Chapter 5: Shackles!
Adamus looked at himself. He raised his hands with an expression on his face that couldn't be read.
The lighting of the lamp dimly brightened the room around, but it only served as a light in the darkness. It was Adamus who had dimmed down the light, as he didn't like it too bright; otherwise, it could have lightened the entire room.
But he did, and now it represented that little hope he still had in himself.
He had never ever heard of such a case where a person couldn't follow the breathing technique, and if this was a general case for him where he couldn't follow any breathing method...
He didn't want to think.
So, he got up, then, out of anguish and worry, trained for a few hours and slept out of fatigue till the next day.
Then, the first thing he did was go take a bit of money, and he went to the technique store.
Such technique stores were all around, but most, if not all, were controlled by branches of prestigious families, tribes, and clans.
Though this territory belonged to Baron Ouloba, it didn't mean that he forbade other noble families and prestigious clans to sell and buy here.
and that meant that their representatives were here, stationed to make sure their reputation wasn't stained and that their products were protected from thieves and harm in general.
Adamus quickly got his business done, and this time, once again, he went to the most trusted, most prestigious store of all. He didn't want to prolong this matter any longer.
That day, his face was sharp, his eyes had such focus in them, his workers felt as if they were getting cut with knives whenever they saw them, and they had a hard time even breathing, but Adamus noticed quite quickly and calmed down.
That day he had been working on his former store. After he opened the store in the center of the city, he made a rotation of a day on the former and a day on the latter.
Like always, he worked from the early mornings to the time the sun went down, being one of the last workers to leave. Then his friends visited, something that only happened occasionally, and after they were gathered, they took the remaining bread and went to give it to the orphans, widows, and poor men of the city.
Then they had dinner somewhere in one of the town's restaurants, but that day, Adamus didn't have dinner with them; he said that he had something urgent, and the two who were there, Tony and Nelson, didn't say anything, telling him that they're here if he needed them.
Once he was home, it was time to try again, he directly went to the breathing section and read it intently until he was sure he had no mistake and then...
He failed.
Second time, failed.
After that, he turned to the other technique... and failed.
That's when he knew. He... couldn't breathe.
Now, the breathing of knight techniques didn't have a need for aptitude; it was true that talent was important in everything, but it was like when it came to painting and running.
Aside from cripples, everybody could do so. But knight breathing was easier; if you just had a strong body and understood the process well enough, you could do it and your talent was only there to dictate your potential, how far and how fast you would go.
So for Adamus to not be able to breathe... It wasn't just very strange; it was unexplainable.
And so, the man started looking for other ways. He even tried a mage breathing technique; those were the cream of the crop. To even get his hands on it, he had to scheme and plan for a month; then he went to an auction, read it, tried it, failed, and then sold it.
He had spent almost all of his wealth on it, just to know that he wasn't fit for it. Thankfully, he didn't lose much, even winning a little.
And that was when Adamus started getting worried.
The next few months, everybody noticed it: the man who was full of confidence was looking more and more disheveled.
The way he spoke, the way he acted, the way he worked... All of it changed.
All of this made Tony and the others even more worried, and that led them to talk to him.
One day, Tony came once more to the store; he was the one who frequented it the most, as he loved the bread, and when he saw how Adamus looked like every day, he couldn't help but ask.
"Brother..." Tony started speaking; by now, the 5 men were so close, they acted as if they were real brothers.
"Don't worry, Tony. I'm just a little lost." Adamus didn't turn to look at Tony.
The two were on their way to the place they went to every day; there, the orphans and widows all gathered, waiting with smiling faces for Adamus to come.
It was his grandmother who told him of a man who had helped her once when she was in a town as a widow and told him to be like him if possible, and he would be damned if he didn't do that.
Thus, with a smiling face he struggled to keep, he gave them the food.
"I will be going back now; you can go too." Adamus, after finishing, told Tony.
"No. You're coming with me today." Tony immediately spoke with no hesitation. But after he spoke, he stopped, as if regretting what he said but remained firm.
Adamus stopped in his tracks and looked back at him.
"Coming... with you?" Adamus was surprised. It's not that he had never gone to the homes of his brothers, but Tony was different; he was jealous of others coming to his house as much as a man should be jealous of others seeing his wife naked.
Thus, to this day, nobody had went there.
You're saying this man allowed Adamus to follow him to his house?
------End------