"Roy, 15 more sets!"
"15?!? I just did 10 sets of 90 high knees!"
"Ya need to have strong legs! Strong like mine! Now, 15 more sets!"
We lived near a lake, a cave, and some trees nearby. My teacher was always a strict person, was it because he was a dwarf? I always towered over him even in my childhood days. He said he slowly became less strict overtime but I never saw the difference.
"100 basic sword slashes now!"
"But teacher.. My arms are tired.."
"I don't care!"
"Yes teacher.."
He was too strong for me when I was a kid, way too strong. Even now, if he was still alive he would win in a fight. I was praised as a prodigy for being able to obtain my first ever aura circle within 4 months, but even then my teacher continued to threaten me to work harder.
"Roy."
"Yes Teacher?"
"Do you know why I shout at you?"
"To make me train harder?"
"I want you to learn my most important lesson."
"What- What is it?"
"Don't get too attached to anyone, especially me. I might be your saviour but you never know what anyone did in the past. Ya understand?"
Even with the onerous amount of training, I considered him not just as a violent teacher, but someone who was caring. Someone who was tolerant. A guardian, and a parent. Why would he tell me this?
"Yes.."
I lied. I still regarded him as my parent and disregarded his lesson, I didn't need to listen to it. This was going to be my first rebellious act and I kind of liked it.
I slowly became more proficient in aura and was learning at a much faster rate than what the average rate had suggested. I couldn't tell if the teacher was proud or not because he always looked grumpy and troubled. Besides the daily threats and excessive amounts of training I had done, life was peaceful and I had a healthy life.
As I aged, I became more studious and more hard-working. I was able to do everything without the need of my teacher telling me what to do such as waking up at an abnormally early time and whacking me on the head every time I disobeyed him. When I turned 16 I told my teacher of my decision that I had been thinking of doing when I was 13 .
"Teacher."
"Yes, what is it Roy?"
"I'm going to become an adventurer."
".." Silence rung through my ears, with the seconds ticking, I broke it with my own voice.
"I know you might get lonely-"
"Finally! I can get rid of you! HAHA! Pack your things, you're leaving first thing in the morning you trash! Useless! Brat!"
I had somewhat of an expectation that he'd at least say something nice to me, however I didn't expect his reaction to be this.. However I soon found out why later. In the Moment, I lashed out as well.
"What?! Trash!? I did everything I was told! Chores! Training! I went without food or sleep for days! I didn't argue or disobey orders! Even if I complained I still did everything! Whatever, I'll leave before the sun even rises!"
At the time, I didn't know why I was so angry. Was it because I wanted him to feel sad and wished he would want me to stay? I went into my room and quickly packed everything I needed for my journey.
"You know what.. I'll just leave now. Why was he so rude.. Can't believe I stayed with him for 7 years and he thinks of me like that.. Bastard."
I quickly packed all my necessities within a large bag before I snuck around, my teacher's door was opened slightly, and I saw him trying to hold his tears back. It was the first time I had seen him cry. My heart hurt, I wanted to give him a hug but my anger overtook me and I ran out of the door and left.
When I turned 19 I had just turned into an S-rank adventurer, I had also received a letter. It was from my teacher, but the letter was sent multiple months ago. As soon as I got the letter I quickly returned back to my teacher, but when I got there.. He was extremely pale and up by a wall on the floor.
"R..Roy.." His voice stuttered, blood dripped from his mouth, "You've come back.."
"Te-Teacher.. How did this happen?!?
My bag dropped to the floor, his body had a wide hole in the centre of his stomach, his blood shined from exposure, which meant someone had done this recently.
"TEACHER WHO DID THIS?!"
"Leave Roy.. He might.." Blood splattered across the floor, his time was nearing the end. "still be around.."
"I'LL KILL THEM!"
Anger built up in my body, rage that I had never felt before rose. How could they do this to my teacher? Why? My teacher was extremely strong, but he got bested by someone? My teacher was a master aura user and had trained for 60 years of his life perfecting his aura.. So how? How was this possible?
I wanted to kill them. Whoever it was, I wanted them to be wiped off from the world. If they reincarnated, I'd kill them again, and again, AND AGAIN.
"O-hoh? Whose this boy?"
My body twisted to see a barbarian-like man behind me by the door. Middle-aged, a man who was shirtless and I could see that his body was well-defined, he wore fluffy animal-like pants, and a large axe was strapped on his back. The man had long hair that looked to go down to his waist.
I instinctually unsheathed my sword and aimed it at his face, a smirk etched into his grotesque face.
"I'm.. I-I'm.."
"Huh? Cat got your tongue?"
"I'm going to KILL you! I'm going to KILL you! I'm going to f*cking KILL you!"
The utter sight of the man made my blood boil. My head felt hot and the tears evaporated from the aura that I unleashed.
I swung my sword filled with aura, the aura that I had stored through strenuous training unleashed on one man. But, it didn't even make the man bleed, nonetheless pierce his skin. Of course, he had beaten my teacher. I couldn't beat my teacher so how could I think of beating someone who was stronger than him?
The man merely grinned, he never moved once. Taking the full force of my meagre aura. It was futile, so why did I keep slashing away at his body? The aura reserves in my body quickly depleted because of my rash use of aura. The teachings that I had learned were thrown out and were replaced with thoughtless slashes that even a beginner swordsman would laugh at.
His hand was a blur, but he immediately caught my sword.
"You're weak." A maniacal laugh resounded throughout the room. "Hahaha.. HAHAHA!"
A maniacal and disturbing laugh engulfed the room before it fell quiet. I looked up to his face, his face that had a grin was now replaced with a cold-glare, ominous and disturbing to the eye. Suddenly, his aura spiked, I was instantaneously brought down to my knees at his overwhelming pressure.
"An insect dares to attack me?"
A sharp piercing gaze fell upon me as I watched his eyes sneered at my body like an insect.
"Lauv Godwin."
His name? He was going to kill me anyway. So why, my question was answered right after.
"Remember the name who killed your master and the one who spared your trash life."
I was helpless in front of an opponent that much stronger than me. With one fell swoop the man knocked me unconscious, I don't know how long I was out but my teacher had disappeared and the blood that had leaked out from his large wound remained and had served as a reminder to my life that was spared.
My life dulled, with the thought of death, training was all I knew. The teachings of my master would not go to waste and my training regimen increased threefold, every passing day I trained from morning to night and never slept for even a minute. The meditation that I did was all I needed for rest.
I knew it was unhealthy but I couldn't let that bastard continue to live, it took my muscles 1 year to fully exhaust itself in which I couldn't move any longer. Fortunately, I was able to meet Frey as well as Grid together.
Besides their racial differences and the stereotype I heard of both races' hating each other, they were friendly and were a duo. They were the ones who were able to get my senses back together and my training was much better than before. And not long after the three of us were able to become one of the first ever Z-rank adventurers in the continent!
We saved lives from monsters, we cleared dungeons, solved mysteries unsolved for years. We were revered as heroes.
We wanted to invite the first Z-rank adventurer but..
We couldn't find them anywhere. Their gender and everything about them was unknown except for their rank.