The late night.

No sound could be heard besides the rustling leaves, the slight sounds of animals and the running water. The animals in the forest were gathering near a source of water. It was like a picture painted by a famous artist.

THUD

‘I’m sorry…’

Slowly lowering the corpse of the deer I just killed with Keyser to the ground, I apologised in my head towards the deer. While it was nearing the source, I stapped it through the neck while hiding in the bushes. I tried to make it as painless as possible. I’m not sure if the other animals have heard me but the smell of blood definitely made them run away. This was fine though. I didn’t plan on hunting any more than a deer now.

While carrying the dead deer over my shoulder, I made my way towards the water. Letting it fall a bit before it, I went towards the water and looked at my reflection for a moment. So it has been already 4 days with this being the last day. And these last days were terrible. Just looking at myself already showed how harsh it was.

Messy hair, dirt everywhere with torn clothes and all my body was covered in bruises and cuts. Not to mention this is after the ‘healing’ the old man does when he beats me up with the excuse of educating me.

Just remembering that makes me want to crawl into a ball and forget these last four days. Even going so far as to assault me when I was sleeping. This fucker probably doesn’t know the word mercy. And with each beating, the number of hits increase even if the time doesn’t increase. This made my nightmares only worse.

But not only was my mental power growing with each trauma added to the list, but also my survival skills. I was very bad at catching something to eat, going hungry and depressed to sleep. But with time passing, I started to understand what the difference between a fight and a hunt is. The only problem I had was while dismantling my hunts. I only had my long Kilij in my hand.

It’s not easy to dismantle something with an almost one-metre long blade. Especially something small like rabbits.

I went back to the thick forest to grab some wood I could use to start a little fire. Using stones to surround the campfire. I do not plan on burning down the forest. Using two sticks and my hands, I started a small flame. Good! Now the meat. I had to be careful since one wrong cut and the meat will be ruined.

After letting the deer's blood out, I started to cut it apart slow and steady. The old man had a rule and that was not to attack me when I tried to hunt or when making my meals. That’s quite considerate of him even though he laughs like a psychopath while beating up his poor poor disciple.

Just remembering what happened these last few days made me almost mess up the cutting. Shivers went down my spine thinking of the normal challenges. These challenges were usually fights with any kind of artificial enemies, ranging from giant golems to automatic artillery that could shoot about 10 giant bolts in a second.

Ah! Remembering those times made me almost cry. I mean any time I messed up, the old man appeared with his big surprise and made me start from the beginning. Ahhh… oh, I want to go home.

Looking at the meat of the deer getting grilled over the fire, I felt nothing anymore. I accepted the fact that I took a life. It’s not like I don’t eat meat. Just never killed before. Kind of hypocritical when knowing that I killed thousands of beasts in my dream. But there was still a big difference there. These were my first kills in real life. And not out of self-defence…

I looked at the meat getting cooked when I could feel something coming from the left side. It came towards me like a bullet, aiming for my face. I didn’t have to look at it anymore to understand what it is. And so, a vein bulged on my forehead.

A two-metre tall poisonous frog was flying towards me, with what I presume was the frog way to smirk at me. This fucking bitch. Now he is throwing unnatural beasts at me!? And not to mention that a certain smirk overlapped with the one I saw coming towards me, making my blood boil even more.

"PISS OFF!!"

SWOSH

One swing. A two-metre tall frog split into two perfectly. I cut the frog vertically into two perfect pieces, making it fly on both of my sides before it crashed on the roundabout five metres away from me. Sighing, I stood up and tried to drag the two pieces away from the water. The last thing I want is poisoned water.

My training made me use my Will more actively as well. Using it to distract animals to ambush them, protecting myself from certain attacks or activating the runes without leaking my Will. I started to understand the true concept of how to use Will. Not just by fueling my weapon with it but also with different kinds of ways. Now it felt really like breathing to me.

Like I had a second heart that pumped my spinning Will through its pathways. I didn’t have to concentrate anymore for it to happen. And so, the last time the old man used his punches was about a day ago.

But acknowledging the fact that this result came from a torture I’d damn to Hell with the one who thought of it really made me feel bad. Was I secretly a masochist? No! I don’t like pain at all. Then why the hell do I get better this way? I don’t know but the moment I find another effective way, I will do that no matter what! The beatings from the old man were something I wouldn’t even wish my greatest enemies had. And the old man had fun in doing so, even starting to make cultural references! And the worst part is that I got beat up so much that the old man almost run out of ideas.

Thank god that shit is over… I just have to endure these last hours with the flying human-sized frogs and some other challenges the old man will throw at me.

I ate the food that was now almost burnt. It still tasted okay for being that charred but I didn’t care as long as I’d get full.

…

Didn’t the old man say that he won’t attack me when I was cooking and hunting?

“I see you are going back on your words, old man! Now even attacking me while cooking.”

…

Why is it so extremely silent?

SWOSH

SHING

“Oh! Come on! What kind of child are you to throw another frog at me again!”

“Don’t question your master's decisions! For your good, I can go back on my words!”

This fucker is the reason why my blood pressure has been so high lately! Pointing towards the direction of the voice, I screamed angrily at him with veins protruding from my forehead.

“Wasn’t it you who said that a true man stands by his words no matter what? Hypocritical bastard! At least stay to your words!”

“Ehem… A true hunter needs to be prepared for an ambush, boy. I just tried to lower your guard with what I said…”

“Don’t make it like you planned this from the beginning, you stupid old man!”

SMACK

“Argh!”

“Shush! Don’t be disrespectful towards your master!”

Argh! Fuck it! Let’s just end this survival training!

5 minutes.

The amount of time needed to end this stupid torture session. Nothing special happened these last few hours besides flying frogs, raining boulders and a big mechanical serpent shaking the earth while trying to eat me. But finally, I could get some shut-eye.

Or at least that’s what I was hoping for but unfortunately, hearing slow and light steps coming from the side made my mood drop. And when I realised the one causing the footstep sounds were only about a hundred metres away, I stood up slowly with my Kilij in my hand. I held Keyser in a drawing grip even without its scabbard.

I was tired of all this already.

'Man… and I never stopped circulating either… Why are you getting here!'

"BEGONE DEMON! YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"

"I'm not Count Dracula, you stupid brat.”

I was so frustrated that I even began to make references without me realising it. But at least seeing the old man annoyed made me slightly happy. Nevertheless, having this monster walking towards me meant only one thing. And it woke up my fears. The ones that didn’t show themselves for the last day.

“Why?!? I didn’t stop circulating so why are you coming here so menacingly!?!”

I shouted with all the air in my lungs. I never stopped with it. And yet the old man was walking towards me with a gaze in his eyes that said: “Prepare yourself”.

"Tsugi wa Laith, Kisama da!"

I had enough of this old man making fun of me day and night, beating me up like I was a sandbag. I just had enough! Five minutes! I can do something in five minutes!

"Damn you ... AKIRA!"

"HOH...so you are approaching me? Even though you know exactly that my power stands above yourself by a landslide. And yet you want to fight me to vent out all that Anger you accumulated when I beat you every time. You are exactly like a student hoping to get a 100% on an exam when it knows exactly that it isn't smart enough to even pass."

"Dammit... STOP WITH THOSE REFERENCES AND POSES AND COME AT ME FREE AND FAIR, YOU BASTARD!"

I bent forward, almost letting my nose touch the ground to only push myself forward with everything that I had.

Five minutes. Five minutes! Just goddamn five minutes! And I’ll get my revenge for now!

"Ho... But A FIGHT IS NEVER FAIR!"

The old man did the same with what I presume to be the same amount of strength as me. This meant this wasn’t punishment but a challenge.

"HA!"

"HA!"

Meeting at the middle, our palms filled with our Will clashed against one another only to be repelled by the other ones’ Will. The old man was definitely holding back. But that is perfect. Otherwise, I can’t bash him over the head! And I’ll make it as much satisfying as possible!

To get rid of this trauma once and for all!

Jumping back, I repositioned myself, giving an opening the old man saw, making the decision to rush towards me. I was not fast enough to get away so I took a stance and drew Keyser as fast as possible. I never learned how to do it correctly. But I never had to when the one who gave me the lessons and corrected myself was Keyser itself.

CLANG

Palm against sword. Metal against flesh. Yet the sound I heard was the one from metal hitting metal. How the hell can the old man pull off something like that? Perhaps his body is metal? No… maybe he knows of a way to turn his Will metal like? Maybe but that wasn’t important.

What’s important is the next strike. And the one after. And the one after! With each stroke, my swings became more precise, faster and stronger. Yet all that happened was the old man blocking every strike while I blocked every strike. It was an endless cycle that would only end with either of us tiring the other out. And I’m sure it’s going to be me who will fall out at the end.

My swings rain down like heavy rain on the old man with unpredictable moves. I didn’t know any technique that made someone move that way. It was like with the lines, only to be replaced by instinct.

Hit when finding an opening. Redirect attacks with both arms. Use the momentum to counterattack. That’s all I was doing.

Swing my blade with more strength!

Swing Keyser with more accuracy!

Move my body with more foresight!

More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More. More.

Put in more!!!

I didn’t want to stop here. It was like something deep inside my chest said that I could do better and stopping now would make me regret it forever. So I did more just as my instincts told me.

This intoxicating feeling when I see my improvement, when I truly reach what I know I can do all along. That was pushing me forward. With more improvement, I will be better prepared for the future!

But this can’t go on forever. I don’t have infinite stamina and the old man is abusing the fact he has more stamina than I have, repeating this cycle over and over and over again.

'THINK! THINK! THINK! What can I do that this man can't block! What can I do to create an advantageous position for myself! There must be someth-...I GOT IT!'

I focused my Will through my body, unconsciously making my runes appear and my eyes shine brightly. My Will became more crazed the more determined I became. This is going to hurt like shit but in some way or another, I couldn’t stop a crazy grin to appear on my face.

‘I need to get some distance between us first! And for that, I’ll take that hit!’

The onslaught of attacks slowed for only a moment. Just a split second.

And I was already flying away. With the blast only adding to the destruction inside the forest, dust was scattered around, making it harder to see through. I had to get out of this situation!

I dashed out of the dust cloud, not caring that the old man would find my position immediately. He probably already knew where I was. And as frustrating to admit this as it is, he was really good when it comes to a fight.

He obviously would be with the experience of 700 years.

Dashing around the old man, I was trying to reposition myself, hiding behind the bushes and trees. I needed a cover for now while I find anything I could use against him.

"Running away... WON'T HELP YOU, BOY!"

A giant fireball appeared over the palm of the old man, shining brightly while radiating extreme heat. I could feel myself sweating even when being 20 metres away. The old man threw the fireball towards my direction and with this hot and fast projectile flying towards me, I realised that if I can’t dodge this one, I’m toast!

BOOM

The fireball exploded on impact, creating more dust clouds and a crater with a diameter of 10 metres. But the results the old man was probably expecting wasn’t there.

No burned body, no charcoal, no clothes turned to dust. Just burned earth.

Narrowly avoiding the explosion by flash stepping towards the side, I breathed out in relief. This was extremely close! And why the hell did the old man not go a bit easier on me?

"This cunning old man! I'll get you for this!"

I screamed out loud while going with a straight palm strike towards the old man’s chest. With my hand filled with my Will, even a normal palm strike is enough to shatter a boulder.

Or so I think. I never got to test it out but if I can already jump 10 metres high with my physical strength alone, then with Will, I should be able to fly.

And with the help of the runes I presume, my arm turned black with golden and dark green light, like Keyser would do when it was filled with Will. My arm was looking like an artefact right now.

So cool! If I wasn’t occupied with a fight about my dignity, I’d have gone and admired my arm at this moment. But not now! My anger for the old man was far stronger than the admiration of my artefact-like arm.

"Again attacking straight up? You know exactly you can't win this with pure strength. Here let me show you!"

The old man swayed towards my left as he dodged the palm strike of my right palm all while trying to provoke me. If I was honest, he did a pretty good job at it as well, making the veins on my forehead bulge only more.

But just as his fist was about to hit me square on my face, something was shooting out of my hand, catching the old man off guard.

SWOSH

Dodging just barely within his limits, the old man was now even more on my left side, looking at me with a look I can only describe as him saying ‘Again?’

I was again throwing stones to make him fall off balance. This was the same when I was awakening, using stones to get the old man into the best position I could work with.

But there was something different today. And it became only clear the moment I pulled back my hand with which I threw the stone.

The stone that was flying past the old man was now coming back, flying towards the back of the old man’s head.

But that bastard wasn’t even looking surprised. Of course, he isn’t. He could probably feel the thin thread of Will binding the stone and my hand together. But that was good.

“How about I give you two more!”

Now with two more rocks the size of volleyballs, I was making the old man jump around all while moving the three rocks like I was playing with some yo-yos.

I was slowly pressuring the old man to the point where I wanted him. But then a situation I forgot could happen happened just before my eyes.

“Is that all? I expected more of you, boy…”

The look of disappointment. It was evident that the old man felt like he was playing with a little child catch rather than fighting. And then with his bare hands.

Just with the bare hands, he threw a stone high up in the air while breaking the other two into little pieces, making it unusable for me. Shit!

The old man now right in front of me, swung his arm back along with his shoulder and threw a punch forward. This was it. That one punch is the end of it, I just knew it.

SWOSH

“What?!”

I lowered my centre of gravity while swinging my right hand all the way back towards my left. The reason? The old man had to jump up, abruptly stopping his attack.

All because of Keyser.

All along to plan. The best way to hit the old man was to surprise him. And with 700 years of experience, the old man had probably encountered almost all types of situations.

Almost because the only thíng unique that he possibly never encountered was my ability. Every Awakened was special with their ability. Even if someone had almost the same ability as someone else, the way they use their ability would become unique.

So I had to take a gamble and leave Keyser on the ground while the dust was raised. But that would have been obvious if the old man saw me without Keyser while dashing out of the dust cloud. So I hid Keyser right when the first cloud got raised while taking a stick I found the same size as Keyser right before launching myself like a cannonball.

The icing on the cake was that the old man shot a projectile while I hid, making me think of another way to use this situation. To make him believe he understood what I was trying to do. This was the result of my yo-yo performance, showing him that I didn’t have it right while dodging the fireball.

So with good positioning and a bit of distraction, I made the old man believe that Keyser was behind me while it was behind him the whole time. And just when he was going to hit me, calling Keyser back made it fly towards me while ignoring the obstacles like the old man’s knees.

So the old man had no other way than to jump. Technically he had many more ways to go with this but with the pride the old man possess, he’d never use more strength than I possess. This also meant he would never use his ability nor anything stronger that could block Keyser.

Keyser landed directly in my right hand, perfectly in sync with my current movements. As if being one with it, it never obstructed my movement while going towards my hand. And right now it even accelerated my swing even more.

This was the opening I took a hit for!

This was the moment I build up so much!

And the only thing left to do…

All I needed to do now…

Was to cut him!

And I will do that! No matter what!

"CHECKMATE, OLD MAN!!!"

My Will surged through the blade, giving it even more potential and strength. Almost all of my Will was purely focused on the tip of Keyser. And with that brilliantly shining light of Will, it drew a path upwards.

I screamed.

My lungs were emptying themselves, pushing every bit of oxygen into my blood.

My heart was pumping so hard that my blood was almost bursting out of my veins.

And my body and soul were screaming only one thing.

“Get Hit!”

The old man reacted fast, creating a shield-like barrier between us two. But do you think that was enough to stop my blade? To stop my Will that even cut through pressure stronger than myself?

Do you think this is enough to stop my resolve?

Never!

And like cutting butter with a knife, the tip of Keyser cut straight through the barrier, only to be stopped midway by the pressure that I couldn’t cut through even while having so much Will focused on the tip of my blade.

But that was enough to catapult the old man upwards all while creating a small shockwave from the two forces clashing against each other.

My arms weren’t feeling sour anymore. I couldn’t feel anything in them. That was how much I strained my arms for this. And with that much power, I lifted the old man high up in the air.

But every good thing had to end quickly. The old man regained footing in the air, making my eyes widen at the sight I was seeing. It was as if the old man was standing on something in the air. But he wasn’t.

‘Such fine control of his Will… is this the level I’m supposed to reach in the future?’

Seeing the old man from down below honestly made me awestruck. He was clearly on another league if he could find equilibrium between the body and soul and carry his body with his Will so perfectly. This would be the same as lifting the platform you stand on to go up higher.

But my smile never left my face. Why should it?

“That was impressive, boy. But I have to tell you tha-”

BAMM

Splinters.

Rock splinters to be exact.

“Huh?”

The old man’s eyes widened as my smile only grew. This was it.

I hit him.

The rock that he threw up in the air still had my Will thread tied to it. The only thing difficult about it was to hover it that high up. Honestly, it was extremely difficult to do it. But… I pulled it off.

I sighed in relief as I left my body to fall down on the ground. I was beat! And I didn’t think of standing up anymore. After all, I currently can’t even feel my arms. That’s how much it hurts.

“What… do you think you are doing?”

“What do you think?”

“I see an idiot lying on the ground with a smug face right in front of his opponent. And you?”

“I see an old man looking at this said idiot with a smug face forgetting that it has been a total of five days. Not to mention I got a stone hit you.”

The look of the old man can only be described with one word.

Priceless!

I had to hold back a lot when I saw his expression that told a whole story! And I was happy that this is finally over. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to get some rest while calming down my racing heart when I could hear something coming from the old man.

It was like a chuckle.

“...pffft!…hahaha…HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

!!!

I tried to stand up immediately when I heard the old man laughing so loudly. Did I finally make the old man mad? Or was he laughing before saying something like ‘You thought I really meant only five days and not fifty?’.

God please forgive this sinner and spare him from this hell! I had enough!

“You had me there, boy! I’ll admit it!”

“Admit what?”

I asked back with a confused expression while looking at the sky. I didn’t even have the strength to look at him. And as if understanding how I was feeling, the old man walked towards my face, looking down at me from a position where I could look at him as well.

“What do you think? That I lost of course!”

“Huh?”

“What do you want? I mean I obviously knew where Keyser was since an Awakened that didn’t use his Will to feel his battlefield is only an idiot but…”

‘The more this fucker talks, the more pain I can feel… are you serious?’

“... as a [Discipulus] ranked Awakened, that would be obviously cheating. Coupled with the fact that you wanted to make me believe that I knew what you wanted to do while thinking I knew where you had an amazing idea to beat me. And the stone at the end was the icing on the cake! Not letting go of opportunities like that can save your life, boy! I congratulate you!”

I was speechless. The old man! Congratulating! Me?

Never!

My expression turned weird while looking at the old man who had an honest smile on his face. Are you serious?

“You know, old man… If I didn’t win this fight and got my revenge, I’d still hate your guts for beating me up that much…”

“Then I guess I have one more reason to be happy about your victory.”

“One more… reason? What’s the other one?”

“You are my disciple! What better happiness can there be than seeing the growth of the one I’m nurturing?”

“Bullshit! I saw you enjoying beating me up whenever I failed to circulate my Will properly!”

“Yaaa~! How did you know?”

“Because it was obvious!!!”

I screamed at him but honestly, I was kind of relieved. Seems like the old man wasn’t a total monster all the time. Thinking so far brought a little smile to my face while I closed my eyes.

“Boy… If you want to sleep, go back to the hut and have a proper rest. You’ll only get dirtier than you already are.”

And my smile is gone! Thank you very much, old man!

“As you can see, I can’t move my body even a bit!”

Sighing, the old man shook his head. What? Disappointed that I didn’t have the same godly body as you? Disappointed that at least I am still human in some way? Fine! Just go ahead to the hut while I lay… here…

The old man was slowly laying down on the fresh grass, looking at the bright sky with me. Huh? Did my stone hit perhaps hit him too much? No way… maybe I finally redeemed myself as a good student? No. I was already the best student this old bastard ever had!

“Alright! This feels just like when I was your age. You had a beautiful view of the landscape from the mountains in my homeland. I used to go there and lay down just like that…”

Wow… this was the first time the old man talked about his past. If I had to be honest, I wanted to learn more… maybe…

“Nope! Not today, boy. But I know what we can talk about! How about all the memories I had with women? Mhm~? Maybe that will be a lesson for you and your little crush.”

“Shut up!”

I wish I could stand up right now! Felix! Come here and fetch your best friend! He needs your support right now!

The old man laughed seeing my expression change that fast. And honestly, I felt like laughing as well. It was these times that felt the most comforting to the heart.

And I wished to stay like that for just a bit longer. Let the time pass with this. Something I wish to remember.

Especially since time…

…was never infinite for anyone.