“Come to think of it,” I wondered, “I’ve never seen it rain once since I got here. Though I was cooped up in that room the whole time, to be fair.”
I surprised myself with this newfound composure that afforded me room in my mind to worry about the weather. More tension than I’d even realized I had was seeping out of my body. What froze me at the sight of an adventurer, however, was fear, which I very much wished to be rid of as soon as possible.
In spite of these thoughts swirling around in my head, I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild without incident. One deep breath later, I went inside and was met with the exact same perilous aura that had filled the place last time. Except this time I felt even more stares on me. Or was that me being self-conscious?
Regardless, the mere thought of being looked at sent my knees shaking. At work in my first life, I’d gotten similar glares when I’d had to make sales directly after my numbers came up short, but this level of dread far outclassed that.
So as not to show any more weakness than I already felt, I hastily made my way to reception.
“Welcome. Can I help you with something? Have a report to make? Or would you like to commission a request?”
To my relief, the receptionist—this time a human woman of about twenty—immediately looked my way. It seemed like the conversation would go smoothly this time.
But still, why are these receptionists always so stunning?
She noticed me freeze up, then repeated herself. Grateful for her kindness, I got to explaining the reason behind my visit.
“I’m Luciel. I made a request of Brod, who I also accepted a request from. Is he in?”
“You’re that new adventurer, yes? If I could just borrow your card for a moment to process your request...” The woman looked me over and carried out the procedures like an assembly line worker. “I’ve processed your request, Mister Luciel. Please head down those stairs. I believe you’ll find Brod in the training grounds.”
This lady really knows how to do her job, I thought to myself. Although I certainly didn’t say that out loud, I made sure to express my gratitude before going downstairs. “Thank you, I’ll do that.”
The receptionist smiled back and bowed. I followed suit, then made my way down.
A massive room extended from the bottom of the stairs, much larger than the first floor—about a hundred meters on each side, if I had to guess. Encircling the grounds was a partitioned path for running.
“This place is huge,” I muttered offhand.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind me. “Pretty nice training area, eh? Good on ya for not running, twerp.”
I spun around in surprise and there stood Brod, arms crossed with a grin on his face. I was about to ask how long he’d been there when I sensed bloodlust. My body reflexively squared off.
This is where I die.
For a moment, I genuinely believed that. My breath quickened. Never in my life, past or present, had I felt such terror. Not even when that bullet pierced my heart. Something clattered in my ears. Only when Brod quashed his menacing aura did I realize it had been my teeth, rattling together in fear.
Perhaps asking to be trained by someone like Brod, who would subject an average layman like me to such intensity upfront, was a mistake. Past me had some explaining to do. The bloodlust had lasted for only an instant, but in that instant, I’d succumbed to him. Once it was over, my trembling stopped, but my legs nearly gave out.
Still, I gritted my teeth, breathed deeply, and lowered my head calmly. “Th-Thank you for having me.”
“Oh-ho, I know you felt that just now, but you’re not running, huh? I thought you’d get scared and back out.”
“I-I need this to survive. I want you to train me properly, right from square one.”
“Prove it with actions, not words. We’re going hard on the basics right from the get-go, so no chickening out.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
One look at Brod’s smiling face, and his distinctly unsmiling eyes, was enough to fill me with regret. I bowed once more.
Training began immediately after. To start with, in order to gauge my overall physical ability, he had me sprint around the grounds. And so I sprinted. And sprinted.
“Hey, hey, hey, look alive! Run like ya mean it! You wanna be goblin food?! Well, you’re gonna be with that wussy jogging!”
I ran and ran and ran with no end in sight. Any time my pace slowed, Brod lashed me with jeers. For better or worse, he and I were the only ones there at the time, saving me the pain of any weapons or magic that might’ve come flying my way. On the other hand, Brod showed no signs of compromising in this one-on-one fitness regimen.
I really should’ve asked for someone who could teach me plain old fighting. These thoughts and more filled my mind as I ran on, enduring Brod’s verbal beatings all the while, until my fifth lap, when I just couldn’t keep up the pace anymore and he spoke up.
“Your physical limits are what they are, but don’t ever lose the drive to move forward,” he instructed. “Assume that stopping means death for an adventurer.”
My lungs burned, every breath echoed in my ears. My legs, my entire body, turned to lead. But just as he told me, I kept at it, frantically throwing my arms back and forth, and it was here that I noticed something. A burgeoning change. Where at first I had only felt pain, I now started to feel enjoyment. Why?
I knew the answer. I ran. Sweat poured off my body. I gasped for life-giving air, filled my lungs, then just as quickly spat it back out. That was all. I was breathing. I was moving. I was alive.
Compared to the last moments of my previous life, that horrible feeling of my body ignoring every one of my commands, this was nothing. On top of that, whether due to this world itself or to my returned youth, I found a simple joy in being able to move as much as I now could.
Then, my consciousness began to fade.
A splash accompanied a sudden chill washing over my face. I jumped up and saw Brod next to me with a wide grin and a bucket in his hands.
“Didn’t think that’d be all it would take for you to pass out on me,” he said.
My awareness gradually returned. No doubt, that bucket was once full of the water that now drenched me. I anxiously prepared myself for what his next demand would be.
“I’m sorry I’m a total weakling,” I apologized.
Brod heaved a sigh. “At least I’ve got a handle on that now. Let’s move on.”
“Um, move on to what?”
“We’re going to expand your range of movement. Stretches.”
“I’ve got nothing but bad feelings about this.”
“Once your body’s limbered up, we’ll move on to sparring. We can’t have you dislocating or breaking something just from tossing your arm out, kid.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, but I couldn’t help but feel anxious. My body was about as limber as a tree. As expected, only torment lay in store for me.
“Guh!”
Ah, so this was what it felt like to lose your voice from pain. So much for starting off easy. We went straight to doing splits. Even if I wanted to complain about my bursting capillaries, the intimidating aura emanating from Brod ensured that I could do no such thing.
“Your body’s too rigid. That’s how you wind up hurting yourself doing even the most basic shit. I’ll have you work in five more sets on your own later.”
As I stretched (and trembled at the thought of those five more sets), Brod went on to explain the point of all this.
“Fights are won with split-second judgments,” he began. “That’s why increasing your range of motion and enhancing your attack options is so important. If you’re dodging, you’re limited by what your body can do.”