I've had a lot of injuries to my back and arms from training. There were animal scratches, deep and light wounds I got from thorns that I bumped into and my bones were aching. It was quite a lot to deal with. But I tried to heal my wounds with herbs I learned from Ronk. To see how they would affect my body.
Although a few of my wounds closed, I couldn't stop the tremor in my hand for long, and a few of my scars remained permanent.
When I looked at my reflection in the water, I didn't recognize myself.
It was hurting physically, but mentally, it was so different. I didn't know why, but it was one of those moments that felt so different. Like my soul was somewhere very far away. As if I had changed. Every single wound I gained taught me more than pain. Seemed to strengthen me even more.
And as I got used to it over time, I started to like to force myself into training. I wasn't as cold in the morning as I used to be or I wasn't getting tired right away. It wasn't something of an obligation for me. It had become something that I wanted to do and every time I got better than the last time I was, I felt something incredible in me rising.
It was development. I had developed. And it wasn't something that I could have understood at first, but over time, understanding the concept of being wrong and then understanding the right, made me feel like I have come a long way.
Also in the process, Black Wolf was constantly watching and following us. Of course, sometimes he wanted to be loved or something to eat. But even a little protection felt safer.
On the other hand, knowing I had accomplished many things, Ronk aggravated my training. He made each and every training more complex, much faster, and much more horrifying. He even increased the number and level of my push-ups, sit-ups, and weights.
It was difficult, but I still managed it. After all, it was something necessary.
And one day, after I finished one of my workouts, Ronk approached me.
He said,
"I'll give you a different workout tonight."
I knew he was going to introduce me to a new type of "Training". It had become an instinct to guess what would Ronk do.
"So what is it?" I asked him in a curious way, knowing that he will apply it no matter what.
"We will train your senses in a different kind of matter."
"Senses? But what exactly am I going to do in this training?"
"I will explain any further thing you have to know when we start it. But you have to know one thing about it."
He then added with a deeper voice,
"This training is different. Different from any other. So that is why you have to be careful. And if you fail or make even the smallest mistake, your efforts will mean nothing."
He then looked at me, but his expression was different too. Instead of the eyes that carefully watched me in my usual trainings, there were eyes that told me to achieve it seriously and for sure.
Instead of a mouth that looked at me without speaking, there was a mouth that was tense with anger and anxiety. Ronk had such a serious expression that he seemed to both want me to succeed and imply that there was no option but for me to succeed.
"Why it will mean nothing? Is it some type of training that will take my power away from me?"
Right then, I understood when he said those words.
"It will kill you."
It was some type of a big training that I feared, but at the same time waited. I looked at him for seconds not knowing what to say. And my emotions got deeper and much more complex than before, knowing that I had to push myself. But this time, to my fullest limits with no return.
But Ronk then said another thing too,
"But it is only if you fail to do so. So try to focus as much as you can, and do not let any distraction get to you."
Training of no return? And dying? I mean I was doing training for a very long time. For months. But when Ronk gave me these types of training, and when he gave them while adding something ridiculous to it, I always felt scared.
So walking up to him I asked,
"Ronk. I know that I have progressed, but are you sure that I have to do this one? Isn't it kinda early?"
"I am sure and I have made up my mind. And you have to be too. Indecision, doubt, and fear can plunge you into deeper holes than you can think about. And if you don't get rid of them during your training, you can make mistakes that you won't forget about at the most important parts of your life. That's why you need to believe in yourself about it and have no regret of what you are doing."
He then looked at me and added,
"And I'm not going to help you this time anyway. When you are on your own, act according to what you trust and what you feel is the right the most. There will be no exceptions, helps, or being safe. You understand me?"
"I get it. But I want to know more about what this training is like."
If I was going to enter a training that had no return at least I could learn something.
"As I said before, it will be a training that works your senses. In the Wolf bloodline, the senses are very important and abilities that can grant you things. For each lineage, there is a different significance, but the important substance of this lineage is the senses and intuition. If you control them, you can become as strong as the Alpha."
"It's quite intriguing, but how shall I put it?.... It's a little scary."
"What I want you to do is put on a piece of fabric that I will give you, and then complete the forest while not taking that off and come back here. Right in front of this house. The fabric will prevent you from seeing, so it will force you to use your body's senses."
The fabric he gave me was a long red fabric that he cut off from a clothing. It wasn't enough to cover my entire face, but it wasn't enough to block me from seeing around me.
Then Ronk said,
"This is a magical item that I only can take out when you are done with it."
"But it looks like a normal fabric? And how is "not seeing" help me anyway?"
"Blocking his sight helps not only to complicate the education but also to develop his senses quite well. It will improve the senses of smell, feeling, and taste. It will also allow you to really "see" what is in front of you."
"See? But didn't you-"
"We don't truly see what is in front of us, Kid. We as humans think that we "see" if we use our "eyes". But you should also know that the illusion that your eyes show you may not actually be what you need to see. If we believe only in what we see in this life and leave other realities somewhere, then after a while our brain will confuse right with wrong. So believe in half of what you see and very little of what you hear. And while you do that, trust your other senses too, and find your own way."
I had to admit, he had a way with words and he had changed my whole perspective. I also found out a lot about the creatures that I didn't see and got myself ready for them. But going to that forest again, wasn't something that made me happy.
"There are all kinds of creatures in the forest, and you know I almost died the other day." I said nervously.
"The choice this time is up to you. But remember that the Wolf bloodline does not lose themselves to their fears. Their fears feed them. So if you're afraid of death or injury, if you're afraid of sacrificing something, what we're doing here means nothing anyway. You came here to be fearless. Not to try."
"Couldn't I have improved a little for this training?"
"No. This practice is not done by working, you do it by believing in yourself. It is something mental."
I guess there was no way out of this. After a brief glance at the forest, I turned my head, took a deep breath, and said,
"When I came here, I made a promise to myself no matter what, no matter how hard it was. I'll do it, be like my father, and prove myself to everyone."
Then I looked at him,
"And find a way out..."
"Let's go then, Kid. We have a lot to do."
Ronk and I were once again in an unknown part of the forest. But the place we reached this time was quite dark, the sun was hardly visible. And it was pretty quiet around and was almost night when we finally got there.
It was a very complicated path to walk on, so whenever I looked back, I couldn't remember the way we took. And because of the tension we had while walking, it became pretty much erased from my mind.
While we were walking, Ronk stopped and took a wide look around,
"Here we are. Your training here will improve a lot in you."
He then pulled the fabric out of his pocket and gave it to me and told me to put it on. It felt very slippery and polished in my hands. It also felt like it was going to slip from my hands, but I put it in front of my eyes and tied it tightly.
And even though I couldn't see, not hearing Ronk give me any advice, I knew something was off. Without saying anything, while I turned around with no clue, I knew he was already gone.
But I didn't try to find him. Because Ronk has always been tough and serious about everything. And it would be a terrible idea to just talk with him half training. So after a couple of seconds, I just checked the fabric and started to walk in a direction.
What was holding the fabric? And how Ronk was the only one who could take it out?
It was a confusing thing to understand. And I always found my hand in front of my face wanting to take it out. It was like an urge to itch. Even so, that was the main part of the training.
I walked for seconds. Then that turned into minutes. Then into hours. I thought I was able to do such training at first, but then I knew I was lost. I walked and searched these places for months, but it didn't feel the same when my eyes were closed.
It was so confusing to understand which part I was in the forest that I couldn't come up with any kind of a plan. However, bumping my feet on the ground, I had an idea. I used my legs and feet to bump into some places and checked the trees in front of me. Then I draw a pattern in my head.
After that, I used my face, arms and hands, ears, and nose to smell, feel the wind, figure out the shapes and protect myself from incoming objects and animals.
Therefore, that didn't come out as I planned it and was a bad idea. So on, I walked for about two hours until I hit something. I decided to examine what I hit with my hand, just like I did in the past hours. But just as I was about to lean forward, I felt a huge breeze in front of me.
It was a wind that went back and forth, both stroking my face and making my hair wave. It was like a very deep breath that hit me every two seconds. It was calming. Except for the growl that took my attention instantly. It took me so long to realize, but I finally understand I was in danger.
Then like a very big monster, the thing roared in my direction. I knew It was a bear or something more dangerous. And it seemed many times bigger than me. So not to risk it, I ran away.
But that wasn't the one in that forest. Just like I researched many times before, I felt so many dangerous creatures around me. Growls, howls, roarings, and whistlings. So many of them were either very close to me or were in some faraway part of the forest.
That made my heart race so many times, my body didn't stop sweating, and yet not finding a spot where I felt safer almost made me lose my mind. My feet were hurting and I had to cooperate with my brain to stay mentally stable.
But luckily I managed to escape from all of them.
The only disgusting part of my training was whenever I touched somewhere I touched randomly, bugs and many types of saliva were colliding with my hand and it was making me so uneasy. Making me wipe my hand on every tree while I was running.
I had lost very much of my concentration as I ran, and at an unexpected moment, I was pushed very hard by something. I got very nervous as soon as my feet got off the ground, and I tried to crawl somewhere.
It was futile.
I rolled down a hill and made a hard landing on the ground. I hit the ground at a higher speed than I ran. My bones had moved out of their place and collided with each other. My skin was worn and bleeding. As for my teeth and jaw, my face felt incredible pain because it hit the floor. It was like I broke all my bones in seconds and tore my body down.
And after a short period of time, my eyes closed. I was knocked out cold.
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When I woke up, I knew it had been a long time since I passed out. My mouth was dry and my eyes were opening slowly.
It was a brief blackout, but I got up and kept walking.
And I was getting tired and scared again and again. But the hormones entering my system and feeling the concept of "Fear" and "Tiring", made it useless for me and I even forgot that I was tired or angry. I only remembered one thing and that was I still didn't want to stop.
After another half an hour of walking, I finally stopped, sat somewhere, and rested for a short time.
But my feet suddenly began to shake.
It was as if there was an earthquake.
*What is going on?* I said to myself while still trying to wake up properly.
The ground was shaking hard. The little rocks on the path were moving intentionally and it could be heard that there was something going on.
It was most likely a large creature approaching.
I didn't know where to hide and didn't have a place to do too. I wasn't sure I could fight in this situation either. I tried to bend over slowly and get away from there, but that didn't work. The creature noticed me, and it started to roar toward me.
And before I knew it, it appeared right behind me and hit me. But it hit me so hard, I didn't even find the time the feel the pain and now I was floating in the air.
I flew in a direction while my speed was getting higher and my body was going lower, to the ground. I broke two trees and bounced quite backward. Then I hit the ground and slipped on the ground for seconds. The impact burned my skin and hurt so bad.
And I suddenly had a lot of blood coming out of my mouth. I was even having trouble breathing.
I barely got up, and tried to stop my legs from shaking. But my body was pushing its limits so hard I was feeling the taste of blood every time I breathed.
And once more I felt a tremor on the ground. I realized that the creature that had an incredible power was following me where I was. It had found me in a very short period of time and it was as big a creature as the one Ronk fought last time. Maybe even the same kind of creature.
So I took deep breaths and tried to use my senses to see things around me. The pain kept hitting my nerves and I hard time feeling things. And I was sure that if the creature hit me one or two more times, my death would be guaranteed.
But I waited calmly. And just then I felt it.
It was the giant's fist and I was able to run away from the first attack. But then It hit me again.
It was a very hard blow that made me hit a big rock and made me break it. Now my foot was badly injured too. And blood kept coming out of my mouth.
I was lying on the floor at that moment, exhausted, I was sure that I was going to die. I was desperate.
But I was so sure of myself too. My fear grew more and more every second. But I had the courage that was rising inside me. I held my breath in the hope that I would strike back with a balanced blow.
Then, I saw a vision.
A vision of someone like me, but he was older, and he was smiling. He looked at me with pride.
He then turned towards me and said,
"Show them who you are and what you can do, Ryuu. Get up!"
He was a middle-aged and well-built man. But his smile and voice were very reassuring, and I felt something inside of me. It's a very warm feeling.
It felt like home once more.
So I lifted myself with my remaining strength, took a deep breath, and stood up again. Now I had different energy forming inside me. And it was giving me the power that I truly needed. When the creature attacked me again once more, I saw the attack coming this time and got ready for it.
"It won't be the same."
By dodging the creature's first blow, I landed a blow. I was able to sense the creature, but more than that, with my senses, I was able to see the monster. I was landing punches and kicks nonstop. I hit its neck, its belly, its face. I was pushing it back while damaging it a lot.
This time I was the one who was fed by fear.
"It's time to finish this!"
When it attacked me again, I landed the final punch. That made the creature fly back just like me and it broke 10 or 20 trees. Then it landed and it stopped moving after the vital damage it took. I was maybe harsh, but at least I had survived.
I felt my body was getting better. This was probably the power that Ronk told me about. My body healed and I was moving as if I had slept for hours.
I stretched my bones and looked at my healed arms,
"They really look smooth.."
But I knew I had to go back to the House. So I didn't waste time and started walking again.
Then after three hours, I managed to get home at last. My body was covered with dirt and sweat just like every training session. And even though I had no injuries, I fainted from exhaustion when Ronk took off the fabric.
Because Ronk let me sleep just once, I didn't see any sight until noon. Then I got up confused as usual and woke up my body to check around.
I was so glad it was over, I was now covered with excitement and wanted to tell everything to Ronk to its littlest detail. However, I was surprised to see Ronk's arm. He had a bad wound, and he was covering it tightly with a bandage. It was something that I didn't realize in the past couple of days. It seemed to be new.
And I wasn't sure about asking him but I did anyways,
"Ronk, Where did you get that wound?"
"It happened on the way back yesterday, but it doesn't matter. It's not something important."
I remembered the time I got saved by somebody mysterious. It was a time that I wasn't waiting for it. And couldn't save myself from a situation like that if that didn't happen. It was him at last.
I asked him once more,
"It was you who pushed me there, wasn't it? You said you wouldn't help, but you helped anyways. Why did you do it?"
He sighed and replied,
"There was no reason I saved you, I just didn't want to regret it in the future. That's all."
I knew it was Ronk that saved me that day, but I really didn't know why he helped me even though he always let me by myself on all of those trainings we did before. It was a thing that bothered him to talk. I decided to leave him with that.
So I asked another question,
"And Ronk, I want to talk about what happened yesterday."
"I'm listening."
"I felt a strange energy burst inside me, and then I started to see around me in the fabric. Could it be because of the power you're talking about?"
He looked at me quite surprised, then looking at the bandage on the table, he replied,
"It looks like you've completed all the pieces of training I gave you."
Then Ronk approached me, and added,
"Congratulations kid, you have proved your power."
Ronk congratulated me. And for the very first time, he was smiling. Smiling. A stone-cold man that had a serious manner and a thinking style, that had a merciless heart like a creature was smiling for the very first time. And it was one of the most heartwarming things that I felt in my life.
I guess that was more interesting for me to survive throughout that scary forest.