Chapter 42: The Training Days! Part 5 (1/2)
Tichaona swerved, crouched and dodged the onslaught of punches she directed at him. The dark figure was training his agility and ability to dodge attacks intuitively, whilst using little effort as to not destroy him. The situation looked like a man doing quick squats whilst drenching himself with sweat from dodging her strikes. Tichaona marvelled at the reflexes of the towering dark figure who slightly tilted her her back to target him. Her strikes were like a flash of colours, and he began to train his eyes as well as his body's reaction time. This session had multiple sets that involved him maxing out his stamina bar and still dodging. The moment he would slip, even slightly, her strikes would get to him. He would be immediately pulverized by her strikes which felt like bee stings that were anch.o.r.ed on a javelin. Tichaona would usually lay on the ground, bruised and deflated from the intense workout, as the dark figure looked at him derogatory eyes. His muscles would spasm and at times, he would feel a cramp in his thighs. Whenever he would groan and reach for his aching thighs, she would laugh at him and then disparagingly say to him, ”For the first time in my life, I have been entertained by weakness.” Tichaona would scowl over her behaviour, and then sadly accept the difference in strength. As he panted and recuperated, she would tap her leg and give him 5 minutes to get up. Tichaona, found her antics annoying, but in the end, he would get up again and continue the process.
The dark figure wanted to a.s.sess Tichaona's basic skills; his endurance, sensory motor skills, tactics and agency. As she stood still, dis.h.i.+ng out her lightning quick strikes that she wanted him to dodge, she realised that he was mostly relying on his sight and not utilising his other senses. He would only have a split second to predict her held back attacks and sometimes not see them in time. It became clear that he hadn't worked on his senses and then immediately told him to stop. After avoid her attacks so fast that he left after images of himself, he felt a bit light headed, and tumbled down backwards. The dark figure looked at him and made a boisterous laugh that irked him to the core.
”You must be enjoying this?” he asked, glancing at her as she stood, not even perspiring.
”When increasing your body's strength, you're not only hardening your flesh, but also improving your senses. Better bodies leads to exceptional eyesight,hearing, smell and even your taste buds mature. It's just that you haven't been eating the right kind of food that aids with the kind of growth. Come with me, we shall go to the garden to harvest the greens that will help you.” she said, drawing closer to him and offering him a hand.
”Wait, we are breaking right now? I honestly thought you were going to work me to the bone.” he said, as he stretched out his hand to grab hers. He was soon lifted up and got back on his feet.
”If you a.s.sume that my method of power building is nothing but forcing progress through effort, then you clearly have a low understanding of how this works. Your body, which is a temple, must be supplied with reactive fruits and vegetables that stimulate evolution in certain areas in your body. Just like how you may consume milk to strengthen your bones, there are foods that help improve your senses. This I will have to teach you so that you stop evading my attacks like a decrepit man.” she said, emphasizing the 'decrepit' with a slow, but audible delivery.
”Okay then, miss food scientist. Are we going to later have a chance to get ahold of the booze, dear G.o.ddess?” he asked, giving her a sly look.
”You must have been a leader among the inebriated fools because you're clearly directing your thoughts to unnecessary things. Quickly, we must go to the garden.” she said, in a smouldering way.
The room was departed, and they trotted past several corridors in the s.h.i.+p and went outside. It was early in the morning and the fog had left some dew, as sunlight pierced through the thick fog. The sounds of insects and the presence of humidity made this sight appear interesting to him. Having been carried all the way here, in pain and barely seeing anything, it was quite ironic that the place that he once expected to be a h.e.l.lish environment had some fine topography. Granted, if he was a nature lover, he would be head over heels about what he was seeing, but for now he would follow her lead. Their footsteps made squishy sounds as they walked past the muddy terrain. Tichaona began to notice random creatures that seemed hostile, with levels ranking higher than 5, but as soon as these beings witnessed her presence, they would grovel. This overt showcasing of power made him wish he had the same intimidating aura that could make these beasts calm. The walk mostly took them 4mins and Tichaona witnessed a plethora of things. The howling sounds were spa.r.s.ely audible at first but were becoming louder as they reached their destination. In the back of his mind, Tichaona was still observing his mana tracking navigation point, which somehow correlated with the direction that they were going. He would soon enough get ahold of the mana plant, but his mind became a tad bit conflicted. Tichaona was still on for his escape plan, but had come to terms with the fact that there was a bigger problem on this planet, the dark figure's imposing sibling. Regardless, the temptation of escaping her clutches was something that was egging his mind. As he began to plot, he decided to break any suspicion she would ask of him by asking a few things.
”So, those howling sounds, are they animals or is it just the wind?” he asked, as he walked beside her.
”Those are the voices of the souls. They are wailing and lamenting their end by the hand of my brother. I am incubating some of them to later affix into soul stones. The incubation process is a way for me to level up the soul stone. Once it reaches a decent level, I affix it or reaffix it into a gem and plant them in the ground, whilst feeding them nutrients from mana. Depending on the kind of attacks you wish to use, the gems can have a lasting power during combat, but grandiose feats will render your gem empty. Well, we are here now.” she said, as they reached the garden. Tichaona noticed from his field of vision, several vegetables, allocated a vast s.p.a.ce of land. Tichaona then glanced back at her and asked, ”So, you did all this, by yourself?”
”Yes. Agriculture is something that a warrior who wishes to eat must become accustomed to. However, you don't mindlessly grow your yield. SInce I do not grow plants for commercial purposes, I will only make what helps my body. To unlock other secrets that will aid your growth, you must eat things that encourage development in certain regions of your body. For instance, enter into your custom goal mechanic, plants that will help improve your eyesight, hearing and sensory motor skills. Just do it.” she said, folding her hands with a smug on her face. Tichaona obliged her and then entered the following. The custom goal got back to him with options and he chose the best suited plants. Immediately, another navigation point with a gauger of distance, pointed to the plants in the garden. Tichaona found this fascinating and began to think of the dark figure with more respect.
”So there is actually a scientific methodology to the progression of power, for our bodies? Incredible. Did you already know this from the start?” he asked, amazed by her exploits.