When we arrive, Jorged immediately starts emptying the cart. I take a look at our destination. It seems to be an old building. I explore a little and find it has ten small, identical bedrooms, a relatively large kitchen and a somewhat large dining area. It gives off a feeling of not having been used for a while, even though there is no dust. Now that I think about it, I haven't learned the word "dust" in the native language, so it probably isn't a thing.

I run up to Jorgen and ask "What is this place?" PANG! Goddammit, leave my head alone!

"Address me as Old Man Jorgen" He reminds me again "It's an old training ground for association hunter apprentices"

"Why here?"

"There's a dungeon nearby. One that is not fit for earning money or living off, so you can get it all to yourself, and not cause trouble for the village"

I am puzzled. "Aren't dungeons an infinite source of food? Why can't you live off of it? And Why would you cause trouble to the village?"

Jorgen sighs tiredly, then starts explaining. "Villagers don't only need a source of food, but one that doesn't kill them and is worth the effort. The dungeon close to this place has a lot of small, poisonous critters that are too dangerous compared to how little food you get out of it. In a addition, there is barely any edible plants."

He pauses, presumably thinking over his next words a little. "As for causing the village trouble, when training you hunt more than you bring back. So if you are in a village, you always have some jackass who goes on and on about wasting god's gifts."

Right, I remember that story, the fable explaining monsters.

And thus training began. We aren't going to the dungeon yet, apparently. Just more running and swinging, with more weight on my back or in the sword. Just why did we come out here then?

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I get my answer as the sunless sky darkens and we have had dinner. Jorgen presumably had brought some food with him. Immediately after the meal, I ask him "Is Hannah not coming" to which he chuckles a little and says "In a few years. Is this old man's cooking that bad". I shake my head, I merely thought about her because she used to prepare dinner.

Jorgen walks silently up to me and grabs my hand, then leads me a bit harshly while looking... sad? I think. He leads me up to some poles behind the house. A rope between them means they are probably used for drying washed clothes. It then starts to feel wrong. He forcefully removes my tunic. He ties me to the pole.

"Really sorry about this" he says, fetching something. "But remember what I said about the guy starting to wound himself? This is likely going to save your life in the future, so bear with it" WHAT IS THAT OMINOUS TALK! STOP?! I want out, I should have run away!

Looking back, I see him holding a many-tipped whip. Oh no. And intense pain hits my back. FUCK OW. It burns and hurts and stings, and a few minutes that each feel like an eternity later, I lose conciousness.

I wake up in one of the identical bedrooms. I feel no pain, only refreshed. Seriously, this self-healing power is kinda outrageous. As I open the door. I grab a tunic left at a bedside table and put it on. As I leave the room, Jorgen is immediately to my left and jumps out from a sitting position in a split second. I freeze. Thoughts of the intense pain last night freeze my body and I can't do anything.

"Wow, you really healed all that in just a night" Jorgen says. I simply hold my head down, not daring to make eye contact. He sighs, then states "You're gonna appreciate this in the future you know." I just keep my head down.

Over the next few months the schedule becomes training during the day, whipping during the evening. When I stop bleeding, he pulls out another whip with small metal bits stuck to it's tail and it is hell again. It feels like being stuck in hell. Maybe I died and this whole thing has just been a delusion of hell? Would certainly make more sense than being reincarnated in a different world that dashes my hopes and dreams with an old man hell-bent on whipping me.

I try to tone everything out, and don't feel that much more. Somewhere in there, Jorgen tries to fit in two whippings a day, but it seems I only heal after I sleep or something, so it is quickly discarded. I don't know how much time passes while I am in this state, all I know that one day, the metal-tipped whip stopped hurting me, Jorgen smiled and said "Let's go the dungeon".