Valerius panted hard as he finished the lap. He looked over at the campfire where Aumzale was finishing up cooking deer soup. He noticed Aumzale putting in vegetables, but also a suspicious looking powder. "Aumzale, I'm finished my lap!"

"Oh joy! What a great accomplishment that is!" Aumzale snidely remarked.

"What was that powder you were putting in the soup?" Valerius queried curiously.

"Oh, that was just pepper powder," Aumzale replied in a manner that seemed to be a lie, but Valerius didn't press.

"Can I have some deer soup?" Valerius asked.

"Nuh-uh, you didn't say the word!" Aumzale rebutted.

"Please???" Valerius begged as he dragged out the word.

"Fine!" Aumzale handed over a bowl. Valerius gulped it down ravounesly.

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"Can I have some more?" Valerius pleaded.

"Fine!" Aumzale refilled the bowl. Valerius gulped it down again.

11 more bowls later...

"Can I please have another bowl?" Valerius made puppy dog eyes.

"No! You've already had 13 bowls! You're gonna eat me out of house and home! At this rate, I'll have nothing to eat!" Aumzale complained. "What is your stomach, a literal black hole?"

"Maybe?" Valerius admitted.

"Well, you're not getting any more food from me!" Aumzale crossed his arms, "Go to sleep. You'll need it." For some reason, Valerius felt like some amiability was slipping through Aumzale's gruff exterior. He smiled at that thought. "Hey, why are you smiling? You wanna run another 3 laps before going to bed?" Valerius dismissed his smile, but continued with his happy thoughts as he walked back to his makeshift bed.

Valerius woke up early, and managed to make it to the clearing before Aumzale was there. When Aumzale finally arrived, he did his best impression of Aumzale and remarked flatly, "You're late. I've been waiting here for an hour now!" Aumzale stared blankly at him. Valerius couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out in laughter.

"Y'know, I'm tempted to make you run 5 laps for that..." Aumzale trailed off in a manner that sent chills up Valerius's spine.

"N-no thanks, I'm good!" Valerius responded. "What are we doing today?"

"What do you think? Physical conditioning, of course!" Aumzale replied. "50 pushups, now!"