The morning light crept in, and Woon, a creature of habit, awoke early. Yet, a greater surprise awaited him: Eric was already up, even earlier than Woon himself.
"Huuuhaaaa!" Woon stretched, a wide yawn escaping him.
"You're already awake, huh? What a miracle!" Woon quipped.
"You weak ass, do you think I'm just a slacker?" Eric retorted, a playful edge to his voice.
"Well, yeah, you are. You wake up late, you're broke, and you can't even help me when needed!" Woon shot back.
"That's just my usual routine. What can you do about it?"
"Then that makes you a slacker!"
"Whatever, man!"
"By the way, Eric," Woon began, his tone growing serious. "You know how weak I am, right? I just got lucky that I managed to defeat that Ogre, and honestly, it wasn't even in its right mind. So, I'm asking... can you train me to become stronger?"
Eric's eyes gleamed. "Which way do you want? Easy or pretty easy?"
'What kind of choices are those?' Woon thought, bewildered. "What's 'easy'?"
"Simple. You can already feel the energy surrounding you, correct?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Woon nodded eagerly.
"So, swear to your heart while gathering the multiple energies and say, 'I, Gyeom Ryu-woon, swear to become a servant of Eric Fall for my entire life!'"
Woon's brow furrowed. "What's getting stronger got to do with becoming your servant?"
"SECRET!" Eric declared, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
'He's hiding too many things!' Woon silently fumed. "What's the second choice?"
"You'll train 'til you die. That's all!"
'What?' Woon's mind reeled. "What do you mean by that?"
"SECRET!" Eric repeated, his grin widening.
'This bastard! I want to just kill him, but I can't!' Woon inwardly raged.
"The second one," Woon finally said, a grim resolve in his voice. "I'll do that!"
"Why not the first one?" Eric prompted.
"I don't want to become your servant. You'll just order me to do ridiculous things!"
"Okay, fine. What can we do?" Eric shrugged.
"Tomorrow morning, we'll head to Karon City. We'll use the teleportation tower again!"
"What? That transportation is sickening as hell!" Woon groaned, remembering the last trip.
"Well, we don't have a choice. We need to get there before it gets dark!"
"Hahahaha! Just get used to it. It'll be less painful since it's your second time!" Eric laughed, a hint of teasing in his voice.
Woon and Eric immediately set off for the teleportation tower and soon arrived back in Karon City. As expected, after the teleportation, Woon vomited, though it was less severe than his first experience.
"Huaaghghh!" Vomit
"You bastard! It's just as painful as before! You said it'd be less painful!" Woon choked out, glaring at Eric.
"Did I say that?" Eric feigned innocence.
'Playing dumb, huh?' Woon thought, rolling his eyes. "Let's go to the inn now. I wanna rest!"
"Sure, you go. I'll take the money from the guild! Just rest really good!" Eric waved him off.
'What's wrong with him? He's being saint-like again!' Woon mused, a flicker of suspicion in his mind. "Yes... sure?"
'What is he giggling about?' Woon wondered, watching Eric with a wary eye.
Woon immediately headed to bed, eager for rest before tomorrow's training with Eric. He slept soundly throughout the night. Suddenly, a sharp kick jolted him awake.
"It's time to wake up!" Kick
"Uughhhh, fu...ck! What was that for?" Woon grumbled, rubbing his side.
"It's already morning, idiot! It's time to grind your bones to the ground!" Eric declared, full of energy.
"Just wait, it's not even 6 AM yet!"
"Change quickly! I'll wait for you at the training ground at the old man's store!"
"Okay, just go now!" Woon sighed, throwing off his covers.
Woon quickly dressed, left the inn, and immediately headed to Ron's shop, where Woon and Eric had planned their training.
"Yoww, you're here so quickly! Put on these weights!" Eric greeted him with a wide grin, holding out four heavy-looking bands.
"Are these supposed to go on my hands and feet?" Woon asked, bewildered.
"Yeah, yeah!" Eric confirmed.
"Okay..." Woon began, strapping them on.
"What is this?!" Woon exclaimed, his eyes widening. "This is freaking heavy!"
"Well, as it should be. Each weight is over 25 kilos, and there are four of them, so that's 100 kilos. It should be easy enough for you!" Eric mused, thinking, 'Since he defeated that Ogre, it should be easy enough!'
"Fuck!..." Woon muttered under his breath. 'I'm exhausted already just by putting it on!'
"Drink this. It should help you!" Eric offered a vial with a grey liquid.
"What is this?" Woon peered at it.
"It's Energy Driver!"
"Energy Driver?"
"Yeah. Although humans can sense different kinds of energies, they can't collect them naturally, so we use Energy Driver to forcefully gather it while enhancing physical abilities!" Eric explained.
"I see." Woon took a gulp.
"It should last for a day, so go now and run around the district!"
"What? Around the district?" Woon's jaw dropped.
"It should be at least 20 kilometers just to go 'round the whole district!" Eric informed him cheerfully.
"Well, yeah, you chose this path. You gotta take it!" Eric said, gesturing towards the door.
"Ahhhh!" 'I can barely move in these weights!' Woon cried out internally.
"Ahhhhhh!" 'I'm about to pass out! I didn't even reach the door out!'
"Go, go, go! You can do it!" Eric cheered him on.
'Bastard! He said it would be easy, but this is beyond hell!' Woon thought, his muscles already screaming.
Woon began to walk around the district, each step feeling like he was pushing a massive boulder. The weights dragged him down, but Woon's unwavering determination wouldn't let him falter.
'No matter what, I'll do the things I couldn't do in my past life!' Panting
'I don't want to go back to that place again!'
'I finally have a friend here, and I don't want it to be taken away!'
'Just like what happened back then!'
'I will not live like a loser who locked himself in his room!'
'I'll strive for my own happiness, and I'll do whatever I want in this world!'
Woon continued to walk, relentlessly, over and over again. His arms and legs were tired, shaking with effort, but he pressed on. The burning sun made his ordeal even harder, but his sheer determination propelled him forward until night fell, and Woon finally completed his circuit around the district.
"Haaaaah haaaaaah haaaaaah!" Woon gasped, collapsing onto the ground.
"It's finished!" he croaked out.
"Yeah, yeah. Good job on that!" Eric said, sounding oddly calm.
"Good job my ass! It's tiring! I feel like my muscles are torn apart. I can't even feel my limbs!" Woon retorted, exasperated.
"Let's go back to the inn and rest!" Eric suggested.
"Finally!" 'I'll take this off first!' Woon thought, reaching for the weights.
"Wait, wait, wait! What are you doing?" Eric asked, stepping in front of him.
"I'm taking this off! It's tiring to just let it be there!" Woon argued.
"No, you'll be wearing that every single damn day!"
"What?" Woon stared at him.
"Do you want to kill me?"
"Even when I'm asleep, you want me to carry this around?"
"Well, yeah, it's part of the training!" Eric chirped.
'FUCKK!!!!!!!!!!' "I shouldn't have chosen this path!" Woon internally screamed.
"It's too late to go back!" Eric grinned.
"Fuck you!" Woon snapped, lunging at Eric with a punch that slightly missed due to the heavy weights on his wrist.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! That freaking hurt, dude!" Eric yelped, dodging back.
"Get in here! I'm not finished!" Woon growled.
"I better go now, old man!" Eric called to Ron, already backing away.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just come back here when needed!" Ron replied.
"Hey, get back here!" Woon yelled after him.
"You better hurry! I'll eat all the food on the table!" Eric taunted, laughing and giggling as he ran at a slow pace, as if mocking Woon's weighted movements.
'This prick couldn't wait for me, but that's what's good about him; he's so energetic!' Woon thought, a reluctant smile touching his lips. "Hey, wait!"