101 Not Playing Those Games

There was nothing for me to do. I had no idea where they were, while moving away from the sea wouldn't be wise either. I had to sit there waiting, use my time to train, for the lack of better things to do. Once almost a whole week passed, I began to worry. 'Where the hell are they? I've been here for a few days, and yet no one came here. My food and water supplies are running dry as well. At this rate, I have to leave the seashore to hunt and get more water…' I thought.

There was no way around that either. Sea water wasn't drinkable, I needed a river or a stream. There might've been fish inside the sea, but I had no way of catching them. Going back into the forest was the only solution. Before leaving though, I left them a message in the sand near my camp. The shelter alone should be enough of a clue, but it didn't hurt me to leave a message as well.

There was a stream about a day away from the sea. The animals would appear around that area too, but my trip required two days. I tried to get there as quickly as possible, but even then sleeping inside the forest was inevitable. I took more meat with me, but the amount of water remained the same. I only had thirteen bottles available to me, including the bottles which used to hold the medicine. 'I'll last about a week on this amount of water, then I'll have to make another journey here… Something I'm not looking forward to'.

In the evening of the next day, I returned to my camp near the sea. Of course, there was a surprise waiting for me as well. Due to the late time of the day, I haven't noticed the message written in the sand. A message that made me go mad, once I read it the next morning.

"You did really well making it here, but this isn't your final destination. Your next destination is further north. Make sure the sea is on your left, then travel alongside it. This should take you straight to our location. Hurry up though, otherwise we might leave…", the message said. I lost it at that stage, I couldn't contain my anger anymore. "You bunch of bastards! I'll torture you to death!", the words left my mouth, while the world around me changed the colours.

There was no one around to vent my anger, but there was my shelter. With my sword in hand, I waved it left, right, up and down, ruining my own shelter. That wasn't enough to vent my anger. My body steered towards the forest, where trees and shrubs grew. I hacked anything that stood on my path. The trees and shrubs turned into splinters, until my strength and anger got exhausted.

"Haah… Haaah… Bunch of bastard, I'll kick your asses one day, you wait there... Wait for me to come and shove my leg up your dirty assholes!", I exclaimed out of breath. Once my anger subdued, I realised the scope of my destruction. My shelter was gone, there wasn't anything to save there. The trees and shrubs that used to grow a distance away, disappeared. Turned into a small oval clearing, only the stumps and fallen logs my sword didn't cut remained.

Even meeting my father for the first time, didn't make me this angry. They played with my life, my sanity. That wasn't something anyone would appreciate. "I have to build another shelter… I'll bid my time, you filthy bastards. One day, I'll be strong enough to take my revenge. I'll shove my foot up your asses so hard you'll… Grrr…". I stopped there, since getting angry wouldn't help me at that stage. I had stuff to do.

They told me to go north alongside the sea, but that wasn't my intention at all. I'd be alone anyway. Therefore instead of wasting my time and amuse them, I decided to settle in my current area. The access to supplies was rather good, while the new shelter was already there. Moreover, I didn't want to play into their hands.

"Since I'm going to be alone anyway, and who knows how far north they'd want me to travel, I'll simply stay here and practice. They can stuff their stupid journeys, challenges and tasks up their throats. I'm not going to play their stupid games anymore", I said to myself.

The sun rose and fell, making the days pass without me noticing sometimes. Summer ended, while the autumn arrived. The trees in the distance became more colourful once more, which gave me an idea how long I've been away from home. 'A year passed already. I've been away for a year… My sibling must've been born already, but I have no way of knowing whether it's my brother or sister. I have no clue how the baby looks like either… These damned masters didn't dare to show up during this time… Haah, I'm so lonely'.

Though I craved for interaction with others, I somehow got used to being alone. Focusing on my training helped a lot, though sometimes I made up games or challenges for myself, just to kill boredom. Things like climbing from one tree to another on my way for more supplies. Or evading the waves hitting the shore. I had to occupy my mind with something, just to forget about the loneliness.

The area of my camp was really safe, at least nothing unexpected or dangerous happened throughout my stay. This alone allowed me to focus on training, and improve myself even more. The movement technique I came up with, gained a few new rhythms. Some of them were copied from others, while some of them were brand new and unique.

I also adapted the Erratic Sword Technique to my movements, making my attacks much more unpredictable and fluid. Though applying the concept of stealth to my movements was really difficult. Throughout my stay, I wasn't able to accomplish that in any meaningful way. Though difficult, I knew it wasn't impossible. Others proved to me that being quiet and invisible was possible. It either required speed, or technique. Both of these things required time.

The pose my father told me to practice, improved my explosive strength as well. The pose became relatively easy, I could maintain it for almost seven minutes, though the progress was really slowing down. I managed to incorporate that explosive strength into my movement and sword technique. Though not perfect or seamless, and not useful in every situation, I was working on rhythms that would help me solve those issues.

My energy control remained mostly the same, because my focus was on the sword, movement and strength. "Though I'm happy with the improvements, this is not enough. I'd love to break past that Half Step, but I can't feel anything limiting my body yet. Gaining an useful Aura would be great as well, but at that stage, it's more like a dream…", I said to myself.

I had to contemplate on my next move. I could either go north, like the two idiots told me to, or remain at my camp. Get through the autumn and winter, then head north much better prepared. After weighing all my options, I decided to remain. Whatever they threw at me, I'd be better prepared. A part of me demanded to kick their asses, but I didn't have my hopes up. They were masters after all.

With that simple plan in mind, I fortified my shelter for the rainy and windy season of autumn. Moreover, animal skins were really great for the winter, therefore collecting them at that stage wasn't a stupid idea. Same was with tinder, logs and whatnot. 'Heh, they said to hurry up, because they will not wait for long. Heh, then go, it's not like I'll miss you. Even better, I'll be able to go home finally', I thought.