20.2: The Gym Grind pt 2

"Gym time," Lus said in a vain attempt to hype himself up as he stood from the couch. Avil briefly complained before curling up around his tails and glaring up at his owner. Lusac noticed that Avil's belly was perhaps a little bigger than it had been when he first picked up the stray, but he decided that wasn't worth worrying about now.

He changed into his single set of exercise clothes which were smelling a little funky after a few wears, but he promised himself he'd do laundry afterwards–a promise he'd already broken four days in a row.

After he finished tying his gym shoes, Lus bid Avil farewell and exited into the corridor of the Argo. It was late enough in the evening that everyone was either off duty or on their night shift, leaving the hallways fairly barren. The gray alunitanium walls reflected back the yellow lights from above onto the dull, black floor.

Lus hoped he wasn't going to bump into anyone on his way. Not only was he a little more aware of just how pungent his clothes were, but he feared trying to explain his sudden gym habit given that he'd shown little interest in such activities before.

Even with his 11 [Luck], he couldn't pull that off, and to his great misfortune, out of everyone he could have run into, it was Relf.

With so few Humans on board, Lus had expected that everyone of his species would have banded together in friendship, and for the most part, that's how it worked out with Oaty and Becky.

Relf, however, was the glaring exception, and for good reason. Lusac didn't think he'd ever met anyone more disagreeable in his life.

"Oi, Loser," the man shouted from down the hall as Lus increased his pace. A set of notifications popped up in the corner of his vision.

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[Knuckle Sandwich]

[Description: teach Relf a lesson]

[Time limit: 1 hour]

[Reward: Recipe]

"I'm talking to you, Loser," Relf replied, and Lusac was forced to stop and face him. Did his system really expect him to fight this guy?

While several years older than him, Relf was still half a foot shorter and a good amount wider around the center. His pasty complexion indicated far too much time stuck in the dark corridors of the ship, but given Relf's general lack of skills in anything but eating and directing the cargo golems, he didn't exactly get off the ship much.

"What is it, Relf?" Lus asked.

"You reek. Where are you off to? More time whining in the kitchens?"

Lusac made a face as he tried to parse some kind of meaning out of the intended insult. "No. Just getting out of my room for a bit. Did you need something?"

"Don't talk back to me. I'm your superior. Word on the ship is that it's your fault the Coporates nearly blew us out of the sky," the man said.

"Yrqw is my superior. You're just a cargo worker," Lusac replied in a flat tone.

"I've been on this ship years longer than you, Loser. You can only dream of reaching my level of expertise."

"Expertise in eating?" Lus raised his eyebrows and, in a very obvious manner, glanced at Relf's pudgy gut.

"Watch your tongue, Loser, or I'll take it for myself," Relf threatened. He stepped closer, standing up on his toes to stare Lus in the eyes. "How'd you like to be deaf, Corporate scum?"

"You mean mute," Lus corrected him. "Removing my tongue would make it so I can't speak, which would make me mute. The inability to hear is what makes someone deaf."

"Shut up. I didn't say anything like that." The man was fuming now, and it took all of Lus's self control to keep from grinning. Words could be just as powerful as fists.

Relf still managed to catch on to Lus's enjoyment.

"Knock that off," he ordered.

"Knock what off?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Loser," Relf growled. "I've had enough of your insubordination."

"Clearly you have no idea what that word means either."

That was the final straw, and the next thing Lusac saw was a chubby fist aiming for his jaw. He managed to grab it since Relf was nowhere near as fast as him, but it distracted him enough for Relf to get a second shot in on his abdomen, knocking the air from his body.

Lus doubled over and barely avoided a kick coming towards him. Once he regained his breath, he stood and grabbed both of Relf's hands as they came towards him, but he forgot one key thing about Relf: what the man lacked in brains, he made up for in strength. Relf used the holds to toss Lusac to the ground like a toy and was preparing to stomp on his chest when someone else interrupted.

"Relf! What's going on here?" Wsr asked before the foot could collide.

Relf stopped and quickly turned to face her, faking innocence. "He hit me first."

Lus scrambled to his feet. "As if. He started it, Wsr."

The Kremel glanced between them, her orange eyes scanning the scene intently. At last her decision was made, and she grabbed Relf's shoulder. "Come with me to speak to Nippy about this. He won't be happy to hear you're starting fights."

Another notification appeared.

[Quest Complete: Knuckle Sandwich]

Well, he supposed it worked out after all. And he got another [Recipe] out of it which would help make things at least a little more interesting.

Relf shot Lus one last glare as Wsr dragged him away, freeing Lusac to return to his original goal. His stomach didn't really hurt all that much, and after the altercation, burning some anger off at the workout center actually sounded nice.

As expected, the workout room was about half full. A group of Nemarians and Kremel were off playing hyperball in the gym section while a few others were scattered amongst the various machines. Lus breathed in relief when he noticed the weight section oddly empty for once.

He grabbed a set of dumbbells a little heavier than he might normally have gone for, but after getting tossed around so easily by Relf, Lus was more determined than ever to gain those extra points in [Strength]. Never again would some pudgy cargo worker be able to throw him to the ground without a fight.

Lus was shocked with how quickly the time went by as he pumped the weights through various positions to work his entire upper body. Knowing himself, he wouldn't be back anytime soon, so he went ahead and did a bunch of leg lifting too. He was going to hate himself when the morning came, but the anger from his brief fight with Relf pushed him to work harder than ever. 

After he exhausted the weights, his eyes found the treadmills. While he already had a fairly high [Speed], there was no harm in working on that too while he was here. So he spent another half an hour jogging. Even when his legs felt like jelly and he was sure he would collapse, he pushed himself a little longer. Of course his stupid system was going to force him to actually do the work to get the stats, but he was going to do it, whatever it took.

At last Lus used the last bit of [Stamina] and had to stop or risk passing out. He slowed to a walk for a brief cooldown and then went to the drinking fountain to take a long drink of water against the pounding thirst in his throat.

As he walked out of the workout center, Lus felt good about himself for the first time in weeks. Maybe the whole gym thing wasn't a complete waste of time after all. He wouldn't know for sure until he leveled up again, and that was going to take at least a couple more weeks, but hopefully during that time he'd at least get the chance to make one of the new [Recipes]. Lusac walked back to his room, satisfied with his progress and hopeful about his future.