Dropping to the hard ground, he exhaled and inhaled hard so as to replenish his lost oxygen. His lungs and heart groaned in pain and protested against his sudden physical activities.
But nonetheless he gripped the wooden stick harder. To be better, he had to push his physical limits so he could breakthrough.
Until his arms fell off, until his palms peeled and it bled. Even then he wouldn't stop.
Sitting upright, he took control of his breathing and steadied it. Xadia had told him, that when facing the creatures, one's breathing and Movements were crucial.
As he was concentrating on his breathing, he spotted Xadia carrying a bag. From the looks of it and points poking at the side, he had a speculation that it was stones.
'What the hell does she want to do with rocks?' Zhang thought with his right eyebrow raised.
....
After she disappeared out of sight, he took a deep breath and ran off towards her.
That evening, she brought out a miniature hour glass and told him that he had to be back before the sand in the upper section ran out. If he was late, he would have to do double exercises and would miss breakfast and lunch for the next day.
When he pieced everything together, he had a belief that there would be probably traps on the way, and his body cringed on the idea of having to get pummeled by rocks.
His feet made heavy, thumping sounds every time the came in contact with the floor, unlike Xadia who made no noise at all.
As he dashed between the trees,he abruptly stepped on a trip wire and a hail of hard, jagged, stones hurled at him.
He had not expected them, and at a fast speed, they crashed into his body, colliding with his face, side, leg and other parts.
Squeezing his face in pain, he fell to the floor with a loud thud and rolled across the ground.
He held the parts of his body that were hit in pain, and rubbed them fervently, in an attempt to reduce the pain.
'Arngh! So that's what they were for.' Zhang lamented.
'Shit! The whole forest may probably be boobie trapped. Damn they're so sharp!'.
Getting up he continued, but he was much more vigilant, and he paid attention to where he stepped, but his efforts seemed to be in vain, as another hail, seemingly more than the first rained down on him.
Until he reached the house, he was bleeding on his face and his entire body ached. The stones were medium sized and somehow had been sharpened that they even tore through his clothes.
Xadia was sitting on a chair while holding the miniature hourglass.
"Oh you came late, sorry but no Breakfast or lunch for you" She said gleefully.
"I...I understand" Zhang said dejectedly.
"Oh don't worry Wei-kun, I'm sure you'll do better next time".
The next night.
He limped towards the house. His body was injured even more than the previous night.
"Well, at least you got here earlier, that's an improvement" She said nicely.
He forced a smile through his pain.
"Freshen up, and I'll apply some new bandages" Xadia said as she stood up and walked inside while twirling the hour glass in her palms.
After taking a bath and getting into a new pair of clothes, he walked slowly to the dining area where she sat waiting for him with some ointment and bandages.
He didn't look forward to this part of the day even though it only started the day before. The ointment stung hard and it was very painful for someone like him who had a low pain threshold.
"Ouch" Zhang muttered as the stinging ointment came in contact with his wounds. He had injuries on his arms, feet and abdomen and she cleaned and dressed each of them carefully and gently.
He watched at her hands as she did so. They were rough and stiff. Even if she did her best to be gentle, he still felt the stiffness of her palms. Those were not the hands of a woman. They were the hands of someone who had gone through relentless training.
He tightened his fists until his nails dug into his soft palm . If a woman could endure such trainings, why not he then? Why did he have to be so weak?.
Xadia noticed his fists tightening but kept quiet.
'He must be thinking of something sensitive, better not ask'.
"You doing good, just persevere, you'll do better" Xadia said instead, while tying the bandage on his arm injury.
"Mhm" Zhang replied.
After finishing up, he cleared the table and went to sit outside for some air and to think. He was still terribly scared of the dark, bit since he lit a fire and Xadia was there, he wasn't scared much.
As he sat, he looked up and watched the night sky. There were 2 moons, one was red while the other was white, The red one was called Uraino and the white one was called Druncus.
In their town school, they were taught that there was only one moon at the beginning of the world and that was Uraino. Then decades ago, Druncus came in form of a star.
It was, unlike any other star, because it shine a bright and clear red, unlike the others which glittered in the night.
Over the years, it increased in size, until it was the same half the same size as their first moon. In their town, it was given the name Druncus, meaning "Fire Moon".
He remembered of an old man who was presumably a merchant. He had come to the town and was warning the people about the red moon. He said it would bring chaos and destruction, unless the prepared well for it.
He was selling some sort of crystals and he urged them to consume it as prevention. But many scorned him, calling him a swindler and thief and when he would not shut up about it, he was driven out of the town.
On his way out, he met with them too and explained his plight and offered them to his mum. Out of pity, his mum had bought three but she kept them in her room because she had her own doubts about it. Then he was just twelve years old.
'Druncus huh?' Zhang muttered.
'If that old man was right, then would there really be destruction and chaos?'
The sliding door opened and Xadia walked out in her armor and Katana. He couldn't read her expression because of the dark.
"Where you going?" Zhang asked.
" Just going for a perimeter check, if I'm not back within an hour, lock up and stay in".
Her voice was serious and almost immediately, she ran off into the forest and was out of sight.
As he watched her running off, a feeling of insecurity washed over him and he scrambled inside, after which he locked the door and ran to his room.
It was not up to an hour yet, but he was not taking any chances. He stayed in his room and focused on his breathing while keeping his ears on sound tracking mode.
10 minutes
20 minutes
30 minutes
45 minutes
50 minutes
1 hour
1 hour 20 minutes.
"Dum! Dum! Dum!"
The sound pierced through the silent atmosphere and Zhang was startled. His breathing became panicky as his mind thought of all the horrors it could fathom.
She had been gone for a long time, he didn't know were she went, or what she was doing. He didn't even know if she was alive.
Ever since that day, he had been wary of the forest, especially at night.
'No!, she should be okay, she's very capable' Zhang reasoned.
"Wei San!" Xadia yelled lightly.
"It's me"
Zhang heaved a sigh of relief as he stood up and went to the front door. After opening the locks, he slid the door open.
"Sorry for me being late, I had some matters to attend to" Xadia said silently.
She walked in and he could see her more clearly, her face was covered in little patches of dirt, and there were claw marks on her uniform, although it didn't seem to cut through.
She walked past him and went to the guest room rather hastily, sliding the door shut and locking it he went to his room as well.
He lied on the bed and stared at the wooden ceiling, as various thoughts of where she went to, filled his mind.
'Maybe she went to redo the traps? But even if she did, she wouldn't get hurt by her own traps. Or she was attacked by wolves, that would explain the scratches'.
"No use thinking about it, at least she's okay" He said while dragging the covers over himself. He had another day of hard training tomorrow, no use thinking about it.
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