With that, he quickly headed to the beach. Since there was no other source of water where he could take a shower, the sea water was more than enough to do that. Even though he would've preferred something else, beggars can't be choosers, after all.
Reaching the shore, he took his shirt and pants off and jumped in the cold water without hesitation. He felt the chilling temperature of the water wrap around his entire body. It felt rather comforting for some reason.
Slowly, Victor opened his eyes, only to see the beautiful blue world around him. Even in the darkness, the light of the moon penetrated the surface and reached the sea floor. The ethereal silver glow was almost divine to look at.
For a second, Victor remained in his position, floating in the emptiness of the sea. All around him, sea life was flourishing. Fish swam everywhere, of all kinds that Victor had never seen before. Beneath him, coral reefs expanded as far as the eye could see, forming a beautiful topography under the sea.
'Wow…' Victor admired the scene silently for a good 15 seconds before he slowly swam up to the surface. The calm waters were perturbed by his emergence before returning to their calm state as if nothing happened. Looking around him, Victor was about to swim back to the shore, only for his eyes to catch a truly mesmerizing sight.
Above him, the sky was filled with beautiful stars of all kinds. Cosmic clouds formed a beautiful painting, surrounding all the shiny orbs of light. Victor didn't even realize that he was looking at the sky for a good while.
When he snapped out of it, he looked down, only to realize that he was now lying down on the water, slowly floating around as he admired the scene. He was confused for a second before a small smile made its way to his face. He felt really relaxed. There was nothing that made him feel restricted.
There was no one to control him or tell him what to do. He was not a chained monster anymore.
'Is this… what freedom feels like?' He asked himself as he stared at the sky. 'If it is… Then I understand why a human's biggest punishment is being robbed of their freedom… This is something else.'
After living an entire lifetime not knowing what it felt like to have his own will, this was truly a feeling like nothing else.
"I don't think I want to let go of this." He muttered as he let his body continue floating. With a relaxed look, he simply allowed himself to do something he hadn't done before.
He allowed himself to take a break.
***
The night passed quietly for Victor. After taking a way longer shower than he expected, he washed his clothes and went back to the house. He found himself deep asleep in a few minutes after that. His exhausted body was simply eager for that well-deserved rest.
The next moment he opened his eyes, the sun was already peeking through the window.
"Ugh…" Victor groaned as he opened his eyes. Then, he slowly tried to rise up, only to feel his body aching. Squinting, he forced the pain to the back of his head and stood up. He stretched his limbs and went out.
'That was a good night's sleep… Even though my body is aching.' He thought to himself as he headed to the beach to wash his face and get ready for the second day of training.
"Hmm?" As he stood near the shore, eating a few fruits he harvested, his eyes wandered to the distant north. The faint signs of the storm he had seen were now considerably clearer than yesterday. The grey clouds were taking a bigger area and the darkness was shrouding the sea as far as he could see.
Victor's eyes were blank the entire time as he ate the fruit silently. Nobody knew what was going through his head at that moment. After that, he washed his mouth and looked at the water.
'... Maybe I can try fishing today after training.' He thought to himself as he turned around and walked back.
Then, for the next few hours, Victor focused completely on his training. He started the day with physical exercises, and then, when he exhausted himself, he channeled his Runic Energy which gave him a few more hours worth of power.
When he exhausted his core too, he spent two hours regaining some of the energy he used. Then, he finally focused on learning the Ripple Runic Technique.
Everything went smoothly, to a certain extent. Victor found some difficulties with the training since he upped the intensity a little. But, he was able to finish everything. He felt the improvement in his entire body which made him even more motivated.
He also noticed that his body was absorbing the training way faster than what should've been normal. He didn't know why exactly, but if he had to assume, it was most likely the Runic Energy in his body that was having such an effect on him.
Even when he wasn't channeling it, that energy must've been slowly but constantly improving his body, on a cellular level.
As for the Ripple Runic Technique, Victor was able to improve his understanding of the technique a little. He practiced the first move dozens of times, learning how to control it and direct it. Then, he moved to the second move and started learning it.
He knew that it was going to take time before he could actually master all the attacks, but he was certain it wasn't long.
*Crack*
"I guess I should get some fishing going on… And I also need some fresh water." He muttered. "I can't keep relying on these fruits for water."
'Even though they taste good.' He thought to himself.
"I think there is a pot in the kitchen, no?" Walking back inside the house, he picked up the fishing rod and a small old pot stored in one of the cabinets. Then, he left the house and headed to the beach.
Reaching his destination, he set up a rock to sit on, and then took one of the fruits and cut a small part of it before hooking it to the end of the rod.
'I don't have any other bait to use. This might work, though.' He thought to himself as he finally stood up and threw the hook into the distance. Then, he adjusted the rod and put it to the side.
After that, he took the pot and filled it with water. He then set up a small campfire using wooden branches he collected beforehand and then lit up a fire with the primitive tools he had.
This wasn't the first time Victor had to survive in such conditions. A part of his training as a kid in his previous life required him to survive in extremely hostile environments of all kinds on his own. It helped etch the ways of survival in his head.
'This is far easier, though. At least I don't have beasts trying to eat me.' He sighed as he sat down and watched the water pot starting to get hot.
Meanwhile, he kept his eyes on the fishing rod, ready for it to move at any second. The time seemed to move slowly as things were very calm. However, all of that suddenly shifted in a split second.
"Hm?"
As he was relaxing, Victor's eyes suddenly caught something weird in the distance. A few hundred meters in the air, he saw a moving object.
'What's that?' Standing up, he squinted his eyes to see closer. The black dot wasn't visible from his point of view. But, surprisingly, it seemed to be growing, at a very rapid pace.
Before Victor could even understand what it was, the thing was already big enough for him to see clearly and it was heading straight toward him.
Immediately, the boy felt all his senses going off. 'It's going to fall on me!'
Without wasting another second, Victor ran away. Luckily, he wasn't too late as a split second later, he heard a loud boom as a huge cloud of sand erupted everywhere.
A//N: Support the book with PS, boys!