After finishing breakfast at the healer's guild, Cassian made his way toward the adventurer's guild, nerves buzzing under his skin. Today was the beginning of his training under Rock—the terrifying man who looked more like an orc than a human.
Once inside, he approached the reception. "Lia, um… is Rock here?"
The blue-haired girl gave him a sympathetic look before nodding. "Come on, I'll take you to the training field. Good luck," she added with a half-smile, as if sending him off to battle.
Cassian followed her through the back corridors until they emerged into a vast open training field. The place looked like it could fit fifty people comfortably, yet it was eerily empty. Just him.
He stood there, feeling like a lone sheep waiting for a hungry wolf.
And then the wolf arrived.
Cassian turned to see Rock walking in, radiating the same terrifying aura from yesterday. But this time, it was worse.
The moment Rock stepped into the field, he released a crushing killing intent straight at Cassian. It hit him like a wall. His breath caught, knees wobbled, sweat poured down his face.
"D-Damn... This orc is crazy..." Cassian thought, clenching his fists.
"Calm down. He's testing you. That's all this is."
He stood his ground, shaking like a leaf in a storm but refusing to step back.
Rock narrowed his eyes, then smirked, retracting his pressure.
"Good," he grunted. "You didn't run away. That's one point."
Cassian exhaled sharply, nearly collapsing from relief.
"Now," Rock barked. "Warm up. Run fifty laps. Go!"
"F-Fifty?!" Cassian's eyes widened in horror.
"Sixty, then! Move!"
Cassian paled but obeyed, grumbling internally. "This orc is insane. Who gives sixty laps on the first day?!"
The field was nearly two kilometers around. His frail body protested with every step. Rock didn't make it easier—he ran alongside, barking orders like a man possessed.
"Run faster!"
"A warrior only stops when he dies!"
"Your speed is a joke!"
"You want to be strong? Then show me!"
Cassian stumbled, gasped, and crawled through the laps, driven not by pride—but by fear. "If I stop, he might actually eat me..."
After what felt like an eternity, he collapsed face-first into the dirt. "Haa… haa… This orc… he didn't even let me breathe."
"Round two starts now," Rock said with the enthusiasm of a man announcing a birthday party.
Cassian muttered every curse he knew—some in ancient languages he barely remembered from books.
"Sir… just a minute..." he pleaded.
"Take it," Rock said. "But I'll double the intensity after."
Cassian shot up immediately. "Nope, I'm good. Break over."
He ran again.
After another fifteen minutes of slow dying, he collapsed again. Rock finally granted him a two-minute break, and then the real torment began.
Push-ups. Pull-ups. Squats. Stretching. Every motion sent shocks of pain through his body. Rock didn't miss a chance to humiliate him.
"You talk big but crumble like a twig!"
"You want strength? Earn it!"
"Tch. Kids these days. No conviction."
Cassian swore under his breath again and again, fueled purely by ego and a bit of spite now.
"I survived sleepless nights, outsmarted bosses, cheated deadlines... I'm not going down to one overgrown orc!"
But while his spirit burned bright, his body eventually gave in. His vision blurred, limbs trembling violently—then darkness.
He passed out.
Rock looked down at the unconscious boy and grinned.
"Any sane person would've quit halfway," he muttered. "But this brat… he kept pushing. Weak body, strong will. He's got fire and hunger. Hah. Maybe training won't be boring after all."
With that, Rock turned and left the field, leaving Cassian sprawled on the ground like a corpse—but a determined one.
-To be continued...