The youth player Winston had injured was helped off the field by the standby assistants, who escorted him to the infirmary. Winston then walked to the back of the line and waited for the drill to continue.
At the front of the line, the bald, short instructor blew his whistle.
Oswin sprinted forward.
He weaved through the four cones before darting toward the middle of the field. However, his movements were sluggish, and he began hyperventilating as he forced himself forward. Winston shook his head with an embarrassed smile, pressing a hand against his temple.
So much for getting used to them.
The youths standing in line glanced at one another, confused expressions spreading across their faces.
The bald, short instructor blew his whistle with a furrowed brow. "Pick up the pace, Oswin!"
With a wry smile, Oswin swept his gaze toward the instructor before glancing at the line of youth players. His eyes landed on Winston, who was shaking his head with an embarrassed smile.
Oswin straightened himself, then he took off.
He sprinted toward the remaining training obstacles with the ball at his feet. In truth, Oswin had been training with the ankle weights ever since Winston gave them to him during their last dome training. He had spent day and night practicing with the weights strapped around his ankles.
With his pace increasing, Oswin maneuvered around the remaining obstacles before sprinting into the middle of the field. The ball remained at his feet as he weaved through the cones and mannequins scattered across the football field.
He soon reached a long line of training poles, on the opposite side, another attacking player reached his own set of poles. The two immediately began exchanging sharp, firm passes.
The trick Oswin had developed while training with the ankle weights was simple: he didn't fully lift his feet while running. Instead, he lifted them only an inch at a time. It helped him maintain his balance while keeping up his speed despite the added weight.
The player on the opposite side was surprised that Oswin could keep up with his passes. He began striking the ball harder, trying to throw Oswin off.
But Oswin read his intentions.
He responded by firing back equally firm passes, forcing the other player to move deeper and deeper out of his own side. At the final pole, Oswin slightly overhit his pass. The other player tried to trap the ball, but it rolled too far away from him.
Oswin immediately took off, He sprinted in a straight line toward the nine-yard area, where an assistant was waiting outside the box.
The assistant sent a pass toward him.
Drenched in sweat, Oswin strode back toward the line of players.
Winston, who was standing in front of him, chuckled and turned around. "Told you it was a bad idea to put those on while we were in the attacking dome."
Oswin grinned, shrugged his shoulders, and chuckled. "Heheh, meh. I'm trying to push myself, and most of the people around me are improving." He placed his hands on his hips. "I see you've improved your speed, though. How are you feeling? The last time you sprinted like that, you nearly fainted."
Winston shifted his gaze toward the field, where one of the twins was performing the drill. He then turned back to Oswin.
"I feel good. I think that time happened because my lungs weren't taking in enough air," Winston said. "Thanks to the training I've been doing for the past few weeks, my lungs have improved to the point where I can take in more air than before."
"Wow, what type of training?" Oswin asked. "I might need it for these." He placed a hand on Winston's shoulder and pointed toward the ankle weights strapped around his legs.
"These things consume too much energy. Although I've gotten the hang of balancing my weight, it's still difficult to lift my feet when the ball is at my feet." He looked at Winston. "Wis, do you have any pointers on how to move with these ankle weights?"
Winston rubbed his chin and thought back to when he first started training with his own ankle weights.
"Let's see. The first time I put them on, they were difficult to move with too. But Boris showed me a trick. Every morning, you should take long walks and do leg-training exercises."
He chuckled to himself.
"Trust me, the leg exercises won't be easy. I remember when Boris and I had to run laps around his field, and Dumi added even more training afterward." Winston shook his head. "You should also do footwork exercises. That's what helped me improve my movement and body balance. Oh, and you should make better use of the gym."
Oswin rubbed his chin as he pondered Winston's advice, then he snapped his fingers.
"Wis, thanks. I'll start doing those leg-training exercises." He then asked, "By the way, did you tell Bongani about celebrating his promotion to Group C?"
"Yeah, I did. He was happy." Winston turned his body toward the front of the line as it began moving forward. "He said he'll wait for us at the football field outside Building D."
The two continued taking turns completing the drill another four or five times until the bald, short instructor finally blew his whistle. The players moved to the sidelines and waited for the next training drill.
On the sidelines, the players stood in line as the bald, short instructor held a clipboard in his hand.
"The next training drills will be a series of coordination and body-control exercises," he said, behind him, his assistants were busy placing training equipment around the football field.
"Most of you need to work on your body control and coordination. I'm also seeing that some of you are treating being in this academy like a vacation instead of training for your future." His expression hardened. "Let me remind you—you only have a few weeks left before scouts from league teams start looking at your progress."
With that, he blew his whistle.
The players formed a line and began performing a series of intense coordination and body-control drills. Winston channeled his Nethen essence into his legs as he moved through the exercises. Once again, he tried to spread it throughout his entire body. The moment he attempted to do so, shivers ran through him, forcing him to cough.
Winston shook his head. Still can't channel it into my upper body.
He pushed the thought aside and continued with the drills. These exercises required more energy than the previous ones, and Winston had been channeling Nethen essence continuously without realizing that he was using more energy than he had properly learned to control.
Before long, his body began to overheat.
Feeling sluggish, Winston jogged toward a nearby cooler filled with bottles of water covered in ice. He grabbed a bottle, took several pieces of ice, and slipped them into his socks before taking a long gulp of water. He stood near the sidelines and watched the other players continue with the drills.
After catching his breath, he tried channeling the Nethen essence again. The moment he did, the essence seemed to pull against his muscles.
Winston winced.
I need to replenish my energy. I'm getting sluggish. Shit... I forgot to learn how to replenish myself without the Core intervening.
His gaze remained fixed on the players rigorously performing the drills ahead of him. After finishing the bottle, Winston tossed it back into the cooler and jogged toward the back of the line.
As he waited, his gaze shifted toward the football field. Oswin was jumping over a row of low hurdles with one leg.
His movements were heavy. Because of the ankle weights, he alternated between his legs, jumping with one before switching to the other. The added weight pulled against his movements, forcing him to constantly keep his center of balance steady. If he leaned too far forward or backward, he would lose his balance.
Even though Oswin's muscles were visibly straining, Winston couldn't help but chuckle at how silly his friend looked while struggling through the drill.
When it was his turn, Winston quickly sprinted into the drills.
With each exercise, he felt as though more and more of his muscles were being peeled away from his body. His strength continued to drain, leaving his limbs heavier with every movement.
Winston began coughing as dry air scraped against his throat. His vision started flickering between normal and blurry, forcing him to blink repeatedly to keep himself focused.
Come on... just a little more.
Luckily, Winston managed to finish the final drill. The moment he came to a stop, the bald, short instructor blew his whistle, signaling the end of training for the day.