Induction (2)
"Next up is a physical test." Wistari gestured towards a portion of the room full with various objects that looked heavier and heavier each time Sev gazed upon the next bigger thing. "Don't worry, nothing too hard, just a few simple tests on where your physical capabilities lie."
Sev raised an eyebrow at the various objects, now looking more like glorified weights the more he put comprehended the various objects.
"So, what? Lift some weights and all that?" Sev looked to Wistari for confirmation and the elf's response was a shake of his head.
"Not necessarily." Wistari glanced over to the Orc still sitting on the nearby bench. "Grun, could you please come here and demonstrate."
To his surprise, Sev glanced towards the Orc who complied and walked on over with slow strides. But that wasn't what surprised him.
"Human language? What happened to Orc language?" Sev questioned the elf who just chuckled.
"It wouldn't be right, will it? If both I and Grun here just kept on talking while keeping you in the dark." Wistari's response garnered a thoughtful nod from Sev, who in turn gave the elf a grateful look.
"Thanks." Only one word was enough to let the elf know of Sev's appreciation.
"No need for that, it's what any decent sentient being would do." Wistari waved away at the gratitude as he regarded the towering Orc. "Since physical tests is Grun's specialty here, he will be guiding you through the ordeal. Have fun."
And with that, Wistari left the two to their own devices as he then took a seat where Grun was sitting not a while ago.
"Human." Grun's rough voice entered Sev's ears like a groaning truck. "Name?"
"Sev." He quickly voiced his name, feeling a bit intimidated at the looming figure in front of him. Actually, screw a bit intimidated, he was fucking terrified of the giant mass of muscles.
"Hrm." A nod was the orc's response as he moved towards one of the objects on the ground. It had two heavy plates on each end and a single metal bar connecting the two.
It looked like an ordinary dumbbell.
"Lift. I record." The Orc took a comically tiny pen and notebook for his size, and Sev noticed that it was a modernized pen, unlike the feathered pen Wistari had earlier. "Hurry up."
Sev stood ramrod straight as the grating voice of the Orc echoed in his ear, his heart pumping while his adrenaline meter surged.
'Jesus!' Sev mentally screamed as he made a beeline for the innocent looking dumbbell and grabbed the metal bar. 'I feel like I'm about to be eaten!'
And the pressure from the Orc's scrutinizing gaze wasn't helping. Not one bit.
With a single pull, Sev lifted the dummbell from the ground and hoisted it up until his waist.
"Higher. Above head." Grun's directions quickly prompted Sev to do as he say, lest he anger the scary Orc proctor in front of him.
Lifting the dumbbell over his head, he held it there for a few seconds before he was told to put it back on the ground.
"Twenty-five kilograms, done. Next, fifty kilograms." Grun's words caused Sev's eyes to bug out.
"Excuse me!?" Sev unintentionally shouted that out, causing Grun to grumble at the sudden noise. "Ah, sorry, but, that… That was really twenty-five kilos?"
"Yes. Now hurry up." Grun grumbled once again as he pointed at another dumbbell with the same size.
Gulping, Sev grabbed the bar and lifted it high, this time feeling the strain of actually lifting something heavy.
It was not that much of a challenge, however, as Sev was able to lift it above his head without much fanfare, although it was straining his arm a bit.
Grun nodded and Sev placed it back on the ground.
"Fifty kilograms, done. Next, seventy-five."
Sev choked. He wasn't this strong, hell the fuck no! He knows his body! He was a fucking skinny dude back on Earth. Hell, he was even skinny now! And the Orc's telling him that he could lift a fifty kilogram dumbbell with slight strain!?
What the fuck!?
"Should I punch you, human?" Grun's annoyed voice entered his ears and Sev quickly threw all the thoughts about his newfound strength into the drain.
"Please don't!" Sev's voice cracked slightly, extremely terrified at the prospect of getting clocked by the clearly strong Orc.
"Then hurry up." Grun growled and Sev quickly grabbed the same looking dumbell and lifted it up.
It was then he started to feel it, the strain. He actually had difficulty lifting it higher than his chest, anymore and his arm would give out. A few seconds later, his arm went limp and the dumbbell crashed to the floor, but a noisy thud did the crashing dumbbell not make.
The work of magic, Sev guessed.
"Hm, seventy-five failed, halfway." Grun wrote down on the notebook before closing it. "Weights done, next, punch that, hard."
Grun then gestured towards a punching bag hanging smack dab in the middle of the entire physical exam area. Nodding to the Orc, but still terrified of him nonetheless, Sev moved towards the bag, and readied a stance.
Then he punched, hard.
His hand made a meaty thwack against the bag and it got slightly pushed back. Otherwise, the bag stayed unharmed.
The same couldn't be said for Sev's knuckles.
"Argh, fuck!" Sev quickly cradled his aching hand, a slight drop of tear dripping from his eye.
"Hrm… Good human strength, very bad form." Grun noted, then grinned. "Last test. Brace yourself."
"Brace myself? What do you mean…? HOLY FUCK!" Sev was confused at first, but when he saw Grun grinning menacingly while cracking his knuckles, he quickly forgot about the pain in his hand and tensed. "Now, hold on a second here, Grun. Please, we don't have to do this? Are there any other ways we can do this? Like, someone else could punch me?"
"No." Grun's declaration made Sev pale as he tried to block Grun's strike by crossing his arms in front, not that it mattered as Grun immediately changed the trajectory of his punch and into a gap just under his chest.
"Burghh!?" Sev felt the air rise out of his lungs and out his mouth, while the food he had earlier, courtesy of Francisca, came flying out and onto the ground.
And the disgusting sight just made the Orc grin even more menacingly, not that Sev noticed as he immediately passed out.