment, ignoring his aching after applying the knowledge of taking pain as an obstacle.
Just like that, it helped...
It helped a lot.
Although the pain continued, it wasn't enough to take down the relentless champion. Although continued running to the endpoint and returning to the starting point.
Before he could know it, he completed nine runs, and he was up to the final run. However, while he was set to zoom off, the system suddenly stopped him.
[Wait!]
Arnold halted in an instant.
"What...?"
[You should finish the race differently. One leg run to five hundred meters, then the other leg to the end.]
"Ahhh, but why? That doesn't make sense," Arnold protested with a frown.
[And who told you it doesn't make sense? Get it done and see.]
It was going to be crazily difficult, Arnold knew that. But he had no choice...
After all, the system never urged him to do things that wouldn't favor him, so had to do it.
Using his right leg at first, Arnold began to climb. The first step always made him tremble, but he was glad that he was able to stay still. Another step, step, and another...
Arnold came to discover that this was impossible...
"No! I can't do this!"
[You can! Common!]
"I said I can't!"
[And I said you can!]
Arnold became exasperated with the system's forced task. He knew it would help him, but it was way too difficult for him at this stage.
However, while Arnold was mad, having waves of uncertainty all over his mind, a sudden realization awakened his spirit.
"I have to do this. I can!"
[Yes, you can, host!]
"I can! I can!!!"
Arnold sparked his fuse and charged at the endpoint with only one leg on land, raising the other.
He came to discover that hoping to be able to achieve this goal someday was "wishful thinking". If he didn't achieve it now, then he would never. Success is acquired with shifted moments of hard work.
Just like that, his willpower was fueled up, and Arnold couldn't believe it when he reached five hundred meters. With his left leg, he charged at the endpoint, sweat trickling down his face and wetting his clothes.
But the hard work was worth it... Even though it took time, effort... And pain.
It was only a matter of time, and Arnold did it.
Yeah, he finally reached the end point!
With a joyful look on his face, one next move he wanted to make was to fall to the floor and rest till eternity...
However, the system just had other plans...
Crazy plans...
[Hey! Not without running back to the starting point!]
While Arnold was about to fall like a tree, he was suddenly jolted awake.
******
[A/N: Let's keep up with the support, please. If the book gets five Golden Tickets, two extra chapters would be dropped. If it gets 10 Golden Tickets, three extra chapters would be dropped. And if it gets 20-30 Golden Tickets, a five chapters mass release would be made in two days! Thanks for your support!]