章 17: The Pit
Johan sat against the crudely built grey jagged rock wall on a large ledge protruding from the inside of the pit staring blankly across the pit to the wall on the other side. The dim light that made it possible to see seemingly emitted by the grey rocks cast a shadow over him, making it hard to see that his eyes were puffy from having been crying.
Neil was lying against the rock wall sleeping, seemingly unhindered by their current predicament.
"Neil is a good guy," muttered Johan, "he helped me without knowing me ..."
Johan stood up on the ledge and walked to its edge, looking down into a unending black abyss. There seemed to be no end to the pit, and as he looked up, he realized that there didn't seem to be an exit in sight.
In his mind, memories of Armyka's smirk and his parent's dead bodies replayed over and over.
"I'll never forgive her," whispered Johan, "she took the things from me that I cherish most in this world ... and with a flick of her hand, she tossed us in here."
Johan reflected on recent events in his life and began to get depressed; Memories of his teacher Buchiemnicka, telling him he wouldn't amount to anything, how the students at school talked poorly about him behind his back, and how his parents had died ... again ... flooded his head. He felt overwhelming. He was just a teenager, and the world seemed to be collapsing on him.
"Everything would end here and now ..." muttered Johan pondering jumping.
He missed hearing his father's voice in his mind now more than ever. Although he didn't quite understand why or how it had happened previously, it had given him comfort and now he didn't even have that. But, the memory of his father's advice spurred an emotion deep within Johan.
"We Flints don't give up!," muttered Johan, "if I jump, those downers win. Not just Armyka, but the ones who told me I'd never amount to anything ... if I live one day I might be able to reverse all this. Gadra did it before, there must be a way."
Johan reflected on his night in the alley, the night he'd seen the mad man beating a corpse with his fists. The night he'd seen a man turn into a monster. The night he realized that there was more to the Universe than he'd been taught to believe. At the time, Johan had thought he was insane, but now, within the man eyes, he saw a reflection of himself. He was the man, and the corpse was everything in the world that was unfair.
What had driven the man in the alley to murder? pondered Johan. Had the man experienced overwhelming injustice? Had he been a sane man once, who realized sanity gave you nothing but loss?
Johan had killed in order to save his parents.
That man had also killed ... perhaps for good reason.
"Armyka made a mess," said Johan, "I hate her so much ... I can't even do anything from down here. Gadra gave me a chance and Armyka took that all away on a whim. What makes this worse, is that it effected her so little, that she probably won't even remember doing it! The universe seems to give an advantage to narcissistic jerks."
Johan felt a firm hand hold his shoulder.
"Hey," said Neil. "You aren't thinking of jumping are you? You are really close to the edge ..."
Johan glanced back at Neil surprised. He hadn't heard him wake up or come up behind him.
After a momentary pause, Johan asked, "What do we do now? I can't see a way out ..."
"We climb," said Neil looking up. "We get out, ahead of time, and we raise hell. This can't go unpunished ... and all pits have an exit."
Johan stared at Neil thoughtfully and recalled Neil yelling at Armyka to stop before he passed out.
"Why did you stand up for me Neil?," asked Johan after a moment. "I heard what you said before I passed out. I am upset and want justice for my family being murdered. But you, I don't understand where you are coming from. What are you aiming for?"
"I stood up for you because it was the right thing to do. Regardless, of how strong a person is, it doesn't give them the right to abuse it," said Neil. "If I didn't do it, who would? If everyone stays quiet because they are afraid of the repercussions, things will go unnoticed and will always stay bad."
"Well," said Johan, "Thanks ... and sorry for getting mad at you before."
"No problem," said Neil smiling softly.
"She said if we bothered her again she'd end us," said Johan frowning.
Neil smirked, "Do what we are told by a jerk like her? I am the self proclaimed team lead, remember? We won't just take this!"
Neil looked at the wall and plucked a mushroom growing on it and handed it to Johan.
"You can eat this," said Neil. "But if the bottom of the mushroom is black, or if it has red spots, avoid it. It will poison you unless you have trained to the purple blood realm."
"Purple blood realm?," asked Johan, "what is that?"
"Ahh yes grasshopper. You are from earth and don't know about mana and the amazing possibilities it creates," said Neil with a glint in his eyes, "We are now in a realm rich in mana, something lacking on earth, the existence of mana changes how you can develop, sorta like how if you grow up malnourished, you will think slower, and won't be able to get as strong as a person who grows up consuming a proper nutritious diet. Basically, the lack of food will kills you slowly. Mana, allows us to reach new heights in strength and develop various other attributes. It is like a vitamin all life was missing on earth. With mana in abundance here, you can develop not only your physical abilities to unbelievable levels but your spiritual abilities and mental. There are tons of books on it."
"Unbelievable, so you're telling me," said Johan thoughtfully, "we can become superheroes that have powers that will let us kick Armyka's butt."
"Exactly! So the purple blood realm," said Neil, "makes it so that you can consume anything organic and get energy from it. Armyka was at the orange blood realm which allowed her to control things easily with her Chi. Her cat ears manifested as a side effect of utilizing divine supplements to accelerate her development. Unless you cultivate naturally, current methods leave small side effects like that."
"I see," said Johan. "so its like how steroids does things to your body."
"Yes," said Neil. "Cheaper supplements have more side effects, hers was particularly good. Here strength reigns supreme. It earns you money, status, respect and opportunities."
"I'll become the strongest and kick her butt," muttered Johan.
Neil laughed and said, "Good goal. We should start climbing after you eat, we will be stuck here for a long time, unless we climb our way out. I see another ledge in the distance, lets make that our goal for now."
"How far do we have to climb to get out?," asked Johan looking up without being able to see the ledge.
"I don't know," said Neil, "but, moving is better than staying in one place."
Johan gobbled the mushroom down. It tasted like styrofoam, but it was better than nothing.
~ A HALF HOUR LATER ~
"Are we there yet?," said Johan wearily.
"We are close," said Neil. "How are you doing?"
"My forearms are burning!," groaned Johan.
The effort of the climb had forced him to forget his current problems and focus on climbing alone.
His forearms had swelled and his hands were raw and numb. Neil was climbing ahead of him. blocking his line of sight.
"We are around three holds from getting to our goal," said Neil. "Keep trying. I could have carried you, but you wouldn't get stronger that way."
"Appreciated," groaned Johan, "But, I never expected climbing to be this hard."
"It gets easier," said Neil, "I've been doing it for a while, its a hobby of mine, helps me clear my mind while getting a workout."
Neil reached the ledge, climbed onto it and helped Johan up onto it.
Johan let out a sigh of relief, "thanks, I am exhausted!"
"Already?," said Neil with a laugh.
Neil plucked a mushroom off the wall and gobbled it down. Johan looked around found a mushroom and after examining it to make sure it was safe for consumption, ate it.
"So what are you aiming for Neil?," asked Johan. "You can't just want to be a soldier the rest of your life."
"I want to be rich," said Neil, "have a family and my own school."
"Simple dream," said Johan.
"I want to become strong and make good people strong," said Neil, "so that good people will have power and I wont give strength to people who aren't good. I'll balance out the Universe."
"Sounds pretty heroic," said Johan.
"Heroic? Me?," Neil let out a laugh and said, "How about you?"
"I am going to be great," said Johan, "I'll become strongest and I'll change things. I'll change things and create a just Universe and help you reach your goals! I am betting you'll create a great school!"
"So you were serious before," said Neil. "I thought it was a fleeting thought. But goals like that take resolve, you can be my first student, I'll teach you what I've learnt to build a good foundation and increase your mana and physical strength in order to excel later on. But without supplements to aid us we can only go so far. Furthermore, what I know is flawed, I don't know much. "
"It is a start point," said Johan. "We will get unimaginably strong and when we are out of here, we will overwhelm Armyka and anyone else that gets in our way by surprise."
Neil nodded thoughtfully.
クリエイターの想い 
RatTurtle
RatTurtle At times, in the most unexpected places you find support in hard times. Very few if any people live perfect lives. We all face challenges, some more than others. Support may not always be from the living, but those who left messages to future generations through books, movies or legacies (Arnold, MLK, Ghengis Khan, etc ...). But most of all, its what's inside you that pushes you forward, without it, not even the strongest mentors can help you. So never loose faith or give up.
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