Last of My Kind

Chapter 6

Author's note

Hello mi familia (had to show off my Spanish a little), I'm here again with another beautiful installment of my favorite book; *Last of My Kind*.

I'm still torn between Jayflux (a derivative of my name) and Anon for my pen name. But I think I'll go with Anon though; it has that sense of anonymity.😉

Anyways, like I promised, each chapter will be longer than the last. This chapter is about a thousand words longer than the previous one (I'm not that good with maths), and the next chapter will be longer than this. Probably.

Lastly for those that deemed me worthy of your comments, thank you. And for those that didn't pls do henceforth, it does winders to my motivation and helps me improve.

So, with all said and done, welcome to lesson one, you'll be learning:

1000 WAYS TO DIE IN TRAINING

****

Grey explained his take on our little training after listening to my experience during said session.

I couldn't say no to his question, so I had to go for the universal stalling option.

Mustering the most perfect tone of frustration I could, I concluded, "I'll think about it."

"I hope you would. As much as I would prefer otherwise, you are going to need it. Maybe sooner, maybe later."

"A'ight. I'll be in my room," I replied as I headed upstairs.

"Jason," Grey called out.

"Yeah?"

"Hand over the bangles," he demanded plainly.

"Wha...? I need it to practice."

"No, you don't. It was meant to simulate shutting off your aura, which has been done. You have to practice without any help. Practice till it's as natural as breathing," he explained.

"Fine," I replied, placing them on his outstretched palm.

Walking up to my room, I heard Akua whispering to my sister.

"Is he the first son?"

"Yeah, why?"

I walked on without waiting to hear her reason.

This bed seems to be enchanted. The second I touched it, I could feel my stress evaporate... and I didn't even know I was stressed. I pulled all six pillows around me and prepared to drift into la-la land. I could almost see the signpost reading 'welcome to la-la land' when my holy journey was abruptly interrupted by a single knock on my door.

"Ugh, what again?"

"May I come in?" Eryndor's voice came through the door.

Why is he here? Did I do something he didn't want to say in front of the ladies? Or does he want to tell me we're leaving tomorrow? My thoughts slowly began to pull me in again.

"Jason? May I come in?" he said, pulling me back for a second time.

"Yeah, sure. The door is open."

I heard the door open and the old man pulling the chair by the computer set. It's the only chair in the room.

"How do you feel?" he asked, his voice laced with scientific curiosity.

"Stresthhd," I replied, my voice muffled by the pillow.

"You do not feel tired? Or pained anywhere at all?" he asked cautiously.

"No. I'm just feeling stressed. And I would have been better if you didn't cut my journey to the dreamland short," I retorted, sitting up to face him.

"How long have you been able to rejuvenate?" he deadpanned.

"What?"

"You did it when you collapsed earlier. The healing magic?" he clarified.

"Oh. I was under the impression you did that. That's why I said thanks. And as for how long? I'll say going on two days now. You weren't doing it?"

"No."

"Maybe Mia has some artifacts around the building that does it?"

"No. You did it yourself."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. It is very interesting, also. Rejuvenation is an innate ability of wyrms," he continued.

"Wyrms?"

"Zhakarei, dragons, and everything between," he explained. "Some call it dragon-kin." He spat with well-hidden disgust.

"Oh."

"It is the ability to take from your innate mana and use it to heal yourself from anything except major wounds and psychological ailments. Diseases, fever, and the likes are usually taken care of. The process is also automatic."

"So, you're saying I've been healing myself all this time?"

"Precisely. Although, it is not an ability you should possess. At least not as a newly awakened. Like I said earlier, it is an ability unique to wyrms. A fully grown Divine-Born should have the capability to imitate it, but a suckling?"

"Well, I guess I'm pretty special, then."

"Indeed, it would seem so. Although that isn't good news. It just brings more reasons you must learn. Mia will have some news for you."

And with that, he waltzed out of the room, leaving me as clueless as a goldfish.

At least I can finally get some partially deserved sleep.

"It's getting late, Linda. You should get to bed early. It's gonna be a big day tomorrow, and a long one too," Mia advised. She picked up her smartphone and made her way down the hallway.

"Where is she going to sleep?" Linda asked, jerking her thumb back at Akua.

"Well, she could share your room," Mia replied with a shrug.

"As big as this place is, there's only what... like four bedrooms?"

Mia paused mid-step and tilted her head back as if thinking of what to say. "There's actually about eight rooms or so. Maybe twelve; I don't know the exact digit. But I was expecting two visitors along with the old man, so the remaining rooms lack living essentials." She paused. "You don't mind, do you?"

"I do love and value my privacy. But it's not every day you get an Amazonian princess wanting to share your room with you," Linda replied.

"Soo...?" Mia pressed.

"No, I don't mind. Do you, Akua?"

"I am not of Amazonian origin, but I do not see much of a choice."

"Fair enough. There's an extra blanket in the wardrobe if you need one," Mia replied, stifling a yawn as she made her way to her room.

"You done for the night?" Linda addressed the only other occupant in the room.

"I believe I have learnt enough for a day. What is a blanket?" Akua replied.

"It's, uh, this huge cloth that is used to cover your body for warmth. You'll see it when we get upstairs."

"What is an upstairs?"

"Well..."

Jason

Morning came all too soon, with all the good and bad tagging along. At least I didn't feel groggy or stiff. The only disappointment I have is that I'm a hundred percentile sure I had the juiciest dream ever, but sadly I don't remember a thing from it. Unplugging my smartphone, I looked at the time. It read 6:49.

Always been an early riser.

I freshened up, brushed, and picked up my phone, scrolling through my latest news and messages.

Not being much of a social person, I've only got one friend. And he's the sort of friend that even if we don't talk for a year, if we met up again, we talk like we never separated for a single day. All this is to say I didn't have much in terms of messages. I'm not a loner, though; I've got Benji.

I took a bottle of cold water from the small fridge in my room and sat down on the bed cross-legged. I figured I could manage a few minutes of practice before everyone got up.

Locating my meridians felt smoother and a lot easier than it did yesterday. I conjured up my barricades and began my battle against the flood.

I lost track of time and how many times I'd tried. My mental scoreboard had nothing but fails on it. I proceeded to continue practicing, but the intercom buzzed to life. Uncle Grey spoke this time.

"It is morning already, boy. Come on down here."

"I'll be down in a bit," I replied to the ceiling.

I leapt up from the bed, but my stomach and brain seemed to have been comfortable the way I was sitting. I almost kissed the floor from the sudden dizziness, and my stomach started to practice flip-flops, making me keenly aware of just how painfully empty it was. Thankfully, my newly discovered rejuvenation kicked in, and my dilemma abated.

I made my way downstairs with a peculiar sense of emptiness. Linda and the eight-foot-tall lady were just ahead of me, with Grey and Mia already waiting in the room.

"Jesus, Grey, could you stop calling me cupcake?" Linda said.

"Why not? Do you have another name you would prefer?"

"No. Just call me Linda or Linds. Jason calls me that too."

"Alright, princess," he added smugly.

I was more than comfortable just watching their banter, but my impatient belly insisted I make our presence known.

"Good morning," I announced.

"Good morning, boy. Trust you had a wonderful night," Grey said.

"Meh, could be better."

"Holy shit, Jason, you look like you just got rescued from a deserted island. You okay?" Linda remarked.

"I'm starving."

"That's normal. Magic consumes energy," Mia chipped in.

Holding her hand over her stomach, Linda asked in mock fear, "What? So, you're saying I'll be starving frequently if I want to learn magic?"

"Not necessarily. When you get used to it, you will not feel any effect anymore," Grey said.

"And on that note, Jason, you have to complete a physical training course before you can start learning magic."

"I never agreed to learning, did I?"

"Oh? You do not want to learn?" Akua asked, tilting her head.

"I mean, I do. But I was supposed to tell... wait, you know what? Can we get something to eat first? I've got a black hole in here," I replied, patting my snarling stomach.

"There's ramen in the kitchen and coffee if you want some," Mia said.

"I could go with some ramen for now. Uh, how do I get to the kitchen?"

"It's right there," Mia replied, pointing in a random direction.

"Thanks," I replied as I scurried off.

Watching him leave, Linda couldn't help but laugh. "He's gonna be alright, though, right?"

"Yeah, he will. Unless he's naturally a big eater," Mia said.

"We have to talk about the princess, though," Mia continued.

"What is there to talk about?" Grey asked.

"Well, since I can't pry her open anymore, she can't just stay here."

"Why not? You have the facilities needed to accommodate her with ease. Do you not?"

"Well, you've got a point. But... we only went after her because we thought she was a lost druid or something like that. Now she's just a runaway princess. I don't want to deal with all that baggage."

"Wrong. You wanted to go rescue her due to a lingering sense of duty from your time in the order. You see a loose magical netizen, and you bring it into custody. And when you realized what you were doing, you decided to blame it all on scientific curiosity."

"That," Mia said, pointing at Grey, "couldn't be further from the truth."

"Whatever you say, child. Did you have somewhere in mind when you left your home realm, princess?"

"I did not. I had not expected humanity's reach to have expanded this much," Akua responded.

Grey nodded, shooting Mia a questioning look.

"What! That's not my problem," Mia defended.

Grey raised an eyebrow.

Sighing, Mia continued. "Look, can't she stay in your cabin or something?"

"My little abode is nowhere someone new to the human realm can stay. You are more than capable of accommodating her, are you not?"

"Well, does she even want to stay here?" Mia asked.

"I would love to. It is purely by Gaia's grace that I came across the guardian in the first abode I entered. Gaia knows what I would meet out there," Akua responded with an air of ingenuity.

Sighing, Mia replied, "Alright, fine. I didn't want to go through the stress of setting up a new room. Moving furniture up the stairs can be a hassle."

"I do not mind lifting furniture up the stairs," Akua suggested.

"Then we should be able to work something out," Mia concluded.

Linda couldn't hold back her laughter at this point. "I'm sorry, *that's* your reason?"

Mia tilted her head curiously. "Isn't that a good enough reason?" she asked.

Just then, I walked into the room with a contented grin on my face. "I ate more than I expected. Four packets; hope that's okay?"

"It's fine. For now."

"Cool. Are we gonna start this training or what?" I asked Uncle Grey.

"Yo, so fast?" Linda quipped.

"What?"

"You've decided you're gonna learn."

"Yes," I deadpanned.

"I am impressed by your decisiveness. But while I will be teaching you magic, you need to build your stamina first. Otherwise, you will be eating twenty packs of ramen for a meal," Grey stated.

"So... I have to work out?"

"Not exactly. The lady has a training draft and necessary facilities to give you the best possible result you can get," Eryndor stated, gesturing towards Mia.

I looked a bit crestfallen by this. I wasn't sure I liked Mia, but most importantly, workout?

"Is something the matter, boy?" Grey asked.

"Nope. All good. When do we start?"

***

Mia led me to the training room. I'd seen this room once already, through the glass slits in the door yesterday when I passed through here, but I couldn't make out much in the dark. I entered the room for the first time, curiously looking around.

The room was absurdly huge. About the size of a football field in length. Could be bigger; I'm just speculating. Beyond that, there wasn't much to note.

Projectors hung row after row from the concrete roof. The floor was made with some kind of metal I can't quite place my finger on. It probably isn't a metal, but it felt like one.

A secluded booth-like structure stood a couple of feet away from the door, which Mia entered.

"How is your workout schedule?" Mia asked.

"I don't *have* a workout schedule. But I do try my best to stay in a relatively good shape," I replied.

"How many pushups, sit-ups, and, say, pull-ups can you do at a go?"

"In one go? I could manage forty to fifty pushups, twenty pull-ups, and probably thirty sit-ups," I stated, nodding confidently.

"Wow, you're in even worse shape than I thought," Mia scoffed.

I didn't dignify her with a reply. Even if I really wanted to, I wasn't going to let her ruin my day. I mean, I'm perfectly aware that fifty pushups is not something you get from someone in bad shape. If there's someone out there in bad shape that can do that, such a person is nothing short of a super soldier.

She stared at me for a few seconds, then nodded.

"You hate my guts, don't you?" she asked, her face bearing an unreadable expression.

When I remained silent, she continued. "It wasn't a rhetorical question."

"Well, I mean... I'm starting to," I replied, unable to see the reasoning behind her question.

"Good. I would be free to dish out the training with a flaming plate and a molten spoon." She stopped pushing buttons and stared straight into my very soul. "All in good conscience," she added with a demonic grin.

I swallowed. Hard.

She pulled a lever, and a couple of sections of the metal wall slid open, revealing rooms behind them.

"So," she said. "We're going to start easy. A hundred-meter dash. I'll be timing you."

She walked back to the booth, tinkered with buttons for a bit. Then Clara's voice announced:

"Activating T1 training sequence."

The aesthetic of the whole room immediately began to change. The walls, up to the far end of the room, lit up like an LCD UHD screen. They displayed an outdoor scenery of a racetrack. Stands and a walled-off football field were displayed on the left portion of the wall. A racetrack slowly lit up with orange and white light on the metallic floor, almost reaching the midpoint of the room.

The roof wasn't left out. Birds and the occasional paper flew across the sunny blue sky. Except we were underground.

"Are you gonna keep staring or what?" Mia called out from one of the still-open sections in the wall.

"Sorry, I'm coming," I blustered out as I walked towards her, staring at the ceiling display while constantly reminding myself it's not real.

This section housed track equipment. Every single gym machine I've ever seen, swimsuits, some weird full-body suits, and a couple of yoga mats.

"Well, I'm not going to run in my slippers, am I?" I asked pointedly.

She barked a hearty laugh. "Oh, you'll wish you could soon enough," she replied.

I was a bit taken aback by the sudden laughter, but not too surprised when she pulled one of the full-body suits off the hanger.

"This is a resistance conditioner," she explained, handing it to me.

I took it with a raised eyebrow.

"It will help you run. That's all you need to know," she added curtly.

I held the suit in my crossed arms, staring at her.

"Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Put the damn suit on," she exclaimed.

"Here?" I asked, eyes wide as an owl's.

Her lips curled into an 'o' shape as she understood my hesitation.

"You can use that," she stated, pointing at a privacy screen in the section. "Make it quick," she added.

I put on the black, featureless suit. It looked a little similar to a diving suit, except it didn't have the head bit. The suit ended at the neck but covered every other part. It was a bit loose at first. But as soon as I pulled up the zipper, a blue light shone over all the covered skin and the suit shrank to fit me snugly. My manly bits weren't on display, in case you were wondering, and the suit wasn't too tight. It was actually quite comfortable.

"It's quite comfortable," I commented.

"Of course it is. I designed it. Now get running," she deadpanned. Sheesh, rude much.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh," I exclaimed.

I picked a lane randomly. As soon as I stood on it, the remaining lanes turned off and a blue time holograph appeared above me.

"Once you start running, the time starts to ensure accuracy. You run to and fro once. I do recommend you go at full speed," she explained.

I nodded as she explained, hopping in place. Starting a mental three, two, one, I took off as fast as I could. I haven't run in a while, but I felt pretty light. I got to the end of the line and turned back, my speed barely diminished. Although I ran at my absolute speed, I felt only a little out of breath. Even that vanished with my rejuvenation.

"My god, you've really got a long way ahead of you, boy," Mia commented with a scoff, flashing a lopsided smile.

I looked at the displayed time behind me to see an outstanding twenty-seven seconds. I glared at her with growing frustration.

"Hold this," she said, handing me a small plastic remote as she walked towards the track that now displayed multiple tracks.

The second she stepped on a track, the process repeated itself in the exact same way as when I did.

"Clara, give me a three-second countdown, would you?" Mia called out, posing for a sprint.

"OF COURSE, BOLT. THREE, TWO, ONE. BANG."

At the sound of the gunshot, Mia shot off. Like literally shot off like a rocket. If she wasn't running in a straight line, I'm quite sure I wouldn't be able to follow her with my eyes.

She tore through the air and was back at the starting line in nine seconds. One, two, three, four... nine freaking seconds. In what world is that possible?

"Nine seconds, huh? I guess I've gotten rusty. Haven't trained in a few months. You can close your mouth now, god boy," Mia snickered.

"Right," I replied, picking my jaw off the floor.

"Now that you've seen what I can do, I don't want to hear nothing from you if I ask you to move a mountain," she warned.

I swallowed, slowly nodding my understanding.

"Good," she said, nodding and taking the remote back from me. "Now we're going to do this again, but with a little restraint," she continued, pointing towards the complete track.

I got on the same track as the first time. My new lucky lane.

"We'll start with five kilograms," Mia announced, pushing a button on the remote.

The white lane turned blue, and the surrounding display scenery transformed to outer space. The suit vibrated with a deep bass, and suddenly the weight of the world dropped right on me.

"JESUS EFFING CHRIST! How in the world is this five kilograms?" I yelled, my eyes wide in shock.

"Technically, it's five kilograms on all trainable muscles. Still, it's just fifty kilograms in total, so stop exaggerating," she spoke.