Sarey and Allan sit beside each other while Sarey put the pages on her lap. In front of her were laid out pages of initial exercises that 36 gave her. There was more of a text with small drawings and sketches. It depicted parts of the human body, skeleton, muscles, and limbs.

Sarey was carefully reading through it, so she wouldn’t miss out on anything.

“Sarey?” Allan disturbed her reading.

“What?”

“Why he did not teach me himself? I don’t get it.”

“Hmmm. It is probably complicated.” Sarey tried to explain it, but could not. She knew that his depiction of 36 differs from just a wooden figurine. She did not want to say it as is. It would be probably very hard for 36 to directly teach him. She thought it was some sort of punishment as a prisoner and to make it harder on him. To make a figurine was kind of strange, but questioning that, put more questions than answers in her head.

“What is written on those pages? Will it be hard?”

“Not really. It’s just a lot of them. You will be sore all over. It could be probably best if you try to do them slowly and progressively, and then go for more. Your body may look great now, but who knows if there are problems?”

“I can understand that.” Allan nodded.

“It will be easier to do it if I became familiar with them, too. I never taught someone too.”

“You may as well explain them to me and get it over with. What are the first ones?”

“Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and running.”

“That’s it?” Allan asked, while not expecting it to be so simple.

“2 thousand each apart from 20 kilometer runs.” Sarey held her breath. This was more than she thought. It was also easier for sure. Later on, was some sparring and rest.

“2 thousand? I thought it would be more. Not like I like the number. It will be hard for me for now. I can do all of them just fine without my eyes, apart from running.”

“I won’t be able to follow you for 20 kilometers...” Sarey said with disappointment, pointing to herself.

“I will save it for the last. Endurance is good, but my body needs to awake more. Stamina won't last that long with such a number.”

“Can you get me some pull-something? I will start with push-ups and sit-ups.”

“Alright, I will find you something.” Sarey went along with his reasonings. It was mainly his decision, and he knew more about his limits.

Allan was now in a regular-looking fabric shirt and trousers. Sarey bought him some sets earlier before summoning 36.

His body condition was now in a standard state, where he moved just fine. Doing regular stretching and exercise wouldn’t pose him more problems than what he already had. He started with push-ups after warming up with some stretching outside in the backyard.

He was able to do 43 in one go before his left shoulder began to ache.

“Ouch... I only did this much? How disappointing.” He rested for 2 minutes with some self-massage on his shoulders and arms.

He soon managed to get the few hundred with extended stress on his limbs. His body heated up from it and sweat poured from his forehead. It felt like his whole body was one mass of stone that could not be moved by itself.

“Huh... Now I can say that I feel alive. Hehehe.” Allan chuckled in a self-mocking manner, as he lay on the ground. All muscles were screaming in pain, and he felt like more could not be done.

Sarey was kept engrossed in the pages and doing some self-sketches by herself aside.

2 more hours later. Allan was done with his push-ups and already moved to sit-ups. His body was naturally fit for push-ups and it did not pose too many problems to him. His back and hands were built over time from work, but the extended injuries he sustained were quite noticeable as he figured it out by pushing beyond his limits.

On the other hand, sit-ups posed a strain on his stomach area and legs. He was barely able to make it past the first thousand before he was forced by Sarey to take a 10-minute break to eat and drink. 2 hours into this session, Allan was done with it.

His stomach muscles hurt as if he was punched repeatedly by someone. But he felt a sort of adrenaline and a heated body, which provided some comfort for him. In a day, it could be a different story, as the buildup of stress after being in the coma for an untold amount of time could come back in the pain of the muscles.

“Here you go.” Sarey, after sitting with a boring expression, took a pole-looking wood and secured it by a side of the biggest tree in the backyard. It was held by branches with good security, as Sarey tried it for some time and knew it was enough. She placed Allan before it so he could hold to it just fine.

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This was another of Allan’s strong points. Pull-ups strengthened his arms and back area around his shoulders. After sit-ups, his arms and back felt much better since the movement of the sit-ups did not involve them as much.

Sarey was calmly watching in surprise and already stopped reading through the pages. She already knew all of it. Her shock came from Allan’s condition. He had much more stamina than she expected. For his leaner build, it was rather abnormal, especially considering that not so long ago, he was barely considered alive.

“Huff. huff. 1 and a half thousand...” Allan let go of the pole and sit with crossed legs on the ground after what seemed like an eternity of breaks and sets of a few dozen at a time. He kept stretching his arms and doing rounded motions with his shoulders whenever he could. It was something his father taught him. 2 and something hours passed in these 1 and a half thousand pull-ups. They were here for the majority of the day, and the sun was already moving to the end of its path.

This motion moved the stress on the joints away and made for an easier recovery by his father's definition. In a few minutes, he was once again pulling himself over the pole. His muscles were quickly moving in movement. In about an hour, he was finished. It was about the same time it took to make all 2 thousand exercises.

“Done already? I am speechless by your stamina. I barely got any breath left after a few hundred.” Sarey said with a hint of amusement. She liked to look but doing it herself was equally interesting to her.

“Yea. I had plenty of chances to recover, so I feel pretty good. What is next?”

“Running. I don’t know how to go about it.”

“Why not just use the house? I can feel the walls around it and go around it.” Allan thought it would work.

“No. There are some outside walls to our courtyard. But, it is not a bad idea. I could use your example for trees. I will use string and stretch it out across some trees so you can use them to your advantage.”

“Sounds doable, but... hard.”

“Of course it is hard. What do you think you are doing? You think doing 2 thousand sets of 3 exercises in 7 or who knows how many hours is bad?” She argued while letting him rest for now and went around the home to find something usable for her idea.

In the near forest. There was flat ground with some trees not too close to each other. The ground was batter than usual with not the biggest kind of tree species in this forest. It was walkable, but running would be a challenge for a blind Allan.

“Perfect. This could work.” She muttered and pulled a long ball made of fabric strings around a few dozen trees. She stretched it out and used it as a guide to making a round around the trees.

“Not so resilient. I hope it won’t break off.”

Allan was resting by a side of a tree not so far away. It was a position that he started to appreciate even more now. Slowly resting his mind after hours of hard work. He could feel his muscles itch and move with every little movement. This could probably cause him to not finish today’s run in time. He was still scared to run and move around without knowing where he was going. Being blind was something he found very inconvenient.

“Some people are born like this. I can’t believe how they must feel. Sounds like a recipe for torture.” Allan, reminiscent of his fate, heard small steps around his direction.

“Sarey?”

“You knew I was going back? How? Sarey wanted to prank him a little.” Although she was left disappointed.

“I could hear you. My senses got pretty sensitive after losing my eyes. It is wild to think about. Am I right?”

“No... It is bad to not see this beautiful world.”

“I want to get it back. I had to.” Allan said with resolution.

“Are you finished with the running track?”

“Yea. I will see if you find it comfortable. Running around is probably the craziest idea that a blind person can think about.”

“That, or trying to cook.” Allan joked around.

“That’s probably true. Hehehe.” Sarey let him by a hand to the near forest and let his hand towards the string.

“Do you feel it? It goes around on your right hand. It is a circle of a few dozen meters, so be careful.”

“No problems.” Allan confirmed and walked forward with his right hand touching the string. He crept around to make himself comfortable with the surroundings and the positions of trees and the unsteady ground. He could feel the ground through the shoes just fine. It was the soft soil of the lush forest, but there were no bushes to obscure him.

It was passable for what he was about to do. The wind was not strong either. He moved this distance a few times and made another circle. After 4 more, he increased his speed.

“He is not stupid. I don’t even need to tell him much.” Sarey agreed as he was doing exactly what she thought was the best. Slowly and surely.

He kept going. Even when his back hurt, his back ached and his arms felt like a numb piece of wood. Yet, his feet moved steadily in the soft soil. Even when he fell, he got back to his feet in a second, as the path was clear for him. His hand did not lose track of the string Sarey prepared. It was his guide and something that kept him in the light. His vision was now not that important.

He saw a clear path forward. It was a strange feeling he never experienced. There was no joy in this. Just a matter of satisfaction and exhaustion. It was a similar feeling when he was forging.

“Huff. Huff. I can do this all day.” Allan muttered as he run. He increased his speed drastically after an hour passed. It was already dark now.

Sarey kept her watch. She believed in him.

“From now on, I don’t think what he needs right now is training itself. Just a matter of hope is so important for him and it changes his figure so much. Giving someone a hand in need feels different.” Sarey thought to herself, in a good mood.

Allan kept his slower-than-average pace for longer than he expected. He already felt tired for some time, yet his body kept going. Limits and the heat of the adrenalin kept his senses and mind sharp. The senses that were changed in an order made him very sensitive. With his eyes gone, his hearing and sense of direction made this task easier than one would have thought. He could quickly use this to this.

“Heh. I would still rather have my eyes than experience something like this. But it is not so bad.”

“What are you so happy about?” Sarey shouted as he run across where she stood.

“Oh? Do I look happy? You probably are just seeing things.” Allan mumbles as he finds it hard to speak, as he has already run for some time.

“This is just some redundant beginning. I can assure you that you will change your mind sooner than later.”

“Thank you for such kind words, Sarey.”