"Faster! Even my dead grandmother runs faster than you!" Isa screamed.

It was only 15 minutes into the first day of training, and I was already starting to look for a grave to crawl into and rest...forever.

"Faster fresh meat! Do you want to become dead meat that bad!?" In an instant she drew out a pistol and began firing at the ground near me.

"YES SIR!" I ran for my life, or should I say hopped for my life. My legs were tied together with sand bags strapped around my ankles. And I swear the thing was filled with lead, not sand. I repeat, not SAND!

"10 more sets! You only have 10 minutes!"

I just ran 10! This bitch!

1 set was 50 meters, with my legs tied and 20 pound dead weight tied to my ankles...Yep I was definitely looking forward to that retirement home in my grave now.

"You can do it Kard! Luv-luv!" Rin cheered, as I barely spared the blue hologram a glance.

(*¯ ³¯*)♡

I couldn't have cared less, but honestly it did help lighten up the mood a bit.

"Thanks for being annoying." I answered with fake irritation.

"Ha!? I was just being nice to you for once and this is how you..."

"STOP SQUABBLING AND START RUNNING! DEAD MEATS!" Isa screamed. Her cry was followed by a shot towards the ground where I had been a moment ago.

"YES SIR!" Rin and I screamed at the same time.

I hopped like there was no tomorrow.

***

​"That crazy...bitch..." I said, trying to catch my breath.

"YEAH! Who does that women think she is? One day if I get crossed dimensional powers..." Rin said clenching her fist in rage. She went on with her rant, though I missed the rest of it. I was too busy chugging down like 20 gallons of water to care. When I finished, Rin was still going on with her torture plan:

"...I will hack into her phone and computer, then deny her from connecting to any sort of WIFI..."

"Stop, stop, stop! You're too loud!"

"Oops! Ok so this is what I am going to do with her..." her voice trailed off into a whisper, naturally I held my arm closer to my ear to listen in:

"Walking on a mile of Lego? Barefoot? Dang..." I honestly couldn't imagine the pain; hearing it was painful enough.

"Ohhh! I got an even better one!" she said with the squeaky voice of 12 year old girl.

I listened. After she was finished, I think I just lost whatever little faith in humanity.

"Rin. You're the devil." I replied, with the face of genuine fear.

"Hue, hue, hue...All we have to do is..."

"What are the two of you dead meats squabbling about?" Isa's voice came out of nowhere. We looked up and she was right there standing before us, staring down at us, literally.

"Nothing sir!" Rin and I screamed in one union.

"Really? If you got something just spit it out fresh meat." Isa said as she crossed her arms.

A moment passed then another. She had probably heard our entire conversation and was just testing us. It was the worst it could be; I wished she would just beat me up and get it over with. It seemed like she was going to beat the shit out of me, but it was really the constant fear that she might beat the shit out of me just tilts me. The atmosphere was so tense I felt every breath. Sweat began dripping down my forehead like a broken dam. One drop got in my eye making it very itchy, I wanted to scratch it, but the rest of my body was just frozen by the sheer amount of fear and stress. The itch was bad, but my body wouldn't respond the slightest. All I could stare at was Isa's blurred image, the very figure of the demon that would decide my fate.

"Nothing huh? If you got something, just say it to my face. I don't like meats talking behind me." She said leaning down forward to the point we were an inch away from kissing. I didn't blush; the fear was too great.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?" she screamed in my face. A cloud of spit dusted my face.

"YES SIR!" I screamed as I shut my eyes as tight as possible. When I opened my eyes again, Isa had already turned and began walking away.
"Break ends in 30 seconds. Clean up yourself and get ready fresh meat. Or else you gonna be dead meat."

Curses...

I didn't even dare whisper it.

***

Training ended earlier than scheduled, when Isa called me 'soft meat' and decided to end it halfway through.

"All the stuff you need should be under your bed." Isa said as she stopped in front of one of the doors.

The bunk rooms was a one story concrete building with several rooms, and was located right across from the warehouse I had training in earlier that day.

"Showers are in the back. Catch." She said as she tosses a metallic object towards me. Instinctively I side stepped, which caused the thing to fall onto the ground. It was a metal key.

"Konderbach." She sneered. I assumed the word was some insult in her native tongue, and to be quite honest I wasn't eager to find out what it meant.

"Tomorrow, 6:00 a.m., in front of the warehouse. Do you understand dead meat?"

"Yes sir!" I said with every last ounce of my remaining strength.

"You are dismissed for the day. Go take a shower, you stink like skunk meat." Isa said. Pinching her nose she turned and walked to the next nearest door. She then produced a key, opened the door, and disappeared inside. Seeing that there was not a single living soul in sight, I collapsed my back against the wall all the way until I was literally on the ground.

"Kard look! The sun is setting!" Rin spoke up.

"I don't care! I think I am going to die..."

"Kard." Rin said again.

"What?" I replied sounding slightly irritated.

"You do stink." Rin's holographic figure did an expression of pinching her nose.

"Just shut up." I said as I snatched up the key with one hand and got up with the other.

"How can an AI smell anyways?" I commented, as I turned towards my door and opened it with a clink.

"Don't tell me you didn't know? I have built in olfactory system and..." Ignoring her long winded speech, I stepped into the room and flicked on the lights.

There were two narrow beds, one in each corner, complete with a small square table and a slide open closet to the side. At the table were two chairs and a small kettle sitting on top.

"Kard! Are you even listening?"

"I'm listening, I'm listening." I said dismissively.

"Kard you BAKA!"

I ignored her, walked to my bed, got down and peered under. Like Isa said, there was a large plastic box. I dragged it out, opened it up, and dug through the stuff.

Bed sheet, pillow, backpack, concealed knife, Bunsen burner, a set of army camo clothes, another spare set of clothing, soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, water bottle, medical kit, towel...a tent?

With all this stuff, this might as well be my new home.

Home...

"Kard?..." I heard a faint voice whisper.
A word I had almost forgotten, after all this time, I haven't seen my parents...when was the last time I saw them again?

Whispers of my name filled the background, it almost sounded like a homecoming theme song, but in a creepy way.

"Kard!" the voice finally broke through. Then I realized it was just Rin.

"What?" I snapped back, a little louder than I meant.

"Kard...Are you ok?"

"I am fine." I said with a poker face, I grabbing myself a towel and the spare set of clothes. Before I got up I kicked the box back to where it had been. Without looking back, I headed out the door and to the back of the building. Like Isa said, there were a pair of doors in the back with gender signs labeled on them. Being the upright person I was, I entered the male bathroom and inside I found a change room with a bunch of benches and lockers. After setting my things down, since it didn't seem like someone is going to come in and steal them, I took off my dirty clothes and threw them into a pile, then walked over to the shower area.
The shower area was pretty simple, featuring several shower heads and white tiled floor. Feeling exhausted, I went over to the nearest one and turned it on, hot water came out, a little hot for my liking but it did the job just fine.

"Finally..." I let out a breath of relief.
Oh shit! I almost forgot...

I jumped away from the shower as if it were pouring acid chemicals to slowly eat away at my body, but my true fear wasn't far away. Because back then I never thought of this problem would occur to me...

As if sensing the problem Rin spoke up:

"Don't worry. The arm is perfectly waterproof, inside or outside."

"O...ok."

"And Kard..." Rin said, sounding nervous.

"Yes?"

"I see it, I see it all..."

"See what?"

"Your tiny wee wee!!!" Rin said as a blue Kaomoji popped up:

(⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄)

"Why the hell are you even staring at it!?"

"Be quiet! Unless you want to become dead meat!" Isa's voice came from the other side of the wall.

"Wait, you can hear us?" I jumped back.

"There is only one wall between us and it's not even sound proof." There was a pause. "Kolderbach." She added, though the words were barely audible.

"What does colder-bark even mean?" I shouted back.

"Forget it. Why did you sign up for this training?" her voice came from the other side again.

I was just about to say I was tricked by Dr. Cherrylove, and was going to sue her or at least demand a refund. But at that moment I knew, if I told her I was quitting, part of my dignity would be lost forever. The very piece she took from me when she beat me down, and shredded it right in front of me with her stare. It was my most cherished part, my pride. And I won't give up until I have it back, or die trying.

"I am taking back what is mine." I slowly step back into the shower.

"Ho? What is the thing then?"

"Well how do I say this...it's put on hold for now. Because there is this other thing I need to get back first."

"Quit speaking gibberish, tell me after you correct that habit of yours."
I bitted down my lip, as I decide to change the topic:

"Sir, what made you decide to come here and teach?"

A pause, as the hot water in the background continued to hiss.

"An order. That's all."

The sharp sound of twisting metal came from the other side, followed by the almost immediate cease of water and footsteps echoing rhythmically across the wet ground.

"Wait! You're..." Before I even got my next words out, my water suddenly ran cold and caused me to jump back and slip. Luckily I landed on my butt, which kinda made my ass numb.

"Hot water only last for 5 minutes. And don't be late dead meat." She said, as the sound her footstep drifted further and further.

"Yes sir!" I replied instinctively and even saluted for some reason.
After her footsteps had completely gone silent, I helped myself up and headed over to the changing area.

"Oh ho? You like her don't you?" Rin said as I put on my pants.

"The hell are you talking about? You mad?" I said almost dropping my pants.

"No, you really do seem to."

"Ha. Very funny." I replied and put on my shirt.

"You should see what you sound like around her: yes sir! Please give me punishment I've been a bad bad solider." Her figure did an imitation by hugging herself while kind of wiggling around standing up.

I didn't have the strength to argue anymore. After getting fully dressed I brushed my teeth and left the bathroom for my room. I was so exhausted and sore that I could probably die from the comfortableness of the bed after that tortuous day of work. I didn't even bother turning off the lights, I just simply crashed onto the bed. Next thing I know, I was in dream land.

***

A week later...

"Get up soft meat!" Isa screamed, as she stared down at me.

Swallowing down the humiliation once again, I got up slowly, with one hand supporting and the other rubbing my butt.

"Even my handicapped aunt fights better than you! Again fresh meat!"

"Yes...Sir." I said between breaths, as I tried the best to straighten my back and get into combat stance. It was hard, the bruises and exhaustion wore me down like an AP calculus test. Impossible. Isa lunged at me at full speed. Even though we were several meters apart, her one stride instantly closed all the gap between us. When I tried to raise my arm to block, it was already too late. Her palm had already slammed into my half raised forearm, causing it to be knocked backwards. Then my fist smashed into my nose. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground staring at the stars on the ceiling.

"Raise your guard higher unless you want to become dead meat!" Isa screamed looking down on me.

"Ye...sirrr..." I replied. I tried massaging my nose to soothe the pain, the result: a red mass of blood.

"5 minute break fresh meat, get yourself cleaned up and come back here. There is something I need to tell you."

Seeing this as a first, I knew something was up.

A break in the middle of an exercise? Something definitely is going on...

But it was a 5 minute break. Over the week, I had learned that one could never have enough breaks. I had to treat every break like it could be the day's last, because it might. With a quick thanks, I ran over to the washroom, grabbed a drink of water then ran back. Isa stood like a statue in the same spot throughout the whole break. When I returned her face betrayed no emotion.

Silence.

I gulped.

I thought the silence was going to continue forever, then out from the gloom she pulled a letter and said:

"Recently I have received new instructions from the director. You have may choose whether or not to accept this mission: the eradication of flaming weasel in the Vino community. See details and mission outline below." She said, as she handed me the letter.
"Flaming weasel...aren't those elementals?" I asked scanning the lines of text.

"Yes. Do you have any other questions dumb meat?"

"No..."

"You'll have today to decide, deadline tonight."

"What happens if I accept it now?"

"What do you think dumb meat? You go of course."

"Because it says here ASAP." I showed pointed it to specific part of the letter.

There was a moment of hesitation on Isa face, but in the end it appears her impatience won the wrestle.

"Pack up. We're leaving now fresh meat."

Q: Do you get homesick easily?