Condition Evolution 2: A LitRPG / Gamelit Adventure by Sinclair, Kevin (black female authors txt) 📗

at most, and he just hung there. I moved round to the mirror again, checking it out. He was perfectly placed, and not restricting in any way. “Are you just levitating? Won't that drain you?”

“It would if I was, but I’m not levitating. I’ve attached myself to your aura. If you even think, ‘I want my axe,’ I’ll be in your hands in less than a second.”

“This is so cool. Come on. I want to show you off.”

“Sweet. I love showing off.”

“Hey, Axe. I’ve been meaning to ask you the Fystr speak all formal, speaking like robots. You spoke like that when I first picked you up too. Now you speak more like me. How come?”

“Ah, well. We’re quite attached you know, Shaun. It started when we met in your Mindscape and you cemented the bond when you entered mine. I’ve access to all of your vocabulary, and I've gotta say I much prefer this way of speaking. It's a hell of a lot more fun.”

“This is so cool. We’ll talk about it some more later, though I best not keep Ogun waiting too long.”

When I came out of my room, I found Ogun outside the training room as he said he would be. He raised an eyebrow at the weapon not strapped to my back. “I don’t know whether to be curious as to why the axe is still with you? Or just impressed at how you got it to sit on your back like that.”

“Apparently, he is attached to my aura. Go figure! As soon as I think of him, he’ll fly into my hand. So yeah, it just keeps getting better and better.”

“Yes. Most impressive,” Ogun said, staring at the axe hovering on my back.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you; what kind of equipment do we have for weight training? I really need to put some muscle on.”

“Yes. I can see you probably would want to increase your muscle mass a little. The great thing about training now is that your muscles won’t atrophy, due to your improved physiology. Even if you’re inactive for long periods. This is reflected in your strength stat that will also remain static. Unless of course you starve again. At which point your muscles will still be broken down by your body for fuel, and you will lose strength. With that in mind, you must also eat enough food to maintain your preferred muscle mass.”

“You’re seriously telling me you don’t do any weight training anymore?” I said in disbelief.

“No. I’ve not lifted a weight in over a thousand years. I mainly train my martial and mental skills. If you wish to be deadly, you must do the same. But having a certain level of physicality is an excellent foundation to build everything else upon.”

“Good. I’ll get straight to it, and hope I don’t starve again,” I said happily.

“Good for you Shaun, and you will also get much faster rewards from your efforts because we heal quicker. If you train hard, and go through your holistic repair practice daily, you should be able to put a noticeable amount of muscle on in a couple of weeks. And at the moment, you have access to as much food as you can eat. The weights are in the room behind the training gym. If you want my advice, we have approximately a week before our next stop off, probably longer. So, get some good work in now. You will be able to absolutely tear your body to shreds and you won’t be crippled tomorrow if you use your holistic repair.”

“Thanks for the advice, Ogun. I’m totally going to spend this week building some strength up. I’ll need it to wield this bad boy,” I said, pointing over my shoulder.

Ogun looked thoughtful before responding, “I wonder if you could use your axe’s healing ability to really charge the process. If you do, don’t forget to eat a lot of food. We have plenty that is synthesizable. I do apologize about the flavor. I know it’s not great, but just make sure that you’re eating plenty of protein and vegetables. I’ve tried it both ways in the past, and I assure you clean eating is far superior to eating any old thing.”

“Yeah, great idea. Thanks for that. I wouldn’t have thought about it.”

“I would have told you,” the axe piped up in my head.

“I know you would have. Don’t worry.” I almost felt the pride come off him.

“One more thing,” I said to Ogun. “Is there anyone who can train me with the weapon?”

“Unfortunately for you, everyone here has specialized in guns, and to a lesser extent swords. Even I have very limited experience training with two handed weapons, and absolutely nothing the size of yours. I’m afraid you’re on your own. I would not worry too much, however, I think you two will work out just fine. A little bit of trial and error is as good a way to learn as any.”

“Shit no, to trial and error!” the axe said, offended. “I’ve got four thousand years training with no errors. We’re going to be unreal when I’m finished with you!”

“I’m glad to hear it!”

When I arrived at the medical bay, the doctor's surprise was written clearly on his face. Which was to be expected as I was now fully healed and armed with a big, ass axe. With a quick explanation from Ogun, the doctor did some tests on me. My kidneys and brain had suffered most from the dehydration, but when he came back with the results, as expected, I was at one hundred percent. Nothing wrong with me in any way, shape, or form. Apart from being underweight. Oh, the sweet fucking irony.

After that, I went over to Ember again. She was still unconscious, which was to be expected. “I can heal her,” the axe spoke to me in a whisper.

“I thought you couldn’t. And why are you whispering? You’re talking in my head.”

“I was being conspiratorial, but you’ve spoilt it now! Never