Chapter Six: Poko

Thankfully, Lacy’s embarrassment from Shu’s conversation subject faded rather quickly after their allotted breakfast time when their “light” exercising began. As it turned out, Instructor Kong considered anything that wasn’t muscle-building to be light. First they returned to the courtyard to perform basic stretches that only took some twenty minutes, but the jog that came after that was not light. Yellowvine City was huge—some had described it as a city-state despite its location within Ten-Jan—and Instructor Kong made them jog at a fast pace across the city and back for half the day.

Nobody except a few peak athletes amongst them would have made it the entire way had it not been for the constant breaks they took every few miles. Lacy’s new body had literally been crafted by a Deity and she could still only barely manage it! Had her Earth body carried over to this planet she wouldn’t have stood a chance at all.

Thankfully, Instructor Kong didn’t punish anyone who couldn’t keep up. A few men, some with big muscles and others who were somewhat scrawny, didn’t have the stamina to maintain Instructor Kong’s speed for most of the jogs but he didn’t say anything about it. Some of the recruits snickered, but everyone who fell behind was allowed to catch up without issue, so long as they made it before the group took off again after the short breaks.

That was reassuring to see because that meant the advice Thenja risked her social status to give Lacy was at least somewhat correct. And if anyone really could pass the exams with just a healthy body and copious levels of determination, then even she would stand a chance at all the weight training because she wouldn’t be measured against the men, she’d only be measured against herself.

The instructor had actually touched on that subject during his speech, but it was one thing to say it and another to prove it.

Between the jogging and the rest of the day’s heavier exercising was a short thirty-minute rest period during which the recruits were allowed to eat at the cafeteria…if they were able to stomach it. Unfortunately, most of them—Lacy included—couldn’t even think of eating without bile rising. The jogging had just been too much, so Lacy chatted idly with Shu.

When their break ended Instructor Kong gathered everyone in the training courtyard again and had them stretch for five minutes before showing them a shed full of weights. Inside were different sizes of wooden and stone blocks with wooden grip handles, wooden poles with wooden weights on at the ends, bludgeons, and…bronze, three-legged cauldrons. Were they going to cook?

“Everyone will push themselves to their limits to strengthen their bodies in the evenings. You may use the weights if you need them, though not everyone does. If you do not push yourselves to your limits, I WILL know. Now, BEGIN!”

The recruits as a whole were confused for a moment before half of the men made a run for the weights. The shed wasn’t that big so for a minute they were all trying to squeeze past each other, competing for who could get something first, before Instructor Kong barked at them to form a line and insulted them for not being able to organize, like children squabbling over toys.

As soon as the instructor told them to begin Lacy found a spot away from the men and dropped onto her hands and feet to do some push-ups. Shu followed but glanced regrettably at the shed.

“Okay, Lacy, seeing as you’re so small you probably don’t need to use weights…” Shu began, before trailing off upon seeing her already training. “Nevermind. It appears I owe you an apology, Lacy. You seem to know what you’re doing!”

Lacy paused her push-ups to say, “I never did much of it, but I was taught how to exercise on my own. I’ll be fine,” before she continued. Back on Earth her limit had been fifteen push-ups before her arms would turn to jelly and need a brief rest. It seemed her new body was a bit stronger because by the time Shu continued speaking she was on twenty push-ups, though it was still a struggle.

“I’m glad to hear, Lacy. Alright, I’ll leave you to it. I wanted one of those cauldrons but they’ll all be taken by the time all the men have grabbed something.”

Lacy’s arms gave out at the twenty-fifth push-up, and she rolled over onto her back so she could move on to sit-ups. If her arms were too tired, she’d exercise her abdomen. And when her abdomen eventually rebelled, she would do squats.

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By the time she transitioned to her squats all the men vying for weights had one, and she carefully watched the ones with cauldrons, of which there were only three. For some reason Lacy had expected something different, but the men were just lifting the cauldrons by their two handles at varying angles, bringing them over their heads and swinging them around carefully. One of the men was doing it better than the others, appearing almost like he was dancing with the cauldron, which must have weighed over a hundred pounds. Impressive, and somewhat mesmerizing.

But soon Lacy lost the freedom to watch how others weightlifted because her thighs could take no more squats, and she dropped down again for more push-ups.

……

Lacy had worried about looking like she wasn’t doing enough—as if her sweat, shaking, and gasping breaths didn’t get the message across—but the hours passed and nobody gave her shit. The other recruits were too busy getting yelled at by Instructor Kong for not using proper form or to go faster, so they couldn’t smirk at her, and the instructor only ever gave her one look that she saw, and he nodded.

She felt pretty good about herself by dinnertime.

“Lacy, you did wonderfully!” Shu applauded when they sat down and caught their breaths. “The instructor didn’t so much as glance at you, he was too busy correcting some of the men for how they mishandled the weights!”

Lacy was too tired to do much more than smile and nod before digging into the bowl of stew she’d grabbed. It wasn’t nearly as fancy as the breakfast at Yobi’s Inn, but it didn’t have to be. It was tasty enough and filling, which was all she had the strength to care about.

……

The City Guard Management Office had two huge bathhouses for its employees and recruits. They weren’t what Lacy expected, which she felt dumb for. Why had she expected actual baths? That was just her translation boon using a misnomer.

The bath-houses were just large rooms with water pumps and floors with in-built drains. There was also a room that provided bars of soap, towels, and cubbies to place clothing in. Once inside and stripped, Lacy got a good look at what her future might be. Shu was the archetypal Amazonian: tall and muscular, but Lacy wasn’t going to grow to her proportions. Already washing her skin was another, older woman somewhere in her thirties or forties who was just as ripped as Shu, but with proportions that matched Lacy’s.

The older woman caught Lacy staring and smiled.

“Two new lady recruits, hmm?” She beckoned them forward and asked, “Do you aim to be legacy cultivators?”

Shu nodded proudly.

“My mother, and grandfather before her,” she beamed with fists on her hips, unashamed of being nude. Lacy wasn’t that shy herself but she still wasn’t fully comfortable.

The woman looked at Lacy.

“Oh, I’m not, no. Umm…my family didn’t support my wishes to cultivate. It’s entirely my own interest.”

She nodded in understanding.

“It was the same for me, but by the grace of the gods and spirits, I pulled through all my trials and tribulations to become one in the end. It was the most difficult experience of my life, but I do not regret a second of it. I would do it all over again if I had the chance, because the accomplishment that comes after is like nothing else the world can offer.”

Shu nodded emphatically while Lacy thought on the woman’s words.

“Now, come on over, tell me about yourselves as we wash. They call me Poko.”

“I’m Shu, she’s Lacy,” Shu said, jabbing a thumb at her friend as she walked forward with a sliver of soap, a bucket, and a small scrubbing towel. She sat down next to the same, old-fashioned water pump Poko was using and put her bucket under it. Lacy chose the next nearest water pump.

“A pleasure, Shu, Lacy. Do you two think you will succeed in your endeavors here?” Poko asked.

Shu gave the older woman a funny look.

“Well, yeah, ‘course. Why would I take the exams, otherwise?” Shu asked with a laugh.

Poko nodded, then turned to Lacy expectantly.

“Umm, yes, I do,” she replied simply as she tried not to cringe at the cold water that came out of the pump. She’d been washing herself with wet rags for over a month at this point and still wasn’t used to the lack of hot water.

“And what makes the two of you so confident?” Poko asked with a small smile.

“I want it, thus I will do it!” Shu declared proudly, managing to puff out her chest despite sitting on a porcelain bench.

“Because the first step toward success is believing one can succeed,” Lacy answered with as much conviction as she could put into her voice, having understood where Poko was going with her questions. Though, most of Lacy’s confidence came from her unique circumstances rather than what she’d just said. A Deity telling her that she could succeed was all the motivation she needed.

“Precisely, my young friends,” Poko said. “The number one reason prospective guards drop out of the exams is that they begin to think their challenges are impossible to overcome. So by assuring yourselves that you have everything you need to become cultivators, you are already halfway there. All that is missing is the time to prove your resolve.”

With that said, Poko finished washing and excused herself, strutting out of the washing area with grace.

Shu stared at the doorway to the dressing room and whispered, “Wow. She’s cool. I look forward to the day I can give that advice to future recruits.”

Lacy managed to downgrade her laugh to a giggle as she simply replied, “Yeah. I really feel we can make it.”

Because that’s what it was all about, she thought. Encouraging the new recruits. Lacy was eighty percent confident that Poko had been, not exactly a paid actor, but definitely playing a role, even if Poko believed what she was saying. Muriel had felt more authentic about it, even if she and Poko had done the same thing. Lacy wouldn’t be surprised if there was an older cultivator in the men’s bath-house right now sharing the “secret” to passing the guard exams with the male initiates.