Chapter 9- Training facility

Soon, they were standing in front of a rundown medieval-looking building. The building itself was circular, resembling a certain arena Hob had read about during his education, except this one was much smaller.

Entering the building, Hob and Friz saw a circular dome-like area leading to multiple doors all around the dome, all of which were closed. Walking forward, Hob's eyes landed on a reception table where a person of very low height with a white beard was sitting behind a table, reading some sort of book.

Walking up to the elder, Hob and Friz waited for the elder to notice them so as not to interrupt his reading.

"You two are sensible kids, I see. Say, what shall I do for you?" the elder said without looking up from the book, seemingly still engrossed in reading.

"We came to know that those like us who are supposed to go for a hunt after two days can access some parts of the training facility, so we both wish to do some training here before going on the hunt to improve our chances of survival," Hob explained respectfully to the elder.

"Oh, I see you are one of those who made the third choice, and I suppose the pretty girl behind you must be the lamb then. In any case, you can access two of the training facilities only, out of the three that are accessible to you per person," the elder said, stroking his beard.

"May we know what options we have so that we can choose which ones to use?" Hob asked the elder.

"Well, of course, that is what you are here for, after all. Your options are:

1. Strength training.

2. Agility training.

3. Survival training.

You can choose whichever two you want out of them."

"I think I'll choose Strength training along with Survival training, as I don't think I am going to be relying on agility during the hunt, especially when I have such heavy weapons. As for Friz, I suppose she'll be going for agility training along with survival training because she doesn't really depend on her strength that much, right Friz?" Hob said, contemplating.

"Indeed, you're right. We should choose them the way you said, as it'll be most effective for us both," Friz said in agreement.

"Since you both have decided already, the first door to the left from the one you guys entered is the agility training room. The first one to the right is the strength training room. As for the survival room, I'll tell you about it once you're both done with your first rooms," the elder said.

"As you say, elder," Hob said, even though he found it odd that the survival room could only be accessed after one was done with the first training.

After that, Hob nodded at Friz and they both made their way to the strength training room and agility room, respectively.

Inside the strength training room, Hob saw an iron cube almost the same size as himself, and the only instruction was written on a board erected above it: "Push it as hard as you can." Confused by what kind of training this was, Hob went up and tried pushing the iron block.

It was hard but not hard enough to be considered training. Still, Hob continued pushing. After pushing for around 10 seconds, the box suddenly became heavier. Unable to understand what was happening, Hob tried to push harder, and as he pushed, the box began to get heavier. The more he pushed, the heavier it became.

Realization dawned on Hob: this box is not the only thing I am pushing; there are magnets pulling it down below the floor. The more I push, the more magnets accumulate on the box, thus making it harder to push. But I won't give up just like that.

Hob planted his feet into the ground and applied more force into his arms, pushing the box further and further. It wasn't until after about 15 minutes, when his muscles refused to push anymore, that he had to stop. Hob limped outside the training room, where he saw Friz laying on the floor, gasping for breath. Her exercise must have been equally straining, Hob thought to himself.

Hob went to her side and helped her get up, and they both made their way towards the elder.

"Splendid! You both have quite the spirit to last this long inside the training rooms. Now that your muscles are torn and damaged, you should both rest until the hunt and eat properly in order for them to heal properly. You'll see the difference in training in these rooms."

"Thank you, elder. But what about the survival training? I don't think we'll be able to do any physical training for a long time. How are we supposed to do our survival training like this?" Hob asked the elder.

"You don't have to worry about that, kids. Survival training isn't physical training but more of a mind training, teaching you about how to survive in different situations in the wild when you hunt or are being hunted."

"That's a relief," Friz said, finally able to speak normally, it seemed.

"As for who will teach you about survival? Of course, it shall be me, because who else will be better to teach you about survival than an old man like me who has survived this many years?" The elder laughed heartily.

Then, suppressing his laugh, the elder said, "For now, you both go take a bath and eat properly. Then come back here and I'll teach you the ropes of surviving in the wild."

"As you say, teacher!" Hob and Friz said in unison and left the building under the gaze of the elder.

After getting back to their building, they took a bath and ate a hearty meal. Then something that they had forgotten about happened again: THEY ATE TOO MUCH!!!!!

Laughing at each other and cursing themselves for being such gluttons, they both went to take a nap again and fell asleep before they knew it.