Later that day, Cramton woke up and continued with his remaining exercises. He had not forgotten that he had left it hanging. He decided to finish up the fifty push ups first before doing the one hundred pull ups. Surprisingly, he did the fifty push ups smoothly without breaking a sweat. Well he still sweated but you understand, it was easier for him, much easier than the first time. It was so easy that he still had enough energy for doing the pull ups.
Or so he thought. Due to him having never done pull ups since his family's massacre, his body was very rusty in that area. His energy was depleting at an alarming rate and it was scaring him. Mefter was also anxious but he didn't say anything for fear of discouraging and making the man lose hope.
It was not that Cramton hadn't realized this but due to fear of his life, he still continued He was a man much attached to Venar and he was very sure that if he died, he would return as a vengeful spirit. This fear dove him to do the pull ups surprisingly well. Isn't fear a good thing? It makes beings push themselves to their bodies limit which makes the body only grow stronger.
Cramton was hanging on one of the tree's branches and he was pushing himself just to survive. He was sweating profusely. You could see his sweat dripping down in a fluid motion as though a tap was opened and left to flow.
"97....98.....99....1000."
When he said 1000, he released his grip on the tree and let gravity take its course. He descended and landed successfully. On the area he landed on, spider-web cracks could be seen, but he didn't notice. He was physically and mentally tired. Mefter could see that but still:
"Hey man, who taught you counting? Even kids who haven't gone to school could count better than you man."
"Heh??"Cramton reacted with an unfocused mind.
He put all his focus on regulating his breathing since he was breathing heavily in an irregular manner. The intervals between each breath of his was odd, hence he needed to do something about that or he would not be able to recover quickly.
When he finally managed to regulate his breathing, he asked Mefter what he was saying since he never heard anything.
"Huh," Mefter sighed, "after ninety-nine it's one hundred, idiot, not one thousand."
"I know that shithead, no need reminding me," Cramton replied. He was clearly irritated with being called and seen as an idiot for something that simple.
"..." Mefter used his right to remain silent.
"Well, I'm just glad I managed to finish the quest," Cramton said.
"Congrats Cramton," Mefter said.
"System open," Cramton said.
"A little cringe but acceptable," Mefter commented.
"Whatever."
A glowing purplish translucent screen appeared infront of him showing his status. He noted that nothing seemed to have changed. He then noticed a different screen, smaller than the main one, at the side.
[Congrats User, you have successfully completed the quest]
[Quest updated to daily quest]
"C'mon!" Cramton complained. He didn't want to go through that same experience daily.
"Don't worry man, your body will adapt to the routine and it will only get easier the more you do it," Mefter encouraged him.
Cramton then decided to go and sleep for he could see the sun setting. He dragged his body across the forest to where he was. When he entered his cave, he fell down at the door and drifted off to dreamland.
"I can't believe this man but, atleast he isn't bad," Mefter said when he saw Cramton sleeping away at the door.
******
At the same time, Meron was in a rectangular cream room. The room itself wasn't that big. It was big enough for one person as it was designed for that. Meron was sitting at the only bed in the room which was next immediately next to the only window in that room. At the side was a travelling bag and a broadsword.
"Huh," he sighed, "I can't believe they nominated me for this task. What criteria did they even use? What were they even thinking?"
Meron didn't feel like he was strong enough to go to the Forest of Beast. He shuddered when he started imagining the kind of beasts and monsters he might encounter on this mission. It was rumored that the forest harbored some dangerous monsters.
"I'll just sleep on it and maybe I will be more courageous tomorrow," he assured himself.
He entered the insides of the beddings and laid his head on the pillow. He tried to sleep but he could not sleep. His unrest couldn't let him. He turned and turned on his bed for a long time until finally he slept Meanwhile, the silhouette of man could be seen observing him then disappearing as if it wasn't there.
******
The next day, Cramton woke up early in the morning and did the ten kilometer run first thing in the morning.
"Wow! I'm impressed. What motivated you to do the run, Cramy?" Mefter asked while mentally nodding in satisfaction.
"While sleeping I-.....What did you just call me, Mefy? Cramton asked. He was so engrossed in beating his chest that he hadn't realized what he was called.
"Eh...Cramy," Mefter said with the most innocent voice he could muster at the moment.
"Cramy! What kind of name is that? You didn't even accept the name 'Mefy,' why then create a moniker for me? I will only accept that name only if you accept the moniker I gave you. Deal?" Cramton told Mefter while drinking water hydrate himself.
"Huh," Mefter sighed in Cramton's head," I guess I have no choice....Deal then Cramy!" he shouted the last word so loudly that Cramton thought his eardrums would burst but alas, it was only a thought.
He then went and hunted a small animal since it was easier and he loved the big ones. He prepared it quickly and ate it together with some herbs. He drank water after eating too. He then went to continue with his exercises.
******
That morning, Meron woke up early and popped into the carriage that the king had prepared for him to aid him in his travels. He sat down and let the coachman do his job. He sat in upright position, rested his hands on his thighs and closed his eyes to relax. He gave a sense of tranquility. He sat in that position, unmoving, until the coachman told him that they had arrived. He alighted the carriage and observed his surroundings.
"What tall trees!" he exclaimed.
He trotted forward into the forest. At the edge of the forest, he stopped, put his hand into his travelling bag and removed a clear bottle that had a white liquid inside. He uncapped it and drank the content. This was to cover and protect his body from the fiendish energy that filled the Forest of Beasts.
In the Forest of Beasts, the monsters unconsciously released a type of dark energy from their bodies which gradually filled the entire forest. This dark energy erodes the skin of human slowly by slowly which, if not treated early, might lead to death of the human. This caused the light mages to formulate and create a portion using their light magic that protects humans from the dark energy of the forest.
After Meron was sure he was safe and after he was done preparing himself both mentally and psychologically, he advanced into the forest to dearch for the herbs.
"Let's get this shit done with as quick as possible so that I can return back home to relax," he self-motivated himself.
He unsheathed his broadsword and held it on his right hand. On his left hand, he held a map of the forest with the illustrations of the two herbs he was to search for.
According to the map, the herbs were located at the center of the forest. He shuddered imagining all the terrifying monsters he's gonna encounter and fight. Fortunately, he was not going to pass through all that because at the back of the map was a path drawn for him by the scouts that would help him avoid all contact with the monsters. He jumped with joy when he saw that. He breathed in and out to calm his nerves that were still tense, the started officially his search for the rare herbs for his king.
******
"I'm happy I managed to finish Today's exercises faster than yesterday, even though it is by a small margin. To top it of, I didn't pass out," Cramton stated.
That day, he started his day with the ten kilometer run around the forest, then went on to do the one hundred pushups, followed by the one hundred sit ups and finished with the one hundred pull ups respectively. By the time he was done, it was already noon.
"Yup, it's an improvement on your part, but I believe you can still improve," Mefter said. "By the way, didn't your system status state you are a farmer?"
Cramton could not understand where Mefter was heading to but still decided to answer, "Yeah, I loved farming and still love it."
"Why then didn't you create a farm of your own in this forest? It has fertile soil and it seems to rain frequently considering the green leaves of these tall humongous trees," Mefter asked.
"Well, I have never thought of that," replied Cramton.
"Maybe you may start thinking about it now. Eating herbs and meat only must be boring as hell. You should try different delicacies. Besides, this forest seems to have many herbs. You could use some of them to enhance your physical body and if lucky enough, you may find one that can enhance both your physical, spiritual and mana capacity," Mefter adviced Cramton
He wanted Cramton to be strong. Strong enough for what is to come but didn't want to tall him directly for now.
"What about the ones I eat daily?" Cramton asked.
"Those are common herbs with no effect apart from slow healing. Nothing special," Mefter replied in a flat tone.
'....Nothing special, huh,' Cramton thought. 'Just what is special?.... Man, I want to see the world.'