Reminder - Chapters are still rough and need editing.

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Entering the Training Hall that morning was easier than the day before, although the stream of players leaving was much higher than I had ever seen it.

The players were leaving in groups wearing seamless tank tops. There were multiple colors and different logos which I assumed depended on who their trainer was. On the other hand, everyone's shorts were the same style and glossy silver in color. They were shorter than what was comfortable for most, being cut off at mid-thigh. The material was a bio-alloy that allowed natural air flow without the necessity of weaving them into a mesh common in gym shorts, but also allowed a superior surface for reducing drag while running. I had a feeling running was something we were going to be doing a lot of.

The bald old man in his dark robe, greeted me just as he had the day before.

His voice rumbled, as he said, “Welcome Lucius. All documents received. You have been granted access to Achilles' training class. Would you like to pay the 1 gold for the first thirty days of admission or pay at a later time? You have a full week of seven days from today to pay the fee. If the payment is not made, then your access will be revoked until the fee is paid.”

“I'll pay today. What about...”

“With your 20% discount that will be 16 silver.”

I moved to open my inventory, when he added. “Do I have permission to take the funds from your purse?”

“Sure.”

“Done.”

Just as he said, I saw that the 16 silver was removed leaving me just over 4 gold.

“If you are ready, I will port you in.”

No use waiting. “I'm ready.”

The walls faded away and the dojo from the day before was constructed before my eyes. There was already over thirty people there waiting. Achilles had yet to arrive, but that wasn't a surprise. It was 6:45 am, fifteen minutes before class was supposed to start.

I found Mel, the friendly blond guy I had met the day before sitting approximately in the same place he had been the day before. I took a seat next to him. Today I had mimicked his dress started off wearing my green tank top and darker pants.

Surprisingly, the samurai grabbed guy had shown up as well. His scowl was still as apparent as ever. Showing up after listening to Achilles' lecture, maybe he wasn't as mad with the world as he looked?

While I waited I opened up my new Character Status screen. I had been second guessing my decision to level up use one of my rare Advancement Points on Personal Training Tools.

Character Status

(Character Status – Intermediate)

Player Name: Lucius

Level: 27

Health: 985.85

Endurance: 1812.46

Combat Level: Rank E – Level 1

Strength: Rank F – Level 96

Endurance: Rank F – Level 81

Quickness: Rank E – Level 11

Speed: Rank E – Level 6

Intelligence: Rank E – Level 7

Measurements

Fast Twitch Muscle: Rank E – Level 33

Slow Twitch Muscle: Rank F – Level 66

Flexibility: Rank F – Level 90

Cardiovascular: Rank F – Level 86

Anaerobic: Rank F – Level 96

Memory: Rank F – Level 97

Calculations: Rank E – Level 17

Even after the battle with the goblins, I woke the next morning and saw very little change to my stats. All that had changed was I received a few more Health and Endurance Points. The next day I started seriously training on my own. I mostly ran and did body weight exercises. The morning after I woke up and finally saw some results. My anaerobic measurement had leveled from Rank F Level 93 to 94 and Speed leveled to from Rank E Level 4 to 5.

Such a little bump, it was nice to see progress, but it was also discouraging that it was so low.

It was after working out again yesterday afternoon that I really saw results for the first time. Literally all of my measurements leveled up as did my stats. Even my Combat Level reached Rank E Level 1! That was more like it. Now I just had to study them to begin figuring out what kind of working out my body would respond the best to.

***

“Good morning.” Called Achilles' voice, cutting through the light conversations that had been taking place. He appeared at the head of the class before the long table wearing a sleeveless tank top similar to the ones I had seen the players wearing that had been leaving the training hall earlier. None of them had mountains for shoulders or boulders for biceps though. Instead of the silver shorts, he wore dark pants of a similar material.

Mel sat forward, as if ready to spring up at any moment.

He wasn't alone. It was as if the entire room shift at once. The nervous energy was sticking to the walls.

It was hard to say for sure, but about a third of the people that had returned from yesterday's tryouts. According to the tension in the room, it seemed like those that did show up were ready.

“I hope each one of you seriously considered if this class would be the best for you after our discussion yesterday. If not, we will find out soon enough.”

With a nod, Achilles swiped his hand up, bringing up a augmented console window and clicked.

Almost everyone from the room disappeared except for about ten players. Thankfully Mel had stayed with me, but as I turned and looked, it seemed like the samurai of perpetual scowls was still here with us.

Achilles glowed subtly, indicating that he was no longer present in this room, even though an avatar was that mimicked his movements. Breaking us up into groups and giving us our own training rooms would speed up drills. He was probably remain virtually visible to all of us via avatar, but would be present in one room at a time while viewing the others through console windows.

“You have all been split up into groups according to personality and ability. This will be your group during basic training. Basic will last the next thirty days. We must use our time wisely. First, you will warm up by running a full lap around your player city and come back.”

Your player city? It made sense that it wasn't just Willingham he was training students in. No wonder he was using console windows to keep track of us. If there were only five thousand players in Willingham and one hundred thousand players in all of Freedom, than the thirty five from our city was only a fraction of his students. There was likely hundreds of us.

With another couple clicks, the clothing I wore changed before my eyes. I now wore an identical red tank top to the one Achilles wore and the short silver shorts I hadn't been excited about.

Getting a close look at the logo, it depicted an outline of a large fist grasping a leaf-shaped spearhead. Blood ran down the blade from the fingers and palm on both sides. Everything was black and white except for the blood which was an intense red.

***

I found myself running with my group doing our warm up lap with Mel at my side. One lap was more than I would have guessed. With what I knew now, I'd estimate that it was close to two miles around the city.

Dozens of other players were also running around the parameter of Willingham and most of them were not from Achilles' class.

As we rounded the last corner of the city wall, I decided it was time to get a better gauge on what our group was capable of. It looked to be a good split having half gamers and half athletes in our group.

“I'm going to stretch out a bit.” I called out to Mel.

He nodded, but didn't seem to understand my purpose.

Extending my stride, I started to pull away.

Mel was right there with me, but it was the Asian guy that had been dressed as a samurai that pushed even harder and caught us, starting to pass us both.

Increasing my cadence, I met his pace, not letting him pass. Then another player, a black guy that was a few inches taller than me with an athletic build, but not the mass of either Kline or Oliver, caught up with us and pushed the pace even harder.

My hamstrings and quads were starting to burn. With only about fifty meters left until we reached the open gate to the city, it was as good a time as ever to find out what they got.

I extended to my full stride.

The newcomer and I started to pull away from the Asian guy. He was able to keep from falling back further for a moment, but I continued to push the pace.

Soon he faded and it was just the newcomer there with me. Hitting my top speed, we sat neck and neck for two seconds until he started to inch ahead.

I wasn't slowing. I dismissed every thought and focused on the finish line.

He was faster.

As we reached the edge of the open gate, we had to slow before we reached the foot traffic.

My heart skipped as I nearly slid to a stop.

A shout of laughter came from my competitor. He had come to a stop and was bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

“Good run.” He said, standing to offer me his hand.

I shook it and agreed.

“I'm Lucius.”

“Barrell.”

The samurai pushed past, entering the town ahead of us.

Barrell looked to me with a snort.

I just shrugged.

***

With the warmup finished we returned to the training hall. A surprise waited for us.

We stood in the middle of the dojo type room, but this time there was old fashioned work out equipment littering the space. Appearing at the front of the room was an area of mats that were about 20 feet by 10.

“Welcome back gentleman. Now that your blood is flowing, it’s time to continue warm up. Jumping jacks. Twenty. Go!”

He continued to talk as we did the first set, pacing back and forth like a professor lost in thought. He shone, indicating he wasn't really there, but giving this lecture to multiple groups at once. Every so often he would stop, as if distracted, only to continue a few seconds later. He was obviously communicating with the other training groups.

“Why do you want to train? Why do you want to improve? Consistently reminding yourself about your ultimate goal will keep you motivated to reach it. Everything you do starts in the mind.”

When we finished the first set he had us rest for about a minute. The pace was enough to keep us busy, but not overwhelming so that it was easy enough to follow what he was saying?

“If a police officer comes to your door and tells you a loved one has died, what comes first, sorrow or do you first have to listen and understand the information you are given before you have an emotional response? Emotion is a reaction to information. Something must first enter your mind, before your heart can react to it. Everything starts in the mind. 20 more!”

And so we continued.

“Emotion is not evil, but your feelings can deceive you. As an example, if a loved one dies and you feel numbness instead of sorrow. You may even want to mourn, but your heart won’t allow it at the time.

This is why you must not let your heart determine your actions. Numbness may lead you to do nothing, but others need you to be there in their time of need. As time passes, your feelings about something can change. Like a lovesick teenager who finds himself on an emotional roller coaster you may find your emotions are unpredictable and even dangerous if followed. One moment you are happier than ever and the next you are contemplating how depressing life is. Why continue...”

We rested for another minute.

I had never been the lovesick teenager type because Destiny, one of the best AI's on the planet, had always been there to literally observing my situation and offering me guidence. But now, after just a week without her, I was really starting to understand the danger and marvels of such feelings for the first time. My time with Victoria, seeing that there was more to Drool, then her reputation of ruining guy's careers, not to mention the steroid cocktails we were being given all proved to me how intense emotion could be.

Thank you Destiny.

“When it comes to fighting, the person with the greatest self-control wins. This translates to two areas: physical and mental.

Train your body and you will find you have more tools for your mind to use to win a fight. It all starts in the mind. The mind controls the body. It is logical that the person that is physically superior will often win the fight.

The exception is if someone uses their mind to come up with a better strategy to utilize their physical skills and the advantages they possess. The power of the mind can overcome the limits of the body to an extent. There are situations that the mind cannot overcome. Knowing your limits is something only experience can teach you.

Along with your physical weaknesses, there are also mental ones. Emotion must not be allowed to rule the mind. If your emotions rule you, you may win a few fights, but a wise fighter will find a way to take advantage after observing you. When you're driven by anger your mind takes a back seat to desire. Any of your natural tendencies, to overextend when throwing a punch for example, can and will hand the win to your opponent.

You are warned. Your emotions will seek to rule you. Your job is to rule them and use them as fuel for your benefit and not your harm. Squats. 10. Go!”

After squats he moved on to arm extensions, mountain climbers, toe touches, push-ups, and cooled down with standing torso and neck stretches. He repeated his lectures, often word for word at least twice before warm up was finished.

Already feeling the exhaustion of muscles that weren't use to such attention, I followed the group as we were moved over to the squat rack. It was a piece of equipment that had never really disappeared from the weight room since its inception a few centuries back. The one before us was in its most primitive form just as most of the equipment here. It was a simple steel design without any logos or décor. A metal barbell sat on the steel pegs to either side of the rack. The large round weights available were some kind of metal dipped in a coating of plastic that had a number on its side. Two 45s were racked on the bar ready to go.

“Now. Each of you is at a different level of fitness. For the first two weeks of our month together you will do nothing else but strength and endurance training. This will include weapon drills, but sparring won’t come until the last two weeks.”

“What?!” A voice from my group blurted out. It was the Asian guy.

He held out his hand, stopping me short.

“In a perfect world I would train your strength and endurance for six months to a year before we seriously started combat training. With sufficient strength, endurance and weapon coordination you will be able to win most of the fights that come your way by simply overwhelming your opponents.

Since we don't have that option, we will shock your body out of apathy. For the next two weeks we will do three-a-days. Only after that will we mix skill and strength training for the last two weeks. After this first month, I will recommend private skill training for at least three days a week.”

He stopped pacing, and looked passed us.

“Someone just asked, 'Since, you are only in Freedom for a year, will ther be enough time to finish the recommended training? The answer is, no. You could train every day for ten years and you would never finish the recommended training. The secret to becoming the best is that there is no hidden secret to becoming the best.

If that is what you want I can set you on the path. But know that any progress you make will be done the same way it has always been done by all of the fighters of the past. Nothing replaces time and hard work.

Another question?”

He waited in silence as the question was asked from another class.

“It was asked, 'Is there a more advanced class?'. The answer is no. Such training won't start until after basics, and then it will only be via private lessons. If you don't finish my basic training, you will not have access to the private lessons. This is to guarantee that those that do have private lessons with me are at a minimum fitness and skill level. For those of you that already are, I'm sorry, but I won't make an exception. There are just too many students. The private lessons are a reward to those that complete the first stage of training.”

The knuckles in the Asian guy's hands popped as he rolled them into fists. His jaw flexed and didn't relax for at least a minute.

I wasn't sure he was going to last much longer. I could understand why some people might be upset, but for me, I was sure basic training was exactly what I needed.

***

After Achilles showed us the correct form for a perfect squat, I was the lucky student to go first.

Mel gave me a hesitant smile as I took my place under the squat rack. Using real barbells was something of the past. The weight machines of today would quickly scan your bodies build and respond to your movements, and then added pressure to simulate weight as it tracked your movement for safety. This would be my first time with old fashioned physical weights.

Numerous critiques to my form were issued as I executed the exercise.

“Squeeze your shoulder blades together and pull down slightly on the bar to build a platform with your traps for the bar to sit on. It will also help you stabilize your back as you bring the weight down and up.

Stick your butt out. It might not feel natural yet, but you will put too much pressure on your knees if you don’t. Good.

Keep your eyes forward. Not down and not up.

There you go. Go as low as you can without letting your back round out. You should feel it in your inner thigh, quads and hamstrings.

Drive with your heels!

Good. Now do two more. We will do 10 sets of 3. This weight should be light for you, but heavy enough to practice form. Focus on nothing else but your form and what I am saying.”

And so it began. Since, there was no variance in weight it didn't become a competition to see how much everyone could lift. The morning was filled with two full hours, including warm up, of learning the correct form of what you might think are basic lifts. Not only did I find out they weren’t necessarily simple, but why certain aspects of my form was important.

Achilles explained that full and deep squats in addition to deadlifts and calf raises would be the foundation for our leg exercises. Bench press, lat pulls, pull ups and military press would be the foundation for our arm work out. These were the most fundamental of all exercises and activated the most muscle fibers as complex movements.

Any moment I was thinking a skill would popup saying that I learned a new workout related ability, but it never came.

***

“Line up” Achilles commanded.

Everyone hobbled over to the mats at the front of the room. We hadn’t even lifted heavy weights, only focusing on form, but there wasn’t a single one of my muscle groups that wasn’t bulging from excess blood flow and worked to its limit.

“Now we will break for lunch. You have two hours for rest and food. I recommended eating before rest, because if you eat last you will likely throw up your food when we start again.

Make sure you eat plenty of meat and carbs. You will need the protein and the energy for this afternoon. We will go over diet later today before you leave.

Finally, focus your mind on the answers you observed in the assignment last night. We will use what you learned when you return.”

Achilles once again phased out and disappeared.

Food sounded so good.

“Hey. There is a special at the 9 Lives Tavern. Want to head over with me?” Mel said as I turned to leave.

Finding Barrell, I called to him. “Want to join us?”

My group didn't expect to see me until tonight around dinner time, so this was a good opportunity to get to know some of my new group.