Edited by Solyom

So once again I moved out, this time for the purpose of training. So be it, I will meditate under a waterfall or on the peak of a mountain to reach inner peace, dive into the deepest dungeons to challenge the most frightening bosses and train my body by lifting stones thrice my size. That’s the plan.

For now, we were traveling side by side… by foot.

- “Zaaa-ri?!” o-ho. Here it starts.

- “What, sweetie?”

- “Where are we going?”

- “West, sweetie. At least for now. Then we will hit south, get to the deserts just to head west some more.”

- “Wouldn’t it be faster to travel through Dwarvish lands?”

- “It would.”

- “So why aren’t we heading there?”

- “Because we would be welcomed again and would waste a few days feasting. Maybe even a week, as we wouldn’t want to offend our host.”

- “Fiiine!” she sighed displeased. “… So, what quest did you take?”

- “None. I couldn’t find one that would fit me, so I simply asked Mike to update our status to Wanderers.”

Wanderers – the kind of adventurers that decided to travel across the land. Normally when the adventurers of a guild visit another, it is treated as a little challenge. But not in this case. We are simply traveling through the land and want to earn a coin from time to time. Wandering in the peak of adventures’ freedom. The ability to freely cross most of the borders, freelancer job types. You literally go where you want and take quests that you want from the guild you actually visit. Well, there are little paper problems on the way, usually the registered adventurers, or the ones visiting can pick quests right away. We may be asked to wait up to the hour (verification of identity and such. No one wants civilians to barge into the guild, call themselves wanderers, pick a quest and die after an hour. These would cause a massive amount of paperwork, and nobody got time for that.).

- “Haha! That reminds me my youth!” Gisele smiled to herself.

I only raised my brow. I allowed myself not to mention that as a girl around her 20s, her youth did not end just yet.

- “Papa Jericho signed himself and me as wanderers too, then he proceed to train me in different environments. Ah, the giant reptilians in the northern swamps! The wild beastmen in the western mountains, the insects lurking in the sands of the deserts, mo…”

- “I get it! You enjoyed yourself.”

- “Enjoyed? You must be kidding! There were times when I was starving, for Jericho decided that I did not deserve food as I . But as I look at those days from perspective of time… it was worth it… Hey, what are you going to train?”

- “Everything. From body to mind. Fighting, magic… languages.”

- “Why do you have to train your body? I mean, can’t you just do that with your whole ugly-morphing and grown muscles?”

- “Sweetie, these are simply rewriting already existing ones. If my own would be stronger, then the changes after morphing would be bigger too. Think about it like… dunno… coins? The coin is the equivalent of muscle strength. If I have 5 coin now, and morphing gives me 10, then after it would be done, I would have 15 coins, but if I would start with 10 of my own using same shape shifting would leave me with 20 coins in total?... not too difficult?”

- “I AIN’T THAT DUMB! Seriously I get it without your explanation!”

- “…” I just gave her THAT look.

- “O…ok. Maybe your explanation was a LITTLE helpful?... Sooo, can I train you? Come on! I have a far greater experience when it comes to the body!”

- “No thanks.”

- “Why!?”

- “Cuz you just want to bully me.”

- “I have no idea from where you get that idea from…”

Here we come again…

Via performing a special action you have gained a new skill.

[Doubting gaze] activeCostNoneIf users [WIS]+[INT] is greater than target's [INT]+[WIS], user can activate the following skill:Effects- Let the target learn the colossal intellectual advantage that the user has over the target.

- Make the target admit he/she was wrong.

- May cause [Minor confusion].

.[i]

… the hell?

- “…Ok. Maybe just a little! I am sorry… but you were so mean to me lately…” she puffed her cheeks.

… I don’t believe it. How many times I needed to mock Gis like this, that I actually got a skill out of it?

- “Whatever.” I decided to cut this subject.

- “So? What is our first destination?”

- “To Gerwah.”

- “Desert country. Tsk. Hate that place. Slavery, hot weather, expensive food… Please. Don’t waste too much time there, I already wish to leave that goddess-forsaken place.”

I think that the last argument has the greatest impact on her opinion about Land of Sand – as Gerwah was called. I also had my own reason to stay away from there – I killed a merchant in the capital during the night out with Daralon. Well, only a few mages know that I was there that night, there were almost no witnesses, and those witnesses are keeping my side. As long as I would stay away from the Capital, everything should be fine.

Still, we had a few more days before we would reach it. I will have to carefully plan my next few days. It would be advised to meditate for an hour before sleeping, maybe some overall stamina building exercises and…

- “Zaaa-ri?!”

… GOD DAMN IT! What now?!

- “Yes, sweetie?”

- “… When will we have lunch?”

- “At supper.”

- “It’s not funny!”

- “I am not joking. Somehow you will have to satisfy yourself with two meals a day – at dusk and dawn. We need to keep marching.”

Some monster roared nearby. Sounded like thousands of lions. Was that an injured wyvern nearby? A dying manticora? A gairaran bleeding to death?

- “Thehehe, sorry! Damn, it was embarrassing!” my partner smiled shyly.

It was the sound of a beast far more dreadful than those that I named just now. It was Gisele’s empty stomach.

I needed to set our dusk-break in the middle of the day. We moved off the main road and stepped into the forest, after taking some more steps, we started setting up our little camp on a small glade. We had everything here, shelter from wind and rain, we were far away from the road so the fireplace wouldn’t be visible at night, and just enough place to set a couple of tents, a campfire and gave me some place for training. Apparently, our journey to the desert would take a few days more than I planned with.

- “Meat, meat! Meaty-meat! What’s the best soup? Meat-y soup! Yey!” Gisele was singing under her nose as she was boiling water and adding ingredients to create a dish. Meat, carrot, meat, garlic, meat, parsley, meat, bean, meat…. Meat, meat, meat… meat again?

- “I think I forgot something…?” Gisele said, looking into the pot.

- “Salt?” I asked from the other side of camp. I was in a half squat with my hands stretched onward for balance. “You may also add some flour too, to make it thicker.”

- “Ah, that’s too… but there is something crucial I for.. Ah, silly me, what’s a meat soup without meat?!”

She will get rid of our food supplies meant for four days in two meals! We will have to chew vegetables. I don’t mind it, but Gisele would get a heart attack after being served a vegetarian dish.

- “Sweetie, we will run out of food if you would keep that temp of yours.”

- “Fret not! I thought that over! I knew you would take some tasteless weeds as food, so I packed by bag only with meet! I am a meat-cargo tank!” she hit her breastplate with her fist proudly.

I just snorted and focused back on my body. My knees already started trembling a little. I once again balanced my body to let it rest a little as I was still performing a simple exercise. We are down to the basics. Now, maybe I would need to…

- “Zaaa-ri?!”

WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME, YOU SILLY WOMAN!? WHAT IS SO ABSORBING AND DIFFICULT THAT YOU REQUIRE THE ASSISTANCE OF ANOTHER PERSON IN PREPARING A SIMPLE BLOODY DINNER?! I KNEW IT WAS BAD IDEA TAKING YOU WITH ME, I JUST WANT TO FOCUS ON THIS FUCKING TRAINING! WHAT DO YOU WANT WOMAN!? WHAAAAT!?

- “Yes sweetie?” I asked again.

- “Mind taking a bite? It’s good for me, but I will eat all meat in every form. I just want to know if you like the taste or I should boil it a little longer?”

Oh.

I mean… Oh. That’s actually nice.

I raised from the ground (on which I managed to fall already) and took a few steps in her direction. I took a sip.

- “Is it good?” she asked tilting her head a little to the side.

It was quite decent. The experience of traveling for weeks, if not months, forced most adventurers to cook food for themselves, thus they were quite good at it.

- “Just five more minutes… You don’t have some pepper? Or spicy paprika?”

Best goulash is spicy goulash!

- “… I took only meat…” Gisele said after a moment with a sad expression.

And I took only a few basic kind of food and ingredients.

Whatever. It happens. I didn’t come here to relax and eat fancy food.

- “Eat up! I will help you with training soon!” she said as she already started munching from her bowl. Once again, I raised my brow – this time it was silent question. “… Oh, it’s because I think that from the two of us I am the one with greater experience regarding physical training. Take your time. We will teach you with the school of Jericho!”

I didn’t like the way it sounded. But who else can be my teacher… Sebastian? For a moment there I got a war-flashback.

A raven, standing over me as I was covered in ballast, running in circles over the glade, doing pushups, squats… without breaks. And if I would fail…

Cawing like evil, the laugh of Bahoru resonated through my head.

- “Thanks darling. I will be counting on you!” I said after a moment.

There is no way I will let Sebastian guide me in physical training anytime soon.

Back then I didn’t know it was my last break before hell would break lose.

Once again, why didn’t I decide to train with Sebastian? Ballast, right? What do you think, what did Gisele decide to use? Ha! I bet you would never guess!

A ballast.

- “But why a ballast?!” I groaned. “… I am sure there are some better ways of training the body!”

- “Actually, no. That’s the most exhausting and the most efficient method!” She said as she was tying specially designed sand bags to my body “… Papa told me that muscles have unlimited potential, but you need to take care of them. The fastest way is by abusing it. If your body is 70 kilograms, then your muscles are used to perform tasks under the pressure of your body and your equipment. So, if we would attach to you bonus 10 kilograms? And after a week, another 10 kilograms? And so on? Your body would slowly get used to work under greater pressure! You will see, in no time you will be able to wear your stupid dwarven armor!”

She attached to me 10 bags, on each of my limbs and a bag pack.

… Hey. It’s not that bad. Comparing to the stones that Sebastian forced me to wear it’s nothing! Like really nothing!

- “Great. It is done.” She said with a smile as she draw her meteoric sword. “…Now… Run.”

- “What?”

- “Oh, these exercises you started performing were silly! Also, you need to learn your new reaction time and the tempo of stamina consumption! You may be a split of second slower than usually, but that second for us may be the difference between life and death!”

- “… hey, it’s not like I will dive into a dungeon with those!” I tried to argue with her. Yet her expression changed to complete confusion.

- “What do you mean by that? Of course you will! Have you seen those clips near the bags? They are enchanted. They will let you go exactly after a week. Then you will have time to take bath and… we will put heavier one on.”

- “What?”

- “What?”

- “I mean… I DID NOT AGREE ON THAT!”

- “Stop whining! You agreed on me training you! And this is how I am going to do that!... Now, what were we talking abou… ah. Yes. Run.”

She raised her blade and crushed the ground.

In the end she really just wanted to bully me. Damn it! What else could I do? Of course that I started running! The only positive aspect of this situation was that Gisele wasn’t serious about it. She really just wanted to get me used to new sensation.

Bags weren’t getting in the way I was moving at all, but fairly quickly, I noticed the difference. My muscles were getting stiff faster. 10 kilograms. It’s nothing. It was the weight of my dog from my previous life, the one I loved carrying on my hands around the house.

But there is difference between peacefully walking with a dog, and running from a blade...

- “Come on! Put some spirit into those moves! What if I were a beast?”

The dragoness laughed, slashing horizontally from her belt. I ducked and rolled under her blade. I heard as the sword hit a tree, previously located behind me. I raised from the ground by jumping in the air. The muscles on my backs burned for a moment with light pain. It was like a reminder

I was wondering, moving to the side, letting the huge sword pierce the air near me. Gisele changed her footing and attacked me with her shoulder.

She was bigger, heavier, and her balance was much better than mine, so I was pushed on the ground. I groaned with pain, yet I had no time to savor my irritation as I saw the tip of the sword heading my way. I rolled to the side in the last moment.

- “ARE YOU NUTS?!” I yelled.

- “Ok. That will be enough for today…” thanks god! “… now, do some pushups and squats. Then we can start cleaning the camp and preparing for night…”

Que?

- “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked again. “…Which part of is that hard to understand?”

- “… why aren’t you wearing the same ballast?” I groaned annoyed. I know, I acted like kid… BUT IT WAS SO UNFAIR!

- “Mostly because I don’t need to get any stronger… When I already was stronger than most of the adventurers, I decided to focus on learning swordsmanship. You know, skills are as important as strength!... But… on the other hand… Damn! I really could use some good workout! ...But I only took those bags that I attached to you! I know! We will buy some as we would find a bigger city! Then both of us can train! We could actually spar! Oooh! I am all fired up on the mere thought of it!”

Indeed, sparkles started burning in her eyes. She was serious about it! I have just dug my own grave!

Good job, Zari, you can’t say a word without worsening your situation, can’t you! Stupid Zari! Stupid Zari!

I scolded myself inwardly as I started lifting myself up and down while performing pushups. My muscles let me know that they didn’t like that idea. After this session, I would have to give myself a massage. Dang it!

After the pushups, the time has come for squats, and then some other basic tasks. As I finally raised from the wet earth, I noticed how most basic tasks became extremely painful. I needed to bite on my lip as I was lifting the little pot off the fireplace, cleaning it, and packing back.

Gisele was looking at me with satisfaction.

- “Go take a rest. I will take first watch-shift.”

I only nodded in answer, still I was quite grateful for this little act of kindness. I lied down to rest. The idea of continuing tomorrow’s march to the hot land with muscles yelling from pain wasn’t letting me lay my head to rest for a couple more minutes, but eventually, exhaustion and the ability of adventurers to fall asleep under every circumstances let me drift into sleep.

Why was I thinking that today’s day was nothing more than a warm up before tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow? And the day after the day after tomorrow? Once again, what did I put myself into!?

[i] The skill [Doubting gaze] was intended to be joke and nothing more. I doubt it would appear at any other point of the story.

Advertisement Support "Forging his own destiny" PayPal Patreon Previous

Chapter Fiction

Index Next

Chapter RSS About the author 2 Fictions 0 Posts 0 Threads Anuel Follow Author Sunday, December 3, 2017 5:22:49 PM

Bio: Some people want me to write with Style, some people want me to write with Passion, some people wish to see me using logic, yet I... I find madness to be much more alluring.

Srsl tho, I am kinda crazy, ya know?

Achievements Comments(75) Set Compact Log in to comment

Log In Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to load the comments! Log in to comment

Log In Settings Theme (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100% Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% Font Family Default ————— Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible ————— Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion Font Color Indent Color Scheme Theme Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White Paragraph Spacing Close × Give Reputation to User: Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0). Comment (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation? Give Reputation Close About

Royal Road® is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.

Amazon Affiliate Royal Road® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Theme Select Dark Light

Follow Us On Need some help? Create a support ticket

Contact Contact Us by Email

Advertising Ads for Authors

Programmatic Advertising Royal Road® © 2013-2022 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status Tap again to scroll to the top!