It was already late autumn in the year 745and the chill was setting in.
Everything withered, and dry leaves fluttered and fell, especially in the ancient temple on the mountain. The dark yellow fallen leaves, which would crumble at a touch, piled up along the winding mountain path. As the cold wind blew, the dry yellow grass swayed, and eerie sounds echoed through the bare trees on both sides of the mountain road, coming closer and then drifting away... It was as if the entire world had suddenly shifted from the youthfulness of summer to the desolate old age, making everything feel colder and lonelier.
Krillin shivered violently. Dressed in a cotton monk's robe, he pressed his hand to his chest and murmured, "It's so cold..."
Jarvis's voice came from beneath his cotton robe: "The temperature is around 10 degrees Celsius. For you, it might cause discomfort."
"For me?" Krillin immediately realized he had asked the wrong question.
"For most martial artists who have achieved a high level of cultivation, in order to feel the cold, they would need the temperature to be below minus five degrees Celsius while wearing only a single layer of clothing..." Jarvis replied seriously.
"That's impressive..." Krillin thought as he walked along the mountain path, wondering if that little chubby swordfighter and Son Goku were unaffected by the cold. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What about the Muten Roshi?" Since Jarvis had mentioned that the Phoenix was the Muten Roshi's pet, and this necklace was from the Phoenix's neck.
"For Mr. Taro, the temperature in most natural environments is of no significance," Jarvis replied.
Krillin felt as though his worldview had been thoroughly shaken... He tried to imagine what it meant for temperature to have no significance for a person. In the end, all he could do was click his tongue, speechless. After a while, he asked again, "What about Son Goku? Jarvis, do you know Son Goku?"
"Son Goku is a disciple that Mr. Taro will take in. He is also the grandson adopted by Mr. Son Gohan. If you are asking about Son Goku's resistance to cold, he is more capable than an average Earth martial artist." Because of Taro's attitude, Jarvis didn't bother to withhold some trivial information.
"Will take in"? ... "Adopted"?...
Krillin thought for a moment and then decided to just focus on his training. He arrived at an open area on a hill and stretched his limbs, asking, "A hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred squats, right?"
Jarvis added, "Also, a ten-kilometer run... But considering your current condition and the limitations of the environment, you can substitute that with running up and down the mountain. I will calculate the equivalent for you, and once you meet the required amount of exercise, I will notify you."
Ten kilometers...
Running up and down the mountain...
Krillin took a deep breath and leaned forward, starting his push-ups with gritted teeth. One, two, three... Krillin, who was nearing eight years old this year, had been doing odd jobs in the Dulin Temple for over a year, so he had some strength. His physical condition wasn't bad compared to his peers.
He completed a total of forty-nine push-ups in one go, his arms shaking, especially his lower back, which burned painfully. He struggled to do the fiftieth: "Fifty..."
Then he collapsed with a thud, and immediately, Jarvis reminded him that if he didn't continue within half a minute, the count would reset to one hundred. This applied to the sit-ups and squats as well.
Without this restriction, it would have been too easy to do a hundred all day long.
"Heh..." Krillin's face pressed against the grass as he chuckled bitterly, a low "hey" escaping his mouth. His arm muscles were swollen and trembling, but he shakily continued. The remaining fifty push-ups were done in several sets, and as he neared the last few, he could barely manage one at a time.
"...One hundred!!"
Krillin yelled out as he reached the final count. With the number he yelled, the strength in his arms and abdomen suddenly drained, and he collapsed, exhausted, his body crashing to the ground, drenched in sweat.
After relaxing, his chest, waist, and arms ached, burning, and tingling... It didn't feel like his own body, trembling uncontrollably and numb.
"I feel like I'm dying..." Krillin muttered weakly as his vision started to fade to black.
"One hundred push-ups verified. You still have one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run left for today," Jarvis's calm voice came from beneath Krillin's chest, but to him, it was infuriating.
Now his vision was really going black... But Krillin knew it was pointless. He rolled over, resting on the ground for a while, and with great effort, lifted his hands and placed them under his head. He gritted his teeth and began his sit-ups.
Since the push-ups had already required some use of his core, Krillin ended up doing thirty more sit-ups than necessary due to the long break. When he finally reached "one hundred," he felt like his body was no longer his own, and only his consciousness remained under his control.
"One hundred sit-ups verified. You still have one hundred squats and a ten-kilometer run left."
"..."
By the time Krillin, nearly at his breaking point, finished the last set of squats, he felt like he had been pulled from a river. The sunset was already setting, and the evening light was growing dim. Krillin's stomach growled, and his vision was truly fading.
A hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats—these seemed simple at first glance, and the quantity didn't seem much. But after actually completing them, Krillin understood how terrifying these exercises were. He wasn't sure he could even crawl back to the temple. Ten kilometers? Running up and down the mountain?
"Is this my first time starting today? Do I really have to do all of this?" Krillin asked weakly, as he couldn't even lift his hands to press the necklace on his chest. He lay on the ground, trembling with no sensation in his limbs.
"This depends on you. I have no control over it," Jarvis's voice responded.
Krillin looked up with some hope, but the mechanical voice under his chest continued: "...But today will not count toward the three years timeline. For the next three years or more, I will not be responsible for urging you to complete the training tasks. Whether you follow through for three days, then take two days off, or quit completely after a while, it doesn't concern me. I will not push you."
Krillin froze, then murmured, "You're not..."
Not the magical tool to help me?
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