Entering Michael's house, Andrew was dumbstruck cause what he imagined was greatly different from what he saw. It was like the difference between heaven and earth in his thoughts. He had imagined a house well lighten up with the best decorations or even if it was not the best, but at least trophies of his hunts should be seen here and there with some valuable materials but what he sees is a place of absolute desolation. Apart from the rug made from the skin of an animal laid in the centre of the house, there was nothing more in the sitting room. Walking along, he gets inside the house to the backyard.
Throughout the walk, he sees Michael's empty room also with just his hunting tools and a mat laid on the floor, seems like that's what he sleeps on. Following up, there were some other empty rooms in the house. The only part of the house filled up would be his kitchen with various utensils, seasonings and foodstuffs seem like Michael was a good chef for having his kitchen this filled.
Michael notices the look of astonishment on Andrew's face while passing by his kitchen and just smiles before saying, "I know what is going on in your mind, but I prefer this simple lifestyle. Having excess garbages that won't help in my training would just be useless".
It takes a bit of time before Andrew was able to process that he was the one being spoken to, and then he asks in reply, "Why is your kitchen filled then, do you do your cooking yourself?".
Michael smiles at first before replying with a question also, "Does being a hunter and warrior makes me unfit for cooking?", "No, it's not that, I am just shocked that you know how to cook", replies Andrew.
Michael's face becomes stern before asking, "Kid, what do you mean by that?", "Nothing sir, it's a slip of tongue", replies Andrew with his head bowed staring at the ground.
There is silence for a while which tenses Andrew, but he is jolted suddenly by Michael's laughter before saying to Andrew, "I was just joking kid, no need to pull on such a forlorn face", he pauses before continuing to say albeit in a longing tone, "I do get that a lot from people about being able to cook but apart from hunting I love cooking. If I live old enough to retire from this warrior shit, I am thinking of opening a little restaurant here in this village". Andrew is surprised by this sudden revelation and is unable to say anything in return, but Michael speaks up again, "Well enough of such killer mood, wait at that space over there while I go wash up", "Okay", replies Andrew while moving to the open space.
He waits for a while before Michael comes out, he seems more refreshed than before with a change of clothes. Michael sizes Andrew for a bit before saying, "We are going to do something interesting today", while he brings out a chain which was nailed to a rock about the size of a soccer ball then takes Andrew just outside the back of the apartment and what greets Andrew is an open space which seems like a training ground cause every equipment was placed for training. The training field was just in the backyard of Michael's house like it was his property but a wall just seems to separate them and a passage was created between the wall for movement from his house to the training area.
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On entering the training field, he walks up to Andrew with the chains, Andrew was startled before asking, "What's that for?", Michael seems surprised by the question which has a pretty obvious answer by the way he looked at Andrew as if he was looking at someone that just asked something insane but still replies nonetheless, "For your training of course". Andrew stammers while asking, "We...we...we are starting now?", Michael replies, "Of course, why did I bring you in if we aren't starting now?". "But I haven't eaten anything since yesterday", says Andrew looking for a bit of hope to postpone the training but seems like it was his unlucky day as the next sentence from Michael crushes his hope, "Excellent, that would make the training more effective".
Andrew was dismal as he had no other choice than to have the chains bound to his legs. After the chains were put on him, Andrew asks, "What am I supposed to do with these chains now?". Michael looks at him awkwardly before replying to him, "Of course, you have to run with it on you. Three laps round and you would have completed the requirements to be my student". Andrew was gobsmacked as he shouted in refusal, "That's impossible. I would die before completing one lap".
This time, Michael replies in a serious tone, "If you die then so be it. It means you didn't have what it takes to become a hunter. It would be better dying here than in the forest where there is a great possibility of none of your remains being found and I took your age and constitution into consideration before setting up this training session to the lowest of requirements which is three laps even with the lowest of the weights if not it did have been more". Anybody would have thought that Andrew's complaints were unfounded but seeing the size of the open space would change your mind. It was the size of a big football stadium and a kid of ten years was expected to complete three laps with weights being tied to his legs. "The road to being a hunter is never easy and this is one of the easiest training to train your stamina, if you can't even pull this off then your resolve of wanting to be strong is pathetic. There would be times when having better stamina would be a deciding factor for a fight so you have to deal with it now before it's too late to even bother", says Michael in a very serious tone, unlike the playful way he was before. Andrew hasn't seen Michael this serious except the time when he was fighting the frog and when he was warning him about the blasphemy being spoken from his mouth while leaving the forest. This would be the third time he would be seeing Michael this way because most times he would always have that friendly smile on his face.
Andrew starts taking it seriously and stops complaining as he readies himself to start running the lap around the stadium. As he was about to start, Michael says while laying his head on his hands and in a lying position, "I don't want to wait too much, an hour is the maximum time I would give to you to complete it. If you ain't able to before then, then you are not suitable for this kind of service".
Andrew gulps hard understanding the gravity of the issue, it won't be an easy drive but he steels himself as he takes in a deep breath about to start.