Fred stood before a shadow constructed figure. A knife in his right hand. The figure smiled at Fred, claws unsheathing from its fingers. Fred dashed towards the shadow clad figure. His knife held at his hip. ~I'll stab you!~ A claw ripped through his eye before he could react.
Fred's eyes snapped open. His brow was itchy with sweat. Another day. He rolled over and did a hundred pushups. Yesterday it had burned fiercely, his joints popping with the movement. But today it was noticeably less painful. After push ups he did sit ups. A notable difference in pain there too. Then he did burpees. Until finally. When the sun had left the horizon. Rodrigo woke up.
"We start with running today." Not sparing another moment Rodrigo began to run.
Fred only started vomiting halfway through.
Afterward Fred and Rodrigo gathered up to eat cockroaches that Rodrigo had caught for them both. After they had both stuffed themselves Rodrigo had Fred lift some heavy rocks with him. Fred did not complain and started dutifully lifting the rocks in a variety of different ways. Rodrigo ended up copying Fred's techniques.
"Where did you learn this?" Asked Rodrigo. "The effects on my muscles are crazy targeted." ~Hmmm. I thought he would be sceptical and tell me to do it his way.~ Fred smiled.
"It's a technique passed down from my homeland for strategic muscle growth." He did another squat with a rock in his arms.
After lifting rocks they moved on to body weight exercises and rock climbing. It was easier than yesterday. Although the combat was just as painful.
This routine continued on for five days. Until Rodrigo decided that it was too easy for him and upped the intensity. This new routine went on for another five days and then the intensity was upped again. This new new routine went on for five more days. Until finally on the morning of the fifteenth day. Something new happened.
"I think you're ready for combat." Said Rodrigo. Fred's face went pale.
"What!!?" Snapped Fred.
"You're ready for combat." Fred grit his teeth and his brows furrowed.
"No, I am not ready for combat. I've only been training for fifteen days." Said Fred
"And you've made a lot of improvements in fifteen days."
"Not enough to be ready for a real battle." Said Fred.
"And how would you know that? Are you a war veteran?" Said Rodirgo Incredulously
"Well, no. But it's common sense that someone with fifteen days of training would not be ready for combat" Said Fred.
"And you're immortal. Is that common sense?" Responded Rodrigo.
"LISTEN MAN DON'T MAKE ME FIGHT!" Rodrigo dashed towards Fred and kicked his legs out from under him. He slung Fred over his shoulder.
"DON'T MAKE ME FIGHT MAN!" Yelled Fred.
"Shut up you pussy." Responded Rodrigo.
Rodrigo ran down the mountain. It took him only ten minutes to find an opponent for Fred. A wolf that had to be at least the size of a bear. It frothed at the mouth, its light brown fur matted with ash. It had deep yellow eyes that screamed baleful intentions. Rodrigo dropped on the ground Fred down. They were about five hundred metres away from the wolf. ~I'm going to die. I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.~
"YO WOLF! COME OVER HERE!" Screamed Rodrigo. The wolf darted towards them. Not hesitating for a moment. Rodrigo jumped back leaving Fred all alone.
The wolf jumped at Fred. Fred barrel rolled to the side, the wolf's jaws scooping a mouthful of ash. ~I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die I'm going to die.~ The wolf's massive paw reached out in order to pin Fred. Without a moment to think Fred did the first thing that came to mind. He punched it. The paw bent back the bones shattering from the force of Fred's punch. The wolf shuffled back a few steps. It let out a low whine. Fred's eyes went unfocused as he jumped towards the wolf. His fist flashed into the wolf's face, a loud crack sound echoing. It collapsed onto the ground. Fred began to kick it's body while it was down. He did so for about ten minutes until realising that it was indeed, dead. I'm not dead.
"HA! AHA! AHHAHAHAHAHA!" Fred fell onto his back. A massive grin on his face. "Take that wolf! You're dead and I'm living! That's what you get!" With a loud thud Rodrigo suddenly jumped back onto the scene.
"See. It's not that hard is it." Rodrigo bent over and picked up the wolf. "We're eating this for lunch today."
. .
After Rodrigo gutted the wolf they climbed back up the mountain. Rodrigo held the flesh of the wolf as he climbed like a mountain goat up the cliff.
They cooked the wolf on a lava stream that they found while climbing the cliff.
"It's quite ominous that this mountain has streams of lava." Said Fred.
"At first glance it is. But it's actually by design. It's been made to have one slow eruption that happens continuously instead of a big one every hundred years or so." Said Rodrigo.
"How would someone even do that though?" Asked Fred.
"There are some forces beyond comprehension." Fred had no response to that.
. .
. .
They continued training for fifteen more days. Fred grew strong enough that he could last for thirty seconds in a fight against Rodrigo. He had trained until he injured himself many times in a row so his strength, endurance and speed had grown massively.
Fred opened his eyes. Today was the thirtieth day, the sun caressed his eyes as he realised this fact.
"Todays the day. Back to the quest to find Betala." Said Rodrigo it was one of the few times that he was up before him. "The one who pops up will appear today