A grunt left Vincent as he lifted up crates of food from the storeroom floor. "You don't have to keep doing this, you know." Shi said, catching his breath beside the room's door as usual. "Don't you want to get a bit more rest?"
Between fighting, or more aptly, getting beaten by Beidou, and the old man's training, Vincent was sore in every way possible, each movement, big or small, reminding him of that, and sleep coming far easier than before. Beidou herself had said he could stop with all these menial tasks if he was being run too hard.
Still, sore as he was, by the time morning rolled around he felt energetic. Restlessly so now. Almost like this body craved the exercise.
Besides, it was routine by now and about the closest thing to normal in this bizarre situation. At least helping with Shi's morning rounds was a lot better than laying awake letting his mind wander.
"I don't mind the work. It passes the time." Vincent said. Shin didn't seem to understand but nodded as he grabbed his own crate, the both of them setting out.
Passing members of the crew patted his shoulders, many wishing him good luck. By this point there wasn't a person on board who didn't know about his fights with Beidou.
They hit the crew quarters first, splitting up like usual. It didn't take long to reach the beds of a certain trio, Vincent setting down his crates and taking a seat at Baohu's, the scarred woman, feet.
"Think you'll get a hit in today?" Zhanshi, the short-haired one, asked.
"Not even in my dreams." Vincent said with a sigh. Defense was still the name of the game against Beidou.
"At least you're hanging in there. No many in the crew who could do that."
"Try none. We're all tough but not take back-to-back beatings from the captain and keep walking around tough. And you keep going back." Xingmi, the one with the ponytail, said. She leaned forward with a smile. "You're not a masochist, are you?"
"N-No! Of course not." He denied the absurd notion.
"No judgment if you are. I can't say I'm into that sort of thing but never say never, right?" She continued with a wink.
"W-Where are we headed anyways?" He questioned; he'd learn that it was far better to just change the subject than to engage the woman when she started talking like that. Nothing but embarrassment awaited him on that road.
"No one's told you yet?" Zhanshi said with a raised brow. "Officially we're in the middle of delivering some goods to Liyue Harbor but we're ahead of schedule so the captain's steering us towards some islands pirates were said to be hiding out on."
"You'll get to see the captain kick some serious ass instead of just feeling it." Xingmi said. "Storm might've set up back a little, but it brought us a looker like you so it all balances out." And somehow, she still managed to find a way to flirt. He wished he could say he was getting use to it but the growing heat around his face told a very different story.
After his hair was properly combed out and he said his thanks, Vincent finished up handing out food, joining Shi on the way out.
Just what was happening in the world at large?
…
"The captain doesn't pull her punches against you."
Vicent groaned in agreement with the old man's assessment as they headed down to the main deck, rubbing his sore jaw. "You should take it as a compliment. Not many here can exchange blows with her."
Yep, getting the shit beat out of him was a real honor. Vincent mentally shook his head. Pain really made him bitch a lot more than usual; he was the one accepting her offers to fight so he shouldn't be complaining when they went exactly how he expected.
All those hits really did hurt though.
"Horse stance." The old man ordered once they were out on the center of the deck. Vincent immediately spread out his feet and bent his knees, putting out his arms, palms kept open, all the while keeping his back completely straight.
He held that pose as the old man circled him.
After teaching him the bare basics that went into throwing a proper punch, the old man's training mostly consisted of this. Vincent would take up whatever pose the old man ordered, many of them named after animals, and hold it for as long as possible. Handstands, single leg poses; the forms were all very different, using different parts of his body.
All to understand his limits and practice balance according to Hei.
Without balance and understanding any punch thrown would only be a shadow of what it could've been. That's what the old man had said anyways.
Vincent closed his eyes, enjoying the cool breeze sending his hair a flutter and filling his nose with the now familiar scent of the salty waters all around them. Whatever the case, the horse stance was his favorite. Simple and easy enough to keep his balance in despite the constant sways, but just intense enough that the budding pressure occupied his mind without the struggles the other forms typically brought.
Balancing on one arm on a moving ship, while shockingly enough possible for this body, was far from a mindless task.
Weight settled on one of his arms and Vincent's eyes snapped open. The old man had placed a sack of some kind of grain on his left forearm and was in the middle of placing more. Forearms, shoulders, thighs, and a lighter one on top of his head.
"Stay completely still." The old man ordered as he stepped back. Easier said than done. The added weight caused a cascading set of issues that made it difficult to maintain his balance, breezes and waves alike causing him to wobble and shift. Keeping balance was quickly taking precedent over remaining still. "I see a little motivation is required. Thankfully, I've taken the liberty of asking for the captain's assistance."
How was Beidou supposed to-
A purple flash raced past his cheek. It'd been so quick he thought he'd imagined until another arced past the other cheek. He immediately stilled himself. Surely, surely, a vision wasn't going to be used in a little training?
"Don't worry. You're built of sturdy stuff, kid." Beidou's voice came from behind as a particularly strong wave hit the ship. He stumbled back and a muffled yelp instantly left him, his back arching as something hot struck it. He quickly straightened back, doing his best to remain still, self-preservation now fueling his efforts. The sudden flash of pain settled to a sharp sting, but damn did it hurt.
And he was hit with several more over the course what felt like an eternity. Forget about the sacks and let any part of his body slack? A jolt. Let the breeze and or waves move him in the slightest? A jolt. Suffer an untimely cough or sneeze? You fucking guessed it. A jolt. Worse part? Whenever it felt like he was growing just a little tolerant of the pain, the sparks striking him got stronger.
This whole thing had to count as some kind of torture.
His arms began to go numb. His mid-section did the opposite, burning stronger than ever. Then, as a strong gust puffed out the sails above, his legs gave out on him and he fell back, instinctively tensing up.
The shock he was expecting never came. Instead, he found his head between a soft valley. Vincent was far from religious but thought up a quick prayer to whatever god might be listening as he glanced upwards, hoping he hadn't found himself in one of those ridiculous tropes.
The single red eye he meant crushed those hopes. "Nice job, kid." Beidou complimented, not the least bit bothered by the fact she was holding him up between her breasts. Big, soft- No! He had to focus.
"Th-thanks." He tried to match her nonchalance but couldn't do much of anything against the inferno spreading across his face.
She chuckled, a slight smirk spread across her face as she helped him steady himself. "Go get yourself something to eat and some rest." He nodded and shuffled away, trying to ignore the mutters of lucky bastard and half-hearted glares.
….Maybe he was too quick to call the whole thing torture?
…
Name: N/A
Age: 21
Race: Human
Physical Stats:
Strength: High-Tier Grade 1 (140)
Agility: Mid-Tier Grade 3 (55)
Endurance: High-Tier Grade 3 (103)
Chi Stats:
Chi Capacity: Mid-Tier Grade 1 (89)
Chi Control: Low-Tier Grade 3 (5)
Chi Sensitivity: Low-Tier Grade 3 (19)
Ethereal Stats:
Willpower: Special-Tier Grade 3 (154)
Instincts: Mid-Tier grade 2 (72)
Sore and utterly spent from a long day, Vincent blinked, and the window was gone without a trance. He'd thought one of the numbers might go up after the last few days, but he supposed that'd been ridiculous. If things worked like a game, he might need to do quests and get EXP. If they didn't, a mere few days wouldn't be enough to improve a human body.
Not as far as he knew.
He shifted, stretching out. He was going to end up on the receiving end of Beidou's vision again, wasn't he? Well, if it led to him ending up between her boobs again it wasn't all bad.
Vincent sighed. Enduring electrical shock just to feel some boobs? That was simp talk. This was all preparation for a future he still couldn't quite wrap his head around. A future where he may never return home and this ridiculous fever turned out to genuine reality.
…you wouldn't catch him complaining if there was a repeat of that though.
"Hey." Vincent glanced to the bed beside his. Shi was awake and staring up at the rocking ceiling. He dropped his gaze, looking Vincent's way. "What's it like to be strong?"
A random question. And one far more loaded than it should be.
Strong is how he must've looked to everyone else. No real memories and a dimmed vision yet throwing hands with Beidou of all people. Truth be told, if it weren't for the absolute unit that was this body, he doubted he'd be able to endure everything as well as he did.
Could he really call himself strong when this body wasn't his to begin with?
"I don't know."