I hid my now red face.

Orion extended his arm out and helped me up. He looked at me, examining my body. He walked around and poked at my muscles.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well, I'm checking out what muscles you need to work on properly. Swinging a weapon isn't just your arms. You use your legs, back, and chest, in addition to your arms, to generate power and speed. Depending on your style and weapon of choice, you'll end up with certain muscles growing more than others."

Orion stopped and went back to standing in front of me. He squatted down and raised his sword in front of him.

"I'm going to attack you the same way: move out of the way and try pushing me to the side like I did with you. Also, don't use a finger like me."

I prepared to anticipate the attack and move to the side.

Orion charged at me slowly, giving me time to dodge. He swung his sword down like I did, but it was different.

I dodged the attack by moving to the side; I stumbled a bit and then tried to push Orion. I pressed my right arm into him and recoiled back a little. Orion didn't even move a bit.

"You see that," Orion looked at me with a grin. "The main problem is that you don't have a proper stance. Your stance is terrible when you attack. During a fight, the stance and footwork can determine a fight if all the other conditions are equal. So let's start with that."

We spent the rest of the afternoon just on footwork and stance training. Orion adjusted my body and made me hold the position. He also made me hold my sword up in a defensive place. My muscles slowly became sore, and I could barely lift my arms from all the training. To finish, he gave me some stretches and core exercises while making food. The core exercises were the worst part of the day. In Orion's words, "A good core is a good sword."

I was so dead. I ate and went to sleep. Orion said he wanted to teach me more about the world, but I declined. Today, I was too tired even to think. I went to bed with the sun setting.

I woke up, and my body was gruelling. Every part was sore. Muscles that I didn't know that I had were sore. My body was never strong. I was thin and not very muscular. Yui would describe it as blubberish. Though she never minded.

I went outside to see Orion running around. He saw me on his five laps as I went to get breakfast.

"How are you feeling, kid?" Orion asked.

"Like the demon you killed," I said back. I started to eat as Orion sat beside me.

"It'll be hard at first. Your body will scream at you for putting it through hell, but it will all be worth it." He said as I ate.

The food was terrific, as always, but the monster meat was something else. It tasted like heaven or divinity itself. I finished my plate of meat. Orion sat there smirking, watching me eat.

"So, how do you feel now?" Asked Orion

"Really? I'm still in pa-" I stopped. My body felt better.

"The meat you just ate repairs your body. Essentially, increasing the speed of your muscle growth from 3 days to 1 meal. You must put your body through hard training to see real results." Orions said, smiling proudly but slowly; the smile turned somewhat devilish. "Now, let's begin your training again."

We began again, doing the same thing: mourning stretches, running, and weight training. Into swordsmanship, then into some core exercises, and finally stretches. The pain was somewhat bearable. The monster meat helped, but I was still sore and tired.

Orion had finished making dinner, and I started eating. Today was pork belly from the boar that almost killed me.

Orion had made many new things, but we still hadn't used them.

"I'm going to go get some supplies from the village," said Orion as he cooked and ate.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You're going to the families?" I asked. "I thought you lived a secluded life."

"I do, but stuff like weapons and clothing are easily attainable by simply buying or stealing from the families."

Orion looked at me. "So, what weapon do you want to use?" He asked.

"Weapon? I'm already learning swordsmanship." I said back.

"Right now, I'm just teaching you proper stance and getting your muscles into better shape for fighting." Orion got up and picked up his sword. "I can use all weapons, but I've chosen to fight with a shortsword and a dagger. You don't necessarily have to follow in my footsteps."

I finished eating. I never really thought about the weapon that I would want to use. Maybe a spear like Lance or take more of an assassin approach and use daggers.

"I haven't thought about it. For now, I'll keep practicing the sword and maybe expand on it afterwards."

"Well, if that's what you want. I'll head out; keep doing what I've taught you. When I get back, I'll start teaching you about this world." said Orion as he headed for the cabin. "I'll most likely be gone for one to three days."

Orion entered the cabin. Three days to myself, huh, in a forest that makes me hallucinate and is filled with monsters. "ORION!" I yelled. He came out of the cabin and looked at me. He covered himself with a hide cloak, probably made from the boar.

"Why don't I come with you and help?" I asked.

"No," replied Orion bluntly. He walked over to me with a sack over his back. "This place is protected, so don't worry about monsters. You'll have to make your food; the cabin has leftover meat and herbs."

"Alright, I said in a sad tone.

"I'll see you soon, kid," Orion walked away as I watched him.

"See you soon," I said back.

Soon, Orion was gone, and the sun began to set. I entered the cabin and sat in my room, watching the fire on the torch flicker and dance. My clothes began to stink, so I took them off. I planned to wash them tomorrow after running tomorrow. Maybe I'll shower, too, if I can find a spot.

The fire on the torch began to dwindle. I reached my hand into the pocket of the pants I had on. In them, I pulled out a ring.

I stared at the ring, filled with sadness—the ring I bought for Yui. I was going to propose to Yui on that date, but now. Now I don't know what to do with it. Do I throw it away, or do I keep it for memory's sake? I looked at the ring one last time before putting it back into my pocket.

I put the torch out and went to sleep.

The mourning was strange. There is no fantastic smell of food or Orion running around. It felt weird. After cooking some monster meat, I ran and did the mourning routine. Afterwards, I worked on stance and posture training. I washed up in a creek not too far from home base. Afterwards, it was rinse and repeat.

Three days passed, and there was no sign of Orion. I kept to the schedule, cutting some exercises due to laziness, but overall, I was pretty happy keeping the flow going.

On the fourth day, I started to swing the sword downwards like you would see armies doing in shows. I kept my posture straight and used the stance training Orion had used. I tried to imitate him and keep myself from falling. After ten swings, I could feel a severe burn in my shoulders and arms.

I kept trying to do 100, but I stopped around 40. My arms cried out, and I fell to the ground. The sky was orange from the sun setting. The clouds were in a ripple. The view reminded me of home and the park I would go to. Yui and I had met there for the first time; it was where I wanted to propose to her.

I got up more determined than ever. To survive, I need to let go of my past life. I need to become stronger and face reality. I was never going to see Yui again.

I stayed up. Usually, I would go to sleep when the sun sets, but tonight I couldn't sleep. I stayed up swinging the sword over and over again. My arms felt the pain, but I accepted it. The monster meat helped, but it wasn't a cure.

I didn't know how many hours had passed; the moon was high in the sky. I felt weary and tired. Finally, I stopped swinging the sword: a hundred, maybe more. I met the goal I had set and fell to my knees.

I reached for my face, dropping the sword. Tears started to form, and I cried. I hated this so much. I don't want a new life; I want to sleep on a bed that doesn't make me ache. I want to wake up to alarms and prepare for a bright day. I wanted peace.

I covered my face, sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, I calmed down, and I looked at the sky. It was beautiful. I had never noticed, but there were two moons in the sky. The galaxy shined and glimmered a green and red colour. It reminded me of Christmas. Out of the sky, I saw a shooting star. It was moving incredibly slowly as its tail glimmered through the sky.

"I wish to be happy," I said. I looked at the star as it moved. It started to get bigger and bigger.

"What the fuck?" I said.

Suddenly, I saw the star falling towards me at an alarming speed. "Ah, shit."

The star reached maybe 300 meters above me before it slowed down and descended—petals of all colours formed around it. I looked upon the star still on my knees. It descended, taking maybe about a minute to finally reach me.

It came down and hovered before me. It shined white but wasn't blinding. The surroundings glowed up as if a bulb had been lit. The center was an orb shaded white and black. The two shades looked like they were trying to blend, but it wasn't working. The globe sat in front as petals formed around and floated towards me. I felt drawn to the orb as if it called me.

"Reach out... Come to me..."

Strangely familiar, it was a woman's voice, but I couldn't tell who it was.

A wave of nostalgia washed over me; the orb felt lovely.

I grabbed the orb as the light shined brighter and brighter.

"Huh, huh, huh," I breathed heavily.

The orb was gone, and petals danced around me in the air.

"Fuck me," said a voice behind me.

I turned around and saw Orion standing at the edge of the forest, looking at me with awe.