Zatch greeted the wolf with a hearty handshake, Welcoming him to the castle. Showing off the amenities, Dorms, and more, As Zatch led the wolf into the stunningly beautiful Lunar Gardens he asked if the white wolf really wanted to get started on training right this second and given his build, starting on the "hardest course he could think of" was a good idea.

Even after suggesting that the wolf rest up first before the ordeal, The white wolf was rather insistent so Zatch finally relented and said in that
case, let's get started. The White wolf was Overjoyed, Practically giddy that he had a chance to get even stronger than he was now, While this gray wolf that calls himself a master looked a little on the lean side, He knew to never judge a book by the cover, There could be a little trick he could know to actually stand a chance against the white wolf.

"So, I'm guessing that the test will begin here? Should I start lifting those boulders over there? I can lift a couple of tons ya know-" the white wolf began

"Oh no no no no~ We start over here," Zatch said, Resting a hand against an enormous pillar that... seemed to have appeared from nowhere...
Has that always been there...?

"(Nooo... I would have noticed it, Smelled it, Sensed it.)" The white wolf thought incredulously

"What's the hold-up? Not getting cold feet are ya?" Zatch teased lightly

"Heh, Hardly!" The White Wolf said as he strode confidently up to the door of this mystifying and materializing Tower.

"Go on." Zatch pressed

The white wolf nodded and pushed open the surprisingly light doors, Revealing a floor that was quickly approaching!

"What?!"

Maneuvering himself in the air to look behind him, There Zatch stood in the doorway! How?! One time is a fluke but twice is-

*SPLASH!*

"You seem a bit confused, Terribly sorry. Allow me to introduce you to the first stage and your home for the rest of your life. I will not be feeding you and unless you tap out I will not save you." Zatch called down from up high.

The white wolf's keen eyes lock with Zatch's, They were nothing like how they were just moments ago, Once light and comforting eyes were now cold and absolute. He meant what he said, Zatch would leave the wolf there to die, and knowing this the Wolf could only smile in defiance of such a simple task, Zatch must have been kidding!

The white Wolf Scans his surroundings, The Chasm he's in is deep and without a thing to climb. He gauges the height between himself and the door, more than 16,000 meters easily. And on top of that there's something up with this liquid he fell into. It's a lot more slimy and clingy than syrup but when he tries to grasp it, it slips through his fingers with more give than water! The White Wolf's grin widens as he looks up at Zatch with more defiance than before!

"10,000 Meters, 100,000 Meters- It doesn't matter! I climb snow-capped mountains as a Morning warm-up, Getting out of a playpen like this is gonna make for a nice stretch!" The White Wolf bolsters!

Zatch Gazed Down ambivalently, The White Wolf placed his hands on the surface of the waist-deep muck, lifting himself upward till he was standing upright on the surface itself, and began to say!

"Your-! *Heaves Self Up* -The first mistake was to leave me with a liquid! I know this isn't water and it doesn't matter!"

The Wolf readies Himself before he starts sprinting!

"And This Liquid will do as a great pair of climbing gloves! All I have to do is Cloak My Hands and freeze it-!"

The White Wolf Leaps!

"To The WALLS!!!"

Claws gore deeply into the all-to-relenting walls as the liquid on his hands chills!

"Child's play, 50 Meters Easy! Something like this is too easy for an Alpha-"

His claw slips away as if the walls themselves were-

"Wait! No- The Walls Arn't- Ugh! My Lungs!"
The White Wolf Stammers as if he just inhaled an entire lake!
He falls and splashes again into the muck, regarding fresh air at the 5-meter mark, he breaks to the surface in a mighty gasp!

"Spunky, I like it." Zatch bellows to the gasping wolf below.
"You made it 50 meters already with a single jump on uneven footing alone, not to mention you already came up with a method of getting back up only a few seconds after being put in there. You got talent, I gotta say"

"But it's Gonna take a lot more than what you have already to make it out of this one Wolfy. So let me crouch down so you can really hear me because I'm only gonna give you this hint once and what you do with it is up to you."

The White Wolf Looks up to Zatch, As his fur soon furrows, His fangs show themselves and a fire enters his eyes in disbelief and rage as Zatch says

"Sink or Swim, Dog."

The White Wolf practically snarls back "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

Zatch calmly replies "If you have a problem, Say to my face when you get up here. Or you can always throw in the towel if you prefer."

"Never."
Sheer hostility washes over the Wolf as the word comes out as sharp as a knife.

"Hmph, Then see ya sooner or never puppy," Zatch says flippantly as he turns to leave.

"Oh one more thing, I wouldn't try using the liquid as a springboard. The stuffs not only on the walls and ground, ya know?" Zatch says as he turns around again and closes the door.

"So that's it." The White Wolf thought. "The stuff he's in, Why he couldn't stick to the wall, and why he almost suffocated 50 meters up. The liquid- whatever it is all around him. In the Air Up High, On the walls and what he's currently waist-deep in, He's basically in an enormous Pitcher Plant.
Worst yet, the fact that his footing wasn't true when he stood wasn't a good sign. Even with the most impure forms of water, he's able to stand on it as if it was concrete but this was sloppy, Too Sloppy. Is it mixed with sand? Is that what's stopping him from controlling the water in it? The Wolf Sloshes over to the walls now, pressing a hand against it and then through it.

"Ah, I see."

The walls were never walls of ground, stone, brick, or anything solid but an even thicker version of the compound he's in. Climbing it is out. it's liquid alright but it won't harden or freeze.

"Now, I got soup below, A wall of mashed potatoes, and air thicker than syrup above. That jerk Zatch was right, While I can hold my breath it won't help if the air is pushed into me by my speed going up from a jump, I'd die. Come on, break it down, what can I do? I can extract a bit of water from where I'm standing and a little from the walls but It's not like I can climb up the pudding wall-... Wait. What did Zatch Say?"

"Sink or Swim, Dog."

The white wolf's brow narrows at the thought.

Zatch, You will pay.

*15 hours later*

"Life Fibers? Huh, Wonder if they're actually alive."
Zatch says to himself as he Calmly reads a book just outside of the Tower.
But before he could start the next paragraph he heard a tap. Just as he turned his attention to the door, they swung open revealing a hand gripping the lower lip of the gateway! Zatch ears perk as the big mass heaves himself up to stare Zatch in the eyes.

"16 hours? And here I thought you be down there for at least 2 days"
Zatch spoke sitting up and getting up as the not-so-happy wolf walked over and prepared to send Zatch Flying!

"Mind telling me-"
Before Zatch could finish the sentence, The White Wolf swung for Zatch's Muzzle, only to be stopped an inch away and then repelled by some sort of force field!
"-How you got back up to the land of the living?"
The White Wolf smiles as he clenches a fist and launches a storm of blows determined to rip that shield apart!
"The 'Sink or Swim' part was great advice but the 'Dog' part was your worst mistake."

Zatch rubs his chin "Oh? so you-?"

"Yes you Great Gray Garbage, I swam up! I stole as much water as I could from the muck below and dove into the wall, used the water as an air tank, and swam up! When I ran out of breathable water one-third of the way there I started stealing water from the wall itself as I swam! It wasn't easy, It was like threading 10 needles at a time while swimming up a waterfall but, it was all worth it too...! Do...! THIS!"

And with a final punch a small crack forms!

"Oh, Ain't that interesting, And this shield should have been able to withstand an elephant being thrown at me at Mach 12. Looks like I need to revise my cast to account for unbridled rage" Zatch says casually.

"Alex, I'm sorry for crossing the line but giving straight advice wouldn't have done you any good. I had to phrase it as an insult so that you could work on listening to advice even if it's given by someone you don't want to listen to at all."

Alex the White Wolf scoffs before lowering his fist
"Hmph, Don't. Say. It. Again."

Zatch Shrugs, Fair enough. We'll work on removing the "Insult Button" at a
later date but, for right now, Now that you are awake and ready to use those Water skills in different ways, I think you a date with a thwomp, A back strap, and a custom track of quicksand.

And so began Alex's steps towards improvement.