Tichaona swerved, crouched and dodged the onslaught of punches she directed at him. The dark figure was training his agility and ability to dodge attacks intuitively, whilst using little effort as to not destroy him. The situation looked like a man doing quick squats whilst drenching himself with sweat from dodging her strikes. Tichaona marvelled at the reflexes of the towering dark figure who slightly tilted her her back to target him. Her strikes were like a flash of colours, and he began to train his eyes as well as his body’s reaction time.

This session had multiple sets that involved him maxing out his stamina bar and still dodging. The moment he would slip, even slightly, her strikes would get to him. He would be immediately pulverized by her strikes which felt like bee stings that were anchored on a javelin. Tichaona would usually lay on the ground, bruised and deflated from the intense workout, as the dark figure looked at him derogatory eyes. His muscles would spasm and at times, he would feel a cramp in his thighs.

Whenever he would groan and reach for his aching thighs, she would laugh at him and then disparagingly say to him, “For the first time in my life, I have been entertained by weakness.” Tichaona would scowl over her behaviour, and then sadly accept the difference in strength. As he panted and recuperated, she would tap her leg and give him 5 minutes to get up. Tichaona, found her antics annoying, but in the end, he would get up again and continue the process.

The dark figure wanted to assess Tichaona’s basic skills; his endurance, sensory motor skills, tactics and agency. As she stood still, dishing out her lightning quick strikes that she wanted him to dodge, she realised that he was mostly relying on his sight and not utilising his other senses. He would only have a split second to predict her held back attacks and sometimes not see them in time. It became clear that he hadn’t worked on his senses and then immediately told him to stop. After avoid her attacks so fast that he left after images of himself, he felt a bit light headed, and tumbled down backwards. The dark figure looked at him and made a boisterous laugh that irked him to the core.

“You must be enjoying this?” he asked, glancing at her as she stood, not even perspiring.

“When increasing your body’s strength, you’re not only hardening your flesh, but also improving your senses. Better bodies leads to exceptional eyesight,hearing, smell and even your taste buds mature. It’s just that you haven’t been eating the right kind of food that aids with the kind of growth. Come with me, we shall go to the garden to harvest the greens that will help you.” she said, drawing closer to him and offering him a hand.

“Wait, we are breaking right now? I honestly thought you were going to work me to the bone.” he said, as he stretched out his hand to grab hers. He was soon lifted up and got back on his feet.

“If you assume that my method of power building is nothing but forcing progress through effort, then you clearly have a low understanding of how this works. Your body, which is a temple, must be supplied with reactive fruits and vegetables that stimulate evolution in certain areas in your body. Just like how you may consume milk to strengthen your bones, there are foods that help improve your senses. This I will have to teach you so that you stop evading my attacks like a decrepit man.” she said, emphasizing the ‘decrepit’ with a slow, but audible delivery.

“Okay then, miss food scientist. Are we going to later have a chance to get ahold of the booze, dear goddess?” he asked, giving her a sly look.

“You must have been a leader among the inebriated fools because you’re clearly directing your thoughts to unnecessary things. Quickly, we must go to the garden.” she said, in a smouldering way.

The room was departed, and they trotted past several corridors in the ship and went outside. It was early in the morning and the fog had left some dew, as sunlight pierced through the thick fog. The sounds of insects and the presence of humidity made this sight appear interesting to him. Having been carried all the way here, in pain and barely seeing anything, it was quite ironic that the place that he once expected to be a hellish environment had some fine topography. Granted, if he was a nature lover, he would be head over heels about what he was seeing, but for now he would follow her lead.

Their footsteps made squishy sounds as they walked past the muddy terrain. Tichaona began to notice random creatures that seemed hostile, with levels ranking higher than 5, but as soon as these beings witnessed her presence, they would grovel. This overt showcasing of power made him wish he had the same intimidating aura that could make these beasts calm. The walk mostly took them 4mins and Tichaona witnessed a plethora of things. The howling sounds were sparsely audible at first but were becoming louder as they reached their destination.

In the back of his mind, Tichaona was still observing his mana tracking navigation point, which somehow correlated with the direction that they were going. He would soon enough get ahold of the mana plant, but his mind became a tad bit conflicted. Tichaona was still on for his escape plan, but had come to terms with the fact that there was a bigger problem on this planet, the dark figure’s imposing sibling. Regardless, the temptation of escaping her clutches was something that was egging his mind. As he began to plot, he decided to break any suspicion she would ask of him by asking a few things.

“So, those howling sounds, are they animals or is it just the wind?” he asked, as he walked beside her.

“Those are the voices of the souls. They are wailing and lamenting their end by the hand of my brother. I am incubating some of them to later affix into soul stones. The incubation process is a way for me to level up the soul stone. Once it reaches a decent level, I affix it or reaffix it into a gem and plant them in the ground, whilst feeding them nutrients from mana. Depending on the kind of attacks you wish to use, the gems can have a lasting power during combat, but grandiose feats will render your gem empty. Well, we are here now.” she said, as they reached the garden. Tichaona noticed from his field of vision, several vegetables, allocated a vast space of land. Tichaona then glanced back at her and asked, “So, you did all this, by yourself?”

“Yes. Agriculture is something that a warrior who wishes to eat must become accustomed to. However, you don’t mindlessly grow your yield. SInce I do not grow plants for commercial purposes, I will only make what helps my body. To unlock other secrets that will aid your growth, you must eat things that encourage development in certain regions of your body. For instance, enter into your custom goal mechanic, plants that will help improve your eyesight, hearing and sensory motor skills. Just do it.” she said, folding her hands with a smug on her face. Tichaona obliged her and then entered the following. The custom goal got back to him with options and he chose the best suited plants. Immediately, another navigation point with a gauger of distance, pointed to the plants in the garden. Tichaona found this fascinating and began to think of the dark figure with more respect.

“So there is actually a scientific methodology to the progression of power, for our bodies? Incredible. Did you already know this from the start?” he asked, amazed by her exploits.

“It was rather obvious. Back on my planet, Quendalion women would either take diets or exercise intensely whilst eating specific foods to get the figure they wanted. For the private sector where beauty and being gregarious were important, personal presentation was highly sought after. You see my bosom here, I had to eat a specific wild blamum fruit to make them develop to this size. The fruits, vegetables, animals and environment, are all tools to transform us into whatever we desire, therefore, depending on your goals, you must eat what develops you.” she said, as she explained and grabbed her own tits. Tichaona was surprised by this personal tale of how she got her large breasts, but then figured that certain things, don’t naturally manifest by accident.

“Fascinating, so are we going to uproot these things and cook them?”

“Definitely. I noticed that you rely on your eyesight way too much to predict slight movements, so we must train your ears, but once they start evolving, you’re going to have to learn how to channel out unnecessary sounds.” she said, as she bent over to pick a plant.

“So super hearing and a great sense of smell, hmm, things are going to get interesting.” he said, joining her in picking up the plants. As they picked the required plants, Tichaona noticed a blinking assortments of lights at a distance. He asked what that was and he was told that those were the soul gems that were at the other end of the garden, cultivating their mana. Tichaona asked if he would ever get access to one, but she declined the thought of ever allowing him for fear that he would do something foolish. As they journeyed back, he noticed the mana plant’s location being within 10 strides reach. He would dart back and forth from look at her and ask himself if he was willing to take this risk. Level 2 versus a level 40 in terms of speed was a no brainer. He would lose, but then suddenly the dark figure told him this, “Are you thinking about getting the mana plant and trying to defeat me with your power? You seem to be looking in the direction I planted one, so I will save you the trouble. As you’re now, I could defeat even with your ability in base form. So, let’s not sour our relations just yet. I need to teach you how to cook nutritious meals that will cultivate your body, don’t you think so, warrior in the making Tichaona?”

“Um yes, let’s work on the cooking.” he said, as his heart skipped a beat. Tichaona could tell that she wasn’t bluffing and that probably her agility was off the charts. He then capitulated like a delinquent child who got stopped before carrying out his heinous plans.

Back on the ship, Tichaona watched as the dark figure cooked. The area where there was a kitchen had several utensils and containers that looked like orbs. There she had spices, soup powders and flavourings extracted from the creatures in Goshem. The pans and pots were large and adjusted to her size. The vegetables which were chopped and mixed with dragon meat were seasoned and fried at low temperatures.

Tichaona was made to imitate her cooking and whenever he would go slightly off the stipulations of the recipe, she would swat his fingers and call him a fool. Tichaona wasn’t expecting her to be that engrossed in cooking, but it was beginning to become clear that there were more layers to this towering alien. As soon as they were done cooking, the dark figure began to lose herself in anecdotes.

“This is going to sound sentimental and out of character, but there was a time when I enjoyed cooking, especially for my mate. The effort I made to perfect the art of making healthy meals that were balanced and gave him the strength to fight, were one of the things I enjoyed. Yes, the compliments too were remarkable, but it is an honour to make meals that gratify others.” she said, seemingly zoning out into thought.

“If I may goddess, you seem like a puzzling specimen. At one point you’re a very frightening woman who derives pleasure from acts of violence, but yet you display competence in domestic and farm duties as well as cry. It’s a whirlwind of things to take, so tell me, how did you end up like this?” he asked, as he dished out his own food from what he had just made.

“I sense that you question stems from an expectation of associated behaviour. All I will say is that personality is not a measurement of competence. I have seen barbarians with more sense than intelligible men and temperament women like me pass sound judgment. It is flattering that you can be curious about me, despite hating me for holding you captive, but I believe that you will eventually warm up to me. So, eat and feel the effects of the food.” she said, as she proceeded to dig in. Her eating was messy and fast. She would make sounds that were distracting and Tichaona looked at her in horror as she devoured her food. The dark figure glanced at him and wondered why his face had become strained with disgust. She ended up asking him, whilst she talked with her food in her mouth, this, “Do you not have an appetite at this moment?”

“I think, with all due respect, we should work on how you eat. If Quendalion women eat the way you do, then I am guessing etiquette doesn’t exist among your people. Dear god, you feed like a savage.” he said, wincing at her with mockery. The dark figure, was offended by his remark and immediately threw her dish at his face. Tichaona whose body had built up a hardened skin that wouldn’t burn easily, was unaffected by the heat of the meat and soup, but was pissed of.

“What the fuck was that for?” he asked, raising his voice.

“To hold your own eating habits with high regard, is a commendable thing, but to mock my kind’s manners on the table, I will not accept. You’re a human and I am a Quendalion. My people have eaten this way for generations and we are way more advanced as far as technology is concerned. We may have come to an agreement, but be careful how you speak to me. Do not forget that we agreed to this so that I wouldn’t have to berserk and murder you by mistake. So, behave yourself. Once you’re done eating, we will go back into tat room to train some more, warrior in the making Tichaona.” she said, making a derogatory smile. Tichaona was extremely peeved and just ate his food in silence. It tasted good, but because she had aggravated him, he reserved his positive comments to himself. Soon enough, he would find out the positive effects of her ‘eating the right meals’ strategy.