Apparently, I'm the Infamous Earl's Legendary Bride

Book 2: My Lord Saves the Citizens - Chapter 48

The hall was loud with hums of chatter, and while the men did their stretches and warm-ups and some fooling about, Vincent came over to Aldric.

"Early as usual I see," the friend said and then peeked at the screen. When he saw the miles completed, he whistled. "Thirty miles in thirty minutes. Are you planning on beating a horse at racing?"

Aldric snorted. "If I can't beat a horse when spring arrives, I'm not the monstrous, infamous earl people on the other side of the alps are so afraid of."

Vincent nodded. "Indeed. Having such a legendary, nefarious title requires constant upgrading for the effect to work, set more fear into the spines of those already frightened of you." He chuckled. "Once you've beaten a horse at racing, I'm certain there's no reason you'd need a stallion when your feet are faster."

"I'll just have to find something much faster than myself," Aldric said, his thoughts on those strange vehicles he had seen in movies the children watched on the television.

Motorbikes, they called them, and the ones that could carry passengers like a carriage were cars. He wondered how they were operated because they were clearly not led by animals such as horses or donkeys. He also wondered if having Robert and Darell and their men making such advance transportation was possible. Then again, as he had seen in the movies while watching with his children and nieces and nephews during the little spare time he had, those vehicles required smooth roads, and that was not something they had or could even accomplish in Norsewood. A rough dirt road was the only thing they could construct here. As for brick and cobbles, they were expensive and the labor was extensive, so a vast network of those was not possible across Norsewood.

Indeed, such perfect roads like those ones could never be done by the likes of the Norsewood people unless...

The sight of the high concrete wall of the gym caught his eyes, and Aldric stared, dumbfounded. But of course, Quinn had created all these with her magic, so why couldn't she with the road? Or the motorbikes and the cars?

"Aldric?" Vincent's voice came. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Dismissing the thoughts of cars and roads from his mind for now, he turned his attention to Vincent and said, "Let's get the drill started."

Vincent chuckled. "Of course."

The men, who had already had their weight straps and vests on, started spreading out, taking up their positions across the hall.

As the Lord of Norsewood and commander of his soldiers, Aldric led by example, and he'd always joined his men in drills and trainings, often working one hundred times harder. Hence, he took up a position on the raised platform in front of the men, and Vincent joined him.

Vincent said, "All right, men, let's get the day started by sweating it out." He clapped his hands once, the sound echoing across the hallway. "I have no doubt you've seen how the women look at us."

At that, the single men, except for Liam, smirked as they glanced at each other, understanding where their captain was going.

"Hunger! Desire! They flirt with us with their gazes and smiles. They want us! They trust us to love and protect them! We are the Norsewood men!"

The soldiers burst into cheers and roars with fists in the air while Liam seemed... a little lost. A soldier nudged his shoulder and said, "You're a bit innocent, aren't you, Liam?"

Liam, wondering what he meant, said, "Pardon?"

The man burst out laughing. "You're clueless when it comes to women."

Liam looked confused at that remark and was about to ask for clarification when Vincent shouted, "Now, give me five hundred push-ups!" Liam's attention was drawn back to front.

"Roger!" the men bellowed all around, leading Liam to shout out the word as well. Then, as had been trained daily for the past month, they plopped to the floor and began the drill as Aldric and Vincent started.

After the intense warm-up routine consisting of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, running, squats and then relentlessly repeating all half an hour later, the men were already sweating profusely, and the race of the rock climbing began.

There was no harness to protect them here as everyone, still with at least six hundred pounds of mass strapped on them, climbed the wall freestyle, and once they reached the top, they jumped back down from fifty feet high, again freestyle, and then started climbing and jumping down repeatedly until the thirty minutes were up. If anyone broke their limbs, which a number had during the earlier days of the training, then they'd be taken to the health clinic to be healed by Lady Quinn. Since last week, however, no one had had any injuries, and Aldric was pleased. No injuries meant the men were getting used to the intensive, grueling routine, and it wouldn't be long until they'd get even stronger and could reach a level where he had been at when he was a young man of twenty with blood blessed by Isaris, a stage of strength and ability where he could beat some fifty well-trained soldiers by himself.