After that healthy heart to heart talk last night, Alexandra didn't make me rest.
All night I was up meditating mana, and I realised that there are different sounds ringing in my ears. It wasn't just the sound of buzzing but many more. I heard a loud whistling ringing, a loud boom crackling, a trickling rippling babble, a dull crackling roar, and then there was the loud buzzing sound that overcame the other sounds like a foggy blur.
Among them there is also a dark noise that sounded silent yet loud. I wonder which of these sounds are my attributes.
"Lass, move your feet faster!"
I was pulled out of the trance hearing the loud yell from the red haired woman, I panted as I moved my feet faster.
After I told Alexandra that I'm starting to sense other kinds of sounds, she immediately made me run up and down the hill with stones tied all over my body, then she made me carry something.
Two barrels full of water tied on both ends of a long stick. I carried it on my shoulders as I ran. Alexandra said I can't stop unless I make it back and forth without spilling any drop of water on the ground.
According to the Alexandra, the only possible way for me to train is like this. I glance at Pula who jumps up and down, following my pace. I then glanced at the red haired woman who was standing like a commanding officer not too far away from where I am. Alexandra had her back straight, chest out, and stomach in with a ferocious evil grin on her face.
Her dark eyes watch me sternly. "Quit looking around and focus your mind on meditating your mana!" Alexandra reprimanded. "And move your feet faster!"
I retracted my eyes as I concentrated on sensing the mana within me and around me. One more thing that was added in my training regimen, is making me meditate, while I'm moving my body with my eyes open.
'How the hell am I going to do all of that?'
Yet, despite having some complaining words in my heart, I dare not say it to the red haired woman. I'm the one who decided to do this, and furthermore, complaining won't help anyway.
So I did as I was told.
I sprinted, moving my feet faster while trying to concentrate my mind on meditation, and at the same time, trying to balance myself so no water would be spilled.
After a while, I soon heard the faint sound of ringing in my ears again. I smiled knowingly.
The next task is to run back and forth without spilling a single drop of water. However, as soon as I focus on balancing my body, the ringing sound is also slowly disappearing.
My brows creased as I concentrated on meditating again, however, this made me lose balance as I stumbled and fell with my face hitting the mud.
I no longer care how dirty I was. I only cared if I spilled the water or not. That was the only thoughts I had in mind as I hurriedly prop myself up on my elbow, scooting to the spilling liquids on the two barrel containers.
My face full of dirt crumpled as I frowned, knitting my brows, staring at the spreading water on the muddy ground.
Alexandra approached, stopping just a few feet away in front of me. The red haired woman plastered an evil grin and said. "Again."
'Bloody hell,' I cursed inwardly, losing my patience.
"What are you waiting for?" Alexandra urged.
Ever since our conversation last night, Alexandra started behaving sternly. Well, she did warn me beforehand to be prepared.
I took a deep sigh, trying to be optimistic as I stood up. I returned back to the stream, fetched and filled the two barrels with water, then I proceeded to run once more. This is my tenth attempt, no wait, I think it's already my eleventh, but I'm not sure since I already lost count.
I sighed as I concentrated on meditating mana, and at the same time, I also paid attention to my balance, sprinting up on the hill.
However, no matter how many times I try, I keep failing. It's either I would lose my concentration on mana, or I would lose balance and the water would be spilled. I can't help but feel annoyed.
It was the same feeling I felt when I was trying to slide the thread through on the small and barely visible needle's hole. I felt irritated every time I failed to do that. There were many times I felt like just giving up, because it's stressful and taxing to the mind yet I didn't.
My reason was simple at that time; I just can't give up without breaking a bone. Obviously, my bones would never break since I'm only trying to pierce the thread through the needle's hole. But that simple motivation made me unable to stop trying. Anyway, I only need patience to keep trying, so I could succeed and I did. At the end, I still manage to prick the freaking thread on the small hole of the needle.
As I recalled the gruesome memories of my first time handling a thread and a needle; the light of the sun grew hot as noon came. Yet, I still haven't succeeded on the task that Alexandra gave to me.
Feeling my stomach growling from hunger, exhaustion slowly invaded every inch of my flesh. My legs grew feeble and my footing became unstable, making me stumble as my knees fell to the mud. The water spilled once more, soaking the already wet slope path of the hill.
I panted, breathing heavily as the droplets of sweat slid down on the side of my dirty face, whiffing the stinky scent of my own sweat and the drench soil. I raised my head, wincing and grimacing from my countless failures.
"Alright lass, get a quick break," said Alexandra as she beckoned for me to rest under the shade of the tree.
I nodded, putting down the long stick with two barrels tied on it. I went to clean myself on the stream, then I searched for edible plants around the woods while Pula followed beside me. I came back to where Alexandra is, then we ate together.
"Lass, I'm curious, are you a vegetarian?" Alexandra said as she munched on some spring onion I found randomly in the woods.
"No," I replied flatly, feeling drained to even utter a single word.
Alexandra's brows furrowed as she replied, "if you're not vegetarian, then do you eat meat?"
"Of course," I answered, staring at the red haired woman with a puzzled face.
On the other hand, Alexandra's furrowed brows deepened, staring at me. "So why won't you hunt then?"
My brows cross together as I glance at the red haired woman. "That's a different matter, professor," I stated.
"How is it different?" Alexandra replied, still perplexed.
I sighed tiredly. "It's just different," I muttered.
"You're such a weird lass," Alexandra commented, looking at me weirdly.
'And so are you,' I replied in my mind as I chuckled at her, shrugging as I said, "...perhaps..."
Nothing is more strange by being called weird by another odd person, and that makes me snort chuckling. After all, what is considered normal in this world isn't normal to me. And what I consider normal isn't normal to them either. Isn't that just amusingly funny?
Alexandra gave me a raised brow, looking at me like I've grown two heads in one body. I smiled and shook my head indicating that it was nothing.
No matter how I explained it to Alexandra; I would still appear strange in this world, because this is not their standard of normal. I don't understand them, and they don't understand me, but I'm fine with that as long as I don't change.
After having lunch, I went back to training again. Despite failing many times, I think I'm slowly making progress. I could feel that this body is slowly getting used to this kind of training.
I'm also slowly sensing mana despite moving around so much. At first, I felt so distracted meditating with my eyes open while moving my body so much, but as I keep doing it more, I feel like I'm slowly getting the right rhythm for it.
My body moves in instinct on balancing both sides of the barrels. I, on the other hand, kept concentrating on sensing mana. Before I knew it, I had already completed the task.
I smiled to myself like I just won the best gold medal award in an olympic's championship. I know, I know, I'm being overly dramatic, yes. But I feel so proud and happy; so I'm going to be cheerful and grin then laugh about it until I'm satisfied.
"Good job lass," Alexandra praised proudly, walking towards me.
I grin from ear to ear. "So what's next?" I asked expectantly.
"Next is training you in a simple yet solid physical defence form," Alexandra said with an evil grin.
I gulped nervously while Pula hid behind the tree.
"Okay," I said as I got into my defence form. "I'm ready."
With one kick of her foot, Alexandra dashed forward, appearing right in front of me.
I gulped again, feeling anxious as I waited for what was about to happen.
Alexandra's evil grin deepened. "You're the attacker, lass," she said as she remained unmoving.
My brows knitted at her. "But I don't know any…"
"Just punch or whatever," the red haired woman interrupted, rolling her eyes at me.
I grab the back of my neck as my lips twist in a wry smile. "But I don't want to hurt you…" I mumbled faintly.
Alexandra snorted, then said, "pfft, trust me lass, you can't hurt me, I may be a beta, but I'm still the daughter of a skilled knight."
I bit my lower lip then sighed in resignation. "Alright, then I, I will attack you now, okay?" I said.
"Go ahead," Alexandra said, smiling at me as she gestured for me to start.
With a deep sigh, my lips curved, but I quickly hid it with my neutral face. However, deep inside, I told myself…
'Hehehe, this is my chance to retaliate,' I rejoiced inwardly as I rushed to Alexandra, balling my right fist with a punch. I grinned as I shouted, "for all the suffering I…AAAHHH…!!!"
What came afterwards was nothing but my shrieking cries resounding across the woods, making the bird fly fleeing from the scene.
"Ahhh! Stop! Professor!"
The day ended, and the night came. I felt sore all over my body as the gruesome physical defence training ended.
After that, Alexandra made me meditate again. The red haired woman made me stand on my hand, putting two barrels of water on each of the sole of my feet.
Alexandra said that I had to walk back and forth twenty one times using my hands; and only my hands; without spilling a single drop of liquid on the way.
In other words, I had to complete twenty one laps, while meditating and balancing the two barrels resting on the soles of my feet.
"If you spill any drop of water, then you'll have to start over again," Alexandra stated, smiling evilly.
With gritted teeth, I started walking with my two hands. Pula followed next to me, trying to comfort my aggrieved heart.
I stop moving my hand as I glance at the red rabbit. "It's okay Pula, I can do this," I said to the whimpering rabbit beside me.
Pula nuzzled near me then gave me space to walk with my hand.
I then took a deep sigh as I looked ahead of me. "For the sake of my hermit life," I muttered under my breath then I started moving, chanting a hypnotising tune to myself, 'Don't give up no matter what.'
Train, eat, sleep, and then repeat.
That's all I have in mind as days and weeks pass.
After almost a month of a repetitive and routine-life cycle of training; I learned and understood nothing. Perhaps I'm not the brightest person in the world, but what I realise is. Training myself isn't so bad.
Whenever I'm training, all the worries and the anxieties invading my head and my heart fades; disappearing as my attention concentrates on completing each task of my training.
Twenty one laps in the morning, sprinting up and down the hills with two barrels full of water at the ends of the long stick. 100 sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and etc.
My schedule for the whole day and night is nothing but training my body to become sturdy and agile. Aside from making me meditate, Alexandra put emphasis on building up my core, so she hasn't taught me anything related to magic and whatnot yet.
I can't quite comprehend why, but it seems that Alexandra is fixed on making me train to death first before teaching me anything related to magic. According to her, building up my physical body is much more important than learning about mana and magic, because she said I'm going to become an alpha in the future. And alphas don't have that much mana within them, so Alexandra said that it would be better to just train and focus on my physical body first.
Because my physical body will become my strong point in the future; not my mana or magic. But I feel like Alexandra is just trying to shape me into a knight or something like a soldier. Maybe I'm just imagining it.
Anyway, Alexandra also assured me that she'll teach me about magic and whatnot once I have laid a strong solid foundation for myself. At that statement, I could only agree since Alexandra is the guide, while I'm only following the lead. Furthermore, training isn't so bad anyway, so for me, it's fine to continue like this.
At the present time and moment, Alexandra and I are wrestling against each other on the grassy mud. The sky is dark and the silence of the night is loud; only my grunting moans echoed around us as the red haired woman twisted my arm, pinning my right hand behind my back.
Putting pressure on the back of my shoulder down to the mud, Alexandra made sure that I won't have the opening to retaliate. "You know, it would be easier if you just learn sword or any other weapon handling skills instead," she whispered, pulling my right hand even more.
I grimaced as I felt like the bones on my right were cracking and breaking. "No thanks," I muttered.
"Such a stubborn lass," Alexandra commented, clicking her tongue. "What will you do if someone tries to kill you and the only thing you know is how to defend?"
My brows furrowed. "If that day does come, then I'll just…"
"Just what?" Alexandra urged.
"…run," I finished as I glanced at the red haired woman over my shoulder and said, "Isn't that the reason why you made me run so much?"
Alexandra sighed helplessly. "That's because you refuse to learn any fighting skills, so I had no choice but to train you to be agile, but I don't think that would be enough to save your little life lass," the red haired woman said.
"No need to worry about that professor, I don't think that I would be forced to a fight anyway," I said, smiling at the red haired woman.
"And what made you think so?" Alexandra asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because everything can be resolved with words, professor," I stated firmly.
"Oh lass," Alexandra lamented as she let go of my right hand.
My body relaxed as I slowly stood up, massaging my arms and stretching them with a relieved sigh, feeling glad that I still have my right hand.
"That naive attitude will bring you harm someday, believe me," the red haired woman commented as she stared at me solemnly.
I laughed as I scoffed, pointing at myself. "Me? Naive? Where?"
I shook my head at her thinking to myself, 'I'm not naive.'
Really, I'm not naive. I have a shrewd mind if anything. My colleagues back on earth think of me as a fox in sheep's clothing. Yet, Alexandra thinks I'm naive?
I snorted, chuckling at that thought.
Alexandra sighed as she shook her head. "Then I'll ask you this, what would you do if anyone tries to kill someone close to you? Would you also handle it with words?"
That sudden question made me stop laughing as the smile on my face slowly disappeared. 'What would I do if anyone tries to kill someone close to me?'
Kendra and I can be considered acquaintances. Cliopatra and I are not so close either. Faye is a friend of an acquaintance. Penelope and I have a complicated relationship. While Alexandra is a benefactor indeed, we still both don't trust each other. I still don't know why Alexandra is doing all of this, and Alexandra never told me why. So I don't think Alexandra and I are that close, but maybe just a bit.
The only one close to me is Pula, actually. So if anyone tries to kill my only family in this world, what would I do?
I swallowed hard as I glanced at Pula, sleeping underneath the shade of the tree. My brows crumpled together as I bit my lower lip, feeling conflicted in my heart. Because I could imagine myself doing unspeakable things that I never would think of doing.
"Do you understand now? Would you still insist on this path?" Alexandra persuaded as she stared at me probingly.
I gulped again and didn't answer, holding my breath as I felt my sweat becoming cold.
My only family in this world is Pula, and I think of Alexandra as my benefactor. So I only got two important people in this world, and I doubt that the red haired woman would ever need to be protected by me.
However, when I picture someone trying to kill Pula or Alexandra, I feel my blood boiling in anger.
"If you ever change your mind, then come and seek me again, well, you're my assistant anyway, so we'll be seeing each other often," Alexandra said, squeezing my shoulder.
My brows knitted together as I looked at her. "Thank you, but…no," I said, averting my gaze as I felt horrible for being selfish.
I glanced at the red haired woman again, and Alexandra just stared at me.
After a while, Alexandra nodded understandably as she replied, "I understand, well, the offer is always open just in case you ever change your mind."
I opened my mouth to refute but chose not to as I closed my lips again. Alexandra smiled comfortingly at me as she gave my shoulder another squeeze.
Suddenly, the grim sky blared as it boom resoundingly in my ears. Lightning flashes in the night sky like a sword of purple blue light. Right after that, a heavy downpour came upon us, drizzling on top of our heads and on our dirty tattered clothes.
"It's a thunderstorm," Alexandra remarked, looking up at the sky. Then she turned to me. "We'll need to find shelter," she stated.
"Well, where to go?" I replied, looking at the grim sky like a herald of something.
'What an ominous thunderstorm,' I thought to myself as I gulped. My stomach started to churn, feeling something bad was about to happen.