Call it a Training Camp

Once we got the camp ready, we all set down in front of a campfire and ate chicken cooked over the fire—there's something particularly special, or you could say magical, about eating outdoors in front of a fire—the smell, the breeze of air, and even the sounds were something so outwardly unfamiliar that I strangely felt at home rather than anything else.

"Oohh!! OOOOOHHHHH!!!" While biting on the chicken, I suddenly remembered!! "Thundermeow Meoximus!! Who's gonna feed my cat?!" Everyone was downright startled at my sudden shout… "You idiot!! Don't just scream that…" angrily Xter stated. "Going to have to agree with Xter, Dantes—gave me a bit of a scare there," Arial is so calm, as usual, "don't worry, the Association takes care of our rooms while we're absent—your cat Thunderme— Thundermeo— well, your cat… is going to be just fine."

Ella proceeded to giggle at this… "what's wrong, Leader Arial, having a hard time saying the name of his cat?" She couldn't help it but tease him further it seems… I decided to join in. "Yeah, Leader, did you bite your tongue or something? It's ThunderMEOW MEOXimus!! Say it right!!" Arial appeared to enjoy the friendly and cozy banter by the fire; even Xter had a warm little smile in spite of only silently watching.

"Alright, now that we're done eating, listen up Xter and Dantes—from tomorrow on, I'll need you two to do physical exercises daily—your routines will consist of push-ups and even pull-ups by the trees," then he glanced at Ella, "whereas you, Ella, just focus on your stamina—as a mage, you need to always be ready for endurance battles." Xter seemed indifferent, "sure—I'm fit already so I can fit your little quota." I wasn't—I guess it was time to put my body in shape as well… Ella was as agreeing as ever, on the other hand, "got it! I'll do my best!" Afterwards, I asked, "so, just how much exercise will we need to do daily? Thirty minutes? An hour?" Arial seemed excited, "what about…" looked to the side, "as much as I tell you to!" "Huh, that's not very... specific." He giggled, "be ready! Not much else to say!" He seems a little mischievous… not a good sign.

"Well then, if that's all settled… time to head to sleep, everyone!" Just as Arial told us, we all went to bed—it was our time for the first night outdoors, out in the wilderness ungoverned by any city. I wonder, shouldn't he make a barrier or something to protect us from a monster ambush or something? Or is it safe around here? Or maybe he already made one? "Arial, I was wondering, do monsters ever ambush camps?" He replied instantly, almost as if my question was silly, "of course, but not in an area that only has shadow slimes—at least where we're at, it is very unlikely to run into any other monsters; I'm not even going to bother with any security, it's safe to that extent." Interesting. "I see, glad to know." Arial's face then glowed up with a rather mysterious smile, one that I couldn't particularly gauge or read, "you ask a lot of questions, Dantes, it's good to be curious but remember that I'll educate you on all the things you need to know even without you asking." That's… a bit uncalled for. "Oh, I'm sorry… didn't mean to be annoying," I don't mean my apology whatsoever; I'm just curious about how things work, there's nothing to be upset over.

I felt rather peaceful; the noises of the night put me to sleep in no time; it was a new kind of experience that I had to get used to, one which I was welcoming with open arms. The morning came… with a fucking bang!! "BHHHHAAAAAAAANGGGG!!!"

"?!" "?!" "?!"

"What's happej— happening?!" I shouted. Everyone ran out of their tents in pajamas— except Xter, he was in underwear. "Good morning, Team EXAD!" Arial greeted us joyfully, "sorry for the little sound I made earlier, just wanted to make sure you'd ALLL hear it!" Everyone's face instantly turned to disbelief and disappointment, giving off nothing but "why would you do that… are you kidding us…" Our reactions dictated our words as well, as Ella immediately followed it up with, "Arial, really? You almost gave me a heart attack… don't do that again please…" Instead of heeding that, he giggled and replied, "sorry, sorry, my bad!" Xter then smugly whispered to himself in a mocking voice, which even I could barely hear, "sorry, sorry, my bad!! Ya, sorry my ass… fuck you… you're lucky I didn't run out naked," then proceeded to go back into his tent; I'd assume he was going to dress up. Didn't expect Xter to have this kind of side to him… that's rather relatable of him.

Once we all dressed up, Arial ensued being full of surprises… rather unpleasant surprises, I mean… "Alright then, Xter and Dantes! Both of you do 50 push-ups, 300 squats, and 30 pull-ups! You can take breaks, but you can't catch up to us until you're done with them!" Xter began doing squats before Arial even finished talking, meanwhile I was just staring at him trying to process the situation… "Oh, and also… Ella and I are going to eat while walking, so hurry up and finish your quota before we eat all of the morning food! Bye-bye!!" Ella looked at Arial in disbelief; she had no part in this little scheme of his, it appears. I started doing the squats first as well; I probably decided on doing them first unintentionally because of Xter. Then less than even a minute after they started walking away from us, Arial added one more comment, "and by the way, I placed a bit of my MANA on you… I'll know whether you actually did them, so don't even bother trying to cheat!" Shit biscuits… no way…

I was only 40 squats in, and Xter already, "one hundred…" he's going fast… I felt competitive. A little while later, "three hundred!!" and immediately Xter sparked in green as if it got confirmed that he finished the squats… I guess Arial wasn't kidding then. Afterwards, Xter got on the ground and started doing push-ups; I was only three quarters done with my squats. "If you don't hurry, I'll eat all of your food, by the way," said Xter with a motive I couldn't even begin to comprehend—was that his way of motivating me or trying to spite me? What's his goal here? "Cool, enjoy your food, I guess," I knew I stood no chance in this situation so I decided to throw it back at him. While I was only half-way done with the push-ups, Xter was completely done… he ended up sprinting off to catch up with Arial and Ella, leaving me behind. The true hard part of the exercise didn't lay in the squats or push-ups, however, it was the pull-ups… luckily Xter had already found a good viable branch to use for them, but regardless I could only do a few before my arms completely gave up on me; it ended up being a tedious experience of doing a few, resting, and then trying again until reaching the state of pain yet again.

Finally… once I was done… "h— hey!! Guys!!" I was behind, running without breath… they stopped and waited for me… "I'm finally… done… I'm so… tired…" I fell over and just lied on the ground for a minute, catching up on my breath. "Good job, Dantes!! You did it!!" Proudly said Arial… or… sarcastically, I guess; at this point, I have no idea. "So… uhh… you guys left any food for me… or…" Arial instantly, with a big grin, "nope! None left for you!" "Oh… that's…" then as I was internally tearing my hair out… Xter held out his hand and from thin air half of his meal popped up. "Arial thought it was a good idea to only give breakfast to the first one to finish, so I decided against that and left you half of my meal," Arial subsequently started mischievously giggling, whereas I just… "oh… umm… thank you…" I… really didn't expect him to have something like that in him… I guess he isn't half bad… yeah… Xter… "really… thank you…" I felt truly grateful.