The next day, early in the morning, while Cramton was in slumberland, snoring away like a baby," Wake up sleepy head. Time for training," said Mefter in Cramton's head which disrupted his beautiful dream.
"Man, what time is it?" asked Cramton.
"Eh... six thirty, I think," Mefter replied with a flat tone as if it was the most common thing. To many it would have been normal, but for Cramton, it was as if he had been denied his rights. He felt irritated.
"Six what now!? You seriously woke me up six in the morning and for what? To train? Are you in your right mind at the moment?"
"Uh huh. There is no best time to train than early in the morning. Don't you think?" Mefter asked with the most satisfied smile he could muster. Well, nobody could see it.
'I think this man has some loose screws,' Cramton thought.
"Hey, I heard that you know?"
"Yeah... I had already forgotten about that," commented Cramton.
Mefter got tired conversing with the man so, he flicked his finger internally and Cramton found himself flying out of his makeshift home.
"Is that magic?" Cramton asked with glowing eyes. You could literally see stars shining in his eyes.
"A secret," Mefter replies while giggling softly,
"C'mon, don't be spoilsport," Cramton pouted.
"Nah... can't but, don't worry about it, it will do you no good, okay," Mefter replied.
Cramton decided to leave it be and move on to the next agenda. He looked around and saw that he had landed at a clearing in the forest.
"What training are you gonna take me through, Mefter. I believe the space is enough."
"Yup, it's enough. As for the training, it's the systems job not mine," Mefter stated and as if to prove his point:
[Ding! Quests enabled]
[Ding! First Quest: Get stronger]
[Ding! Do 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, 100 pull ups and run 10 km per day]
"THE FUCK! Is the system crazy?" Cramton complained loudly.
[Ding! Failure to complete the quest will lead to death]
"Death!" Cramton freaked out. His body started to shivered from fear. He was afraid to die. He didn't want to die just yet knowing his family has not been avenged for yet.
"Are you afraid?" Asked Mefter.
"Yeah, of course. I don't even think my body can sustain all that; besides, my stats clearly states that I am weak. Even though I did some exercises in the past, they weren't this monstrous," Cramton said with a voice that showed he had given up hope.
"Hmmm..." Mefter started thinking hard, "I think I found a solution. The system has said 100. It didn't state whether to be done at once or in portions. You can take advantage of this loophole to benefit yourself and survive."
"You can do it 50-50 or 25-25-25-25 etc... as long as it totals up to 100, right?" Mefter suggested.
"Wow...I never could have thought that way." Cramton said with admiration," You gat a point there Mefy."
"Never call me that, boy."
"Yeah.....yeah," Cramton said in a not-so-convincing voice.
He then got down and started doing pushups.' Well it isn't that hard,' he thought since he did the first ten pushups without getting worn out but he was later proven wrong. He reached thirty and started feeling weak. When he got to forty, he fell down. He decided to rest a bit so that he could the remaining ten for the division he settled on was to do 50-50, since it was faster. After about five minutes, he continued the rest ten then fell down again. He didn't move for about an hour.
"Hey Cramton you need to continue with the exercises, man. If you continue like this you won't manage to finish in time considering you have other duties," Mefter reminded Cramton.
When Cramton heard this, he forced his tired body to move by sheer willpower. It took up a lot of his energy reserves but he finally succeeded. He then went and ate wild herbs from the nearest tree in the forest to replenish his spent energy.
That gave him some energy which he spent half running the 10km he was supposed to run. With the remaining energy, he did a hundred sit ups in one go.
"How are you able to do a hundred sit ups in one go with little energy yet unable to to a hundred pushups in one go when fully energized?" Mefter asked. He just couldn't understand that concept.
"I'm use to doing eighty sit ups per day so, all I had to do was just add twenty to my daily exercises but, in the case of the push ups, I normally just do five," he replied.
"Five only!?" Mefter could not believe his ears.
" Why do five only per day?" he decided to ask.
"Well, I have never loved doing them so, I just did five to ensure the necessary tissues did not die or get rusty," Cramton explained with such certain tone that left Mefter dumbfounded.
When Cramton saw that Mefter had fallen silent, he returned to his home ate the leftover meat from his last meal. He then went to the nearby river and drank its water to quench his thirst and also hydrate himself. After he felt satisfied, he returned to his home and slept. Well, he was completely worn out and he understood the importance of rest to the human body. He forgot he was no longer human but, it didn't matter for it also applied to his race.
******
Two hours earlier, in a castle at the top of a hill, far in the distance outside the forest. A man, dressed in royalty with a fine crown on his head was seated on a throne at a raised platform. He was known as King Nisha. At the bottom of the stairs was a man kneeling down on one knee with his right hand across his chest with a close fist. He was looking down as a form of respect.
"Meron, I need you to go to the Forest of Beasts to look for the life prolonging ginseng and the marrow strengthening flower," the king told the man known as Meron.
"If I may ask, your honor, why did you choose me, a humble man for this task? I am not the strongest in the guild and the task you have assigned me is very crucial for a B rank like me," Meron said.
"Meron, you were chosen for this task because you were recommended by your guild. Your strength does not matter for I believe this task does not need it. You being trustworthy was what made you to get chosen," King Nisha explained.
'Tsk, this bastard king. Can't he just choose another person for this task," Meron thought. He didn't want to go. He was just too lazy thus he saw this task as a disturbance and an obstacle to his sleep.
"Can I refuse?" Meron asked.
"This is not a request, Meron, it's an order. Now yo may leave," King Nisha said while using hand gestures to shoo him away.