Chapter 24: Chapter 23

Finding yourself standing in front of the massive castle doors just after waking up from a deep restful sleep is not a pleasant experience, two bony thin firm hands were placed firmly on each one of my shoulders as I took in the horrifying sight before me.

The door to the left looked like it had been ripped straight out of an old horror movie, and right ahead was…well...the most disgusting sight ever. A dozen rotting corpses were milling about

'WALKING' about as if they had some sort of consciousness, their faces were twisted into grotesque forms that made your skin crawl. It was a nightmare. A nightmare filled with horrible things happening all around you, but what scared you the most was what you couldn't see.

My mind was racing and my mouth was dry, as I stood there frozen, unable to move my legs or my hands, let alone anything else besides my thoughts.

For several moments, I tried to compose myself and steady my trembling nerves.

but it was not easy,

One moment I was fast asleep in a relaxing sleep which was very rare for me then and the next I was being carried like a sack of potatoes by an old man I had never seen before in my whole life, who had been ignoring me uptill recently.

The old man had introduced himself as Cyphus once we had reached the horrid castle and apparently I was to train under him as his student and that I should remember that as well.

I hadn't understood what the heck he was going on about and why I had to do anything with him but when I saw half a dozen giant skeletons glaring at me from behind him I decided the best course of action was to shut up and listen.

They were intimidating, to say the least and it wasn't hard to guess why.

They were dressed in their usual dark black suits with their skulls painted on them.

Their eyes were glowing red and their hands were clenched into fists.

The sight of their large bodies reminded me of the beasts who haunted the woods surrounding my village, or rather Job's village, fuck me I needed to decide on my identity and pretty quickly too.

It was strange to think I now existed somewhere else, in a world of humans, monsters and magic.

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought. I knew these people were not really human.

That much was obvious.

However, I was certain these things would eventually discover my secret and kill me or torture me or both.

"Come on, we don't have all day stupid boy" Master Cyphus bellowed and began to make his way inside the enormous stone fortress.

"Hey, wait, wait!" I cried out running to catch up to his massive frame as he strode past me, choosing to stick to the old man was much better rather than taking my chances with giant skeletons and rotting corpses.

The old man walked at a fast pace as if he was late for a meeting or something. He did so without even sparing me a glance, nor any acknowledgment of how I was trying my hardest to keep up.

We passed through giant hallways, wide corridors, rooms of various sizes, and staircases, stairs, staircases, and more, and finally came to an empty hall where the only sign indicating that anyone lived there was the big wooden bed in the middle of it all, it was covered in white cloths. On top of the bed, a huge glass bowl was lying upside down, filled with water and surrounded by flowers of all kinds, but my attention was drawn to the white round marble table placed in the centre of the room surrounded by large white marble throne like chairs.

My heart leaped at the sight of two beautiful women who were seated at the table.

One was a beautiful woman with long flowing golden hair and piercing blue eyes.

Her skin was flawless and her features were delicate and refined.

She wore a simple white dress with a gold belt and a matching necklace.

The other woman was a short, plump woman with a round face and a wide smile.

She was obviously an elf with her pointy ears, her blond hair was tied in a bun atop her head and her dress fell in soft waves down to her ankles.

They both looked up toward me and smiled warmly before nodding in recognition at me.

"How long can you give me?' the old man barked out loud to the women, ignoring me completely

"Seven winters at most, Master Cyphus" the elf responded smoothly without hesitation.

"You'll need to be extra careful around them. Most elves hate the humans, even though they may be useful to us in the future, they're also incredibly fragile. They can break easily"The old man said calmly turning to me

"Yes, you should not underestimate them. There is little doubt about it, but no doubt will not help in any case" another woman appeared next to me out of thin air, covered head to toe in a black garb like a Hijab.

"And you...you're the boy I've heard so much about aren't you?" she asked smiling kindly.

"Yes" I squeaked out nervously and nodded hesitantly

"Enough!" the old man bellowed " we don't have time for this, I have only seven bloody winters to teach the boy. I want you ladies ready and waiting for me ready with everything. Now hurry up and go find something for the boy to eat, it is imperative we get started immediately"

the two woman at the table quickly nodded and rose gracefully from the table disappearing from view.

I turned to look for the old man question brewing inside like an avalanche ready to
bury me alive,

and the old man smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry boy I shall tell you everything soon enough," he reassured.

before I could ask anything else I felt a sharp short pain at the base of my neck as the world around me began to spin, the last thing I heard before the darkness engulfed me was

"Now then, shall we begin"

~~~

"I should really stop doing this," I said out loud as I once again came to my senses in the middle of the forest.

I blinked twice, looking around trying to figure out where I was and how I got there.

As I did I realized that I was on the floor again, And this time around I was completely naked.

This time the shock didn't hit me right away.

Instead, I merely stared at myself in wonderment for the longest time wondering how I got here before finally asking myself

"what the hell happened?".

As the questions began flooding my mind I became aware of the ache in my limbs as my body slowly began to regain consciousness.

I shifted my position on my hands and knees feeling a little embarrassed to realize that my lower part was indeed wet.

I shook my head as I glanced at my hands and then sat up slowly stretching my arms overhead letting out a sigh of relief as the tension in my muscles eased.

As I stood to my feet I caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of my eye and turned to see a small creature watching me intently.

It was a rabbit, a rabbit that was staring at me with its large brown eyes.

I frowned and stepped closer to it, reaching out a hand to touch it gently.

"Hello," I said softly, "are you lost?" I said curiously as I crouched down so I was on the same level as the rabbit and continued to stare into the animal's eyes intently.

The rabbit stared back unblinking, seemingly fascinated and utterly bewildered by my sudden appearance.

I smiled a tiny bit before I froze in shock.

"Good you are awake" spoke the rabbit, the god dammed rabbit spoke in the exact same voice as the old man Cyphus.

I opened and closed my mouth trying to find a response but words failed to come to me, so I settled for a nervous laugh and then cleared my throat,

"I suppose I am..."I answered quietly as I scratched the top of my head, not quite sure what to say.

The rabbit let out a huff, "yes you are. Well then, we must hurry. We have little time to waste!" the rabbit exclaimed hopping around and motioning for me to follow it.

I furrowed my brows, I couldn't remember ever meeting this little beast before, but it looked familiar somehow.

Was I perhaps dreaming? Yes! This must be one of my many lucid dreams, my brain is playing tricks on me, and I know it is.

I shook my head trying to shake off those crazy ideas and walked after the rabbit who hopped ahead of me excitedly until it came to a halt, waiting patiently for me to catch up.

"Right, sorry, what are we doing here?" I asked, my voice sounding louder than I intended and startling me slightly.

The rabbit's ear flicked and it turned towards me in surprise.

"why training ofcourse," it replied "if you wish to become a powerful practitioner you must first learn how to master your powers wouldn't you agree, Yes then train hard for the mastery over it" the rabbit explained proudly

"Why?" I said confused, "I don't understand why I am here."

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The rabbit hesitated momentarily, clearly uncomfortable with the topic, and then answered cautiously,

"because it is important. Do not forget, you belong to someone!"

I gapped at the rabbit in disbelief.

"And that someone wants you to be powerful and powerful quickly. You see, if you don't achieve that, then you won't be able to stay here" the rabbit explained sadly.

"Oh" I murmured in understanding, but still remained dumbstruck.

What did this mean exactly? What did it have to do with me being here? What did my purpose even mean? It didn't matter either I realized.

It doesn't matter anyway because it wouldn't have mattered even if I had wanted to run away, as my legs were too weak and sore to take me anywhere. I would never survive such a journey.

My eyes widened at the realization and I shook my head violently.

I didn't care anymore.

I'm going to stay!

'take what is offered' 

No matter what I had promised to myself I'd stick with my plans and stay true to them.

No matter what, no matter the consequences.

Even if there was a chance that the outcome would be death I wouldn't back down; I'll live with it if that's what it took to get what I wanted.

"Let's go, we don't have much time now which weapon are you proficient in?"

I looked up at the rabbit, who was staring at me expectantly waiting for my answer with a slight frown etched upon his wrinkled face. He looked angry but that seemed to be normal at this point.

Why wasn't he happy I was staying?

"I'm afraid I don't know any," I admitted looking to the ground.

"What!? That is unacceptable, you must surely know some!" He exclaimed angrily "you should know how to use all weapons"

I just simply shook my head, "no, I'm sorry" I apologized shaking my head "I know nothing of fighting"

The rabbit sighed deeply and then nodded his head

"that is fine. We shall have to make do, Then we have started at the very bottom"

He said confidently before he led the way through the trees, leaving me no choice but to follow him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get up boy! We must continue" the rabbit shouted, his voice echoing against the cave walls.

I groaned as the sound filled the cave causing the shadows to stretch and bend before me.

I raised my tired arm and slapped my hand onto a wall, rubbing my eyes as I attempted to wake myself fully.

The sounds of running water came into my ears and I turned my gaze toward the source to see the entrance to a cavern opening up just outside of me.

The cool air hit my burning hot skin and I shuddered.

I pulled myself up and made my way out of the cave.

When my eyes met the sight before me everything stopped dead and my breath hitched in my throat.

I was standing in the middle of a wide open field surrounded by towering tall rocks.

Above my head stretched a cloudless blue sky and a bright white sun shone brightly illuminating my vision.

I stood frozen in my tracks completely transfixed and unable to move, the wind carried the smell of fresh grass into my nostrils and I closed my eyes savouring the scent, my mind slowly coming back together in a daze of confusion and shock.

I blinked slowly and turned my attention back toward the rabbit who was standing behind me, impatiently waiting for me to speak.

"NOW!, just as last time climb up this rock tower and down a hundred times, and then we will play catch the rabbit again," the rabbit said impatiently waving its front paw impatiently.

I shook my head clearing my thoughts.

This was torture, a complete nightmare in fact.

A part of me was screaming at me to just turn around and run away without looking back, but there was another part of me that urged me on.

If I ran I might miss my opportunity, or worse, Days had turned into weeks, weeks had morphed into something, and in truth, I had completely lost my sense of time, there was no sunset here no sun rising the sun was always in a perpetual state of shining, never missing any second and the days passed without me noticing and I had no idea how long I've been here.

I was lost.

Every day was the same, each day was like the previous one and yet, there was never a moment where I felt anything different from before. Every single moment a cacophony of groans, screams, and cries echoed endlessly in this place.

Every day the rabbit-like creature would set meaningless physical tasks on me

"Thrust this spear ten thousand times,"

"climb this (twenty-foot) tree until you can climb it in your sleep"

"Catch me without stepping on the ground if you want to eat"

"Swing this stick till your arms drop"

"pick and throw this (hundred kilos)stone until you break both hands"

"throw this spear until it lands at dead centre of that boulder"

" swing, thrust, cut,........"

There was never any time for me to think, never an opportunity to reflect.

Each task was given to me in the form of a simple challenge.

Never was there a moment that I could relax or even think.

There was never any time to breathe.

I never had a moment of silence to contemplate or reflect. It was always a blur of moving limbs, loud noise, and constant movement.

There was no time to think, and refusing any task saw me constantly without food and in pain.

My arms were aching now and they had begun to bleed sluggishly from dozens of deep cuts and grazes.

My fingers twitched involuntarily at the memory of them breaking off at the end of several days of continuous effort and exertion.

I also soon realized there was no escape especially when I ran away and found myself running for a very very long time only to find myself back in the open field with the rabbit barking orders at me and calling my name.

It was hard not to give up.

How much time had passed since came here? 

I was already exhausted beyond belief from just a few hours of rest I managed to get during the long never ending days, but the very option of giving up had been taken away from me,

specially since every single injury even life-threatening ones would heal in few moments.

I could die at any moment, and yet I couldn't so I continued to persevere through agony for days and even weeks on end.

I had no hope of getting home; there was no guarantee that I would survive even though I desperately wished there would be.

I shook my head and forced myself to walk forward, pushing my exhaustion aside, and began my climb atop a pile of stones arranged like a tower.

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