Working Out

Outside of a small pub a distinctive looking character stood.

He had long, curly grey hair which fell loosely by his shoulders, and two front teeth conspicuously absent. Despite his disheveled appearance, he wore an impeccably tailored black suit and tie.

Lighting a cigarette, he patiently waited by the locked front door.

Just as he was taking his first puff, a young girl opened the door.

"Where's John?" the man spoke, frowning as he looked at the young girl.

"John's in the back. You can come in, Jules, but don't smoke inside," said the girl, disgusted.

Tch. Jules flicked his cigarette angrily at the ground before stamping it out. He walked past the girl inside leading towards hallway located at the back of the bar. On the hallway's side, there was a large wooden door with a lion pattern on the knob. Jules rapped loudly on the door.

"Hey, come on, John. What are you doing? We've got a major fucking problem here. This is ridiculous," Jules said angrily.

After a brief few seconds of silence, Jules aggressively turned the doorknob, swinging the door wide open. "Fuck you, John," he exclaimed loudly.

Inside the room, a man was seated at the far end, scribbling with a black pencil on a large mat of paper. His canvas was filled with excessive amounts of spirals, creating a mesmerizing and chaotic pattern.

"Hey, calm down with your art project for one second. Talk to me, John. All the boys are waiting for us to announce the news," Jules said, his facial expression trying to contain his impatience.

John sighed, not bothering to look up at the annoyed Jules. With a wave of his hand, he drew a ginormous spiral on his canvas.

"What's bothering you, Jules?" he asked casually.

"You haven't heard? Geed is dead, John. Vick found his body yesterday," Jules said, shaking his head in mourning.

John stopped his pencil for the first time, turning around in his chair. His eyes, glazed over in an uncanny emptiness, fixed on Jules. With an eerie calmness, he spoke, "What significance does it hold if Vick stumbled upon a mere body? Geed still endures."

Jules furrowed his brow, twisting his hair into a knot as he contemplated John's words.

"If he's not dead, where is he?" He asked.

***

Ged and Brandon arrived at the outdoor gym.

The "gym" had two sections, an open clearing for leg and back exercises, and a scattering of rock benches where people performed chest exercises. Most of it's goers were on the younger side being about ages 5 to 18.

In the opposite corner of the clearing, there was a small shelter on the side of a hill containing an array of different sized rocks.

Close by to where Brandon and Ged were stationed two children were working out.

One was laying on a bench, performing rock bench press, while a smaller child, hovered nearby. Ged recognized these two from the fight the other day.

The smaller boy, Jessie, shot an angry glare at the passing Brandon.

Brandon, with mischief in his eyes, walked up to the two boys.

Jessie, regretting his encouraging glare towards Brandon, pleaded for a reprieve, "Brandon, I've had enough. Please, leave me alone for today. I just want to work out, I don't want to deal with this nonsense."

A large smile hung on Brandon's face as he responded, "Don't worry, fish lips, I'm busy today. Ged over here is working out for the first time."

Zen had at this point put down his work out rock and was staring daggers at Ged.

Ged now recognizing that the other boy working out was the one he had hit the other day.

"Ged, huh? That punch from the other day was weak, could barely feel it," Zen spoke up, his eyes gleaming with fervor and challenge.

Ged scowled towards Zen, speaking fervently, "your punch was also, seriously weak."

A small standoff occurred between the two children, a still air developed, as both were waiting for the other to make a move.

Breaking the silence, Jessie exclaimed, "Zen, stop it. Don't go around challenging other people, save it for the arena. Don't forget yesterday you had to get help from an adult to walk home."

Zen embarrassed by Jessie's comment, scratched the back of his neck, speaking a bit shyly, "I-I wasn't trying to fight at all Jessie. I just wanted to tell him his punch was weak, that's all."

Tch Brandon spoke emphatically, "Another fish-eyed flounder wasting our precious lifting time. Come on, Ged, let's ditch these children."

But, before they could leave Jessie, spoke up, warning them, "I hope you weren't planning on hitting legs today. Arfunk and his minions are taking up all the rock squatting space."

"Arfunk's here?" Brandon knitted his brow, squinting off into the distance. Where he spotted a group of black-clothed children working out all with oversized rocks, with a man standing in front of them. The man had black greased-back hair and wore a leather biker jacket depicting a fighting tiger on its back. He exuded an aura of indomitable strength and power.

"Ah, nuts. You don't want to mess with that man; he's strong," Brandon complained, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Who? Arfunk?" Ged asked curiously.

Zen replied strongly, "You probably don't know, but Arfunk is the only personal trainer here in Shark Village. He selects up-and-coming talent and trains them to be stronger fighters. His crew has the strongest fighters in town."

Jessie chimed in, "Yeah, he might train you, but at the cost of all your earnings. A full 10% of your winnings, just by him standing there, goes to Arfunk's pockets."

Zen raised his voice with passion, "Jessie. You're telling me that if a gold-ranked fighter gave you HIS workout tips and martial arts secrets, you wouldn't give him a LITTLE of your earnings?"

Zen smugly smiled, finishing triumphantly, "Also, he doesn't take from your losses, which shows how much confidence he has in you being a winner."

Jessie massaged his temples in annoyance before replying, "Yeah, whatever, Zen. I'm sure with your talent I'll be seeing you soon on the leaderboards any day now alongside those Arfunk cronies."

"True." Zen thought deeply at Jessie's harsh words. "If I want any shot of getting on the boards, I need to get back to training," replied Zen, picking up the rock from the ground to continue his rock bench press.

"Switch! We need to switch. You already did your set; stop! It's my turn now," Jessie complained.

Brandon and Ged had already moved away from the duo as soon as they started arguing, moving across the gym until they reached the rock shelter.

"Alright, pick out a rock; we're starting with chest," Brandon said, picking up a medium-sized rock.

Ged fumbled through the rack of rocks, lifting different-sized ones and thinking deeply about his rock choice in an attempt to find the right one.

Growing impatient, Brandon asked, "Ged, what's your power stat? I'll tell you which rock you should pick based on that."

Ged looked quizzically at the frustrated Brandon. GAH, Brandon smacked his forehead, clearly upset over Ged's confusion. "Hopeless. Take out your fighter card. You've done the three holy workouts before, correct?"

Ged went through his pockets and pulled out the acrylic white card, nodding in response. "Is my power on this thing?"

Ged then fumbled around on his fighter card, struggling for a moments time to find the information that Brandon was looking for.

AGH, "STOP! Here, let me do it," Brandon said, growing impatient with Ged. He snatched the fighter card away from him, deftly navigating to a stat-like display screen before handing the card back to Ged.

Ged looked at the card in his hands.

Ged

Rank: Rookie

Record: 0-0

Power: 60/60 Endurance: 80/80 Vitality: 40/40 

"Oh! Is power related to my bench press?" Ged pondered out loud, still engrossed in looking at his fighter card stats.

"Yes. Power is your chest muscles, endurance is your back muscles, and vitality is your leg muscles. And how you score how strong your muscles are is through the holy lifts. Bench press works out your chest muscles, deadlifts workout your back muscles, and squats workout your legs." Brandon replied.

Brandon held his chin in contemplation, glancing over Ged's shoulder at his stats before speaking, "hmm... your stats are fairly imbalanced. Your power and endurance are quite good, but having a squat of only 40kgs is a problem. In the Toto-ka region, legs are considered the most important muscle group."

Brandon shook his head, continuing, "Having such a low squat max is truly shameful."

Ged hung his head low at Brandon's words, embarrassed from his poor squatting performance.

"I could have done better, I swear, it was my first time!" Ged pleaded.

Brandon nodded understandably at Ged's statement. "However, with a 60kgs bench press, your power is actually quite high. For what rock to pick, I'd choose this one." Brandon pointed to a rather sturdy-looking rock, slightly larger than the one he was holding.

Ged grabbed the rock from the shelf, and the two boys walked off to an open bench in the clearing.

Taking turns, they spotted each other for their rock bench press. [1]

They repeated this exercise 12 times each, switching places after every set. After they both finished their three sets, the boys carried their rocks back to the rack.

Their next workout was rock squats. Ged picked out a rather small rock from among the choices. Giggling at Ged's choice, Brandon selected a much larger rock, and the two walked over to an overcrowded squatting area.

Brandon made a face with frustration, exclaiming, "Damnit! No openings. We'll have to wait until someone leaves."

Ged looked around the clearing and noticed an open area in front of a tall brown-haired girl. She was dressed all in black, with a face showing serious focus and determination. Squatting with a rock almost double her size, she was working out alongside the group of kids supervised by Arfunk.

Brandon was now sitting on his workout rock with his hands placed under his chin.

Ged pointed towards the spot near the girl exclaiming, "Look, there's an opening."

Brandon winced at Ged's suggestion, "In front of Polka? Not in a million years would I work out near that vicious beast. If you want to try, be my guest. That girl is pumped with so many muscle-enhancing plants that her personality is near demonic. Don't say I didn't warn you, though."

Ged thought for a moment, deciding that he wanted to improve his leg strength as much as possible.

Gingerly, he approached the working-out female, attempting to perform rock squats in the cramped space in front of her. Making sure he had enough room to do the motions, he was completely oblivious to the volcano of anger building within Polka.

Ignoring the impending explosion, Ged went on to perform a few rock squats. [2]

Polka had just finished her set. With Ged in her space she could no longer place her rock down in front of her. In frustration, she staggered back holding her rock, before letting out a GRAH and dropping her rock on the ground.

Not wanting to share her space, she calmly asked, "Hey champ, mind working out somewhere else."

Ged stopped squatting, holding his rock, he looked innocently at the stressed Polka. "But, this is the only spot open; is there any way we can share?"

A bulging vein appeared on Polka's forehead. "Listen, shortstack, Arfunk reserved us this spot. Beat it! Go squat somewhere else."

Ged glowered at Polka's comment, not immediately moving from his spot.

One of the other kids from Arfunk's group walked over, commenting, "Look at this kid, trying to squat next to the Arfunk crew with THAT measly weight." He then laughed obnoxiously pointing at Ged.

Ged's face grew sullen at the boys taunting.

"Hey, both of you leave. Please, I'm trying to work out here," another vein appeared on Polka's forehead.

"look at the size of that kid's rock. Polka, you seeing this man?" he wheezed before continuing his unpleasant guffaw, slapping on Polka's shoulder repeatedly in a joking manor.

Finally, Polka couldn't take the annoyance anymore. She looked violently at the man, exploding out in fury, "FUCK OFF, Brad!!!"

Brad ceased his laughter, clearing his throat. "Jeez, princess, I was having a giggle. No need to get so mad."

Polka was on the verge of another eruption about to dish out some serious verbal abuse towards Brad.

But, before she could, a man approached. He was wearing a near-permanent sneer painted across his face.

His walk was quite peculiar, with bowed legs and emphatic arm movements. Wearing a leather jacket and slicked-back hair, he shuffled over toward the three children.

He stopped right before the kids, crossed his arms, standing intensely. Brad, recognizing the looming threat of the man, retreated out of sight, no longer goofing around. Polka had also cooled off and was now in a panic.

"Arfunk! I swear I was doing my exercises; it's the kid's fault. He was working out in our space," pleaded the now anxious Polka.

Arfunk turned his glare towards the now nervous-looking Ged. He shuffled over close to him, speaking in vicious whispers, "What? You think you're some tough guy? Trying to work out in Arfunk's space?" He pointed emphatically at his chest.

"Listen squirt, I don't recall seeing your face on any leaderboards." Raising his voice, he finished with, "Only LEGENDS work out with Arfunk, so GET LOWST!"

Arfunk stood tall above Ged, sneering menacingly, waiting for him to leave. Realizing he had no other choice, Ged retreated back to where the seated Brandon was, defeat evident in his eyes.

"See, I told you. Those people are impossible to deal with," Brandon said cathartically.

Ged took a moment to regain his bearings. Eventually, a couple of spots opened up, and Ged and Brandon were able to finish their squat routine. After returning their rocks to the rack, they moved on to the final exercise—rock stiff-legged deadlifts.

Ged picked up a large rock, while Brandon chose a smaller medium-sized one. With rocks in hands the two walked over to the deadlifting area.

"How did that girl get so strong?" Ged questioned Brandon, thinking about the massive rock she was lifting so casually.

"Simple, she's juicing," replied Brandon. "By combining certain types of grass and fruits, you can create a potent drink that can enhance your workouts."

Brandon shook his head. "But I wouldn't even think about it. It's too expensive to make, and most of its ingredients are found up north along the muddy river."

"It's not worth the risk, either; up the river is an extremely dangerous place. Up there is the beaver's territory."

"There's no reasonable way to get a hold of the stuff. Just think about how Maurice turned out," Brandon warned.

Ged thought for a moment, before declaring, "I see. I guess I'll have to earn lots at the arena to get my own muscle enhancing plants."

Brandon had a dark foreboding look on his face, warning, "don't go expecting the arena to be such a great place to go and fulfill your dreams. The arena is a truly terrifying place, a good number of people die per year coming from it, even fewer make a living."

Ged tried his best to brush away Brandon's warnings, instead finished the remaining sets of his rock stiff-legged deadlifts. [3]

The two boys then finished their routine by returning their rocks to the rack. Completing the final exercise.

Ged felt accomplished, triumphantly looking over at the crowded clearing where others were still hard at work.

Brandon congratulated Ged on completing his first workout before then parting ways.

Once Brandon was gone Ged headed north up the river in the direction home.

Trying hard to repress his excitement and anxiety, Ged went off to check out the arena.

1. Rock Bench Press: Laying down flat on a bench with you feet planted firmly on the ground. Raise a rock up over between your chest and abdomen area. Guide the rock down slowly until it almost touched your torso and then, in a single explosive motion, raise the rock back up again

2. Rock Squat: Start by holding onto the rock in front of your chest with your hands placed underneath the rock. Straighten you back as much as possible before bending through the knees as far as they allow. Then push through your heels and lift yourself back up again.

3. Rock Stiff-Legged Deadlift: Keeping a slight bend in your knees and straightening your back, hold onto a rock near your abdomen. Hinging at the hips, gently lower the rocks as far as possible down towards your ankles without rounding your back. Finish by rising back up to the starting position.