As the sky slowly turned blue, I ran.

Around the church, down the street to go around the dollar store, all the way around the back. Then repeat. About a quarter mile all around. The Abb called out how many times I had circled the block each time I passed him. "That's Eighteen, only two more to go."

I swear I had been in shape once, and I had kept up with the weights at the gym at school. But with my knee messed up I had figured I wasn't going to be doing much running in the future. So I got lay and had lost whatever cardio I had once had.

The upgrade I had gotten on arrival had fixed the knee as something that was wrong with me, but for just being out of shape?

Nothing.

I came around to the front of the church again. "One more time Protege, and then tomorrow we can go for more then five miles."

I glanced to my left where Chloe was running along beside me, looking like she had barely broken a sweat. She and Tok had decided to take advantage of the free training. Tok had dropped out after a mile and a half.

For all their size and strength, Hazaks seemed to lack endurance. Both Tok and Shom had been in awe after ten laps. As we closed on twenty they had just accepted that humans had this one thing going for us.

Or Tok passed it off as another elf thing.

I managed to spit out, "How...How the hell does he even know what a mile is?" Chloe grinned. "I told him, he wanted to know what a easy run for a human was."

I stumbled a few steps. "You could have lied!"

Then she took the lead. "Keep up. I do this every morning."

I watched her for a moment as she effortlessly began to out pace me. All the while thinking. Hate you, really hate you.

Coming around to the back of the church again she slowed to a jog. "Cool down time." I slowed as well, but to more of a slow stagger until I lost sight of her as she turned the corner.

"No one is watching from back here. You can just keep going right into the trees. The Patels car is out there somewhere. It's sure to have some nice soft seats. It could take them hours to find you."

Finally I got back to the front steps, then kept going to drop to the ground below the branches of Petal's oak tree. The air and ground were both noticeable cooler in it's shade.

Chloe sat down next to me, plunking down a refilled bottle of water. I snagged it and rolled over onto my back as I unscrewed it and poured the slightly cool liquid down my throat. Then rolled to my side to cough some of it up.

"Don't get too comfortable. You're going to want to stretch before you train, if you don't want to wake up with cramps."

Originally she was planning to train with me at the same time, but the Abb's skill only worked with his chosen Protege. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any penalty for switching off who was his Protege every few minutes. So he was planning to switch us off to focus on one at a time while the other rested.

I had been the chosen one during the run, but I'm not sure how much his ten times as fast training would apply to running. Not much skill to work on there.

Chloe began poking me in the back with her pointy little fingers. "Get up. You got to stretch."

I grumbled, but ultimately this torture could make the difference between life and death for me. I wasn't just training to fight in case I needed it. The fight was coming to me via cruise liner. I was going to need it, and in just in just a few days.

So I got up. I stretched. I picked up one half of a broken up branch cutter, the forward curved sharp part. As well as my shield.

Then I got my butt kicked by a senior citizen lizard guy every other ten minutes. Chloe got to be knocked around the every other ten.

Just training proved to not activate Sanctuary. Best guess is there has to be some intent to harm, even if it's just getting smacked on the shoulder by Tok. It also seemed to only last for as long as your were in danger.

"You know, since I will be fighting under the Benefit of Sanctuary. I should be training with it so it doesn't throw me off."

The Abb agreed. "You're right. We'll try it tomorrow, so I can try it out out on you too. Right now, the basics. Dodge!"

The Verco never go into using shields since you have to brace yourself to take the hit. While they liked to be in constant motion, no endurance issue for them. But The Abb could see the value in shields for me, Mr. Patel, Vern, and Tok when they took a turn. Chloe was the only one who could keep up with Rill, who along with a few other younger Verco had decided to take the chance to test their skill against another race.

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Rill stepped up a little close to me at one point, coming nearly within five feet of me, in order to have a conversation. "We are faster, but that shield is a pain. I am not used to a opponent who will just stand there and let me take a swing at them. it does leave your feet exposed, but with your reach..." She shook her head. "...so annoying."

I had caught my breath. "And the Hazak." She tilted her head to the side. "Stronger, greater reach, slower. We could get by your shield without much risk, but them, easy. Your armor though, if it was metal instead of leather and this "Plastic?"

She regarded her sharpened hook. "I would need something with a point. Your turn again."

The Abb was waving me forward. A smile on his face as he made me his protege once more. "I choose you. This time you should spar with Rill again. Already I can see improvement, it is like you have been training for a whole week."

That meant Rill had to switch up how she was hitting me now instead of just using the same move over and over again to beat me over the head. Yeah! I could now last three seconds in a real fight.

The sky turned dark before the Abb called it a night. We had long since been training by the churches flood lights facing the short street between the church and the fenced in lot behind the dollar store. As we had fought, some of the Rill, Miss Teixeira and a few of the teens had been tearing up the grass and planting cut up bits of my potatoes, and the packets of seeds from the store. One small plot had already began sprouting.

I stared over at it from outside the fence before asking the Abb what that was about.

The old man limped over to stand next to me. He hadn't done much sparring, or running, but teaching people for three hours had still worn him out.

"Vhik tended the plants at the proving ground, so he got a Gardener class. It is only a small area, but it grows ten times as fast. Our Director does like the number ten doesn't he."

I nodded. "Well at least this night is over."

The old man made a series of soft guttural honking sounds, his version of a giggle. "Oh no, you have stayed up these past two night, no need to stop now. Clean yourself, eat something, then we do forms. it's relaxing, almost like mediation. And after you have them down well enough, I can go to sleep while you keep going. With you still receiving the benefit of my skill even if I'm not there. Very efficient."

I leaned my head against the fence. "Great... yeah."

Sometime that next morning, Rill sent me off to bed. Several hours later I awoke, knowing the moment I moved, everything would hurt.

Someone began coming up the stairs. I could smell what was possibly the last pork I would ever taste.

I moved. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. Oh good, not just my muscles, but my head hurts too.

Chloe set a tray down on my night stand. "If I massage your legs, you aren't going to make it weird. Right."

Right, that wasn't a question, so I thought about it. "No, the moaning will make it weird even if it's just out of relief. Maybe you can get Tok to do it while you supervise, but not Rill, she's got talons and her hands are all boney."

The familiar shrill voice called out from the stairs. "Die smooth skin. Grandfather says you have half a hour before you have to run again."

I turned my head in time to see Chloe wince before she gave me a encouraging grin. "Okay, no massage, but I'll help you stretch for ten, then you can eat quick, and still have time to hit the bathroom."

Muffled groans of pain did not make it weird in a bad way, but did let me get up and move around with some ease and minimal pain. The breakfast consisting of two toasted frozen waffles and two slices of some kind of luncheon meat. Turkey luncheon meat, which is what really hurt.

Twenty two laps, a low weight, high repetition workout for legs, arms and core with makeshift weights. Then a review of my forms and stances, and sparing. Followed with dinner and then repeat.

In between I got to sit down on the edge of a reinforced ping pong table and had a nice chat with the healer Char, the worst of her patient had been laid out on couch cushions below the table with the lightly injured sitting up on top beside me. All to get as many people in a the healer's ten foot radius.

A lot of people were training, too many to benefit from the Abb's skill, but a lot of the teenagers wanted to join the raid on the ship. Chloe insisted they had to show they could at least obey orders well enough to train in order to get into a real fight and the Abb agreed.

I'm not sure how or when Chloe ended up in charge of these things. But with her strength buffing talent based around seeing her dancing, I guess she would be in the lead of any fight, so if we were to end up literally following her, I guess we should also figuratively follow her.

Some other people got some time around the healer as well to recovery from training injuries, but no one else was getting pushed as hard as me.

I would have complained, but this is what I wanted, right? To get in on a adventure. To be on the sharp end of the stick.

A few of teens proved to be problems. Too aggressive, trying to show off, to be the big men. Chloe started to get pissed, while the Abb praised them instead. "Such mighty warriors. So brave, You are inspirations. Naturally you will go in front since that is your rightful place."

Some of them got it, some of them would learn what it was like to be the meat shield. As I mentioned we do have a healer, so hopefully it won't be their last learning opportunity.

I endured most of a third day of training when a call came from the watch tower. "Ship Ahoy!" I didn't think I could ever be so happy to see a horde of undead monster being boated at me as I was at that moment.

Then the Abb spoke up. "Looks like it will be at least a few more hours until they get here, we can fit in a little more training. Rill... kick his ass."

The dollar store had plenty of pain pills in stock. Those, a shower, some time on the pool table and I was ready to speak to Big boy.

The sea serpent swam in, another five of them in a multitude of varied if dark colors followed along, curious to see little people. Several voices began to clamor in my head nearly causing me to loose my balance before Big boy turned his head and sent something at the rest of the sea serpents that shut them up. Then he turned back to me. = How I hate youngling. Like they should be the ones to speak, like they know anything.=

=I brought your ship, and we have dealt with the tasty predators. The rest is up to you. What is the plan?=

Wait, what? I was supposed to have a plan?

Chloe spoke up. "The plan is to first establish communications. Can you relay a conversation with the captain of the ship for us Big Boy?" She smile at him encouragingly.

He narrowed his eyes on her, glance at me, then snorted. =Oh, that's how it is. Of course I can, no need for semaphore or Morse code.=

I felt confused. Chloe whispered. "We found a copy of the boy scout handbook and came up with a few back up plans while you were sleeping this morning."

Then she clasped her hands together. "Thank you Big boy, the first think I would like you to ask is if the ship has a chapel on it?"