Chapter 222 - Wasted (1/2)

Laz woke up early. He had noticed that at some point, he had stopped sleeping in. Maybe it was simply his internal clock wouldn't let him. Or maybe he just had too many things to worry about. As soon as things got in his head he found it difficult to let go. Opening his eyes, Laz noticed it was still dark. On top of that Abraham was still sleeping like a baby.

Lucky guy.

Getting out of bed first proved to be a blessing in many ways as Laz would come to discover. He never had to share a shower before and at least now, he knew he would have the hot water to himself.

After showering, Laz grabbed a quick snack out of his pouch and walked outside to the back garden. It was really nice having such a large open area when the entire block was nothing but pavement and housing. Although being in a city had a certain flair to it, Laz couldn't help but miss the open spaces he lived in before.

He knew it would take a while to get used to it.

Of course the bigger problem was his inability to work out like he used to. Going to a gym was a big no no so instead, he needed to do something else. And this was something he had planned for.

As it turned out, as long as no long term damage was done to the house or garden, the residents could do whatever they wanted provided the cleaned it up before they left. Long as a coat of paint fixed it, you were good. As such, Laz had the perfect thing to use for his... exercise.

Given that the sword, the pouch and a few other things that seemed normal were actually special, Laz had adopted a pack rat mentality. As long as something seemed useful he would snatch it. Or, more accurately, as long as it was something that gave off a bit of energy. Due to his new found obsession, the last time Laz was in the woods with Sarah, he decided to pick up a few random things. It wasn't much, a berry plant here, a small flower there. He even took some sticks and a large broken log that seemed as hard as steel to the touch. Had someone seen him do it, they would think he was crazy. But the truth was that these things were giving out an abnormal amount of energy for normal bits of nature. At one point Laz had wanted to catch a small animal, but given the nature of the entire realm's residents being animals, Laz scr.a.p.ed that idea. He didn't think much of it after words since the feds were coming in and he had totally forgotten about it up until he ended up in a city while missing mother nature.

Now he was going to put that log to work.

After checking out the area and determining that there was no one around, Laz sent his spiritual sense into the pouch and located the grey log, just kind of sitting in the pile of various things. The Everything looked ok as Laz had pulled soil up with the living things, but he wasn't sure how long they could live inside this tiny pocket world. Still, since he had no choice, he could only wait and find out.

After drawing out the log, Laz set it down on the ground. He hadn't noticed at the time since he had moved it straight from the ground into the pouch, but the thing was pretty heavy. It was about three meters high and as thick around as a person yet for dead wood, it weighed almost a ton. As he set it on the ground, it started to form a small dent in the ground. Neither side was flat but one side had been cut apart by what looked like claw marks while the other side ended in a busted point, as though it was broken off by something hitting it. This was actually what Laz needed.

With a massive effort, Laz lifted the log over his head and with the sharp side pointed down, he jammed it into the ground, doing in about half a meter until it stopped. Pushing with all his strength, he was only able to get it to go down a hair more before it was thoroughly stuck. It felt like it had hit something underneath the garden.

'No matter. This is in there tight.” With that, Laz took out a long length of leather and began wrapping it around the log. After that, Laz took some thick rope and did the same thing. In the end, he had made his own striking dummy.

'That's about right.' Laz took a swing and hit it, his knuckles almost cracking from the force. Not only did the post absorb the impact, but it also didn't make a noise.

Laz on the other hand started curse screaming in his head.

'C.O.C.K S.U.C.K.I.N.G C.U.M DUMPSTER MOTHER F.U.C.K.I.N.G MOM'S SUPER SIZED DILDO.”

Laz wasn't the best at string cursing. He hadn't thought the thing would be so hard so he just let loose with a tight fist. If that 'teacher' could see him now, she would beat his a.s.s.

'Enough of that. Time to get to work.'

Even though the post was pretty solid in the ground, Laz used his memory of runes to draw a simple Isa Rune on the ground around it. Although Isa as a rune was more indicating something like freezing water, it's general meaning of standstill was what Laz d.e.s.i.r.ed. Get the ground to not move and the pillar would remain intact. The black flames quickly faded producing a rune that was invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye.

'Let's do this,' Laz thought to himself and he took his stance. Laz started going through the series of hit, plams, punches, knees and kicking that he had been taught. It was only a beginning set, but as he always heard, basics can't be beat.

The wood actually had another use that Laz didn't notice right away. Every time he hit it, it would drain off a bit of his energy and rebound it back at him. The reason he was in the dark was because he didn't use his energy at first and simply practiced hitting the hard surface to toughen up his skin. But when it did finally rebound at him, it sent him flying across the garden. He only just managed to stabilize himself before hitting the glass table that was near where everyone had been talking yesterday.

'Interesting.'

Laz became excited. Nothing could compare to fighting a real person, but hitting something that could hit back added quite an element to it.

Laz kept going until he was covered in sweat. He hated that he had to wear as much clothing as he did, but it couldn't be helped. An hour had passed by before he knew it and he could just barely see the sun light start covering the sky. It was only now dawn.

Just as Laz was going to start up again, he heard a door open and close. Just by the distance and the sound, he could hear it was someone from the girls side.

Laz didn't bother to even check who it was. He knew they would find their way to him soon enough.

His though soon proved right.

A girl in a tank top with boxer shorts soon came into view but that only made Laz wish he had vanished earlier.

It was Julia.

”So it's you.”

”Good morning, sleep well?”

”Quite. Does that bother you?”

”Why would it?” Laz wondered if she always sounded hostile or if he was just special.

”What the hell are you doing?” She asked, noticing him beating up a log like a beast. Despite her repulsion of him after knowing what he was, she couldn't help but appreciate the hard muscles that made up his body. His black tank top and black gym shorts couldn't hide the well developed lines and chiseled abs at all. She could tell he worked out a lot.

”Oh. Gardening is my hobby. But this weed is being an asshole so what can you do but beat it.” Laz didn't like this young woman. Although they were both infected, it was obvious that she was repulsed by him. Not that he cared, or at least he wouldn't if she didn't bother him.

She stared at the ground as though her eyes were attracted to something and Laz might had been mistaken, but it seemed like they went wide for a moment.

'Did she notice the runes?' Laz asked himself while looking down at his own handy work.

'Ah well.'

Even if he had an audience, Laz wasn't going to stop for her. He quickly went back to his routine while this out of place woman looked at him with interest. Soon though, he face turned sour again.