When Stone finally woke up he was already in his tent. The surroundings were dark and not much could be seen.
Normally, that is.
Stone, who lay down on the fur's bedding, opened his eyes as he looked around. He immediately realized this was his new tent. It was dark so he was mostly outlines of the tent but that was enough to surprise him.
During night when the tent is closed there is almost zero visibility in the tent. But now he can vaguely navigate through this tent just fine. He wondered what happened until the memories hit him.
"Oh. The baptism... Was it successful ?" muttered Stone to himself as he started to feel out his own body.
'Well, I definitively feel much better now. Before I still felt a little stiff. Probably thanks to that Herbal Essence...' thought Stone happily as he stretched himself.
In truth, he wasn't feeling that much negatively before. It was just that the difference now was too big for him. He felt as if his body lost the invisible shackles and was now finally free! He felt invincible.
When was Stone finally satisfied he tried to stand up. He almost tripped as the strength in his eyes was much greater than expected but he quickly composed himself. Then he went steadily towards the opening of the tent.
Stone put the fur covering that hole to the side and took a step outside of the tent. As he looked at the dark sky he realized that it was nighttime. The crescent moon was still in the sky almost covered with clouds while the stars around shined with splendor.
He was now sure that his eyesight improved. Even back in the tent where almost no light was coming in he was still able to vaguely see but now on this starry night, he saw almost as good as during the day.
Not only that but he felt the gentle warm wind generated from the Totem brushing his body much more sensitively than before while hearing and smelling things he was never able to.
For a moment his mind was overwhelmed.
Fortunately, it was just momentary, and soon he managed to catch his breath. These changes were too sudden but with time he will be able to completely adapt to this.
As Stone wondered why his senses got so much better, he heard the call from behind.
"Ayo kid, are you up already? I kind of expected you to sleep for days like last time! BAHAHAHA! the boisterous laugh was heard right afterward.
Stone got goosebumps when he realized who was behind him. When he turned around he saw the man full of muscles who towered over him as if he was a bear. It was the leader of this tribe and also his trainer.
"Degres ?" Stone was dumbfounded at the moment. He doesn't know him for a long time but he knew how loud this over two meters tall guy really was. The fact that he managed to sneak up on him at this moment when Stone's senses were in literal overdrive after testing them was absurd to him.
"HA ha, what? Did you think that after this day you would be able to beat your teacher? No way-"
"Shut up, Degres! It still isn't morning so either don't be so loud or get out of camp immediately!" Before Stone could register what was
Degres saying the loud scolding sounded out from the shaman's tent.
Degres looked awkwardly at the body was still a little dumbfounded and told him quietly:
"Well, for now, let's go on our way. I will tell you everything once we get farther from the camp." then he turned around and went towards the forest behind Stone and Kaoran's tents.
"Where ?" Stone called out but didn't get an answer.
With an annoyed look, he then turned towards the shaman's tent. He contemplated for a moment but then sighed as he followed the big man into the still-dark forest...
........
After who knows how long, he finally caught up to him somehow but Degres still didn't slow down and went farther and farther from the camp.
Stone had plenty of problems during this time. He literally just woke up and was completely unfamiliar with his body making it difficult to walk let alone run.
During the way Stone tripped dozens of times and once even bumped into his side a tree... The only reason why he even got a chance to see
Degres' back was that Degres always extremely slowed down when Stone was sprawled on the ground while laughing to himself.
Now that Stone was finally able to keep up somehow with him he finally asked.
"Huff... Huff... Where- where are we going ?"
Degres turned his head, not even looking before himself, and laughed happily.
"We are going to your future training place, obviously! Now that you got rid of all of the defects your body had, we can begin the 'True training'! Hah hah hah..."
"What...?"
'What real training ?' Didn't they train together since the beginning? So why would he say that.. ? Unless...
The more Stone thought about it the more he didn't like it. It wasn't like he didn't want to work hard. He wanted to be powerful, to be able to control his own destiny. To take revenge. But even the 'basic' stretching he did for those two months made him dead tired. What about now when Degres planned to increase intensity and probably the time to train too?
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Of course, the intensity needs to be changed based on how much his body got strengthened but what Degres really talked about was the foundation he always talked about. He was treated as 'broken' before but now his body can support bigger intensity of training. And with a strengthened body after the baptism, the intensity will increase accordingly...
'Just what we will be doing ?'
*Bang*
Just as he was thinking he didn't realize there was think branch before him. Degres with nimbleness completely not fitting his bulky body crouched down as he continued. Without warning Stone, obviously.
On the other hand, Stone who was distracted bumped right into it. They weren't running very quickly, more like they were just trotting so the impact wasn't that big and it made Stone only lose his balance and fall on his butt.
Stone groaned for a bit and looked before himself. Degres finally stopped running as he also turned around and waited for Stone to get up which made him surprised.
"Now then, I think that the warm-up of yours was pretty good, wasn't it? Ha hah! We will be there soon so there is no need for quick tempo anymore. Once we get there we need to let you use every muscle of yours to truly get used to that new body of yours~"
Stone was surprised. So that was the reason for this behavior of his. But why do this?
"Why did we have to do this? I got tripped so many times. Wouldn't it be better to take it easy for me to get used to the body slowly ?" asked Stone with a sour face.
"Ha ha, It is a tradition! Also, the quickest way to get used to the new power your body has is through using it in extreme situations! Yes you will be injured but that is what shamans are for, aren't they ?" Degres said smugly.
Stone groaned. He was never good at arguing. So he chose to just let it go since it was true that he could now use his legs comfortably. Instead, he chose to ask a few questions regarding this.
"Others will also take this training since it is tradition ?"
"No, they will have their instructors do this once the sun arises.
"Why can't I also start at sunrise ?"
"You woke up sooner then why the wait, right ?"
"..."
After a few seconds.
"And wouldn't there be some side effects for some of them? Everyone just got through a big change in body and could have some problems during this 'tradition'." as Stone asked again he looked at Degres.
"Huh, You don't need to be worried about that. Old Geezer already checked out all of you for any hidden injuries, deformations, energy accumulations, or whatever could happen during the baptism. There are only two children who are not in the state to start the training and even those will start in the week at most. Ha ha ha, of course, they will have it harder than you as you can just recover from anything. Others do not have this privilege and will get injured quite a lot. Of course, their training is just 'normal'. You will receive the 'real' training where we will use the full potential of your gift. Look forward to it, Heh heh heh."
Stone groaned once again...
........
After that, the conversation stopped for a moment until they got to their destination. Once they got through the neglected path full of thorns and thick branches of bushes, which by the way Degres stormed through without caring whatsoever, they finally got to their destination.
Once they got outside of the forest Stone saw the place in its entire form. It was a frozen wide spot surrounded by cliffs from all sides except the one they came from. There was plenty of space for training all the kids but Degres plans to train solely Stone here. While there were signs of human touch in this place it seemed to be a long time since Degres didn't visit this place for years. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary, it was just a place completely isolated allowing undisturbed continuous training which Degres as someone who liked to do long training sessions, appreciated a lot.
The clouds were already turning orange and red, indicating the arrival of a new day, and the rays of light showered on this place making it look picturesque.
By now every adult in the camp was already up and those children who still slept, like the dead men, had an unpleasant surprise awaiting them. But still, their new regime won't be as excruciating as what Stone goes through by far. Degres will make sure about it.
When Degres entered the hidden spot he came to the center and with arms opened wide open and with a boisterous laugh he said:
"Well then kid, welcome to your new training place! From now on, every day you will be here an hour before the dawn for the training!"
When Stone heard this he wasn't very enthusiastic but he chose to be quiet.
Degres, seemingly satisfied with the lack of complaints, continued in his speech.
"Originally, I wanted your daily training to be from dawn to dusk, unfortunately, the old geezer wants to teach you those stupid tricks of his.
Even though you are completely born to be a warrior uncontested in the Frozen Valas Tundra and maybe in the farther lands! Well, it doesn't matter. Since you can't train for long then we will just increase the intensity." Degres then showed his teeth as he smiled.
"The moderation and rest days are important, just not for you but for others."
When Stone heard this he knew that his days won't be simple from this day onwards... But he was still curious. So he interrupted Degres and asked:
"Why are you guys taking so much regard for me? I mean, from the beginning your treatment towards me... Kaoran already said he wants me to learn the profession of Shamans while you rehabilitated and trained me from the beginning... And yesterday you gave me the opportunity that probably changed my life. What for ?" Stone then looked Degres right into his eyes.
Degres who was looking back, for once, wasn't smiling as he said seriously.
"Didn't we already tell you that when you woke up from the coma back then? You are our investment. We Bakur Tribe are not samaritans.
This place is dangerous and any tribe of the Tundra can disappear at any time. We take care of abandoned children we find not only to save them but also to save us. And YOU are the biggest investment that Kaoran ever made. And for that reason, I believed him and invested in you too and I already believe that I did right."
Stone's mouth was agape. He wasn't as gullible as to think that they saved him without any kind of ulterior intentions. On the contrary, he was at some point if they didn't want to the something similar like that crazy clan and were hiding it behind the smiles. But Stone at that time wasn't in the right condition so he was just going with the flow. But now when he heard the real reason he was surprised. Not only it was just too simple of reason but also he didn't expect Degres to say it outright like this. But then, a sudden memory of him listening to granny Meddie talking about the 'North Barbarians' who weren't that big of thinkers, hit him and he guessed the reason.
"That's it ?"
"That's it, kid, what else were you expecting? Ha ha ha. You should already understand what kind of beast I can make out of you! At that point, I don't need to constantly fear about the tribe's situation. Furthermore, I simply enjoy this training of yours so far! I already trained a big bunch of kids but nobody could keep up as you can and you can learn things quickly since you have a smart head on your shoulders."
"I see. That makes sense, I guess," said Stone who already understood what he needed to do next. Instead of thinking about receiving things without giving anything back, he will just train harder until he can pay off everything he owes with some interest. He didn't know what his future would be like for now he wouldn't think about that and just focus on the present.
Degres who heard that smiled and then took out some small tool and handed it to Stone.
"What's this?"
Degres then pointed at the cliff farthest from them.
"Do you see that cliff covered in ice ?"
"Yeah ?"
"behind it is the small cave where I left all the training equipment. Dig it up. You already warmed up your lower body during the sprint so this will help you to get used to your upper body!
"..."