Occupying the space between the training dummies and the massive fighting ring, there was what looked like an obstacle course built of wood and metal. Deep pits could be navigated by thin bridges and raised platforms, and an assortment of blades and heavy bludgeons were hung above the course to act as booby traps. I figured this must be for training agility skills.

So, this hall must be home to the training stations Kyrine had mentioned to me earlier, used for upgrading monsters. I couldn’t imagine the size that a creature would have to be to make use of some of this stuff. Aside from the big free weights and crazy-looking strength machines, there were also a few medicine balls the size of small cars. I wondered if I would be able to cultivate to the point where I could lift this kind of stuff? I liked the idea of that.

I was about to ask Kyrine about it when something moving around the leg press machine drew my attention back to the front of the hall. I hadn’t noticed at first, but now I saw the plates going up and down and heard the clanking of the machine and the breath of the person using it.

Looking closer, I saw that whoever was using the machine had loaded it up with a vast number of plates; there had to be over 5,000 pounds loaded on the machine! With each repetition, the plates clanked and shook.

I counted the rising and falling of the plates. When the person had done ten reps, I thought they would surely stop. After fifteen, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. When the plates had gone up and down 25 times, I expected some kind of gigantic monster—a troll, maybe, or a giant—to come out from behind the machine. There was a pause, and then I saw the weightlifter emerge from behind the machine.

It was Astrid.

Holy crap! She was strong! And she wasn’t even in her werewolf form.

As she came out from behind the machine, I had to admire her looks. She was wearing skin-tight lycra shorts and a lycra sports bra, and I was able to see the outlines of each individual muscle in her legs, her toned belly, and her arms. The workout she had just finished had given her quite the pump, and the perspiration made her skin glisten. She tossed her ponytail back over her head and grabbed a towel from the back of the machine to dry her face.

There was a quiet ‘ping’ and I felt that a notification was requesting my attention. I reached out my hand and flicked from my left, as if bringing up an app on a touch screen. The stat readout for Astrid popped up in front of my vision.