章 44: Fun Training Time

Have you ever had a nightmare where you get chased by some monster? However, no matter how you try you can never get away.

A lot of people experience this at least once in their life. Most often after watching horror movies for the first time. If you haven't, good for you really.

It feels extremely bad. There is the horror. There is the feeling of powerlessness. There are often lots of tears and dread. Simply put it is one of the worst experiences one can have. Especially if it's a lucid dream because it feels real.

Now picture this. Getting chased by a sadistic sashimi-loving elf ghost. Why sashimi? Well, he just loves to slice the flesh in thin stripes. Over and over and over again.

Now picture yourself being the sashimi in question. Picture feeling pieces of you getting cut off in the most painful of manners. Again, then some more, and further. Of course, you try to struggle. Of course, you try to run and resist. But no matter what you do it is all pointless.

Then you start inevitably waiting for a respite. Perhaps even awaiting death itself. After all the human body needs time to regenerate. Such constant torture would only be viable for so long. Especially considering how enthusiastic he is at work.

There are only so many layers that you can strip off a body. You know before the injuries become too heavy. Now that's where the fun part begins.

Picture that instead of having a mortal body you have a magical vessel. This apparently makes it, so you heal almost instantly. Not that fast, but just enough to regrow the skin you lost.

After all, even a normal human would have skin regrow after a burn. This in turn makes it so the awaited respite never comes. You never get too injured for the fun to be halted.

Oh yeah, there is also the part that comes before the torture. Where you get hunted like an animal. Across a forest. Running for your life. Always in vain, because your pursuer is a ghost, a ghost that has the ability to pass through trees to catch up quickly.

At some point, your legs would give up and interrupt the game anyway? Not when you have a magical vessel of a body. Infinite stamina is great! Well except when it's not.

So yeah. This is my current situation. Oh, yeah needless to point out I wish this was a nightmare. I wish this was nothing but a lucid dream. I wish I could close my eyes, scream, and wait for it to be over. Nope.

That is also another scary part. The hunter is a ghost. No matter the situation it is impossible for me to outlive him. I can't just wait until the old mentor kicks the bucket to be free. Nope, he is already dead.

As a wise man once said: I am utterly fucked! Don't discount the wisdom because of the swears. Did you know that people that swear tend to be more truthful? Let's just say that I feel very truthful at times. Especially when he is chasing me or slicing me or…

Actually, I am very truthful these days if you catch my drift. Ah, but I just had to endure until the afternoon, isn't that right? For the etiquette lessons.

Of course, I too was awaiting that moment. With impatience to say the least. Then I would find a time to slip away and go back to Yggdrasil. This way I could get protection from this insane ghost.

One would have expected afternoon lessons to be quieter. Perhaps table manners with some tea and a cake? Turns out the afternoon etiquette lesson was a lie. The cake was a lie too. All of it. It all got canceled.

Why would it get canceled? Well, something about my earlier performance. He used various ways to praise me. The speed of a snail. The perseverance of a sloth. The awareness of a panda. Oh, the last one sounds cute, doesn't it? Well not really. That too is an insult.

Why does this world have the same animals as earth? Is the god that created this place a lazy bum? Are all worlds the same on a fundamental level? No idea.

So yeah, he decided I needed way more training than initially planned. This meant that there would be nothing but physical training until I got better. Oh, physical training makes it sound decent.

No, this is straight-up abuse. One that denies any and all human rights. So what was I going to do about it? Well, absolutely nothing.

Did I simply accept my fate? Not at first obviously, I tried resisting. I tried running away. Every time he would catch me as easily as catching a …. Actually, a chicken might be harder to catch than me. After all, I'm easier to notice in the forest.

I tried giving up too. Oh god, the result was worse. He made me never want to try this one again. He turned the normal sashimi session into sashimi from hell torture edition. How?

I don't even want to recall it. You'd have to try to know. I really don't recommend it, however. Since all the options above did not work… Am I simply fucked?

Well, there is one thing I can do. One thing that I am doing right now in fact. Go along with the training and try to actually improve. That presents its own challenges.

In most stories, you have a training arc where the character goes from wimp to chad. He trains day and night until he goes from a fat dude to a jacked one with 6 packs. Let's be real this is mostly done so readers can relate. That's why most heroes start like that.

According to the usual plot, I should be gaining muscle and bulking up. Yeah, about that… Magical vessel, remember? This isn't some wish-fulfillment story where I can just use magic to become super strong instantly.

Yes, I've tried using magic too. The nature one. The ghost didn't appreciate it. It brought forth some sashimi from hell extra torture extended edition.

So how do I get stronger? Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out…. Seriously this is hard!!

****(POV)

His growth started. The first phase always consisting of unfocused effort.

An instinctual reaction to adversity.

A mindless struggle.

That is a dangerous phase. A weak spirit can give in to despair. He tried to run, he even tried to plead, but not once did he truly give up.

The light in his eyes always remaining strong.

That is the mark of a hero. I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

How will he try to improve?