Solo [Tall Johnny's] Twice the Effort

[Kreig Messer]

3rd day of Summer, 10th Bell, 19th chime. “Come on Kreig, you’re movin’ like a turd” Spoke the voice of one former Champion of Sunberth also known as Olav. “Turds…”Kreig huffed as he lowered his body before pushing himself back up up “Don’t move” Kreig replied as he lowered himself yet again. He realized he was setting himself up for a remark, especially since Olav had a sarcastic streak that may well comprise the length of the Sylira region itself. Still it did give KReig a positive distraction as he continued perfroming pushups, the tip of his toes acting as support as his hands pushed down on the earth, raising and lowering his body as needed. “Exactly, yer pace is right atrocious, how ya can be a fighter is somethin’ I still get fuzzy minded ‘bout each day” Kreig sighed mentally there was indeed the retort he was expecting, despite this and despite his age Olav was a good choice to request aid in building up Kreig’s body, not that Kreig necessarily needed more strength mind, but it also helped build up the brawler’s endurance and that was something Kreig valued even more. “An’…” Kreig huffed again “…Ya sure…” He huffed as he pushed back and down and up, the motion interrupting his sentence “ That it ain’t cuz of the weights put on my back” Kreig asked not in a question, shooting back his own bit of sarcasm at the bald headed fighter. Kreig had no doubt Olav pretended to consider that, and he could already predict the response “Naaaah” and Kreig simply sighed inwardly again. “Anyways Kreig, ain’t like ya got a choice but that ya add those weights on yer back” Olav stated as he moved to the front of Kreig and kneeled down, the Brawler straining his neck even as he continued to do his pushups “Thing is when it comes to muscle ya got jus’ as much as me, heck ya could petchin’ last as long too” The bald fighter admitted with solemn seriousness. “Ya don’t need much help from me other than sommun watchin’ ya train ‘case ya do somethin’ stupid wih the weights or whatever” Olav said conversationally, the fighter looked around the fight pit and waved his hand about around to point the other fighters in the mix “Now some o’ theses lots do, cuz they’re right numbskulls who jus’ think fightin’ is jus’ throwin fists about an’ need me to keep an eye on ‘em. Thing is though once I show ‘em enough there ain’t much I can do for ‘em” He admitted the last part with a shake of his head. “Anyways, reason why I’m havin’ ya use those weights is cuz ya wouldn’t get much without ‘em. You’re already used ta push ups without ‘em an’ with other stuff come to reckon, hones’ly at that point is ya jus’ increase the effort” Kreig listened even as sweat travelled down his brow and dripped onto the dirt below, if anything Olav had a point, at this point he didn’t need Olav to train him how to build up muscle. He could use him as a training partner sure but beyond that… “So what, yers sayin’ I jus’ double what I already do?” KReig questioned “Ay, that’s a gist of it really… ‘less ya spot someone’s who’s got better advice I reckon, all you can do is jus’ doubt the effort, double the weights an’ all that shyke” Kreig grunted gloomily, that was an annoying thing to hear.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig kept the words in mind, annoyed as he was by it. Kreig has always had a bit of a mixed bag with training… he either enjoyed it or hated it, enjoyed it because once he got into the rhythm of things he just did it without any sense of time or the world aroundhim. But he hated it because it took a while to get into that state of mind and he was always tempted to do something else. It was no real surprise really if he thought about it. While he was a formidable fighter, so he believed and so he was told, his brawling skills didn’t come from training, it did not come from a training room or tools or the like. No it came from actually fighting, he picked fights with others, sometimes he got mixed up into one, and sometimes he was targeted, regardless in all these instances his fighting prowess grew from actually fighting. In a similar vein, so was his endurance and strength. A good portion of it came from life experiences, from working on the docks occasionally as a laborer, moving heavy crates and the like built up muscle after all. Sometimes again it came from fighting, fighting so frequently and getting hurt a lot had a habit of building up one’s endurance. Those thoughts those thoughts were sturdily pushed out of his mind as he continued the pace he was at, he was on his second set of 50, mind keeping count unconsciously of the number of pushups he had done. Right now he was on the 38th pushup, his body lowering itself then pushing up for number 39. He was to remove his shirt but he was due to buy a few more throwaways, and he was still anxious to have someone recognize the marks on his body. But those were thoughts for some other time as he finished his second set. His body gently rested briefly as he took two ticks to relax. His breath panted as he embraced the dirt. Olav, who had wandered off briefly to check on the other fighters, spoke up again “up an’ at it Kreig” Signyfying the end of Kreig’s little rest before the Brawler adjusted himself, elbows bent and palms pressing firm on the dirt ground, tip of his toes digging into the earth as he began to repeat the process of pushing up and down with weights upon his back. It was tiring to be sure, but like Olav had said he’d eventually get used to it. Eventually this would all just be a regular pushup for him, eventually the limits would need to be pushed again if he wanted to improve some more. That’s just how training went in all its forms.

[Kreig Messer]

Eventually Kreig was done with all those pushups, dropping down and taking short rest before he had to go and do the next exercise. He breathed heavy as he felt his heart pound hin his chest though not he recalled during the first days where he actually performed such exercises back in Syliras or even when he tried getting back into them here in Sunberth. He knew the partial reason for this was that despite the disparities between the times he worked out…. He fought a lot which in its own way helped maintain his fitness. At least there was one benefit fighting for fun, and of course money he had to remember. The Brawler lifted himself from the ground to find Olav approaching him and giving a nod “right, ‘s yer show. Whatcha wanna do next?” He asked, and for Kreig theidea came to mind immediately. “Les’ grab some weights an’ tie ‘em to me ankles, gonna try an’ jog about the place” Unfortunately the fight pit wasn’t all that spacious for a run, so Kreig had to leave the physical building of Tall Johnny’s and do his running around the building itself. The building itself was quite spacious and thus occupied a large sum of the land itself. Once he’d stepped out of the building he was struck with the scent of the ocean air, the smell of salt and seaweed a heavy reminder that the Tall Johnny’s overlooked the Suvan itself. He wasn’tquite of the fan of the scent, but again like many things he was used to it. It reminded him of Syliras in a similar way, unlike how often the contrast of Sunberth itself reminded him of Syliras. He pushed the memories out of his mind as he began to take walk, trying to find his pacing before would go on to a full run. Kreig admittedly was a poor runner, he never really needed to make chase that often and he at least had something nearby to throw at a fleeing flow should they try to escape his grasp. The ankle weights slowed his step, making sure it was a weight that would slow him down with some degree of effort rather than being like it was never there. The fact he felt he was walkingslower than usual and his feet like it was being pulled down assured him that yes, he would be expending effort during this run. After the passing of a few chimes just to gather his bearings, the brawler began to increase his pace as his arms were raised and elbow bent. Motioning back and forth as his feet bent straight as the soles of his boot hit the earth, each foot and arm alternating in a repeated rhythm. Kreig’s breath went quicker as effort was being put into this, sweat and a hot day causing the fighter to sweat even more as the journey to improve his body continued on its awkward if effort filled pace.

[Kreig Messer]

Each step was heavy and Kreig felt it, the weights messed with his balance because they were a foreign presence. Kreig thought of running and walking as something people inherently knew after all, their own bodies would unconsciously adjust to any changes that occurred to it naturally. But the weights were a foreign presence, something that needed more time to adjust to and due to how it affected the body in mass it forced Kreig to expend more effort if he wanted to move to what he assumed was his regular pace. Of course, Kreig was a terrible runner. He wasn’t good at maneuvering around obstacles or adjusting to a shift in the terrain, and despite attempting to keep an even rhythm to his running he was finding that a bit difficult to keep consistently. Evidently he also couldn’t keep his awareness of his surroundings maintained as he failed to notice a piece of debree on the ground, his boots steepping on it and causing him to slip as the debree rolled and found him self falling face first into the ground. It was only by virtue of him raising his arms in time that his face didn’t become a bloodied mess, his arms scraping lightly but otherwise unharmed. Kreig didn’t care about the scrapes even if they stung,he could tough those out. But as he breathed out in and out he found himself cursing for theobstruction in his path. Standing up he turned to the offending piece of stone, small and round enough to causehis mishap and kicked it away. The stone rolled and bounced to join another slew of stones were it blended in quite nicely. Kreig himself resumed his run, not wanting even a chimes disruption mess up his training or remind his legs that were becoming tired. Because he knew after so many bouts of training back in Syliras and so many fights that once the body realized its tired, it would refuse to exert more effort. He didn’t want that to happen just yet. His legs didn’t feel tired enough honestly, and his legs didn’t scream at him to stop. No, he needed to feel that particular bout of tiredness before he could stop. And so he resumed as each step alternated back in forth to something close of a rhythm, with each split of a tick seeing a foot replacing the other in heavy thuds. The fair size of the building meant Kreig could perhaps do 3-4 laps around it to truly feel the effort that, while he did not crave, he felt needed.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig found himself leaning against the side of the building once he was done with his exercise, breath panting in and out. His legs felt like they were on fire and heavier than they’d any right to be. He leaned down to untie the weights around his anckles, holding them in his hands as he steadily madehis way inside pass through the beginings of a crowd, making his way back to his before being stopped by Olav who held out a large mug of Water. Kreig looked at it briefly before simply grabbing it and downing the clear liquid down his mouth, taking two long gulps as he emptied the mug and simply patted old Olav on the shoulder as he returned the cup before returning to his room. His body collapsed on the mattress of his bed, immediately finding relief as his head hit the pillow and his eyes closed. It beckoned him to sleep but he knew he couldn’t sleep long, not without disrupting his normal sleep time and he’d no fights this evening to justify such a rest his body seemed to be implying. Still his eyes closed and only a bell passed before there was a knock on his door. Kreig sighed as he woke up, another gentle knock on his door “Kreig, I’m going to enter and I do hope you’re dressed” Came the cultured sounding voice of Johnny who did just that a sKreig sat up and let out a small yawn. “ah, just woken up from your nap have you?” It wasn’t so much an inquiry, more a statement of fact as Johnny had a wry smirk on his mustached face “I’ve an errand for you to run if you’d oblige me?” He asked in the certainty of someone who knew the answer was going to be yes. “Jus’ say what it is Johnny, ain’t got much else today” Kreig said as he rolled his shoulder, his fingers tapping his bed as he sat there waiting. “Oh its much like last time Kreig, we’ve a fellow who’s late with his debts and I need…” Johnny pulled out one of his familiar coins and tossed towards Kreig, who caught it in his palm with the usual familiarity “To send the usual message” Kreig nodded in resignation as heshifted his legs off the bed and pushed himself upwards “Fella got a name then?” Kreig asked by way of acceptance, he had to kill time somehow after all and he did owe Johnny still even if he didn’t like it. Who and where was given, and Kreig only needed to seek them out and he knew that Ovek better favor them in the upcoming toss. And Kreig sure hoped they didn’t run, he didn’t need another exercise petch it!

[Kreig Messer]

Grade :

{Name}

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Bodybuilding	+3
Endurance	+2
Running	+2

Lore

Bodybuilding: Doubling a routine once its no longer as gainful
Running: adjusting to weights
Running: watch your step

Notes :

Feel free to PM me with any questions concerning your grade.

Credit goes to Trickster for this lovely Template

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