Markus was awoken at 5am by Bailey who was already dressed in training gear and ready to work him to the bone. She picked him up by his clothes and went outside the barrier and to the river, where she threw him in.
"WHAT THE— I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SWIM!" Markus shouted among the splashes created by his flailing arms.
"Then it's time to learn. Breathe in, lay parallel to the ground and use your arms to drag water under you." Bailey said calmly.
Markus floated for a bit more however seeing as he was only going down and not going to get helped, he crazily drew water under him and tried to save himself but he was too panicked. When he eventually lost his breath- his body's reflexes kicked in and he instinctively released a wind blade sending him flying out of the river and created a powerful shockwave which stopped the flow of water temporarily as it reeled back from the impact.
"Oi- that's cheating." Bailey said as she towered above him.
Markus was choking and throwing up water on the riverbank.
"ARE YOU CRAZY! WHY WOULD YOU THROW ME IN!" Markus shouted with anger, winds converged around him.
"Oh? You can't swim but you can instinctively summon natural wind to your aid? How's that make sense!" She asked, half joking.
"Wha—" was all he could manage before she kicked him back in the river.
"You will learn to swim today. If you try to propel yourself back- I will kick you again. So I suggest swimming before you get tired from essence exhaustion like last night." Bailey said as she crossed her arms.
Out of necessity, Markus breathed in deeply and fought the river current as he drew it under him. He was beginning to fear Bailey more than the risk of drowning- so he beared with it until he could do it.
"Good- now get out." Bailey said
No sooner did Markus used another wind blast to send himself flying ashore again.
"Well- you could've just swam here but oh well- you won't be using essence for the rest of the day." Bailey said, nudging her head to tell him to follow.
"Wait so you did all of that for no reason!" Markus said
"No. I did it because youve been rotting in bed and you stank. Also I did it as a warning. If you ever sleep in past 6am then I'm throwing you in that river and keeping you there for every minute past 6am that you sleep and multiplying it by ten. So if you sleep for even an extra minute…"
"I'll have to do a ten minute swim!?" Markus said horrified.
"Yes. And one more thing- you've gotten chatty and lippy. Speak and complain less- or else." Bailey said sternly
'I'm not even going to ask or else what— it's a death sentence!' Markus thought to himself
They got back to the field of the cabin, once again protected by the barrier. But instead of having breakfast or taking a break, Bailey began Markus' physical training.
On the second day, he woke up at 5:30am in fear. Unfortunately, waking up early did not save him from running laps and meditation to focus on the flow of essence in all his body. Because he was infected, essence had only really flown in his chest and arms. Now, it was freely flowing everywhere, something which needed regulation.
On the third day, he was so tired from the previous day that he woke up at 5:50am. Cutting it close but still early. The same routine took place, straining his body further.
On the forth day, he woke up exactly at 6am, saving himself but placing him in the danger zone. Thankfully his body seemed to become adjusted. Or so he thought.
On the fifth day, Markus slept until 6:30am. When he realised this, his face paled.
"WAIT WAIT- Instructor Nuune! I PROMISE I WON'T—" Markus said before he was dragged to the river
"PLEASE! I CAN'T SWIM FOR 300 MINUTES!" He said before being thrown in
But Bailey said nothing and watched him swim. Ten minutes passed. His body grew tired. Although he was in no actual danger, despite his instructor's threats, he believed himself to be.
He tried to hold on but eventually the curren swept him. Bailey created a flame whip and fished him out, let him recover for ten or so minutes and merely said: "286 minutes left. We will be here all day."
And they were, only until sundown, did Markus finally manage to finish his punishment.
"Bear meat never tasted so good as it does right now." He said as he teared up from the warm meal after a day swimming in cold water.
It was quite a hard day- unfortunately it was only one of many to follow.
Seven weeks later…
"Hurry up Windwave! If you don't finish this last lap on time I will keep you underwater for 5 minutes!" Bailey shouted from atop the cabin as she looked at Markus run
This was his 100th lap of the barrier and the last day of his pure physical training.
As a wind user, Bailey shaped his training to be around stamina, endurance and speed. But she also made him do pushups and lift heavy rocks to overall train his weak body. After two months of strict training, Markus' body was transforming nicely. Although young, he had better stamina than some adults.
Just barely, Markus finished the 100th lap before collapsing. Suddenly nothing else was important except sleep.