Souls Online: Mythic Ascension
Chapter 205: One Pushup to Freedom

Chapter 205: One Pushup to Freedom

Greg didn’t have words for what he felt while training Leo. The young man was like a sponge, adapting and evolving in real time as he absorbed what he was taught.

He wasn’t perfect. His rhythm would fall apart if he overthought, and his stance still drifted when he got tired. But when Greg pointed it out, Leo would reset without argument, eyes locked in with that same quiet drive.

"You pick this up fast," Greg said as they circled each other during a footwork drill. "You done this before?"

Leo shook his head no between steps. Outside of track and the game, he hadn’t done any physical activity that was close to what he was doing now.

Greg grunted. "You copy well."

That made Leo grin but he didn’t lose focus.

Greg wasn’t used to this. He’d only been training people for about a year and a half and most of them either wanted shortcuts or treated the pain like a glitch to patch. Leo didn’t complain. He just worked, sweat dripping down his face, shirt clinging to him, legs burning but he kept moving.

It hit Greg at one point, watching Leo repeat a pivot for the fiftieth time, jaw clenched and knees shaking. He saw something familiar there. That same stubborn need he’d felt when he was starting out. That quiet, unspoken pressure to not suck. To prove to yourself that you’re not wasting your time.

"You trying to prove something?" Greg asked as they slowed down, both of them breathing hard.

Leo didn’t answer right away. He wiped his face with his forearm, then looked up.

"Yeah. Mostly to myself."

Greg nodded, tossing him a bottle of water. "Fair enough."

"Luna~! I wanna sleep~!"

Lily’s loud unrelenting whine broke both of the guys’ concentration. Turning around, they saw Lily collapsed on the ground with Luna sitting on top of her.

"One pushup. Do one pushup and I will let you get up and we can go home."

Aria, Crystal and Rachel had stopped exercising themselves, instead choosing to gather around to watch the show that was unfolding. The guys watched with quiet amusement as they saw Lily struggle and squirm but ultimately fail to do a single push up.

"I caaaaan’t" She cried with tears and frustration in her eyes.

Luna shifted slightly on Lily’s back, casually adjusting her weight as she leaned forward. "Are you trying to say I’m fat?"

Lily’s arms flailed helplessly against the floor. "I’m saying my spine just filed a formal complaint with my ribcage, and your thighs are the enforcers."

Luna narrowed her eyes. "So yes?"

"No! I’m saying you have a very powerful center of gravity!" Lily cried. "It’s a compliment! Very grounded! Very... majestic!"

Rachel burst out laughing while Crystal covered her mouth, snorting. Aria didn’t even try to hide her bemused expression as she whispered, "Majestic?"

Luna clicked her tongue and settled back down, giving Lily no relief. "Should have just said yes. At least then I’d respect your honesty."

"I can’t breathe," Lily whined, trying to squirm. "And my chest is being pancaked. These things were not made to be compressed like this."

That did it.

All the girls minus Lily immediately turned their heads toward Leo and Greg who were quietly watching the whole debacle. The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

Greg stood perfectly still, the towel still draped around his shoulders like he was afraid to breathe. Leo was mid-sip of water and very slowly lowered the bottle as if trying not to move while in front of apex predators.

Rachel’s voice rang out, deceptively sweet. "You two seem real focused. Something you wanna share with the class?"

Leo looked at the ceiling. "No thoughts. Only lights."

Greg nodded solemnly before following suite and looking up. "Just counting tiles. Very interesting ceiling work."

Luna narrowed her eyes and muttered something under her breath before leaning forward again.

"One pushup, and you’re free."

Lily whimpered. "I’m emotionally compromised."

"You’re about to be physically compromised if you keep stalling," Luna replied flatly.

Rachel clapped her hands. "And we’re back to the regularly scheduled chaos."

Rachel crouched down near Lily’s head, a phone in hand, recording with a grin. "This is going to make excellent blackmail footage later."

Crystal laughed softly. "We should edit in dramatic music. Like one of those tragic anime endings."

"I’m going to haunt all of you," Lily muttered into the floor. "And not in a cute way. I’ll be the kind of ghost that unplugs your chargers at night."

"You don’t even get that luxury until you do a pushup," Luna said calmly, still perched like a queen atop her throne. "Come on. Just one. Arms bend. Chest lowers. You don’t even need to come back up if you don’t want."

"That’s not a pushup, that’s a burial," Lily groaned.

"Semantics," Rachel chimed in, flicking Lily’s hair playfully.

Greg leaned over to Leo, keeping his voice low. "They’re feral."

Leo nodded. "We’re just guests in their domain."

As if to prove his point, Luna finally slid off Lily’s back and stood up, dusting herself off. "Alright. You get a five-minute break. And then we jog."

Lily didn’t even lift her head. "I don’t even have five minutes of life left."

"You’re fine," Luna said, grabbing a towel and tossing it onto Lily’s body like a shroud. "Now you’re a fitness ghost."

Rachel grinned. "The most dramatic kind of ghost."

Lily weakly raised her middle finger from under the towel. "This is my haunting gesture."

Aria offered a bottle of water to her with a smile. "Here, hydration for the dead."

"Bless you," Lily muttered, flopping onto her back like a collapsed bridge.

Greg clapped his hands once. "Alright. Break’s over in five. Leo, we’ll pick back up with defense drills."

Leo gave a thumbs up. "As long as it doesn’t involve sitting on anyone."

"No promises," Greg replied without missing a beat.

The girls collectively snorted, and even Lily cracked a laugh through her exaggerated wheezing.

Somehow, despite the sweat, exhaustion, and occasional threats of haunting, the gym was filled with something light. A rare kind of camaraderie that made the grind feel worth it.