After defeating the rat, Viga took a moment to catch his breath. The fight had left him exhausted, but he felt an immense sense of relief and pride in his victory. This was his first life and death struggle, and he doesnt know what would be the impact to him.
When Viga finally managed to catch his breath, he did a quick scan of his body. On closer inspection, he discovered that the arm that had been attacked by the rat was somewhat opaque; the opaque section had an outline of the rat's claw, and there was no visible wound or blood. Now that he had the opportunity to thoroughly inspect it, he realized that what he observed when he received the first slash was true. His back must also have opaque claw marks.
He then realized that it wasn't just his imagination that something had indeed been ripped out of his arm, as if it had been erased. This discovery left him feeling uneasy, and he couldn't help but draw a comparison to the experience of being injured in the real world. In the real world, wounds would bleed, and you could see meat inside the wound until the blood covered it completely.
Does this mean that Viga isn't actually formed of meat inside the bizzare world? If not, what was he composed of? Does he possess the organs that the grownups claimed all living beings possess? He raised his hand above his chest to check if he had a heart, and there it was—he could feel the heartbeat. Does that mean he has a heart, though? He really couldn't just pop his chest open and say "yes."
Speaking of the chest, what was the warmth he experienced just before making the final stab? He has no idea; hopefully, he will find out soon. He then turned to look at his toy sword, which had been with him ever since he set out on his adventure in this bizzare world, but was now broken.
He was a little down because he loved this sword, it was a birthday gift he received from his mother a long time ago, he remembered pestering his mother to buy this sword when they passed by it, but because they couldn't afford it, his mother turned him down and he almost cried on the spot, but his mother warned him that if he started crying in public, he would get beaten once they returned. This led him to become upset and quiet for the rest of the shopping period. But when his birthday came around the next month after that day, this sword became a surprise gift from his mother.
As he stared at the sword, it began to shed bits of light. At first, it was just one tiny light, but over time, it grew into a cluster of light that was breaking out from the sword. It appeared as though the force holding the broken sword together was losing its grip and the sword was gradually fading from existence. It was sad to witness something gently fading away till it was gone.
Viga recalled that the rat also experienced this after the last of the light had left the broken sword, except it was fog-like and not a cluster of lights. He peered down from where he was seated to observe the last location where the rat was before it turned into a fog-like substance. Then he followed where it flew away with his eyes before noticing that it did not completely disappear. As the fog-like substance dispersed, it left some white fog that appeared to be like floating fairy dust. As Viga continued to stare at it, it flew towards him as if drawn to him. He attempted to avoid the fog, but was unable to do so since it came on too suddenly and he was too exhausted to move.
Viga seems to have sucked in the white fog. After every bit of the white fog was sucked in, the warmth on Viga's chest returned for a brief moment before disappearing again. He then had a brief surge of energy and felt as though his body were being refilled in some way. Although it was brief, the sensation was indescribable, and he relished every second of it. He felt as though he was growing stronger, but it could have just been his imagination.
Once the sensation subsided, he realized that his ability to be calm was still active. Usually, after every fight and dangerous situation he had in the real world, when the bullies started fleeing or the situation began to settle down, his ability to be calm would gradually fade away.
It indicates that there was still danger present; he automatically gave a look at the dilapidated house as his instincts warned him. Even though he was tired, he managed to get up and scramble to his feet, then plod back to his own home. He didn't even go back to where he had left his bag and toy gun. He'll just come back to it later.
An incomplete circle briefly appeared right below Viga's left collar bone as he was moving toward his home; Viga will learn more about it in the future.
Viga managed to make a sluggish trek towards his house. When he returned inside and locked the door, he simply slumped to the ground, as though his body had lost all energy. Then he dozed off; when he awoke, he was in the real world. He couldn't really understand it, but he felt light in his body and mentally exhausted at the same time. He assumed that the struggle had caused his mental exhaustion and that the fog had caused his body to feel light. Viga doesn't want to go through that struggle again, but he kept getting the feeling that doing this was for his own good from somewhere deep inside. For the time being, he will think about it and conclude that a 13-year-old should not be exposed to a near-death experience.
As the day went by without being called to the bizarre world, Viga noticed two things that happened in the real world that screamed that they were somehow connected in the bizarre world.
First, his toy sword went missing somehow. The day that he went back from the bizarre world, the sword was still there, but after a few days, it vanished, and no one knew where it was.
And second, his friend who was living in the dilapidated house mentioned that it was strange that his parents didn't fight for one night, and it was on the same day as his toy sword went missing. That time, his pal was so thrilled that he shared it with Viga and his other buddies. After a few days, though, his friend's parents started bickering once more, which brought his friend's spirits down again. Viga suspected it was due to the rat that had infested his friend's residence in the bizarre world.
Perhaps his friend's situation will improve if he can get rid of the rats in the house. He was a little apprehensive, though, about having to fight the rat once more. If he made the decision to fight once more in this bizarre world, then that must have been the moment when he was best prepared.
Since that time, he has come to the conclusion that he needs to devote more time to practicing his martial arts. Additionally, he must learn another branch of martial arts that uses a weapon. He tried looking for such lessons in his neighborhood and eventually found one after asking a lot of adults in the area.
It was Arnis. Arnis is a traditional martial art in this country that focuses on weapon-based fighting using sticks, knives, and other bladed weapons. It is also known as Eskrima or Kali, and it involves both armed and unarmed combat techniques. The practice of Arnis involves learning different strikes, blocks, and disarms using various weapons and techniques for close-range and long-range combat. The martial art has a rich history and has been influenced by various cultures and ethnic groups throughout the country. Today, Arnis is not only practiced in this country but has also gained popularity in other countries around the world.
After finding out that this specific martial art discipline taught the way of the weapon in close combat and that the weapon they used could be a stick or a knife, which was easy to find in the bizarre world, he immediately asked his parents to enrolled him in classes.
His parents were not against it since it was for him to learn self-defense, but they were worried that it was too much for him since he was already learning another form of martial arts. But their main concern was that it was an additional expense for the family. To make things happen, Viga compromised that he would just enroll in only one, which is Arnis, since Arnis also taught unarmed combat.
Since then, he had to re-learn everything, but because he was already familiar with the principles of martial arts, he picked things up much more quickly than usual. Viga also believed that what his body had absorbed from the rat's remains had contributed to his quick learning. For the time being, this was only his guess; he'll find out later if he absorbs more.
When Viga was transferred back to the bizarre world, he decided that he would not go out until he was ready. During his stay in the bizarre world, he did nothing but practice his forms in Arnis and occasionally study his schoolwork.
After a few months, he noticed that his toy guns and school bag were both missing, and he believed that something had happened to them in the bizarre world. He didn't manage to pick them back up because he opted to just remain at home whenever he was in the bizzare world. That day, he got an earful of scolding from his mother. How was the school bag, which was so large, missed by him? All Viga could say was, "A rat surely ate it," which resulted in his mother's look of disbelief and a scolding with a beating stick added.
His mother's scolding and thrashing solidify his resolve to exact retribution on those stupid rats when he was ready. It took him almost a year before he decided to venture out again. His intuition told him he was more than ready to venture outside once more, and the main motivator was his promotion in the Arnis ranks from white belt "Baguhán," which means beginner or apprentice, to yellow belt "Sanáy 1," then to green belt "Sanáy 2," which means intermediate 1 and 2.
He had to put in a few months of diligent effort before his white belt turned into a yellow belt, then over the course of the following year, a green belt. With his newly promoted rank, gave him the confidence to tackle the rats in the dilapidated house.
He also has his sticks. At first, when they were newly bought, he could not use them in the bizarre world because they were blurry; he could not even pick them up. But after a few months of using the sticks in his dedicated practice of the art in the real world, they gained substance in the bizarre world. He then noticed that every time he came back to the bizarre world, his sticks gained more and more substance. Viga guessed that maybe it was because of his constant use of the sticks in the real world.
It was time to set out once more, armed with his newly acquired confidence and his sticks. He did, of course, also carry a kitchen knife, just to be on the safe side; hopefully, he won't use it. Despite having learned how to use a short weapon, he believed that using a much longer weapon would be much safer. He only took the knife since it doesn't hurt to have some backup in case his sticks don't work because it's a blunt weapon.
When Viga went out, he decided to check the glowing house first to see if there were any changes, and there were a few changes since it was also the change that happened in the real world, but overall, nothing out of the ordinary like his first visit.
He gathered his courage and approached the dilapidated house once more with caution. He anticipates his next fight while holding a stick in each hand and a kitchen knife that is safely tucked behind his back to prevent any unintentional stabs or self-cuts.
The dilapidated house didn't disappoint him; there was another rat close to where the first fight happened. He automatically entered the state of being calm after seeing the rat; it was truly dangerous. But this time, it will be different from the first fight, he was prepared. This time he was a bit far away from the rat because he didn't want to fight close to the dilapidated house in case there was another rat. More than a half street away from the dilapidated house, he thus attracted the rat's attention. The rat squeaks like the first rat when it saw him and dashes towards him.
With the experience of the first fight under his belt, he already knows what to do. He waited until the rat was flying towards him before he dodged and smacked the rat with his stick. Now the fight was not dodging only; it became dodging and smashing the rat with the sticks. He doesn't want to pin the rat again since he realized that it was dangerous, he doesn't know if, by chance, another rat shows up while he was pinning the first rat.
Viga gave punishment to the rat by hitting it with his sticks; all the moves that he learned from this one year became one. This dance was his own.
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