Today was another new day. Jhed was going to train again — but first, he had to run.
He looked around at the space surrounding him.
"Look, Jhed — I cleared this whole area for you to run in," Shine said.
"He cut down every tree around us," Jhed thought to himself.
"You did all this staying up through the night?" Jhed asked.
"Yes. When it comes to training, I'm strict and I don't cut corners." Shine said with a smile.
Jhed looked at him. There was genuine happiness in his eyes — as if teaching someone actually meant something to him.
"How many people have you trained before?"
"You're the first," Shine said, still smiling.
"What? I'm the first? But you're an S-Class adventurer. People must chase you down asking for training."
"Not really. People think I'm just lucky — born with a uniquely powerful magic, that's all. I've never felt pain in my entire life." Shine said.
Pain, to him, was just a word. Not a single scratch in his whole life.
"Enough talking — start running. A hundred laps around this ground today," Shine said.
"A hundred laps? On the very first day?"
"You're not going to die from it." Shine had an answer for everything.
Jhed started running. Slow and steady at first, trying not to burn out too early. But he was already breathing hard within minutes. His stamina was dangerously low.
Morning had come, but the sun hadn't shown itself yet. Darkness still held the sky. Stars were still faintly visible overhead.
"She was definitely bitten by one of those zombies. Not that it's any of my concern. The first time we met, she wasn't talking to anyone — I thought she was quiet like me. But she's actually just difficult. I don't want to be her friend. Maybe she'll turn into a zombie now. But then why hasn't she turned yet? People turn immediately after being bitten. It's been three days and she's still the same." Jhed kept talking to himself as he ran.
Nain was still sleeping. Shine was building something with the wood from the trees he'd felled — watching him work, it was clear he knew exactly what he was doing.
The sun slowly began to appear on the horizon.
Jhed counted laps as he ran.
"Ten..." A while later. "Fourteen..." "Eighteen..."
Thud. Thud. The sound woke Nain up.
"Where's that noise coming from?" She looked over at Shine.
"Oh — wow." She stood up immediately and walked over. "You built a house."
"Almost done. It'll serve us well for the next few days."
"How did you build this alone?"
"In my village, you had to build your own home. If you called in a construction magician, they charged too much. So we did it ourselves." Shine said. He was standing on the roof.
"And where did that fool go?"
"Over there."
Nain looked to her right.
"When did all these trees get cut down..."
"A few hours ago."
Nain watched Jhed — drenched in sweat, stopping sometimes, then pushing himself to run again.
"This fool is actually working hard," Nain thought to herself.
Shine climbed down from the roof. The house was small but well-made — built entirely from wood, finished in just a few hours.
"Come inside," Shine said.
The two of them stepped in.