"So what is all of this for?"
Zandre asked once they were back in their room, and Place was once again fiddling with his stuff.
Their other two roommates were still fast asleep.
"To both maintain and improve my physical capabilities."
"How does that work?"
"If you put enough stress onto your muscles, enough to slightly, slightly, harm them, they heal and get a little bit stronger, up to a certain point."
"Wow..." Zandre pondered what he had just learned for a moment, then asked a question.
"So this is the 'Training' that I was asked about?"
"Somewhat."
Place turned to look at him.
"I must admit, I am very envious of your body, it was quite a shock to hear that this is your body when it hasn't been tempered."
Place frowned slightly as he looked away.
"I can not imagine what it could be capable of after just a few months of rigorous training."
"Something wrong?" Sensing a slight shift in Place's tone, Zandre asked.
"It's just..." Place stood up and faced even further away.
Zandre waited for Place to continue.
"Such a waste of potential." Place uttered out after a few seconds of silence.
He let out a deep breath.
"But I have no right to tell you what to do with your body, it is your choice."
Zandre maintained his silence, unsure what to do.
"Let me know if you ever want to train your body, I'll give you some direction."
"Thank you."
The next few minutes passed in silence as Zandre watched Place do his body exercises.
"Is there something you want to say?" Place asked, his voice slightly strained as he did weighted squats, carrying dumbbells in both his hands.
"That looks... painful." He asked slowly, the much increased light streaming in from the windows letting him see how tightly-wound Place looked.
"It... is."
Place slowly lowered the weights to the floor, then slowly straightened up before turning to his audience of a single person.
"It is also meant to." He clarified, slightly out of breath.
"It has to damage you to some extent."
"Can't you take a potion for that? I remember there being plenty of pain-relieving elixers, right?"
"No, that is a very bad idea."
Place's face gained a heavy seriousness.
"Those are only for people in extreme pain, using them for a trivial matter like this is not only completely wasteful, it is also completely an idiotic thing to do."
"Eh?" Zandre was taken aback by the sudden lecture, and could make out a vague sound of confusion.
"Pain is what lets you know when to stop." Place stared into Zandre's eyes as he spoke, making him quite uncomfortable.
"Without your pain receptors letting you know when to stop, you could very well use a muscle until it is damaged till the point you need a full week of healing, and trust me, they won't give you pain-relieving elixers at that time."
Zandre moved back as Place got a bit too close.
"I... see."
"There is no easy way to grow, understand?"
"I understand."
"Good."
Zandre fell back onto his bed as Place pulled back suddenly.
"Did you have to get so close?" He complained slightly as he got back up.
"I had to make you realize the graveness of that question."
"I could have gotten that by that voice."
"Just making sure."
Zandre let out a huff as Place made to start another of his exercises.
"Another word of warning." Place suddenly stopped his movements and spoke.
"Anything like it gives you an easy way to power, it doesn't, the harder parts and the prices are just hidden from you."
Zandre was not sure what Place meant by that, but he decided to keep it in mind. Place was the kind of person who was worth listening to.
***
"What are you doing?"
Otis rubbed his bleary eyes as he looked at Zandre, who was currently doing handstand pushups on the floor.
"Training!" Zandre remarked. "Place is guiding me!"
"Ung... You don't need to shout."
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
Otis looked over to see Raise emerging from the bathroom, already fully dressed in his uniform.
"It's not that late, is it?"
He squinted as he tried to read the recently mounted clock on the opposite wall.
"It is not." Place spoke as Zandre hopped off his arms, and back to his feet.
"There is still quite a bit of time before 'regular' breakfast time. However,"
The 'However' made Otis turn his head.
"I and Zandre missed a bit of yesterday's lessons, so Raise has generously offered to give us what we missed."
"A studious bunch, aren't you?" Otis got up from his bed, and stretched.
"Are you coming along, or can we depart?"
"Oh, leave him here." Raise interjected before Otis could respond. "He takes way too long to get ready, we'll be too late if we wait for him."
Otis ignored Raise's words, either in too good a mood, or just deciding not to bother with him.
"Go ahead, I'll come later."
"See you later then."
They made their way out of the building, Raise and Zandre talking about something involving muscles, perhaps about the recent training the latter had just done.
The three of them exited the building, and then came to an immediate stop.
'Oh great.' Place had an urge to scream.
Prismella Magi-child was standing in front of their dorm building, seemingly waiting for something.
'Just great.'