[1% LIFESTEAL] Chapter 12 - Less-Than-Humble Beginnings

Although he had never been in a small community like this before, Freddy decided that he hated all of them with a burning passion.

“Hey, I’ve never seen you around. Where are you from? Just visiting or?”

“Are you…? No, wait, I don’t think I’ve seen you before!”

“Did you just move in?”

One person after another greeted him and tried to make small talk—realizing that he was an outsider without fail.

There were only maybe around a few thousand people here, and they seemed rather interconnected. It wasn’t like Freddy was introverted, strictly speaking, but he never had the time to hang out with others, so his social skills were lacking.

He toured the neighborhood, gradually getting at least a bit better at returning the greetings and introducing himself, and it wasn’t long until he ran out of places to discover.

There were a few cafes and restaurants, some miscellaneous offices, and a rather big gym in one of the smaller buildings. He was sure there was more to be seen inside these places, but going in was…

Even from afar, he could tell that everyone in the cafes knew one another, and thus, those places felt about as inviting as a seat at a table full of strangers. And entering a random office without cause would make him seem suspicious.

Freddy wasn’t thinking of entering any of those, however. He was preparing himself to go somewhere even less appealing than that—the gym.

It was a three-story high section of a building painted in black and gold, with the words ‘Kargon Gym’ plastered right above the entrance, which was about as terrifying as a damn passage.

But somehow, through whatever delirium was carrying him, Freddy managed to walk through the door.

The loud groaning and steel colliding made his heartbeat immediately speed up. The space in the gym was expansive, and quite a few people, more than Freddy had expected, were already working out.

Now, he didn’t have a frame of reference for neither how much those weights weighed nor how much a human was supposed to be able to lift.

But holy fuck.

Some man was in the middle of benching a metal pole with dozens of fat weights on both sides, and when he finished the last lift and placed the bar on the holders, the ground freakin’ vibrated below Freddy’s feet.

He briefly contemplated leaving until confronted by a man wearing grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt. “Hey there, pal, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“I’ve heard that probably twenty times this morning,” Freddy replied.

“Hahahaha, new to the community, I see?” The man asked rhetorically and nodded to himself. “So, you here to get a membership or just a tour?”

“No, I—Uhm… I think I have a membership?” Freddy said with an inquisitive tone. “Or, at least, I hope I get one.”

“What’s your name?” The man asked him.

“Uh… Freddy. Freddy Stern.”

“Ohhh!” The man’s face lit up in recognition as he leaned forward to give Freddy a handshake. “You’re Madam’s guest!”

That got a few people to turn around, making Freddy wince.

“Yeah, you’re right,” the coach confirmed. “You do have a membership. And you—” The man started and then paused as he turned to face the entrance. He clapped his hands once and pointed a finger at someone who had just walked inside. “You also have a personal trainer.”

Freddy turned around and came face to face with his first neighbor—the person he had thoroughly embarrassed himself in front of.

“Mark,” the coach called. “Come here! This fella is your client!”

Mark walked forward and provided another handshake to Freddy. “Nice to meet you! I believe you already know my name, hahahaha,” he said, somewhat teasingly.

This time, Freddy firmly grabbed his hand and even made eye contact. “You, you, you,” he said, wagging his finger at the blond man. “I’m not a morning person, man. You just caught me off-guard. I’m Freddy Stern, by the way. Nice to meet you.” Then, with an awkward chuckle, he added. “Also… Uh, haha… I don’t remember a word of what you said this morning.”

“Hahahaha, fair enough,” the cheerful man laughed. “I’m Mark Afronte. Nice to meet you, Freddy.”

“Well then,” the trainer interrupted, hurriedly giving Freddy another handshake. “Also, I’m Steve. Nice to meet you too. Uhm… So,” he said as he pointed at Mark. “You don’t start work until Wednesday, so, like…” He waved his hands around until he finally remembered what he was trying to say. “Our boy here came to get a tour of the place, and you aren’t obliged to do it or anything since you haven’t started yet, but I think it would be nice. Up to you.”

“Absolutely no problem,” Mark confirmed and turned to Freddy. “But he needs some clothes.”

“Yeah, yeah, uh, just go back to the changing room. There’s plenty of stuff there, all clean.”

“Gotcha,” Mark said, fist-bumping Steve as he walked to the locker room.

Freddy glanced at the gym employee and followed after his new trainer. The locker room had an entire damn wall of clothing, footwear included, all in several colors and sizes.

He picked a plain white T-shirt, blue shorts, and white running shoes. It all felt pleasant as hell to the touch, and frankly, it allowed the air to flow through just a bit too easily. It was hard to believe that he was even wearing clothes.

Once his trainer started changing, Freddy almost dislocated his jaw in awe. This man was ridiculously shredded. His muscles looked like they had muscles, and he was so vascular that looking at his veins made Freddy feel queasy. Both of those details were quickly pushed aside, however, when Freddy noticed the numerous scars lining the man’s skin.

“So,” his trainer said as he finished dressing in an entirely black set of clothes. “How old are you, Freddy?”

“Me?” Freddy asked, tearing his gaze away from the grisly marks. “Uhm, I’m twenty-one. What about you?”

“You’re kidding? Wow, we’re the same age!”

“We are!?” Freddy asked, utterly bewildered.

“Yeah, I thought you were a bit older.”

“Same.”

A presumption they had likely made for entirely different reasons.

His trainer grabbed two towels off a pile and handed one to Freddy as they left the locker room. They exchanged a few basic questions; the more they asked, the weirder the atmosphere got between them.

From Freddy’s perspective, this man was absurdly high-class—to the point where it made no sense. Judging by what he had said, there should be no reason for him to accept a job like this unless Madam paid him a silly amount of money.

On the other hand, from this man’s perspective, Freddy must appear ridiculously low-class. As the atmosphere got too awkward to bear, they both reached a tacit agreement to shut up and stop asking things. Everyone had their own story, and they tended to share it eventually.

Even though a part of Freddy’s was locked under a non-disclosure agreement.

Their tour started on the first floor. It was where all the heavy weights were, and Mark walked through it, pointing at and naming random contraptions. Freddy did not understand what any of this was, but if he stopped to ask for every individual object, they’d spend the entire day here.

The second floor was filled with things to be punched and kicked, ranging from simple punching bags to more complex arrangements of tough pillows. There were also some ropes hanging off the tall ceiling for whatever reason.

And finally, the third floor had a large area that appeared to be for the sake of either stretching or pilates or something, as well as a wall lined with treadmills. A part was walled off, and walking through the door revealed a massive swimming pool.

After giving Freddy a brief overview of where things were, Mark took him to a corner of the third floor. A few women were stretching right next to them, and they eyed the admittedly beautiful trainer as he explained a few things to Freddy.

“So, what’s your history with sports and physical activity?”

“Uhm… I don’t really have one.”

“Wha—?” The man started. “Nothing… at all? I mean, don’t misunderstand me, this doesn’t just apply to actively training sports, but also anything casual, like playing basketball with the neighborhood kids, home workouts, that sort of stuff.”

“Uh… Yeah.” Freddy said, briefly glancing at the floor. “Does uh… Does moving boxes around count?”

“Okay,” Mark said as he scratched his head. “So it’s fair to assume you don’t know anything then?”

“Yup.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Mark said reassuringly, patting Freddy on the shoulder. “Everyone starts somewhere. So then, let’s get started with starting! Every good training session begins with a warm-up.”

The next thirty minutes were spent with Mark repeatedly explaining to Freddy how to do basic stretching and warm-up exercises. It wasn’t anything complicated, but Freddy’s coordination was so miserably bad that he failed to do even that much.

Where he just had to spin his hands around to warm up his shoulders, he fumbled, and where he had to warm up his hips, he kept lagging and failing to maintain momentum in the same direction. During jumping jacks, he almost tripped and fell over literally nothing.

It was so bad that one of the nearby girls asked her friend whether she thought he had a disability or something. Freddy couldn’t even get mad at that since he was beginning to ask himself the same thing.

Next up was a short run on a treadmill. Or rather, what was supposed to be a short run. The experience of the ground vanishing below his feet while the world stayed where it was made Freddy nauseous, and it took quite a bit of holding the rail and walking to get accustomed to the sensation.

What followed after getting accustomed was a stiff run that gave Freddy a neckache since he was absolutely focused on not tripping. Although his trainer reassured him it would be fine, he didn’t want to get crushed beneath the moving treadmill.

The rest of the introductory training session wasn’t much better.

They skipped the second floor altogether and went straight for the weights. The trainer said something about ‘splits,’ and because Freddy was a beginner, he would have to separate his muscles into smaller groups and work on those one at a time.

Today, they would be training the chest and triceps. This was where Freddy’s absolute lack of knowledge became a truly fearsome obstacle.

When told to bring the barbell over, he looked around awkwardly, looking for anything that resembled a bell. Then he couldn’t lift the barbell in a bench press, not even by itself, so he had to do small dumbells instead.

‘Who the fuck called it a dumb bell?’

His trainer explained how to exercise his chest with the dumbbells, and after confirming that Freddy was doing it at least somewhat correctly, and with 3 KG dumbbells at that, he concluded that it was safe enough to let him work on that a bit while he paid a visit to the toilet.

Freddy was instructed to do three sets of twelve reps with two-minute breaks between.

So then he, who had no damn idea which one was which, proceeded to do twelve sets of three reps. On his third set, he wondered why this was so easy, and that was right about when his trainer returned.

“Sorry, it took me a while. All the toilets were occupied. How far along are you?”

“I just finished my third rep.”

“Oh, so you’re done?”

“No, I have nine left…?”

“What?”

“What?” Freddy asked in turn.

His trainer frowned. “You have nine what?”

“Reps left?”

“Reps? What? You mean sets?”

“Huh?”

“What are you…?” The trainer’s eyes shifted, seemingly looking for a sign from a benevolent god willing to clear things up. “Just show me what you were doing.”

Then, Freddy proceeded to do his three-rep set, and Mark facepalmed so hard Freddy nearly dropped the dumbbells.

“Oh fuck me, dude, hahahahahaha!” His trainer roared with laughter. “I’m so sorry for laughing, but that’s just… Oh, man. I’m gonna have to adjust my approach to teaching you.”

***

Freddy returned back to his apartment, locking the door behind him as he entered. Physically, he felt slightly sore but didn’t feel that tired overall. Mentally, on the other hand, he was fucking exhausted.

His trainer was extraordinarily patient and understanding, but that didn’t stop Freddy from feeling embarrassed as hell. There was so much that he hadn’t known that he wouldn’t know about working out.

Now, finally, back in his apartment, he felt lost about what to do. So, he just turned on the BC and sat on the couch. He turned it off not long after, however. It wasn’t boring or anything, just…

It kind of reminded him of work. He couldn’t focus on what he was watching because he subconsciously expected someone to interrupt him. And, well, was this really what he wanted to do now?

Despite the delays and lessons, the training session hadn’t been long. Frankly, it wouldn't have lasted forty minutes if he wasn’t such a doofus. Besides the occasional promised meetings where he would practice for the interview, that was everything he was obligated to do.

Did that mean he would just allow himself to waste the rest of the time?

For the next six months, all of his expenses would be covered. On top of that, he had a thousand dollars a day to spend on whatever the hell he wanted. He hadn’t thought about it much since his fragile mind could barely comprehend it, but that meant he would have over a hundred and eighty thousand dollars to spend.

Apparently, an amount was so trivial to Madam that she didn’t consider it payment.

To Freddy, though?

This was his opportunity to become a proper arch.

After eating a quick meal, he rushed outside. It was only now that he realized that there were no stores here. After briefly asking around, he was informed that a big part of one of the buildings, or rather, the few floors at the top, was practically just a mall.

It wasn’t something that needed to be advertised to such a small community, so there was no outward indication of this.

Freddy entered the building, located the elevator, or rather, the section with fifteen elevators, entered one, and selected the eleventh floor. The building was fourteen stories high, and the button was dyed gold, indicating that that part of the building wasn’t ordinary.

“Oh my God.”

With how often he runs into space dilation, Freddy would think everyone and their grandma used it. The mall wasn’t too generous with it, but they expanded the available space by at least another thirty percent.

The white marble flooring and walls felt like they stretched in every direction, and the glass ceiling scattered light all over. Barely-suspended bridges connected different mall sections over the atrium, and Freddy was surprised at how many different stores there were. The vast majority seemed to be fashion brands.

It didn’t take him long to locate what he was looking for. There was a library just to the left of where he was, and he promptly headed toward it.

The employee asked him what he wanted, and Freddy informed the man that he was looking for guides to water arts or anything of the sort.

There was a lot of material, and the man suggested Freddy buy a standard guide for beginners. The perfect place to start, he thought—until the cashier informed him that it cost nine-hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

‘Holy fucking balls, what is this book made of?’

Although his poverty instincts did their best to dissuade him from buying it, he knew damn well that he would have to get used to pricing like this sooner or later.

The scan of the card took a piece of Freddy's soul with it, and he walked out holding the single most expensive object he had ever purchased.

Once he returned to the apartment, he cracked it open and quickly learned why it cost so much. Now, would he say that the price was entirely justified?

Absolutely yes.

Even putting the animated, moving drawings visualizing what the text was saying and the shimmering runes that helped him feel a particular flow of essence aside, the book held broad sections on right about every class of water art.

Offensive, defensive, movement, martial arts, short-range, long-range, hell, even how to summon water elementals! The only thing it was missing was a direct ether imprint like those that the scrolls he had used had. They imbued his soul directly with an ether shell, while this book merely taught him how to develop one himself.

That was still precious information, and with how well-telegraphed it was, Freddy didn’t doubt that he had just made one of the best purchases of his life.

Unless he had gotten scammed like the ignoramus he was. But he doubted that. If anything, he felt this was too cheap for what it provided him with, even with his instincts trying to convince him otherwise.

While he wanted to spend today planning out his schedule, it wasn’t long until the book consumed him, and one shiny page after another flipped.

***

Two-hundred years ago, on an otherwise unassuming day, something weird happened. The laws of physics suddenly changed.

Gravity no longer worked by the same principles, nor did leverage and pressure. Heat and cold went from abstract concepts that were only valid from the human perspective to diametric properties of matter. Electricity was still real, but it no longer followed the principles of the old, and it was debatable whether electrons even existed anymore.

Space became malleable. Light was split into information that traveled infinitely fast but carried no energy and particles that could travel so slowly that relatively ordinary humans could perceive them moving. Darkness became more than just the absence of light.

As far as old world archs, some of whom lived to this very day, claimed, the way things felt in everyday life remained exactly the same.

But almost none of the old-world technology was usable.

Yet, the most significant change of all was the appearance of ether.

While reading through this book, Freddy found himself… not disappointed, per se, but more… No, he was pretty damn disappointed.

Half the book was just, ‘Here is a cool idea, but wait, it’s actually stupid as fuck, and we included it here so that we could preemptively crush your dreams before you waste your time trying to make it work.’

‘What’s that, a water blade!? Water shaped into a sword can’t cut shit, dumbass!

Oh my God, a water bullet? You’re an idiot for even entertaining the idea.

A shield of water, you say? What are you defending yourself from, a warm gust of wind?‘

However, it didn’t dismiss any idea as objectively bad, which made sense. It simply gave a run-down of what to expect and, if one wanted to, how to make it work. Talents could always make a stupid idea brilliant.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that water had strengths and weaknesses. Water spells doing damage firmly belonged on the side of its shortcomings.

Water affinity thrived at doing two things: support and martial arts—

A strange ringing sound echoed around Freddy, and his attention was violently ripped away from the book. His heart raged in his chest, and he sweated profusely. It wasn’t long until the ringing sounded again.

“Wait, is that a doorbell?”

He hadn’t had one back in his old place, so it surprised him. Although, now that he knew what it was, it didn’t make his anxiety magically vanish.

The clock showed that it was almost 6 PM, and it wasn’t like he had been expecting guests.

The bell rang again, and he realized he had no choice but to answer the door.

‘Could it be the assistant?’

For a second, that made Freddy panic. What if his visit to the gym today or the preemptive meeting with the trainer violated the contract somehow? No matter how he thought of it, neither of those should be a problem.

‘Oh fuck, what if I wasn’t allowed to spend money with the card yet?’

Had he misheard the man? Had he been too dazed to hear that he could only use it after Wednesday? What if he—?

His thoughts were interrupted by yet another ring, and he knew that, no matter what or who it was, it was time to get up and open the door.

One step after another felt like they were dragging him to an executioner, and with great reluctance, Freddy opened the door—only to spot his trainer, Mark, in the middle of turning around and leaving.

“Oh,” the young man said. “I thought you weren’t home, so I—” he started but stopped as he instead bowed to Freddy. “I am here to apologize for my behavior today.”

“What behavior?” Freddy asked, relieved that it hadn’t been trouble but also confused.

“I shouldn’t have laughed at you.”

“Oh, that?” Freddy asked, chuckling slightly. “Hahaha, honestly, man, that was pretty funny, even in my opinion.”

“No, I really, really shouldn’t have laughed at you,” he said as he got up from his bow. “Technically speaking, I haven’t started work yet, but ridiculing you in any way is a pretty clear violation of my employment contract.”

“Oh… That’s what you mean.”

“Yeah. Uhm… That was pretty inexcusable, not to mention highly unprofessional, and if it made you uncomfortable, you should request that I be replaced with someone more qualified.”

“Well… shit, man, you’re putting me on the spot here, uhm—” Freddy said, scratching the back of his head. “I really don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” He asked, deflating a bit.

“I mean, as you said, you aren’t working yet, so technically, I’ve forced you into unpaid overtime, not to mention disturbed your gym schedule. I think that makes us even.”

“Hahaha… Still. There is no need to be considerate of me. Being comfortable, especially when getting started, is essential for falling in love with the process and building motivation. Think about it and speak to Matt Canstone about this,” he suggested. “Have a good evening, and I’ll see you around.” He turned around and walked away, but before he could get far, Freddy walked over and grabbed him by the arm.

He didn’t know why he’d done that, but his mouth opened before he could even begin questioning his actions. “Do you want to have dinner with me?”