Finley Cai Aies Hall April 9th, 20XX

The muscles in my legs sang in pain as I pushed them past their limits, but I’d grown used to ignoring their song in the past week or two.

When Theodulus had talked about training me like a goblin, I’d thought I would learn the type of magic they used and what went on in their society. To be fair, he had warned me he would focus on my physical body first, but I hadn’t paid it much mind.

I wasn’t overweight or two underweight, and, as I’d experienced two days ago, I could hold my own when I was running away from danger. My heart pounded as I remembered the transporter narrowly activating as I’d nearly flown into the maw of a monster that looked like a giant venus fly trap.

A horrific echo of a gigantic mass of fur and flesh crashing into the solid walls of the room rebounded into my ears and put a new pep into my step.

“Pick up the pace Aies, if you get caught I’m going to make you run the course again.”

The course.

A horrific torture device that strained every bone and muscle in my body but left me with just enough energy to make me keep going. I’d run it about four times now, but every time I thought I got a grasp of its layout, it would change and make me fumble over my limbs as I tried to regain my bearings.

While I didn’t have the healthiest lifestyle or diet, I didn’t think I was this bad. But then again, I doubt a professional athlete could do as much as Theodulus forced me to do every day.

He’d said that my body would naturally recover faster than I would think and that I shouldn’t look down on the bloodline of the goblin race, even if I’d only gotten half of it.

Both he and Esmeralda would often mention I was half fairy and half Goblin, but unlike Esmeralda who used it to look down on me and belittle me, Theodulus would constantly bring it up as an explanation of his unrealistic standards.

The beast that was currently chasing me roared as I used the ledge of an artificial wall to boost myself upwards and grab the floating coin. It was hard and cool to the touch. It felt nothing like an illusion, but once Theodulus ended it, the coin would melt into nothingness and the space would return to its original form as a giant master bedroom.

That being said, knowing it was an illusion did nothing to pad the pain I felt when I’d let the ‘fake’ monster catch me and crunch at my bones. I didn’t know how he did it since I couldn’t read the patterns in the dark fog-like magic, but once I figured it out, I planned to return the favour.

“Aies! focus!”

I tried my best to follow orders and rolled to grab another coin from the valley in the ground. The valley was between two platforms that were just far enough from each other to make me jump to clear the obstacle.

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My body ached as I stretched myself out of the awkward roll I’d just done and narrowly dodged the monster’s snout as it dawdled by the other edge of the platform. The monster would give me about two minutes to catch my breath, as it tried to clear the obstacle, but that time was better spent extending the distance between us.

I knew little about exercise, but as I looked through the course Theodulus had so kindly created for me, I figured I shouldn’t have been able to go through it as easily as I currently could.

One of my old roommates was an athlete that ran a virtual fitness program. It wasn’t a very intense one, and he created the routines himself, but even he’d mentioned how long it had taken him to be able to run through all of them in one go. Esmeralda had mentioned how goblins were physically superior to fairies, although she hadn’t said it as kindly, so I chalked my body’s rapid improvement up to that.

I reached the last obstacle and threw my body at the coin and toward the ending platform. The beast’s snout nipped at my heels as they lost contact with the elevated platform, and it growled loudly in frustration. It’s hooved stamped at the ground and it shook its mane wildly and in time with its noises.

As my body fell to the cushioned surface that was the ending stage, I watched with satisfaction as its thick body faded and eventually disappeared. Out of all the different beasts Theodulus used for the trails, that one was the most annoying.

“Great job Aies.”

His hand came down heavily on my head and affectionately ruffled my hair. It still hurt and felt like I was being caressed by a forty-pound statue, but this was the best it was going to get with him.

Just like Esmeralda, Theodulus only referred to me by my middle name. I hadn’t even known they were my middle name until a few months ago, so it somewhat threw me off, but I didn’t hate it.

“I think you’re ready to kick the level up a notch. Your speed is… okay at the level you are and your agility is abysmal, but considering I’ve had you run this test so many times and you’ve never tried to fight the monsters, I think you should focus on those two things in the next run.”

Well, I’d like to see him try to fight something so terrifying if he didn’t have that monstrous strength and speed of his.

He picked me off the floor by the collar and dangled me in the air until I found my footing. Theodulus wasn’t that much taller than me, only a few inches really, so why did he keep treating me like a four-year-old?

“What did I say about glaring at me?”

I quickly fixed my face and beamed the brightest smile I could at him. He looked taken aback and his eyes narrowed behind the mask in an unknown expression. I half expected him to tell me to stop smiling, but he gently set me back onto my feet and threw a book at me.

It was metal bound, which was odd, and weighed more than I did. I caught it with more confidence than I deserved to have and yelped as I felt my arms drag my upper body down to my feet.

Before the heavy book could land on my feet and put me out of commission for the next two days Theodulus snatched it out of my arms and moved me back onto the bed in a whirlwind of activity.

“Weak, SO painfully weak.”

His harsh words but worried tone barraged my ears as he wrapped me up in four quilts and he put up a cloth barrier around the four posts that surrounded the bed.

Theodulus wrapping me up like this wasn’t anything new, but the sudden overprotectiveness was too much of a contrast from someone that had just let a wild beast chase me through an elevated obstacle course.

“I’ll lighten it up for you, but this is a book of basic goblin toys and how to make them. You won’t become an engineer anytime soon, but you should at least learn the basics. If it's too boring, let me know and I’ll find something else for you to do.”

Even through the mask, he looked awkward and before I could ask questions, he waved his hand at me and the world went black…. again.