Oz breathed a heavy breath, her bones ached, her muscles burned. Each breath felt labored, strained as she pushed through the pain. Her simple jog became a 5k.
She let Nahern spend hours going over the new contract as she helped Selene sort through all the unusual offerings. The she elf was a taskmaster. Putting Oz to work grinding odd spice blends for a much needed meal.
It reminded her of chicken alfredo but spicy, full of extremely thin sliced chicken and vegetables. The heat made her sweat but she happily ate nearly three portions of it, her body delightful warmed from the inside out. Soon though instead of a needed nap, the siblings sent her to the gym downstairs.
Usually she would refuse, but her body craved some movement. And she had to finish that daily. An hour she told herself, just a quick hour.
Oz was exhausted, but she knew she had to keep going. She had to get stronger, faster, and more agile. She had to be ready for anything that came her way. She couldn't rely on brute strength alone. She pushed herself through the grueling workout, the treadmill struggling to keep up with her demands. By the time she was finished, she was dripping heavily with sweat and her muscles were screaming in pain.
[Daily Quests : Complete!]
[Get : +4 Bonus Points , Common Random Box]
[Bonus for extra effort : Secret Box]
She wheezed on the armrests of the treadmill, taking in deep lungfuls of air to try and cool down.
'I guess extra work does pay off.' She thought, patting down her sweaty neck with a towel. She finished her dailies for the first time. Oz gulped down two full sport drinks, gagging from the neon blue taste but refilled the bottles with water from the fountain.
'If I do the dailies I get extra stat points and a loot box. If I don't, I get a penalty. But penalties can give bigger rewards. Interesting.' Oz thought as she wiped her lip. She felt soggy, her workout clothes felt oversized and weighed down with sweat.
"I seriously need another shower." She grumbled, pulling off the oversized hoodie. Immediately the cool air felt amazing on her bare skin, the sports bra clung to her skin uncomfortably as she wriggled with it to adjust the straps.
"Wow, who's the babe?" Whispered a voice. Oz jumped hearing it, looking around as she threw the empty bottles in the recycle bin.
"Some new hunter?"
"I wish my girlfriend had a body like that. Please crush my head with those luscious thighs."
"Perv."
Oz blinked as she looked around, she locked eyes with two men behind her. Both went red in the face before looking away. Were they talking about her? Looking back to the mirror she frowned at her reflection.
Her waist reminded her more of a tree trunk than the delicate curves of some idol hunters. The same with her legs. Very little was delicate about Oz Kasper. But she wouldn't want it any other way. She was a workhorse, a pack mule.
Still, she was curious. Leaving the treadmill wall, she headed towards the weight area. She wanted to see what her upper limit was right now.
One of the larger bodybuilders was resting between sets, the only heavy bar of the entire gym set before him. He chuckled watching as she glared at the bar, brows tight.
"Confused girlie? You should go back to the cardio bunny area. This is where real athletes work." He laughed.
Oz glared up at him, already annoyed. Then she smiled.
"Oh I'm sorry, how much is that on the bar there?" She asked, pointing to the bar he had set infront of him.
He snorted, "Can't you count? That's about 300 pounds with the bar. Someone like you would never be able to...lift...it..."
The bodybuilder trailed off, his voice breaking as Oz easily lifted the barbell with one hand.
"Interesting." She hummed. "That's all I needed." She set the bar back down, dusting off her hands.
The man flushed with anger, "You're a hunter! That's cheating."
"Is it?" Oz set the bar back down, then lifted with her other arm. The weight felt about the same.
Another lifter came over, wiping his face on his shirt. But instead of yelling, he was clapping in amazement.
"That's badass! But your posture is all wrong, you have to control the motion or you might hurt yourself, miss." The other lifter smiled. "Tuck your elbows in like that and stabilize your core."
Oz blinked at his response then flashed a smile as she set the bar back down where she found it.
"Do you have a moment to help me? I'm trying to figure out my upper limits." She asked the newcomer. The first lifter sputtered in embarrassed rage behind her, completely ignored.
"I'm Kasper."
"Joseph." He offered, shaking her hand.
He quickly set her up in front of a mirror, loading the bar in amazement. She had strength, but more than that she had stamina.
"Do you even feel the weight?" He asked, watching as he counted already hundred reps of "Hunters really do have it easy."
"I feel it, but it just doesn't exhaust me. I usually lift three times this in the dungeons." Oz set the bar down, breathing hard. She felt the slight thud as the cushioned lifting mat shifted under the weight of the fully loaded bar.
Now her body was fully exhausted.
"How was that?"
"Your core is a little shaky but that's all. With some practice you could really develop into a strong lifter." Joseph laughed. "You should come more often, here give me your number."
"Why would she need that?"
The steamy gym suddenly felt cold, Oz looked up to see Nahern's annoyed expression glaring down at her. Back in his more human appearance, with tanned skin and wearing what appeared to be casual jeans. Perhaps his magic made him blend in with whatever was the normal clothing of an area. She barely cared, since when his hand touched her shoulder she all but sighed in relief. Her skin was practically steaming.
"I called for the last twenty minutes, but you didn't answer. Selene was worried." Nahern huffed. Joseph paled and stepped back.
"Oh, sorry. I was distracted."
"Tch." He clicked his tongue then glared again at Joseph. "Excuse us."
"Hey wait a minute." Oz barely had a moment to grab her fallen hoodie and wave back to Joseph before Nahern led her back out of the gym and back to the stairs.
"What the hell?" She swatted his arm. "I was making friends."
"That human was doing nothing more than starting at your backside for twenty minutes."
"He was spotting me."
"Take it from a fellow male, he was not inspecting your form, dear saint. You stink of the human musk and need another bath. Tonight we are returning to our home. The clan wishes to see you before we start your proper training.." Nahern said.
Oz glared back, "Yeah about that. We all need to have a talk about everything. Including what you put in my head."