Chapter 2 Hellish Training

"T-This.... Is... Your... Ho...Use?" Torin stammered out, gasping for air the second he finished a simple sentence. They had arrived in front of a small cottage that barely looked like it had enough space for a dwarf, let alone one fully grown adult female, and a malnourished male adult.

"Yep! This is where you will eat, sleep, and train for the next 4 months!" Elyse cheerfully replied, crossing her arms and smirking triumphantly.

"O-Only... Fo...Ur... Mon...Ths??" Torin whispered questionly. He wondered why he was only staying for 4 months, when he obviously needed a couple of years of intense training to even be at the basics of someone half of his age.

"Well we have to get you enrolled in the magic college as soon as you are old enough!" Elyse humphed, obviously peeved that he couldn't even figure that much out on his own.

"M-Magic... Col...Led...Ge?" Torin stammered. He didn't know what the magic college was, as it had opened shortly after he was locked up in his mirror.

"You don't even know about something so simple?! How can you even be called a human at this rate?" Elyse complained, showing no signs of stopping. Torin took this chance of her nonstop ranting to study the cottage more. It looked like it hadn't been used for months, and it even had moss growing on the roof. The wood had a few holes in it, but considering pollen was in the air, it was obvious that it was spring. in 4 months it would just barely be time for the leaves to fall off the trees.

"Are you listening to me!?" Elyse shouted, noticing that Torin wasn't listening to her rant about the magic college at all. "Fine! We can start training tonight if you are so eager!" Elyse wore a wicked smile as she said that.

"Tra...Ning??" Torin felt the fire once again go up in his stomach, but then his stomach started growling. Torin grinned sheepishly. "Can... we... eat... fir...st?" He hadn't eaten anything except for a piece of bread that Elyse gave him on the walk to the cottage.

"Fine! I shall give you a chance to witness my legendary cooking skills!" Elyse proudly said while thumping her chest with her fist.

* * *

Torin drank water while Elyse caught, prepared, and cooked a rabbit for him. "Wh...at... Are... You... Mak...Ing?" Torin asked.

"Rabbit stew, and can you stop talking? Those long pauses are really starting to tick me off!" Elyse angrily said. Torin nodded his head up and down, but didn't say a word, not wanting to anger his benefactor. Elyse swirled the big pot a few more times then sipped it, and finally poured it into a bowl for Torin to eat.

Torin stared at the stew for a long time before he put his hands up to the spoon, and started drinking it like a maniac.

"Slow down will you? It's not going anywhere, and I put in some medicine that should help you to speak in the next couple days." Elyse said while she started eating the soup.

Torin hurriedly got down on all fours, and started prostrating himself before Elyse, overflowing with gratitude.

"H-Hey!! What are you doing?! Stop that right now!!" Elyse shouted, flustered.

"T-Th...Ank.... Y-You..." Torin said, as he put his head down to the ground. Elyse was the first person to show kindness to Torin in the past 5 years.

Elyse sighed, "Don't mention it. The prophecy stated that you would save us all, so there's nothing to thank me about. I'm only using you in the end." Torin looked up, wanting to say so many things, like how even if she did it for herself he would still thank her for eternity. "Just eat your rabbit stew already!!" Elyse shouted again.

Elyse and Torin ate in silence. When they both finished Elyse stood up, and explained the training regime to Torin.

"Since we want you in the magic college by fall, and it's currently summer, you have to train hard. Forget being equal to other kids who have trained, and had many elixirs and such, you can't even compare to a child. For this first week we are going to train your physical strength up. You will be running until you collapse, doing basic exercises, moving heavy objects to build up all sorts of muscles, and dodging things I will throw at you. You need to build up at least enough strength to do these things if you don't want to explode when you try magic." Elyse said, explaining every part of the training slowly. Torin started nodding, but Elyse didn't miss the sweat that was starting to form on his forehead. "Don't be so nervous. I'll cook all sorts of nutritious meals that will keep your energy up."

"I-I'll... Try.... My... Be...St..." Torin muttered, trying to fill himself with determination.

Elyse smirked. "You better be prepared. I'm the best trainer out there, but only if the person I'm training can keep up. Let's take it easy today. 5 laps around the mountain."

Torin started sweating profusely. "F-Fi...Ve?" He had JUST escaped the mirror, and to anyone who couldn't see the mountain, they wouldn't think it was a big deal, but the mountain was HUGE. You couldn't see the tip of it because it passed through the clouds, and Torin could barely see the end of the mountain from where he was.

"Don't worry, Torin. I wouldn't make you do something you couldn't handle." Elyse started to look a little devilish.

* * *

Torin collapsed after one lap, but Elyse encouraged him to keep running.

"C-Can't... No... No... Mo...Re" Torin was gasping after only one lap around the mountain.

"You have 4 more hours until the sun sets. Plenty of time. That lap only took you 1 hour, so if you give it your all, you should be able to finish." Elyse laughed maniacally. It was almost like she ENJOYED torturing Torin through this training.

Torin staggered back up. 'They tried their best to help me escape from that place. The LEAST I can do is give me all towards this training!' Torin, reinvigorated, stood back up and started running again.

Elyse, shocked, started muttering to herself, "I expected him to pass out by now... How strong is his will?"

* * *

Four hours later...

"Wow~ I can't believe you actually did it!!" Elyse cheered. Torin tried to respond, but was puffing so hard he couldn't even try to form words. "Yes, yes. Don't work yourself too hard! Why don't you just drink some water, and have some food?" Elyse suggested. The supper meal they were having was a rare steak, covered in all sorts of spices, and herbs. On the side there was mashed potatoes with all sorts of healthy vegetables in the gravy. For dessert Elyse had made a carrot cake stuffed to the brim with energizing magic.

Torin couldn't help his mouth watering when he looked at his second meal out of the mirror. He really wanted to sit and just devour it, but he was too out of breath to stand up and walk over to the table.

"Oh? Do you not want any food? I guess I could eat all of it, but then you wouldn't have a supper... What to do?" Elyse teased, as she started skipping towards the food.

Torin started crawling, worried that she would seriously eat all of the food, and leave him to starve.

"I was just kidding, Torin. You can take your time. Rest is an important part of training, y'know?" Elyse said, worried that Torin would injure his muscles.

Torin stopped crawling, and put his face in the dirt, huffing and puffing even heavier than before.

"Ah, really. I guess I'll turn in early." Elyse muttered, as she turned around, and headed into the cottage."

As Torin's breath started to calm down he grabbed a plate of food, and devoured it. He watched as the sun set, and a fire automatically started in the fire pit near him.

'Is that set to go off automatically?' Torin wondered if there was such magic nowadays. Torin chewed the meat, which was surprisingly soft and tender, despite looking like it would be extremely chewy. As Torin gazed into the fire, and licked off the remnants of the spice and herbs on his fingers, he felt himself getting drowsy. Almost as if the fire was hypnotizing him. Torin fell forward, face first, and passed out.

* * *

Cold, and dreary. That's how Torin would describe the place he was suddenly in.

'N-No way... Was it all a dream?' Torin felt panic and despair rise up, and was on the verge of tears, when he heard a voice.

[A... Human? Have the standards fallen so low that a human could summon me out of my slumber?]

Torin glanced up, and couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw next.

'A giant... Wolf?' Not only was the wolf giant, it was completely white. White fur, white paws, white tail, and even white pupils.

[Hmph. Do not compare me to a lowly wolf. I am a Fenrir.]