Chapter 23 - Training Begins!

Jamaal awoke to the distant sounds of thunder rumbling, the view from the window showing the dark, heavy clouds above.

The rain was pouring down on the village, barely anyone being on the streets. Most of the residents inside away from the stormy conditions outside.

"Jamaal? Are you going to wake up? It's time for your day to begin." The deep male voice of a quickly becoming familiar person came from the door. It was Arnold who was waking him up, for that test that he had for the boy and the training the teen had asked the knight to give.

With the voice calling out to him, he rubbed his eyes as he answered back.

"Yeah, I'm up. Give me a minute." Jamaal was now lightly stretching as he got off the bed, enjoying last night's comfortable sleep, both in this world and in Earth too.

He went to the bathroom, quickly washed his face and left alongside the knight who was waiting for him. As they walked down the wooden hallway to the spiral staircase that led downstairs, the boy began to ask Arnold some questions.

"Hey, Arnold? So what is the details of today, I know the rough things but have you got a timetable or something?" The question was random. However, it was also quite a genuine one.

"You'll find out at another time. You should not worry about those things. Instead, worry about eating fully and preparing for the upcoming events."

The teen solemnly nodded, asking no more questions and just silently following the male and his new instructor to the food area of this inn.

A few minutes later, they were downstairs in a busy room, people sitting on tables eating and chatting. From his view, Jamaal could see people from multiple backgrounds. From guards to merchants, from merchants to travellers, there was a vast multitude of people here, a uniqueness he liked about this place.

On his wooden table, was the knight and him, a wooden plate with warm food upon it making him salivate. He glanced up at Arnold for a moment before tucking in, enjoying all he could before getting another serving, and another one.

It wasn't just the fact that he was hungry that was making him eat so much. It was also that he hadn't had any cuisine from this world nor proper food since he had been in the forest the whole time.

When he finished eating the food he had ordered, he quickly gulped down the cup of water next to him before looking up. His instructor, Arnold, looking back with a raised brow and a twitching smile. However, the teen shrugged and got up, opening his mouth to speak.

"Now what?" He was full to the brim and ready to start the test.

"Now we walk outside, follow me, don't get lost." Arnold got up too and soon, the two of them left Alican inn and headed somewhere else, Jamaal looking around at the empty streets every so often in thought.

They passed several tall and large buildings before coming to a large complex with a sign saying Tarimort Training Facility.

"This is where you will be training," Is what the knight said while the boy was reading the name of the facility.

"Huh." Was his reply as he quickly entered inside, a reception hall coming into view. Despite its spacious area though, no one was there, it was empty.

"Where is everyone?" He asked the man walking ahead of him, curiously looking into a few rooms to his left to see large gym halls filled with all sorts of equipment.

"I booked the whole facility so it's just us, that way you won't get distracted and I won't need to worry about someone bringing in the orphanage people to check on you."

"Wait... Why would someone want them to check me? And am I going to be training in one of those rooms?" He was a bit curious about the reason for someone doing that. However, Arnold did not answer, instead he just shook his head.

"No, we won't need those things, we must work on your basics before we do any advanced things." He nodded towards a double door ahead of them.

"We'll be going outside to the courtyards,"

With that, the two were quickly outside and in the rain. Jamaal's clothes quickly becoming soaked as he looked at the muddy field in front of him with some doubt.

"You sure you meant here?"

"I did." Was the trainer's reply, filling the boy with a small sense of dread.

"Run around the field, keep going, over and over till you're about to collapse." He told the teen what to do before going to a bench and sitting down, looking at him expectantly.

"Go on," In the end, Jamaal began to run, the sound of stirred up mud squelching and the feeling of his feet plunging deep into the dirt as if it were entering quicksilver making things difficult.

After doing a couple of laps, Arnold told the boy to wear five-kilogram weights on both his arms and legs before repeating the running.

Now, everything seemed to turn worse as his body began to tire quicker and quicker, his speed slowing down from a jog to a slow walk. Each step feeling like a huge burden was pushing him down. His body was also sore from wearing those weights them as blisters appeared from where the heavy iron rubbed against his skin.

He felt himself losing strength and the ability to move his body as darkness began to envelop him. The soaked clothes he was wearing being the only thing keeping him from falling unconscious.

"Jamaal! Get over here." Arnold called out, and the boy trudged towards the man sitting on the bench silently, numbness filling him.

"Take this." The male fished around his pockets before producing a small vial with a glittering, golden liquid.

"Just drink it all before continuing your run," With that, he once again returned to watching the boy who tore off the lid and drank it all, his blood suddenly boiling as he felt his body fill to the brim with lively energy. The fatigue he had just been feeling dissipating within seconds.

With this newfound energy, Jamaal began to run around the field once more, over and over as he learnt how to pace himself at a more optimum speed. It was then when he received a notification from the System.

[Ding! You have received one endurance and agility point!]