Limit Breaker

'Before I hand it over, I recommend that you take an instructor,' Aleksia smiled.

Luther frowned. Was there an instructor on the spaceship? 'As long as he can help me train, I'm alright.'

'Splendid! Then Borini here will be your instructor!'

As if on cue, a male version of Aleksia walked into the training room. He looked like that superhero Colossus from Deadpool.

He wore a similar version of Luther's body suit, only that gray was the dominant color this time.

And like Aleksia, he was bald too.

Borini bowed at Luther and spoke. 'I am Borini, an advanced combat trainer. I look forward to working with you.'

His voice was hoarse and gravelly; the kind you'd expect from military instructors.

'My wife has drafted the Limit Breaker plan which we will be using to bring you up to shape, suitable for all forms of combat,' Borini added.

'Did she just introduce her husband to me for a job?' Luther caught how Aleksia was actually swooning over Borini's muscles from behind and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

It was really strange for robots to exhibit emotions.

Anyway, Luther didn't care what relationship they had. He just wanted to become stronger.

 Borini tapped the air and a holographic screen appeared in front of Luther. 'Once you agree with the Limit Breaker plan, we will start our session.'

 Luther nodded and scrolled to the bottom, vaguely reading the contents.

'5,000 pushups, not bad… Huh?!' Luther's eyes bulged out of his sockets when he read one of the lines of the training manual.

Did they want to kill him or something?!

There was no way he was going to agree to this!

'Thank you for your consent. Now would you please walk to the training mat?' Borini spoke politely.

'Wait a moment, when did I agree to this?' Luther blurted in shock.

Everything was moving too fast for him to react!

'You selected the accept option just now,' Borini replied.

Luther looked down and realized that somehow, his right index finger was on a green accept option.

When did that happen?

It made no sense!

'Let's hope 5,000 pushups is the only abnormal thing in the training plan,' Luther sighed and complied with his new trainer's instructions.

Borini produced a silver whistle and blew it loudly.

*FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

'First thousand pushups, go!'

Luther got down on the mat, assuming a standard pushup stance.

'Hey, what kind of posture is that? Your alignment is all wrong!' Borini thundered, causing Luther to look up in confusion.

This was the standard posture; toes and palms on the ground, body elevated and straight!

That was when Borini got down on a mat and assumed what he called the perfect posture; a one finger pushup stance.

His right index finger was firmly planted on the mat, and his left arm behind his back.

'What the hell, I've never done pushups like that before!' Luther complained.

What a joke, if he followed this metal hunk, wouldn't he break his fingers before the session ended?

'Weak! It is good that you have chosen the Limit Breaker training plan. I will whip you up to shape in no time,' Borini said passionately.

He definitely was a gym freak.

'One, two, three… one hundred…'

Sweat accumulated on Luther's brow as he easily crossed a hundred reps, much to his surprise.

On good days, when he felt like training, twenty was his limit. On other days, it varied from five, ten or fifteen, depending on his mood.

It was at 120 reps that his muscles began to feel stiff and sore but Borini urged him on.

'Faster! Faster! No, that rep doesn't count, do it again!'

Agonizingly, Luther crossed the 300 rep mark. Whenever he tried to stop, Borini's loud voice thundered, spurring him on.

At the 500 rep mark, Luther felt exhausted; sweat flowing freely, even entering his eyes.

'You can do it! Go down, then up, down, then up!'

Ever the passionate gym instructor, Borini was crouched beside him, yelling encouragement and taunts.

'For a young person, your waist sure is weak! How will you satisfy your partner in bed?! Only 600 reps and you're already panting like a dead dog?

You lack stamina! You're out of shape! Exercise! Move it! Yes! 615, come on!'

Even as Luther moved, his lips couldn't help but twitch. What did him doing reps have to do with satisfying his partner?

He didn't even have a girlfriend!

Besides, what did robots know about that?

It took a full hour before Luther was able to complete the first set of 1,000 pushups. He collapsed on the mat, breathing heavily.

The lights and everything were all so blurry.

Borini passed him a bottle of water. 'You've fifteen minutes before the next set of 1,000 pushups.

'You animal… at this rate, won't I die from exhaustion?' Luther cursed inwardly.

…

Five hours later, Luther was done with all five thousand pushups.

Anyone who saw his current state would mistake him for dead. It was a miracle how he was able to complete such a tyrannical workout.

Underneath him, his sweat had already formed a pool on the mat but the body suit he wore kept him cool.

*FWEEEEEEEEEP!

'Thirty minutes of rest, then we commence the next exercise; 250 laps around the training area!' Borini looked at his stopwatch.

Luther sat up in shock. 'Are you kidding me? Aren't we done?!'

Borini snorted. 'Weak! You want to stop after 5,000 pushups? Not on my watch! You'll do 250 laps around the training area, 1,500 squats, 500 lunges, 5,000 pull-ups and sit ups, then we begin weight lifting!'

'I'm going to lift weights too?!'

'No workout is considered standard without weight lifting! All that mat work is called warmup! Time's up, get over here and give me my 250 laps!'

…

A couple more hours passed and at the end, Luther had to be carried out of the training room by bots.

'I knew this limit breaker plan was a bad idea,' Luther groaned inwardly.

He winced when he recalled Borini's parting words; 'We go again tomorrow at 3 AM!'

The bots carried him to the dining area and got him into his chair. Bernoni was around this time and a sly smile curled up his lips when he saw Luther's state.

'I can see you've met Borini. He's extremely passionate about exercise.'

'Luther groaned, 'no shit Sherlock,' and took a bite of the meat, not even bothering to examine or ask what kind of meat it was.

Now that he thought about it, all the energy he had accumulated had vanished; he was so hungry!

'He'll kill me if he keeps on going like that,' Luther complained.

Bernoni chuckled and sipped wine. 'You won't die from that, Luther. Don't forget you're no longer a normal being; you're a Super now.

Besides, this exhausting training is extremely good for you. It quickens your cell activity, allowing you to be able to absorb more energy when you cultivate.

You'll see the effects later tonight when you cultivate.

Oh, and I'll tell Borini to add training of your power into the Limit Breaker plan too. The sooner you adjust to your new state, the stronger you'll become.

Luther's lips trembled and at this point, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.