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Chapter: 9 Personal Training

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With the sound of the bell, Robin proceeded to the last period of the day: Personal Training.

According to the schedule they were supposed to meet in another building. Stepping outside, Robin walked across the street and entered the gymnasium. In there he found the group gathered on the bleachers.

Your pack has increased by 4.Current Strength: 9

= Sweet, that's a huge increase. =

“Hey guys.” The group smiled and exchanged pleasantries.

“So who's our teacher for this class?”, Conner asked.

Ophelia pondered a bit before answering.

“If I remember correctly it should be someone named Braun. Do any of you know who that is?”

Everyone shook their head. At that moment, a tall man entered the gymnasium. He had a green sweatsuit on and wore thick, brown boots. The most noticeable feature was the fur that covered most of his skin-- or at least the skin visible.

“I am Altair Braun. I am a bear faunus.”

=... God he must be hairy. =

“From this moment on, you will refer to me as Instructor Browning. As your Physical Training instructor, it is my duty to teach you the basics of survival and train you on how to fight, no matter how you intend to. First things first, you guys need to line up and hold out your status plates. I need to keep track of how well you're training.”

The students lined up and Instructor Braun took down notes about each student. Upon looking at Robin's status he visibly flinched, then quickly took his stern visage again.

“Alright kids, line up. We're running laps around the village. Robin will move ahead of us so he won't get the pack bonus under any means. This'll make training you easier. Alright look alive. We'll start off nice and slow.”

They started the light jog around the village. Just like he said, Robin began first. As he was jogging, Robin pondered about the conditions of his pack passive.

= The definition of a pack was very vague. Is it based on my understanding? If so, then that would include those I consider friendly and physically close to me at the moment. I should test this out. It would be good reference in the future. =

Robin began going slower to let the distance close between him and the group. Even though he got closer, no message popped up. When he checked his status, he noticed that in reality his strength did not go down after separating from the group. His actions also did not go unnoticed; it qualified him for a reprimand from Instructor Braun.

“ROBIN! Pick up the pace or I will pick YOU up with my boot!”

Robin quickly sped up and returned to the original distance and pondered as they continued jogging.

“If it didn't change, does it mean my pack must be connected spiritually only? But that wouldn't make sense based on the definition of a pack. There's no merit to having a pack connected spiritually but not near each other physically.

Does that mean they aren't far enough yet? Hm.. in a hunt, the wolves separate and surround their targets. In this case, we've separated but are still doing the same thing. So I guess I would have to accept them both as a party and be traveling together to receive a bonus. Otherwise, I would have a bonus of over 30 if it was based on just the people present here.”

Satisfied with his answer, he once again concentrated on exercising. His breath was getting more and more rapid, and the group hadn't even made it to the halfway point yet. As the jog continued, more kids got tired and started slowing down. Instructor Braun gave them a look and they sped back up. When they finally made it, everyone collapsed on the ground.

Still outside, the kids laid sprawled across the dirt and grass panting, huffing, and puffing. Desperately trying to control his breathing, Robin began to realize just how out of shape he was. Ever since being born into Remnant, Robin was relatively docile. He enjoyed being loved by his family again, and since a one year old reading a book was more normal than running around and physically training, Robin never really thought it was necessary to spend an enormous amount of time exercising.

= Damn. I never thought about it, but I really should have done some exercise. I always knew that I needed to train to fight, but I never took the first step to train myself. From the looks of it, everyone else did the same thing. I'm glad I realized this mistake so early on. =

*Ding*

Endurance +1

Agility +1

= Oh yeah, that was exercise right? So I increased it just like that? =

Instructor Braun was looking over all the students. After two minutes of rest he gave his instructions.

“Since your legs seem to be tired lets move to your arms. Twenty push-ups from all of you right now.”

Everyone started the exercise. Thanks to their rest, they quickly finished the required set. At that time another message popped up.

Strength +1

During that time, Instructor Braun had set up two thin beams held 3 feet off the ground. Next to each of them were steps leading up to them.

“After exercising for longer period of time, you'll increase your endurance and strength naturally. Now we'll practice your sense of balance. Cross from one side of the beam to the other in under 15 seconds. Those who fall off walk to the other side. GO!”

Blake and Conner crossed the beam no problem. Adam was a bit unsteady and Ophelia was a bit slow, but they got across nevertheless. Robin went slowly and took too long, so he had to jump off and walk to the other side. Nevertheless a message popped up.

Dexterity +1

Past the beams, cones were lined up.

“Now we'll practice your weaving. Zigzag through all the cones and rest once you reach the end.”

Weaving was not a problem for most of the students. It was the quickest exercise to finish.

Dexterity +1

“Good. That was the entire course. Now for rest of the next hour, we will repeat this over and over. First, jog around the village. Then rest. Then do ten push-ups and cross the beams. Then zigzag through the cones. I will set up drinks for you to grab once you sit down to rest. GO!”

And just like that, the students took off. The long hour of running, weaving, and resting took more time as they did more laps. The huge group that used to be a single entity had stretched out with Adam at the very front, Robin and Blake not so far behind, and Conner and Ophelia behind them. As he was exercising, Robin ignored the messages. He would look at how much he improved at the end of the day.

After the fourth lap, the Instructor called them into the gymnasium. The gymnasium had a court inside with bleachers to the side just like when they had came in at the beginning of the class. Now, halfway down the middle of the court but at the edges were two machines that had a metal tube at the bottom, pointing at both sides of the court.

The instructor turned around.

“Let's play dodgeball.”

Hey there good news! Double update! Bad news! I'll tell you later. I did a minor name change of the PT teacher.

Browning >> Braun

I thought it sounded cooler and they both mean brown. Btw Altair means bear.