My back was sore. My hips felt as if they were out of place. My arm num from using it as a pillow since the one I received was flattened by the fallen cabin.

I groaned as I sat up. The piles of wood were gone. I looked around to see a new terrain. It was still in the forest but now there was a cliff about 75 meters tall and a bigger clearing for the general outdoor area.

The cabin was rebuilt much bigger than before, it was wider, and there were two doors instead of one. Windows are bigger as well. The roof was made the same way but had clay tiles instead of wooden ones.

Orion must have finished this while I was asleep. When did he have time to build this? Also, when did we move?

Orion was building a sort of contraption when I looked over to him.

A fire crackled and had a pot hung over it. Something smelt nice, like freshly cooked pork belly and some potatoes.

"Something smells good," I said.

Orion looked over at me and smiled.

"Finally you're up. Go ahead and grab yourself some breakfast," he said.

Orion went back to building whatever that thing was. The thing he was building was a Square frame, but was short in length and width, but was incredibly tall, maybe a little more than the new cabin.

I got up and went over to the pot. It was yesterday's stew but was fresh and had some more vegetables in it.

"So, what's going on?" I asked.

"Well, we had to move since the demon may had a tracker on him. Can't have more demons come here," replied Orion.

I grabbed a bowl that Orion must have set aside and started eating. The stew was outstanding. God I love monster meat.

Orions finished up and walked over to me.

"Well, most of the preparations have been made," Orion said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Well, to train you of course," Orion said back. I looked up at Orion and saw him smiling.

"What do you mean train me?" I asked, putting this godly stew to the side.

"Well, if you want to survive in this world you need to get stronger," he replied. "We'll start with building up your strength today and some basic stance lessons."

"But... I thought you were going to send me on my way," I replied.

"Oh no, like I said no matter what you do your fate is here with me for now." Orion grabbed a bowl and filled it with stew. "So even if I send you away you'll somehow end up here again."

Orion continued eating.

"So, you're just going to accept it? Just like that?" I replied surprisingly.

"Yup."

I looked at Orion as I stared at him looking for a better explanation than 'yup'.

He looked at me as I stared at him.

"Listen, fate isn't something you can just go up against. It isn't like a stream that you can bend to your will. No matter what you do..." Orion made a sombre face as he whispered "You'll lose."

"What? I didn't hear you." Orion looked up surprised and said, "Sorry, Fate will come back to bite you."

Orion finished and got up. I hadn't touched my bowl ever since he came to talk.

"Finish up and we'll begin." He walked away while making a grim face.

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I finished up my bowl and then had seconds, meanwhile, Orion had disappeared. It felt a bit forced for him to all of a sudden want something to do with me. What made him think that fate couldn't be changed? I finished my last bowl and got up to walk around but Orion was nowhere to be seen.

I went towards the cabin. I wanted to see what it looked like on the inside. I entered a familiar site of a basic living area. It looked just like the one he had before in the previous cabin but instead of a bed, there were two doors. I opened one to find an empty room with a bed. The door had the same thing, a bed with nothing else in there.

"KID WHERE ARE YOU!" Yelled Orion.

I went outside to him standing with a bar and wooden blocks around him.

"Time to start weight training." He said looking at me.

"First some answers," I said remembering his words from last night.

"You said in the mourning right, well it's mourning and I need answers," I said with a shaken voice. "How are you still alive and not dead from the demon's attack and who are you?"

He looked around and put his hand to the back of his head trying to think what to say.

"Okay okay," Orion said finally giving in. "I was impaled but I just regenerated quickly enough to keep fighting. For your second question, I am Orion, I am a simple hermit in the woods on the run from some demons."

"That's it. A simple hermit who can just 'toy' with demons?" I said with disbelief.

"Yeah, a simple hermit," he said avoiding any other explanation. "Now, we need to train and make you at least able to walk out of the woods by yourself," replied Orion.

I looked at Orion. Can I trust him? Do I just go around believing what he says? I didn't trust him, but he does make a good stew. "Why do you... I just met you yesterday yet you're treating me graciously, and you even made me a room in your cabin. What's your reason for this kindness?"

He looked at me and smirked. "Here how about this." he snapped and the star appeared. It swirled around Orion travelled over to me and swirled again. A magical paper appeared in front of me and Orion.

Contract Between Orion the Hermit and Ezra Thorne.

Orion the Hermit promises that he has nothing but good intentions for Ezra Thorne.

Orion The Hermit promises that Ezra Thorne will be treated well and taken care of by Orion The Hermit for two weeks where Ezra Thorne can decide if he wishes to stay or leave the proximity of Orion the Hermit's location and dwelling.

If any promise is broken Orion the Hermit will forfeit his life.

Orion the Hermit______________ Ezra Thorne_________________

"There, a contract that will take my life if I break it." Orion looked at me as he made a sincere face. "I know you're skeptical, but I'll answer your questions with time. It's just that the answer you are looking for can't simply be answered all at once. We need to build trust between us otherwise you'll never believe me."

I looked at the contract. I looked good but would this take his life if I signed it and it broke? I gulped. Well, I have a good chance of dying either way, if I leave or don't. "How do I sign?"

Orion came over and pressed his finger on his sign spot, immediately it formed a 5-point star. "Your turn," he said.

I pressed my finger on it and felt a sort of tingle go through my body. I looked at the contract and the same 5-point star had formed and the paper disappeared turning into tiny stars.

"Now then shall we begin."

I walked over to the weight that Orion prepared. "Let's get started," I replied with a determined voice.

Orion was ruthless. He prepared multiple exercises that drained me of my strength. We spent well over 30 minutes running to warm up, then another 30 minutes of straight jumping. A dirt trail had formed a circle around our clearing. Along the cliff and the tree line.

Then a montage of weight lifting started, first, we started with full-body exercises. He made me jump with weight on and then pull on the bar alternating grips in between sets. Finally, we finished with push-ups with weights on our backs. Orion kept rocking them out but I was barely able to get 5 done without resting for a minute in between. An hour passed and I could barely move afterwards.

"Nicely done kid," Orion said while standing perfectly fine. He didn't have a single drop of sweat on him even though he did more of everything with me.

I dropped onto the ground breathing heavily. My lungs felt as if they were going to fall apart.

"How... Are... You ... Fine?" I let out heavily.

"This is my basic routine every day. Orion replied. "Now then it's time for some sword practice."

I flinched with excitement. I wanted to learn how to use a sword since I was a kid but kinda forgot about that silly dream due to reality. I guess now it's a necessity rather than a pleasure.

Orion reached his hand out and two swords came flying to him.

"Will I get to learn that?" I asked holding my stomach as I got up.

"Magic, well yea you'll have to, but you're not ready yet. It's best to get your physical body better than to learn magic right away. The better the body the better your casting and compacity will be."

huh?

"I don't know what that means," I said confused.

"Ah, right... Well don't worry too much about it now, just know that you need to get in better shape if you expect to be able to harness your powers." Orion handed me a sword. "Now attack me."

I went into a stance and swung my sword at him. I anticipated the momentum of the sword and prepared to brace toward the front so I wouldn't fall like last time. Orion simply stepped out of the way. As I landed he pushed me to my side with a finger and I fell over.

"We got lots to work on." He said laughing.