"Hello, Rud," I began tentatively, sensing the weight of our unspoken tension since our first encounter.
Breaking his silence, he said, "I know all that you are thinking, so I thought I didn't need to."
His words caught me off guard, leaving me struggling to grasp their meaning. It seemed as though he might know something, but his statement was cryptic.
"Can you elaborate on what you just said?" I asked, hoping for clarification.
"I can read minds sometimes, but not all the time. My ability is a bit useless, right?" he said with a sad voice.
"No, I don't think it's useless. And no ability is useless; maybe one day it will work in your favor," I said, attempting to comfort him.
"You're really an angel. Do you really believe that? Someone might trick you if you're like this. You didn't resist when I asked you to come even once. Be careful. Don't be an angel here; learn how to be like a human," Rud said.
"I was hungry, and my mind wasn't working. All I could think about was food. So when you said to come, I didn't give it much thought," I said as I continued to eat. With each move towards the plate, I let out a burp, but I still continued to eat.
"You mean if a kidnapper or a human trafficker tells you to come and follow him, you would still follow him?" he questioned.
"Maybe I would because the moment I came, I didn't see any sane person. Either someone wants something from me or someone wants to kill me. I don't know what I did to deserve this. They attack me like honeybees, as if I have their honey. Oh, come on, give me some peace of mind." My food was finished, and I didn't have any more.
"Looks like I'm finished now. What should I do next?" I grabbed the glass jar of water and drank the whole thing.
"The first thing you need to learn is how to eat and drink, and then other things," he whispered silently.
"Prepare a bathtub for him, and you go and take a bath. Your body reeks of blood. We'll talk later," Rud said, then walked away. Four servants came, two male and two female. They cleaned the table perfectly, with no dust, and immediately changed the tablecloth, replacing everything with cutlery.
I watched them, feeling a bit lazy to get up as I had eaten too much. They were so professional.
Feeling sleepy, my eyes began to close, and I was about to fall asleep when one of the servants said, "Your bathwater is ready. We have prepared all the essentials in the bathroom. Let me guide you."
I followed the servant, who didn't speak a word until we reached the room. "Call me if you need anything."
I went inside, and the door closed behind me. The room was filled with a pleasant aroma. "I've never seen artificial bathtubs before. We had natural ones in the heavenly realm, but they were not private or especially for one person. This is so good." The bathtub was small compared to a pond, but I could still swim in this small tub. It had a lovely aroma.
I finished my bath and changed my clothes. As I went to open the door, I couldn't get it to budge. "How does this thing open?"
"Is there anyone here?" I panicked when I couldn't open the door. I punched it, and it broke. "Looks like the door was weak," I commented, noticing the surprised look on the servant who had come to see me.
"You could've waited till I came, sir," he said, suppressing his anger.
"I don't know how to open it, actually," I said with a smile.
"Let me guide you to your room," the male servant said. As I followed him, I heard the other maids whispering.
"He broke the most expensive and strongest door. He is really a monster," one of them said. I ignored it; their opinions didn't affect me much. I couldn't change their minds, and it was partly my fault for this situation.
"Here is your room, sir. Just press the bell located near your bed lights if you need anything," he said, opening the door. Guided to my chambers by a diligent servant, I succumbed to the embrace of a soft mattress, my thoughts drifting into the realm of dreams.
I heard a voice calling me; maybe it's morning here, but I didn't want to get up already. Rud continued to shout, "Wake up, Mr. Angel! It's your first day of training; you should wake up already now."
I rubbed my eyes and woke up. "Let me sleep some more," I didn't want to wake up at all.
"It's time for your training; get up now," this was the first day of my training, and I was being lazy.
I somehow woke up from the bed. "Get ready and come down."
I got ready and went down immediately where Rud was standing. He looked at his wristwatch and said, "You are late; be on time from next time, before 7. Today, as punishment, you need to fight with me and show me your powers, and you need to fight with your full strength. One more thing, you need to fight with bare hands and without using your powers."
I don't know how to fight actually because I have never been in a real fight. I thought to fight somehow as I remember some moves which I learned from my previous fight.
I went to try to grab Rud's collar to pin him down, but he dodged, and he dodged my every move. He was only defending my every move.
"this is all you got?" rud said. I thought of landing a punch on his jaw. If I could touch him, I might break one or two teeth, but I couldn't even touch his piece of cloth.
"You should focus thinking and doing something in practical is a different thing," he said. I agreed with him. All I did was think of my every move in my mind. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, this time I will do my best."
So I thought of doing something unexpected. I threw the punch to him in the face but immediately changed the location in seconds to hit his stomach. He wasn't prepared and got thrown. "Looks like you learned something. Now I can't go easy on you."
He stood immediately on his foot and grabbed my arms. I couldn't move. The dark aura covered his whole body started to emit like flames from his body. He grabbed me so hard that I couldn't even move. " all I did was take your few punches but couldn't even scratch me is this how your going to defeat your enemy?" he sounded very angry.
As he was keeping the pressure, my bones felt like they were cracking. He was so powerful. "ahh, it hurt".
He then stopped immediately. "You don't have strength. The first thing you need is to gather enough strength. I was checking if you know any moves, but with these moves, you can't win a fight. All I did was grab you; you couldn't even set yourself free," Rud looked disappointed in me.
I too felt like the moment I landed on the earth, all I did was go here and there. I didn't learn anything for the sake of my revenge, and I totally forgot my very goal to come to earth. I was distracted in the human world, and what I wanted exactly, I can't even catch a fly with this kind of strength, even if I have and don't know how to use it, then what's the use. I can't rely on my power alone; I need to train my body.
"you need become stronger and beat me one day and I'm looking forward to that day."
I was fully pumped up by this one fight. I can't give up on my goal. The humiliation I felt for taking the side of truth and weak humans. The pain I felt by sympathizing with this body. What am I doing? I need to first avenge Arnold; my goal comes secondary as this weak human has suffered a lot from the day of birth. I need to fulfill his goal and also help humans like him.
"Train me how to become the strongest person in this world. I want to become so strong that a hundred persons can rely on me," I was fully motivated.
"Looks like you got some motivation. So, are you ready to face training?" Rud asked, observing my determination.
"I am ready, master, for all types of training to make myself stronger," I said confidently.
"After learning, what you do with this training, whether it is good or evil, as long as you don't have ego, you will always win each and every fight. You need to keep in mind that never make your ego a friend; it should always be your enemy," Rud instructed, imparting his wisdom.
"Yes, master," I replied with a loud and clear voice.
"You need to fill these two buckets and fill that well. There's a twist: both buckets have a hole in their bottom, and you need to climb 1000 stairs to reach the well and fill it," Rud explained.
Without hesitation, I started to fulfill the task. I filled the two buckets and began climbing the stairs. It was challenging for me to ascend, but descending was easy. However, by the time I reached the well with the water, the buckets had become empty. This happened repeatedly, around 50 times.
I reached my limit. "Looks like I failed the very first task given by the master," I admitted, feeling defeated.