439 Preparing for Phase Two (1/2)
”Oi! Aww, aww, EASY!!!!” Dave was beat red and visibly in dire pain.
”You gotta pull through man. Keep going!” Desmond encouraged him in a calm manner.
”That's easy for you to say. I'll break in half this way, bro!” Dave complained through gritted teeth.
”Believe me the human body can endure far worse than this. Just follow my instructions and keep going,” Desmond argued while slowly pushing down on Dave's shoulders while the latter was in the midst of doing a split.
After a while, Dave heard a small snap and felt like fainting. He gasped as he looked upon his trainer/torturer: ”What the hell was that? Please tell me, that wasn't the sound of the royal jewels, because it certainly does feel like it.”
”That would literally be impossible since you have no bones there. At most, they could rupture” Dave was feeling himself one step closer to fainting at imagining that… Fortunately, after Desmond had enjoyed his sadistic second of silenced fun, he continued. ”That was just your hip cracking. All the stretching beforehand has warmed you up, but your body isn't used to performing like this. It shouldn't be so bad in the future. Anyway, stay in that form for a few more minutes, then we'll keep going.”
”You don't have to worry about me leaving,” Dave looked at his legs that were doing an amazingly good yet painful split, ”I think I'm stuck.”
Desmond laughed off Dave's joke and went to fetch something.
A few moments went by, where many of the people in the gym were smiling at Dave's misfortune. Soon enough, Desmond came back with some ropes. He tied Dave's legs to his and hands to his then sat back to back.
”Hey, I remember this from an old movie bro. You're not gonna start Wax on wax AWWWW,” Dave's cultural comment was cut abruptly as Desmond pulled his own legs apart forcing Dave's already split legs to stretch further. The training continued, while Dave's misery kept increasing, the only succor he had was Desmond assuring him that he was doing a great job and that if he kept it up he would start showing improvement in no time.
After a couple of hours of grueling torment, Dave didn't even feel like walking. The pain coming from his thighs, chest, and forearms was unbearable.
”I've made a reservation for you in two days, same time as today. If you need to change it talk to Tanya, our receptionists or give her a call by the end of tomorrow. Right now go upstairs, I had Rick prepare an ice bath for you.”
”Ice bath? I'd be better off with a regular warm shower man,” Dave complained weakly. He had learned that with Desmond resistance was futile.
”As your trainer, I can't recommend you do that. A cold or ice bath will help fight off cramps unless you look forward to being in a world of pain tomorrow.”
Dave nodded after hearing that. He recalled that as a former football player Ralph used to have ice baths after exercising or after a match.
”Are you planning to show me some moves next time?” Dave asked while rubbing his grumbling stomach.
”To learn the moves, you need the form. And to get a better form I recommend you get something protein-heavy to eat after our workout. Alternatively, we also offer protein shakes here. Be patient, we have a lot of time on our hands. Even Mr. Skeletal had to work his way up, before getting where he is today.” Desmond comforted him. ”Now up you go. I'll have a taxi waiting for you to take you home once you're done. By the way, speaking of my favorite Undead, when is your next Clash of Gods fight?”
”Tomorrow, it should have been yesterday but because of the raid on the East and my Sovereign Status I got skipped over.”
”Well, I wish you luck. See you next time.”
”See ya bro,” Dave fist-bumped Desmond and went upstairs for his bath.
The experience was rather… teeth clattering for Dave. Still, he trusted Desmond's judgment and that it would be beneficial to him if he endured. Just as promised after finishing up, a taxi was dutifully waiting for him outside.
Once Dave was back home, he followed Desmond's advice as best as he could and cooked up some chicken breasts before he logged back into the game.
------------
Dave's avatar appeared in the Eastern Kingdom. By the looks of it, the city already appeared to be in much better shape than he last left it. The Undead were truly extraordinary workers. They didn't tire, they didn't need rest, so they could keep up a rate of productivity as stable as a mountain.
The thousands of Undead Dave had hired from Dikenz certainly had cost him a great deal of his CP, but it was all worth it as the cracked buildings in the city were all fully repaired and the destroyed ones had new ones being built in their stead.
There was a lot of dust covering the city but it didn't bother the Undead much. Despite the reconstruction efforts, many of the NPCs continued to be fearful of the Undead. It hadn't been that long ago since the Undead had been responsible for many of the present NPCs to flee their city or lose loved ones. Still, nobody had caused any riots or incited trouble, they had all followed the orders of their new king and acted obediently.
Dave noticed a few new shops had opened, owned by some of the braver NPCs. Some of the citizens were courageously moving through the streets to purchase their daily needs. Meanwhile, the Undead ignored the living and fully focused on their jobs. Even with all the bustle, this made Dave take a breath of relief. He had feared that the NPCs would be too discouraged to function, further crippling the city that had just come out of the war.
In the middle of the city plaza, there was a table with a man sitting at it. Next to him were two Death Knights standing guard. On the table were hundreds if not thousands of papers neatly stacked on top of each other. On the other side of the table was a neat and organized line of NPCs, they moved one by one, spoke to the man sitting on his desk and then left with one of the papers.
Dave went toward the man and recognized him as Demetri.
”Demetri, are you already back online?”
”Not 'already', more like 'still'. I couldn't log out, there continues to be a lot left to do,” Demetri answered while paying more attention to taking notes on what the NPC in front of him had just stated.