Narrator:Today's the first day of Nikolai's training sessions, let's see how it goes for him.

*Nikolai woke up earlier than usual, got his normal breakfast, and headed straight towards the gym*

Nikolai(mind):Alright! Rumani said that the other members of the Nepenthe athletic team would be there. I'm interested to see what kind of people they are.

*Nikolai opened the door and saw Rumani in the middle of the slightly crowded gym. However, Nikolai saw another familiar girl there that he wasn't too excited to see*

Nikolai(mind):Oh no...it that girl from the marathon! Why is she here?!

*Nikolai approached Rumani, and ignored the sweaty girl standing next to them*

Nikolai(mind):Why is she still incredibly sweating?!

Nikolai:"Morning, Rumani."

Rumani:"Good morning, Nikolai. Ready to start your first session?"

Nikolai:"Yep, of course!"

Rumani:"Perfect, let me introduce you to the second member of Nepenthe. You already have met, but this is Folkwang."

*Rumani pointed at the sweaty girl, who was fanning herself with her hands*

Folkwang:"Nice to meet you, Nikolai. I'm sorry about what happened during the marathon."

Rumani:"I took away her portable fan for the day while we work out as punishment."

Folkwang:"I'm gonna die from sweating though!"

Rumani:"That's not even possible."

Folkwang:" It's so unfair! Right, Nikolai?"

Nikolai:"Huh? Why are you asking me? I'm the victim here."

Folkwang:"I know, but taking away my fan is like not giving me breakfast."

Nikolai:"Why?"

Rumani:"Oh right, Folkwang has a special...disease, that makes her overheat constantly, and profusely."

Nikolai:"Really? Wow, I didn't know you had something like that. I'm sorry for being mean about the marathon."

Folkwang:"Wha?! It's not a-"

*Rumani covered her mouth*

Rumani:"Why don't we start our workout now?"

Nikolai:"Oh, ok then."

Rumani:"Folkwang, you can get an ice pop to cool yourself down. Me and Nikolai are going to do some cardio."

Folkwang:"Really?! Alright!"

*Folkwang runs off, while Rumani and Nikolai start their workout with a treadmill run. After 30 minutes, they stopped after Nikolai started to feel exhausted*

Nikolai:"Ugh...hah...how about we take a break...yeah?"

Rumani:"You know this is just the warmup, right?"

Nikolai:"Oh god..."

Rumani:"And we have 20 more exercises to do."

Nikolai:"Oh dear god..."

Rumani:"Very well, we'll take a 30 minute break halfway through."

Nikolai:"Better than nothing, I guess."

*Nikolai then somehow managed to complete the next 10 exercises without passing out. Afterwards, however, he immediately passed out on one of the benches in the gym*

Nikolai:"Ugh..."

Rumani:"Alright, Nikolai. It's almost time to get up and start again."

Nikolai:"You're joking, right? Already?!"

Rumani:"You've been asleep for the past 30 minutes, it's been plenty of time."

Nikolai:"Ugh..."

Rumani:"Up next we have squats, ready?"

Nikolai:"Let's just get this over with..."

Nikolai(mind):This has got to be a form of torture.

*Nikolai and Rumani continued the exercises, and somehow managed to complete the rest of them*

Nikolai:"Hah...ugh! P-Please, no more...I can't take anymore..."

Rumani:"And...calve raises was the final exercise. Congratulations, Nikolai. You've finished today's workout!"

Nikolai:"T-Today's?!"

Rumani:"Of course, you are planning on coming back for more workouts, right?"

Nikolai:"W-Well..."

Nikolai(mind):Man...if I really had an option to, I would've told her no. But she's too persistent to take that answer!

*Nikolai let out an annoyed sigh*

Nikolai:"Yes, I'll come back."

Rumani:"Perfect, that'll give you the chance to meet the others more."

Nikolai:"You mean Folkwang?"

Rumani:"Well, her and one other person. I think she is holding an event right now."

Nikolai:"Oh god, is it another marathon?!"

Rumani:"No, she prefers a...different kind of sport than marathons."

Nikolai:"Huh? Really?"

Rumani:"You can go there and see for yourself."

Nikolai(mind):As long as I don't need to exercise anymore, I'm fine with anything!

*Rumani holds out a flyer for a skateboarding event*

Nikolai(mind):Skateboarding? I didn't think that was a sport.

Nikolai:"Sure, I'll take a look."

Rumani:"Her tricks are so mesmerizing, it's like she's glowing. Even people who don't even skate love her.

*Nikolai grabbed the flyer*

Nikolai:"Well, for now I'm gonna try to recover from the pain."

Rumani:"Oh, make sure to continue stretching so that your muscles don't ache as badly."

Nikolai(mind):They are still going to ache either way.

Nikolai:"Will do, thank you for today, Rumani!"

Rumani:"My pleasure, see you next time."

*Nikolai headed out of the gym, and looked at the flyer again*

Nikolai:"The event's later tonight. Well, guess I'll see what the third member of Nepenthe can do."

*Nikolai waited around the outpost, and then followed the flyer's directions to reach a skatepark that he didn't know about*

Nikolai(mind):What the? This place is huge. How come I've never seen this before?!

*The skatepark was covered with lights. Many people were already riding their boards on the multiple halfpipes in the park*

Nikolai(mind):Ok, now to look for Nepenthe's third member? What would she look like? I should probably just look for whoever is doing the best...I think, I don't even know if someone's doing good or not.

*Nikolai watched people in the halfpipe for about an hour*

Nikolai:"Man...which one is she?"

???:"Uh...hey, mister."

Nikolai:"Huh?"

*Nikolai turned around and saw a small girl with grey hair and green eyes carrying a one-wheel skateboard*

*Nikolai squinted his eyes when he looked at her*

Nikolai(mind):What the heck? Her hair looks so bright, why is she her hair so bright?!

???:"You know you look very suspicious here, right?"

Nikolai:" Huh? Really?"

???:"Yeah, everyone here is kind of creeped out by you standing around."

Nikolai:"Oh, sorry. I'm just looking for someone."

???:"Really? Fine, who are you looking for?"

Nikolai:"I don't know their name or what they look like, but I know they are part of a team named Nepenthe. They work at the gym over there."

???:"Huh? The gym? Oh, yeah...don't know anyone, sorry. They've probably already left."

Nikolai:"Well, you never know."

???:"Ugh...fine, do whatever."

*Someone suddenly shouted towards them*

Boy:"Hey! Is that the Trickster?! Yo, I love your skating videos!"

Girl:"Oh my gosh, is it really her? Her hair is so pretty!"

Nikolai:"Trickster?"

???:"Uh..."

*The girl stepped forward*

Boy:"Yo, you've got to show us some tricks here."

Girl:"Yes! I'd love to see them!"

???:"...Alright, fine. You've got it."

Boy:"Nice!"

Girl:"I can't wait!"

*A crowd started to form behind Nikolai, as the girl approached the halfpipe*

Nikolai(mind):What the? I feel like I've got front row tickets here. Well, she's probably one of the better ones here, so I'll watch her tricks and then leave.

*The girl took a deep breath, got on her one-wheel skateboard and went down the halfpipe. Her first trick was a simple 180 degree spin that Nikolai saw from many other skaters. Then she gradually raised the number to a 360 degree spin, then a 540 spin, then 720. Her hair shined the entire time, enchanting the crowd of people. Her last spin was a 1080 degree spin, then she did a double flip as her final trick*

Nikolai:"Whoa..."

*Nikolai and the rest of the crowd was enthralled by her tricks and her practically glowing hair*

Nikolai(mind):Wait a minute...mesmerizing tricks, looking like she's glowing, having fans that don't even know how to skate. Is she really...

*The girl skated back to the crowd, and kicked the back of her skateboard to bring the front of it to her hands, and she carried the board vertically*

???:"There you have it."

Boy:"That was awesome!"

Girl:"So cool!"

*The crowd cheered for her and celebrated, as she shrugged, and walked away*

Nikolai(mind):Huh? Where is she going?

*Nikolai went after her, and saw her sitting on a halfpipe on the other side of the park, clutching her right arm*

???:"Ugh...what do you want, creep?"

Nikolai(mind):Ouch, that was kind of rude.

Nikolai:"Those tricks were really cool."

???:"Yeah, so?"

Nikolai:"It's just that my gym instructor said that her team member's tricks on a skateboard are mesmerizing, as is she was glowing. You were exactly that, if I'd know anything better."

???:" Heh...thanks, so are you saying that I'm that third member?"

Nikolai:"Well, yeah. Am I wrong?"

???:"Ugh...nope, you're not. I'm the third member of Nepenthe, the name's Epinel."

Nikolai:"I'm Nikolai, nice to meet you."

*Nikolai held out his hand, and Epinel reluctantly shook it*

Epinel:"You're still creepy, you know that?"

Nikolai:"Oh, sorry."

*Epinel left the park, and Nikolai left soon after. He went back to his dorm and went to sleep. When Nikolai woke up the next morning, he had a bit of a rude awakening*

Nikolai:*Yawns* "UGH! Everything hurts!"

Nikolai(mind):Maybe I should take a break today...ow!

Narrator:And so Nikolai met the members of Nepenthe, for the price of his movements for the next day or two.

Hey bros, it's me, the author! I'm planning on Nikolai to interact with more characters for the next couple of chapters, so get ready for that. In-game wise, how am I having more fun playing an event mini-game than the actual game?! Other than that, no more announcements from me, here's the meme of the week:

And I'll see you guys next time!