Avon opened his eyes and saw that he was in his tent. He got up and looked around and saw his master sitting on a rock nearby. "Good morning master" he greeted her. "Good morning Avon, or maybe should I say good afternoon." Avon looked at the sun's position and realized it was afternoon. He definitely slept like a log. He then smiled a bit and said "I had a great deep sleep...haha...umm, Master what will you make us do next?" to which Reveria replied "Tomorrow both of you will climb a small mountain."
"oh.." Avon sighed. "Umm....master...when will you tell us more about yourself? more about the world? Why can you speak the same language as us? Why did you really contract Earth? You know that we trust you with our lives now, so can't you tell us?"
"Do not worry Avon, I plan on answering everything once this training is done. Actually, there are some things that worry me, I will reveal everything once this mystery that is lingering in my mind is solved."
"okay, I will go freshen up now" Saying so Avon left for the waterfall that was near their camping area. He was wondering what could be on his master's mind. Lost in thought he arrived near the waterfall. He continued walking further forward when from the other side of a tree before him suddenly Laia appeared. Her hair was wet and disheveled. It seemed as though she had just finished bathing. Their faces came very close to each other before they stopped and both immediately took a step back. "oh...you're here big sis Laia" said Avon. As he looked at Laia she looked very beautiful and his heart fluttered momentarily. He blushed a bit but immediately brought his feelings under control. Even Laia blushed on seeing Avon so suddenly. "Yeah" She replied.
"I didn't know you woke up...I spoke with master and directly came here....I didn't know you were here. I even told master I was coming here....." Avon said panicking as he though Laia might get the wrong idea.
'Why didn't master tell me?!' thought Avon
"Yeah...yeah, don't worry, I trust you. I just told master that I'm going for a stroll and then changed my mind, so she probably doesn't know."
"Oh so master didn't know...makes sense." Avon said in a light tone.
Laia could see how Avon had panicked in that fraction of a second before she calmed him down and thought 'As I thought, he probably doesn't talk to girls much and he lacks confidence too..'
"So you're done right?" Avon asked Laia just to confirm
"Yes, You can go now" she said and left.
Avon's heart was still beating fast and he quickly took off his clothes and entered the water. He washed his cloth like always and then waited for them to dry up a little and then set off for a stroll around. He wasn't scared of the animals anymore. He was still creeped out by snakes for some reason. He hated them to the core, many times he would get nauseous just by watching snakes slither. His master too found such a feeling towards one particular animal strange. Avon had nothing against other reptiles but only snakes. Anyways, Avon continued to stroll around and appreciate the nature around him, trying to understand what was surrounding him.
He then returned back to where the tents were and saw his master and Laia conversing with each other. "Avon, good thing you are back. Come join us" said Reveria. "I was listening to Laia's stories about her childhood. Want to listen?"
Avon didn't know how to react, he wasn't sure if Laia wanted him to listen. He looked at Laia and she blushed and looked away. Thinking she was reluctant he was about to give an excuse to leave but Laia said "Yeah, come join us Avon".
Avon was surprised but also a bit pleased to be involved like this. "okay" he said and sat along with them.
Laia then told them stories about when she once thought flour was facepowder and applied it all over her face and about the time she was painting on the wall and repeatedly painted over a shadow on the wall wondering why paint was not covering it.
Then Avon too shared some of his childhood stories, like about when he once pulled a man's stringed cap from his head to his mouth so that he stopped talking to Avon. Avon was scolded later that night but that's another thing. Like this they had a peaceful time for the first time. Slowly the day passed and then on the next day, Avon and Laia were ready to continue their training.
Reveria opened the portal to a small mountain. It seemed about 150 meters tall. "Climb this mountain barehanded. Of course I shall save you if you are in a predicament."
No matter how much Reveria assured them, the fear of falling was definitely in the back of their minds. Even so they started climbing. It was very difficult. Getting the grip, the right positions, putting in that power, all of this was very difficult and they kept on sliding down many times when they had just started making some progress. Nevertheless they continued. Once Avon slipped from about 40 meters of height and was saved by Reveria. Laia, who was more athletic and had a better physical fitness than Avon, didn't fall once she got going and made it to the top by sundown. Avon after starting again reached the top about two hours after Laia.
"You really are very strong and athletic" Avon said to Laia after he had recovered his stamina.
"It's because I used to do martial arts that my body remained in shape. Your growth rate is shocking too. You will be much better soon"
"Thanks"
Avon thought that sometimes Laia was very nice to him and encouraged him a lot, and he was grateful to her.
After a night's rest Reveria told them scale the same mountain again. Which they did. Then the next day Reveria took them a taller mountain and told them to scale it. They did it successfully, taking a bit long than before. Continuing this cycle almost two entire weeks were spent scaling mountains. Reveria made them carry weights while climbing on the last week. On the last day they climbed a mountain almost a kilometer tall.
This resulted in Laia and Avon's bodies being developed on all fortes. This would help in the active use of almost all body muscles and more neuron activation. It was Reveria's pills that mainly aided their recovery, otherwise this would've been impossible.
With this the phase one of their training came to and end.