It was rough. The terrain was all rugged and bumpy, making it hard to walk. Her metal-plated boots were not making it any easier, either. As if the weight of her armor wasn't enough, the Traveler was walking even faster as time went on. It seemed that the terrain had no effect on him whatsoever, and Elise was sure he was purposely walking on the hardest terrain possible.
They were quietly walking for quite a while, but the mountain was not getting any closer at all. After a while, she even stopped hearing the rumbling noises of the environment because of the buzzing in her head from exhaustion. At the first break they took, Elise thought she was going to drop dead for sure. The Traveler had sat on a rock waiting for her to catch her breath. When she finally got herself together, he suddenly shouted.
"A HUNDRED PUSH-UPS, A HUNDRED CRUNCHES, A HUNDRED SQUATS. NOW!"
Was he out of his mind? It was impossible in her current condition. Even without the armor on, Elise was not sure she could perform those moves a hundred times under this gravity. She looked at the Traveler with confused eyes.
"Don't look at me like that. Why don't you start with the push-ups? You are already lying face down; you are halfway there." He pointed the sword in its scabbard at Elise and swung it at the rock next to him. The sword hit the rock with a strong 'SLAP!' sound. "NOW!" He shouted.
Her eyes got bigger with shock. Her sword, her only friend. What was he thinking? "Please don't!"
"Then move your ass!" He got ready to swing the sword again. He once again had that wicked smile on his face.
That caring middle-aged man was gone. For Elise, he was the definition of evil right now. "Okay, okay. Just stop!" She forced her body to move and started the push-ups. But a hundred times! It was impossible! Was he trying to kill her?
Elise had done body training before with her sword master. Her body was not in that bad of a shape, especially for a young lady at her age, but this was way too much even for her. She forced every bit of muscle in her body, but barely ten reps were the most she could manage. Her arms couldn't handle more, and she collapsed right after.
"Good work! Catch your breath, then continue with the crunches."
"But you said a hundred."
"Ho hoh, so you still have enough energy for more. Start the crunches now, then." That wicked smile again. Yes, Elise was sure now. He was definitely an incarnation of pure evil, and he was trying to kill her. Slowly, and painfully.
With every bit of strength, she managed to force out barely ten repeats at most for both the crunches and squats. She was about to give up after the 7th repeat of the squat, but a little 'encouragement' from the Traveler in the form of her sword got her ramped up again.
"Let's rest a bit." He reached inside the layers of his clothing again and threw her a bottle of water. "Don't forget to stay hydrated. Drink it slowly."
What useful equipment, Elise thought about his strange clothing. It was funny how she could think something like that in her condition. Her curiosity was taking control of her head sometimes, a little side effect of her Blessing.
He let her rest a bit more than usual. She lay on the ground without any motion, trying to breathe in a certain rhythm to normalize her heartbeat. Her old master had taught her this. It was a technique used in battle for recovering one's condition as fast as possible to keep on fighting.
"We were lucky that you knew those moves. Also, the way you are trying to recover right now. But it isn't enough." He raised his empty hand and drew a circle in the air with his index finger. A white, glowing ring formed in the air. "This Realm has a lot of raw Energy roaming around freely, that is exactly why I chose here. You said you can learn fast, right? Let's start with something basic, then. I want you to close off your every other sense to feel the Energy around you. You are already adapted to it by your 'Blessing', kind of, so it should be easy enough."
Another thing to learn, while she couldn't even feel her body. Well, that could be an advantage, he said, close off all senses. Her body was numb all over, she was seeing blurry and hearing buzzy. Maybe this was the best time to try. Elise closed her eyes and focused. She tried to recall the things she read about mana back in her home.
"The properties of the Energy could differ between Realms. Try to forget the things you learn back then." Well, that was it for her plan. "But don't worry, it shouldn't be that hard. The Energy around here is mostly raw and quite dense, too." She had not had that much experience, but she remembered the feeling it left in her hand and tried to replicate it in her surroundings.
She focused again and tried as he said. It really was there. A lot of it, in fact. She was shocked at how easy it was to feel it. How did she not notice it before? The Energy was like a naughty child, whirling and waving around without even stopping once, colliding or interacting with each other. It was not something visible, heard, or felt with touch, so it was hard to explain. It was more like a new way of sense. She could feel about an arm's length around herself without even looking.
"I can feel it!" The first steps toward a new horizon were always so exciting.
"Well done. Now, try to draw inside your body. Command it to bend to your will. It should be easier if you imagine the way it moves toward you. You can also think of it as breathing."
"Wait. Is that why the magicians in my country use incantations and hand gestures? To make it easier to command and imagine."
"Exactly! It is not unique to your Realm; they do that in most places."
"Then, should I do them too?"
"No."
"But you said it makes it easier."
"Well, a slight hand gesture wouldn't hurt at the beginning, but if you get too used to it, it could be a hindrance really quickly. Imagine trying to speak an incantation or make a specific hand movement when you're in a tight spot. That is the main reason why most Energy users end up dead against a close combatant in melee."
He had a point. Hard way it was then. She concentrated as much as she could, but every time she thought she managed to grasp it, the Energy was finding a way to slip away.
She was exhausted from her training, and that was making her even more frustrated. Elise tried to breathe it in as the Traveler said, and tried to inhale it along with a deep breath. This was the only way she hadn't tried.
As she inhaled, the Energy rushed inside her chest with her breath and filled her lungs. It was not refreshing like a normal breath; instead, it felt like she was burning from the inside.
That feeling remained only for a moment. After that, Elise noticed her muscles were not as sore and her exhaustion was mostly gone. It refreshed her body to the point that she could move again without any pain.
"I made it!" She looked at the Traveler with glowing eyes.
"Well done! You did better than I anticipated. I was expecting you to only feel it at first, but you managed to absorb it through your mouth." There was a slight smile on his face. It resembled the smile her father used to give her when he was proud of her. "It isn't ideal to absorb through the mouth, but it is a start. You look rested enough. Let's keep moving."
It was a totally different and fascinating experience for Elise. "I feel so refreshed! Why does it work like that?"
"I wasn't going to go this deep into the topic, yet, but since you asked." He dropped down from his rock and gestured for her to get up. "The human body has its ways to turn matter, mostly food, into a variation of Energy to use, and the raw Energy tends to synchronize with its surroundings, with exceptions, of course."
"So, when I draw it in, it converts into the Energy my body needs. Am I right?" She asked, while overflowing with excitement.
"Partially, yes. We'll get into these kinds of topics later on with much more detail. We still have a long way to go; let's just focus on our current objective." The Traveler had already started to walk.
Her excitement quickly turned into dread once again as she walked. Just like that, they continued their journey toward the smoking volcano.