Melbourne awoke in his single room suite to the daily mission reminder to train. After the initial annoyance, he read the list of exercises and was mildly shocked.
*Daily Mission
*50 sit-ups (0/50)
*50 reverse crunches (0/50)
*50 leg lifts (0/50)
*50 russian twists (0/50)
*50 squats (0/50)
*50 calf raises (0/50)
*100 jumping jack (0/50)
*10 right leg front kicks (0/10)
*10 left leg front kicks (0/10)
*10 right leg round kicks (0/10)
*10 left leg round kicks (0/10)
*10 right leg side kicks (0/10)
*10 left leg side kicks (0/10)
*Platform Jumps (0/50)
*Elliptical Training (0/20 min at 15 resistance)
Melbourne already understood that it is wise to alternate the muscle groups in your workout routine from day to day, giving each muscle group a chance to rest and recover while you focus on another group. It appeared that The Aclito System was following a similar pattern.
Melbourne reluctantly got out of bed and realized it was almost noon. He had fallen asleep on the deck right after sunset and was woken up by a security officer for his own safety and asked to go to his room. He barely made it to his suite before collapsing in his bed. After the short sleep he had following his excursion into the forest the night before, he was definitely sleep deprived. Maybe that's why the system didn't include martial arts practice into yesterday's training session?
Melbourne activated his complementary in-room coffee maker and microwaved a breakfast burrito he had in his bag. He then experienced a dizzy spell. The combination of that and his dry mouth made him realize how dehydrated he was. He grabbed a disposable cup and put it under the in room water dispenser. He gulped down five cups in single gulps before the volume of his sips began to normalize. He would never have been able to drink water that cold that fast without a desperate state of dehydration.
He found that there was a holographic terminal in his room with a map showing the various amenities and services available throughout the airship. He found the gym a very short walk away from his room and walked in that direction to begin another punishing mandatory workout session.
The sit-ups were more or less easy to do. It wasn't until he finished his leg lifts that his abs were burning. He was not a very fit person and he knew this, so he only had his own laziness to blame.
After finally knocking out fifty Russian Twists, he rolled over off the training mat onto the gym floor in excruciating pain as four of . He reluctantly noticed a few beautiful muscular women giggling at him, and they were definitely not flirting or being nice.
"It's going to be a long journey if this Aclito expects me to become some kind of superhuman warrior." thought Melbourne sardonically.
Melbourne pulled himself up and felt ashamed as he gulped down the water in his water bottle before continuing with squats.
By the time he finally arrived at cardio, he was in agonizing pain. He finished his jumps then limped over to the elliptical to begin his 20 minutes of cardio. He set the number to 15 as the Aclito demanded and began pedaling as fast as he could.
By the end of the workout, Melbourne was drenched in sweat as the Aclito System finally registered his daily mission as complete.
*Daily Mission Complete!
*+1 X.P.
*37 of 100 X.P.
Melbourne gulped down another bottle of water and a protein shake before limping back into his suite. He threw off his clothes and got into the shower before going to an onboard cafe to treat himself to a meal. After this, he retreated back to his room to get online to study calculus and advanced electrical engineering courses geared towards advancing his understanding of robotics.
***
The next day, the Aclito System gave Melbourne the arm workout with pushups and pull-ups with a treadmill run of the same distance he had run outside his mother's house the other day, but with the addition of punches and knife-hand strike as well as known katas from martial arts. He finished these training exercises to receive another regular stat boost.
*Daily Mission Complete
*+1 X.P.
*38 of 100 X.P.
***
Melbourne repeated his abs and legs workout the next day, which was a Friday. He was still extremely sore from the workouts of the previous days, but he figured he'd adapt to the regular workout routines and feel less miserable in a few weeks.
*Daily Mission Complete
*+1 X.P.
*39 of 100 X.P.
***
The next day surprised Melbourne as the Daily Mission did not show up.
"Happy Saturday." said the Aclito. "The system was designed by Professor Galten to keep in mind that humans perform best when given one day of rest per week. While Professor Galten was not particularly religious, his family was of a Christian denomination that believed in keeping the seventh day as a day of rest. He kept the tradition though leaving the religion and programmed the G.E.U.D.A. System to keep the Sabbath by default. Any individual recipient of the system may change the date if they wish, but one day of rest per week is recommended for physical and psychological healing given that you are not in a prolonged combat situation that demands your full attention all seven days. You will therefore not be required by the System to workout today. Would you like to alter your day of rest?"
"No." thought Melbourne in relief. "Saturday sounds like a fine day to take off and I am exhausted anyway."
Melbourne was ecstatic and spent most of the day basking in the sunlight on the topdeck.
***
On Sunday, one day before they would land in Olympia, the daily quest message appeared as usual to wake and command Melbourne to his daily torment. Melbourne reluctantly got up and made his coffee before trudging to the gym to begin his push-ups.
"Oh look, it's Melly!" exclaimed a familiarly sickening voice from behind Melbourne as he finished his workout. "What are you doing here of all places?"
*Daily Mission Complete
*+1 X.P.
*40 of 100 X.P.
The sharp pain of a fist struck into Melbourne's ribs as he finished reading the Aclito's message. Melbourne pulled the emergency stop button as he keeled over and fell off the treadmill.
*H.P.: 9 of 10
The Aclito registered a small amount of physical damage as Melbourne turned to see the spiky red hair of James Kurkoniff, the leader of a posse of high school bullies who had regularly targeted him as a victim throughout the past four years. This man was the reason Melbourne had started taking martial arts.
"Hey, take it outside to top deck if you two must fight!" yelled a bald man in a security uniform. "We don't condone violence in this facility!"
"Ah!" exclaimed James. "Well, I don't suppose this little wimp is going to agree to fight me up there. Knowing him, he's way too scared to face me."
*Mission Received: No More a Doormat
*Your old high school bully has challenged you to a fight. You are sick of being pushed around.
*Meet James Kurkoniff on the deck of the ship and defeat him in a fight to prove you are no longer his rag-doll.
*Reward: 10 X.P.
"Interesting." thought Melbourne to himself. "The System is evolving to make predictions about mission rewards that weren't there before. I was going to avoid the fight but now I might just accept the challenge."
"I'm warning you, if you open your mouth to this customer one more time, I will have you thrown out of this gym and put in the airship brig for harassment!" exclaimed the security guard. "There will be legal consequences as well! Do I make myself clear?"
James nodded reluctantly, then walked off.
"I accept your challenge, James!" called Melbourne, surprising both the security officer and James.
"Really?" said James, cocking his head. "Alright, Melly. I'll kick your ass. I see you're tired from your panzy-ass workout, so I'll meet you up topside in two hours. What do you say? Rest up and meet me then?"
"Sounds like a plan." said Melbourne.