[Flashback] 'Bob'bing for Apples (Bob)

[Xalet]

Xalet had managed to secure his rock well enough and was making good headway toward the shore of the springs. Dodging rocks and midgets was surprisingly dangerous work, and all this time Xalet figured that today would be an easy day of training compared to their typical misadventures. Something strange struck Xalet after a while though, past the previous splash that Bob had made upon entering the water, Xalet hadn't heard much from him since there. Xalet was no veteran swimmer himself, treading water and moving up and down was about the extent of his abilities, along with a doggy paddle or side stroke to get from one place to the other. It was then that he noticed Bob had been taking a long time down at the bottom.

Getting toward the shore, Xalet managed to find a spot where his feet could reach the ground thanks to his overall height. Once they securely planted themselves, he shoved the rock from his shoulder and let it soar onto the beach, hitting the dirt with a dull thud. He then caught as much breath as his lungs could carry and submerged himself back into the water. It was there he noticed that Bob was struggling with the rock he had chosen, and had finally given up due to the exertion burning all of the oxygen from his lungs. They had gotten themselves into a few situations together, but the desperation here was very apparent.

Bending his knees and kicking some sediment up from the ground, Xalet swam toward Bob beneath the surface. The Akalak found swimming beneath the water a bit easier than on top of the water, but he was thankful that the temperature and visibility was on his side, otherwise who knew if he would have been able to see Bob without it. Kicking his feet and swinging his arms, Xalet felt the air within his lungs waning as well, much faster due to the dire nature of the situation. The last thing Xalet wanted was a training partner drowning during an exercise, how would he explain that one?

It may have seemed like an eternity when you were running out of air, but in a short time Xalet reached Bob and reached out to grab the man by anything he could get, pulling him upward toward the surface. Once they eventually reached it, Xalet could cough a mouthful of water and shake his hair from his eyes. Only then would he be able to address Bob, "You picked one of the heavier rocks...you're supposed to work up to those..." he had to pause for a moment to clear some of the remaining water from his throat. It burned slightly, he remembered the feeling when he was young of diving into the springs and getting water up his nose, stinging his sinus cavity and throat. "That's what a warm up is for."

[Bob Barton]

The water was beginning to push down on Bob and besides from it all he could see was the sun that was shining through it. That was no light at the end of the tunnel but Bob would have to get to it nonetheless or the clear waters would soon turn into pitch black darkness. In fact that was exactly what was going on as more air was released to the surface the blackness started to surround him. By the time Xalet had reached him Bob would be near passing out. Eyes shut that he will not know who got him but upon feeling the firm grasp of the akalak's hand from the liquid springwater, Bob would instinctively continue what he was doing earlier and kick his legs into full power while spinning his free arm all the way until he reached the top. Hopefully his actions helped the akalak more than being an impedement or Xalet may very well make up an excuse of why his training partner drowned after getting rid of the dwarf for all the trouble that he had caused or future trouble that he may cause.

Meekly lying down on the ground Bob would have to cough out the water which he might have accidentally breathed in but after that he is going to forget about cleaning out his ears because he just survived a near death experience yet again. "I picked on *cough* the crazier mooks?" What the hell was Xalet talking about? That was ten times crazier than all of his Priskil talk from last time. "Well, *cough* of course I will hurt on *cough* those if they even exist." Bob was still trying to recover and struggled to push himself up when finally his hearing cleared up. "If you had chosen to run with *cough* me then you would have gotten your warm up as well. So stop complaining" about it "but thanks for saving me *cough*" since there was no one else around and Bob knew that he could not have made it on his own.

Bob just stared at the pile of other rocks wondering "what are we going to do now?" They could either start with new rocks or get the one that Bob left behind. Hopefully by then Xalet would already explain to Bob how the rocks worked so that he can say that "I chose the smallest rock already! Are you trying to say that you have been trying to trick me" yet again just like when he found himself running to the boar "to do something that I wouldn't have otherwise?" If they were going to continue, Bob would agree but then Xalet would have to "chose the correct rock for me. I don't want a repeat of me getting a heavier one and risk drowning just because of your tricks." Xalet could even be tricking him when he helped to choose the rocks but Bob knew that the akalak had some obsession on honor, truth and whatever else strange principles he had which would hopefully force him to be true to his words.

[Xalet]

With enough effort, the two men eventually had made it to the shore, and not a moment too soon apparently. That's what happened when two people with terrible swimming abilities met Xalet supposed. The only way to become less terrible was to practice though, and so the Akalak felt that his choice of training was appropriately made. Carrying Bob was a pretty good work out, not exactly what Xalet had in mind, but still very muscularly stimulating. The Akalak cleared his throat a bit as he went down onto one knee upon the beach before rolling rearward onto his backside, wiping some of the residual droplets of water from his face so he could see more clearly. Bob was still breathing, that was a good thing.

Then Bob started speaking, that was a bad thing. At first Xalet wondered if there may have been some brain damage, but they hadn't been down there long enough for something like that to happen, had they? The squire didn't know how to reply to any of Bob's questions, that was until he figured out that Bob simply didn't hear him right, probably from water infiltrating nearly every orifice he had. Better to just leave those comments alone than to go into detail about them. That was until he heard Bob give his thanks. Xalet didn't have the best of memories, but that was the first time he had heard Bob verbally say thanks for anything at all, as far as he could recall. It actually made him feel pretty good about himself. "No problem."

On the talk of the rocks, Xalet apparently had to go into more detail, "I thought you were going to test them out first. Pick them up, get a feel for them. White is the lightest, followed by green, the one I chose. Then yellow, then black, then purple, and finally blue. I put them out in order, but I suppose I should have said something, sorry. The black one was probably two or three times as heavy as the one I chose. For you, you might start with white." Xalet then felt it necessary to further elaborate, "When you begin you want to work up toward your maximum potential. Using a lesser weight is our 'warm up', it gets the muscles you'll need ready. When you find a weight that you can just barely manage to work with, that is your 'working weight'. Using that weight makes your body recognize that it needs to improve to struggle less."

Putting it that way may have given Bob the idea that it was best to always work with the heaviest weight, even if you couldn't manage to get through the exercise with it. For such clarification Xalet was quick to add, "But you need to pick a weight that you can complete the exercise with, otherwise you won't get the full range of motions for your entire body. I did ok with the green, so I'm going to move up to the yellow. We can leave the black one at the bottom for now, I don't think anyone will take it. Try the white, and then if you find no problems, move to the green, the one I just used. Once you're feeling ready, that is."

[Bob Barton]

Xalet did not know how to swim and he suggested this training. He should have at least learned it a little bit or get someone else who knew how to swim to escort them. What if the both of them drowned? More importantly, what if Bob drowned? The question was asked twice for Bob because he was just that important. The smaller one did not have the luxury of working out while getting out of the water but fighting against the pressure and clinging on tightly to the bigger one could be considered workout enough especially after all those rocks which Xalet only decided to mention after was arranged in the order of getting heavier. Bob should not have thanked the akalak after all because it was his mistake which caused this in the first place. He really must have had some brain damage to even consider let alone show appreciation because all it did was make the akalak a pleased person. This just has to stop before it gets the squire too big for himself and he already was that big.

"Only people without sense would waste their time testing something which is already so evident" like victory or defeat in a game Bob explained. So Bob actually started above the middle mark and lived to tell the tale? While it was his mistake to assume it from the colours it was "your fault for not explaining the colours earlier. Next time use numbers. That will be a lot more easier." Bob brushed the water off of him and took some deep breaths until he was ready again to make another attempt. "Last time I trust a light headed" goddess loving "akalak..." he mumbled to himself dissatisfied with how everything was going. So he had to start with the white rock first before moving up but Xalet started with the green. If they were really that heavy, how did Xalet bring them up to the spring to begin with even if he had it easier carrying them in a bag?

It must all be another trick! The earlier one with the colours might have worked but not this time. Bob is not going to let the akalak upstage him so he stood in front of the yellow one which is Xalet is to be trusted exactly heavier than the green and lighter than the black. "See? Easy" he announced after grabbing it and lifting it up to his waist level "and I can go further!" pulling on his arms more to get the rock higher until it reached above his head. Bob kept it there for a few moments as the sweat started to flow but he would just mistake it as the water from the springs until his arms started to waver and get tired and Bob dropped it down on the ground. Yes, the motions were easy but could Bob do it in the water later? Xalet should do his role as the instructor properly or soon Bob will repeat the actions in the water again and have another drowning experience like he had with the black rock.

[Xalet]

That was fair enough. Xalet hadn't explained things so well, and this left Bob dissatisfied as they both made their way back up to the top of the arch where the rest of the rocks still lie. All the while that they walked, the Akalak took the time to try and think about how to best describe the nature and difficulties of the exercise. Xalet was just a beginning teacher, after all. Everything he had learned about teaching had essentially been through Bob, and being a pupil of teaching himself. That as it was, he never truly had any practical experience until he had met the Human man, although he was getting plenty of it now. He was also getting plenty of criticism, although he wasn't exactly sure how 'constructive' it was.

He watched as Bob picked up the yellow rock easily enough, but things were different when you added water into the mix. Xalet knew he himself wasn't exactly a strong swimming, but he never had considered Bob. At the very least he knew the Human couldn't be any worse off than he, and if he was lucky, perhaps Bob was like a fish out of water. That luck never showed itself though. Nope, Bob had exactly the same inexperience in swimming that Xalet did. There was only one way to learn how to swim though, and it couldn't be done in a classroom. You had to get out there and get wet.

"Yes, it is easy that's because much of the weight is resting on your legs." said the Akalak, pointing downward. At the very least, Xalet did know a thing or two about strength training, including how the application of strength worked, "With a good stance and pressure going from your feet into the ground you can lift lots of weight easily. It's how I got all these rocks here. When you lift weight without counter-pressure though, like when you lift it while under water, the difficulty is much higher. See, instead you need to swim against the water hard enough to move the weight, that takes a lot more effort because you can't rely on the lines of your core."

After Xalet spoke, he realized that terminology might require a further explanation, "With strength, many things are stronger in a line. When you lifted the rock up, you lifted it in a line. But try to lift it outward in an arc." Whether or not Bob would actually try that, the squire would continue, "It's much more difficult. In the water, after you leave the ground and swim to the surface you have no lines, so lifting the weight is at it's most difficult. But, unlike simply standing, under water you get a chance to use all of your muscles at once. So you see, with water you can lift less weight, but work more muscles and still get a good work out."

There was still plenty Bob had to learn about strength training though. Up until now, Xalet realized that mostly he was giving Bob the exercises to do, but not exactly the knowledge about how or why they worked. He would notify Bob of a little tidbit of information here and there, but otherwise his tight-lipped nature kept him from going into any real detail. He had to change that. "When you work out, you want to start light. That gets everything prepared for something heavier. Then you work up until you find a weight that you can just barely complete the exercise with. This stimulates the muscles to overcome that difficulty, and gets them stronger. So, try something lighter before you try the yellow under water. Why not the white, or the green? Then, if it is very easy, move to the yellow."

[Bob Barton]

Bob had no experience in teaching either but he had experience in learning, and giving his teachers hell like he did in Zeltiva so Xalet had a very good way to test himself if he wants to keep at teaching if he fails being a knight. Bob will not see his criticism as not constructive either since it is still possible to make a house of shit just the same as snow or in this case, stones. Bob already put one on the base, that being the yellow one and he was about to move on to another one when Xalet came and told him that it was easy because of complicated things like resting the weight and the pressure. If that was not bad enough Xalet went and made things even more complicated by adding a whole lot of other things that Bob had to process before he begins. Looks like Xalet was going to have to stick with his plan of becoming a knight because he, and whoever was going to be his students are not going to have a good future if he really did decide to become a teacher. He did not even give any examples that Bob could use to do what he just told him to.

So Bob had to try it on his own as usual and hope that he did not get overwhelmed or worse, drowned especially since he was taking the next heavier rock which was the black. As Xalet said it should be easier to lift on land and Bob remembered that it was not too difficult for him to throw it into the water. Bob held on to the black stone on the ground and lifted it up as he did with the yellow feeling more pressure on his feet which supported him but still manageable all the same. Then he tried the arc method Xalet told him about. Bob waited for a while until he felt that he had a proper grip on the stone then he stood straight up to lift his body and the stone at the same time. This time instead of pushing the stone upwards, Bob kept his arms straight throughout only moving his shoulders to continue the movement of the stone upwards and outwards where it moved in an arc like Xalet had said. It reminded him a lot of the throwing motion he did earlier which made Bob say "of course lifting it in an arc is easy. It is just continuing the momentum instead of using my own strength!"

At least that part of Xalet's lesson was out of the way and now it was time for the next step. Bob had to choose from the white or the green and so he picked the lighter of the two. He did not want a repeat of the near drowning from earlier with the black one and he already proven with his previous efforts that he was more than capable of lifting a rock on his own. After getting the rock into the water by tossing it in yet again Bob asked Xalet "well? You want to go in at the same time or you want me to try it first?" In the end Bob dived in after the rock because with Xalet up on the top it will be safer and more easier for him to dive in when something goes terribly wrong as it always did. Just a little bit more of this today and it will all be over hopefully for the exercises and not his life. Bob swam towards the colored rock in the clear water only using his legs to propel him downwards so that he can save his energy on his arms and body for the rock later but without his arms to steer him he got a little off course when he touched the ground. In the end he still had to waste energy to walk underwater to the rock just a few steps away from him.

But Bob persevered and reached his prize! Digging his feet into the dirt like he did earlier for support, Bob clutched tightly on to the rock and prepared to lift the rock. As Xalet had said and as he had tried it earlier, he went for the arc method. Pushing the rock back slightly, Bob quickly switched it into an outward pull taking the rock away from him and then up and up in the water before going away up to the top where he started to push it. It was so much easier and he hated Xalet for not telling him how the colors weight system worked sooner. Once the rock reached above his head, Bob took a jump from his legs and swam upwards kicking towards the top. Again the arms were not needed now because as long as he got up he knew that he had succeeded and at the top he pushed the rock to the ground. Still in the water he asked his teacher whether "are you going to show or tell me anything? Or should I go and get myself another rock." Bob was hopeful that it will not be another rock so that he could get some rest or they could be done for the day and tried to suggest that they end if "Xalet. You should be pretty tired already right?"

[Xalet]

Xalet tried to determine if Bob really was understanding what he was explaining. Certainly the large Akalak didn't have all that much teaching experience in the world, but his first 'technical' student was one huge pain in the neck. Xalet had the patience of a saint, luckily. His other half, Xuphim, did not. It was all Xalet could do to keep that other half no where near the surface of his outward characteristics. Knowing Xuphim he would probably end up loading the crossbow while waiting for Bob to surface upon his next run. That wouldn't be good. Xalet tried to steer clear of murder whenever it began to rear it's ugly head.

"No, go ahead." Xalet urged him, letting Bob get the first touchdown into the warm waters of the springs. At least from up high Xalet could more easily witness whether or not Bob would survive this time. As the squire watched closely it appeared Bob was doing much better this time around. Feeling comfortable about his pupils progress, Xalet felt himself able to remove his eyes from Bob long enough to pick up the black rock and toss it off to the side, the large chunk of minerals landing into the water with a loud plop, sending sprinklings of water all around. He then called down to Bob before preparing to jump in, "Do it again. Repetition is the basis of strength training. Work your muscles to fatigue. Feel the rocks get heavier as the muscles tire, and then focus upon completing the task. This is what creatures muscular endurance and strength."

Building one's body was always more easily said than done, and without further ado Xalet propelled himself from the top of the arch, landing rather gracelessly into the waters below. The sheer amount of fluid his large body could displace created a rather large splash, along with a sizable ripple effect emanating out from his point of impact. He came up to breathe, moving as much air into his lungs as he could before he dove downward, his hands and feet pedaling through the water as best as he could given his very limited swimming experience. Pulling himself to the bottom he reached the dark colored rock and pulled it upward, setting his feet upon the rocky bottom. He let the chunk rest upon his knee for a moment before pushing off as hard as he could to get momentum up toward the top.

His eyes strained to see the brilliant light of the sun above him, filtered through the crystalline water. One hand released the rock to help his feet kick him to the surface, but at this point even the athletic Xalet was waning in his ability to keep his head above the water. As his face exploded out from the surface he swung his hair back and forth, trying to clear the water from his eyes before continuing to the shore, starting to feel his body burn as it struggled to keep working at maximum capacity. "Go Bob, keep going. I'm a little tired, but not tired enough yet!"

Who knew how long the two would be at it. Time after time moving those rocks up and down the side of the arch, tossing them in, and recovering them. The closer they would get to muscular failure, the closer Xalet, Bob, or possibly both would come to having an experience closest to the first time Bob obtained one of the heavier rocks. It got to the point where it was all Xalet could do to manage to roll the rock onto the shore before landing down upon his buttocks on the sandy shore. Beneath the water it didn't matter how tall you were, how much you weighed, or how big your muscles were, after several laps back and forth anyone would have gotten tired, just as Xalet was after many repetitions. Even the sun seemed to be getting lethargic as it moved closer to the horizon. "Now we're working..." he called to Bob in between trying to catch his breath, "...how are you feeling now?"

[Bob Barton]

The more the merrier as they say and Bob always liked meeting new people that he can use...as a friend. Just how bad could Xalet's other half be even if there was a little bit of a risk of murder? The eternal rest given as opposed to what the rotten slave driving akalak wanted Bob to do now which is continue on with another rock while he stayed high, dry and resting by himself. In Bob's mind ideas were starting to form on how he was going to get back on Xalet. He already knew quite a bit about the akalak by now and it would be pretty easy if he wanted to guilt trip him for making him so exhausted with the exercises. Enough to the point that he would be able to get a few days away from the purple man and even a ride down the springs. Xalet may be no boar but he was just as pig headed as the one they both took down a few days ago.

How did he prove this feeling that Bob had? Why by jumping into the water himself but not before tossing in a rock of his own without any warning whatsoever. The very same black rock that Bob had difficulty earlier possibly to spite the smaller man of the physical differences between the two of them. It was to Bob's advantage of not having another person in his head telling him what to do but disadvantage of being smaller and weaker to be told by someone else when he is only a human. "What?" Bob asked while wiping off the water which sprinkled on his face from the splashing rock and finding himself forced to do it again when Xalet dived after it. He watched as the akalak went down mimicking what he said about completing the task by getting fatigued with a smirk on his face because "I should stop now since I am already tired" which would not be heard by the akalak since he was already in the water.

Taking the chance while Xalet was busy, Bob got out of the water and sat by the rock watching as the gigantic mass of purple descended into the clear, steaming water. His excuse for his rest that "I need to get the rock back into the water" was already prepared. He saw the black rock starting to move like in stages counting down how long he had left before his coach was going to appear again. "Coming? Not?" he asked himself until he saw the rock getting slightly bigger as the akalak pushed it upwards when he took his own rock that he has been using and threw it into the water again the same way before he immersed himself into the water just in time to greet Xalet. "Just how tired is enough for you?" he asked before quickly diving into the water one more time without giving any chance of hearing anything else.

Bob did not know how long the both of them had been at it either but he knew it had to be long. As time passed, he found it harder to push the rock against the water. He got slower in rising until it got really close to the limits he could hold his breath, or it might have been that he was tired to the point that his lungs were not able to keep as much air as he wanted to. From throwing the rocks with a lot of vigor it ended with Bob struggling to push the rock off the edge. Even his excuses and attempts to catch breaks in between became a lot more stupid with the last one being an unintelligible remark that "rocks and men are meant to be on land or I would have scales all over myself." Finally when Xalet called out, Bob had his body curled up behind the rock trying to push it into the water again but even with his feet dug into the gaps of the rocks he found it "impossible! I can't do anything else. Just leave me here to dry up and die thank you."

[Xalet]

Xalet worked hard, and he worked Bob just as hard. It was strange to go from the soothing waters of the spring, when in fact the Akalak's body was burning all over. His calves, his thighs, his arms, they were all beginning to waver in their ability to carry the weight and disperse the water enough to keep him moving toward the surface. He had to take into consideration his poor swimming skill as well, as without such a perfect environment for swimming, he would have never have been able to complete the task so many times, and with so much succeed. Even with the calm, clear waters and the warm sun beaming down upon them the large squire had to release any chosen rock several times in order to resurface and catch his breath. His own body needed a rest now and again, but not too long. Half a chime was all he would be given were he training with another Knight or his Patron, and due to his strong work ethic that was all he would give himself.

"Come on Bob, you can do it! Just a few more..." he called to the shorter man, dashing up the side of the arch, back to the top where the rocks were prepared. His footing slipped a few times from the slickness created by the gathering water. He would toss, dive, and retrieve, the pattern itself hadn't changed. He could tell the pattern worked well too, not just for strength training but for an excellent muscular endurance workout as well. The sweat traveling down his body mixed with the fresh beads of the water as they rolled over his curvature, the cut muscular physique slowly beginning to further define itself over the years the more he strove for physical perfection.

He pushed himself and Bob as far as they could go, offering up words of encouragement when things looked dire, just like he would imagine his Patron would do. She would never let him give up, but when the time came she knew his limits. Often he would lose count and she, being as kind as she was, would modify the count without him knowing, allowing him to believe he managed to complete tasks he otherwise would not have been able to, for the sole purpose of keeping him from overworking his own body. Just as not forcing the body far enough wouldn't yield any results, pushing it too far could do more harm then good. The Sergeant knew well enough when it was time to stop, and it was about time Xalet did as well.

He could see Bob's body collapsing, and his own didn't feel that much further behind. It was a good and fruitful day of nearly killing themselves, enough for Xalet to consider it a success. "Alright, let us stop." he said finally, dropping down onto his backside at the top of the arch, palms down behind him supporting his weight. "You did good Bob, I mean that. Working toward failure is the best way to see results, and it allows you to better understand your own limits. There is value in working hard, I just hope that one day you will see it more clearly. Rest up, and that will be the end for today." The sun was passing high over head, starting to drop, it was time to head back.

[Emblem]

Congratulations! You Get Glorious Experience! Xalet Skills Body Building- 5 XP Swimming- 5 XP Teaching- 4 XP Rhetoric- 3 XP Running- 2 XP Climbing- 1 XP Lores A Resistant Student Bob Skills Bodybuilding- 5 XP Swimming- 5 XP Rhetoric- 3 XP Running- 2 XP Climbing- 1 XP Lores Encouraging Words Winning a Footrace Comments : Nice training thread guys! Bodybuilding, swimming, running, and climbing should be self explanatory. I awarded some rhetoric for the entertaining banter between you two. Teaching is also self explanatory. If you have questions or concerns, shoot me a PM!