To the limit...
It was a bright and sunny day. The Sun was shining, the waves were calm. One could hear the faint cries of Seagulls in the distance. A cool breeze blessed the lands giving comfort to all its inhabitants. Malcolm King could be seen casually swimming in the sea. He slowly made his way to a limp body floating in the sea. He grabbed the body and started swimming towards land. When he reached the shore Malcolm laid the body on the ground and gave it a light kick, upon which the 'body' jolted as it came back to life and started coughing out sea water and wheezing.
*Cough!! Cough!! Wheeze*
Malcolm stared at the body for a while and then let out a sigh.
And then he said,"You sure you don't want to be a tailor or a florist kid? Cuz it doesn't seem like you're cut out for this"
[...One of these days, I'll add laxative in this Old man's drinks](Ben)
I struggled to catch some breath as my body laid sprawled out on the sandy shore. It has been a month since I started training under Malcolm and only one word could sum up my experience;Excruciating.
Initially I had the notion that since the training was going to be hellish, all I had to do was keep up a strong mentality and have a 'Never Give Up' attitude and I would push through any training that cane my way. Boyyy was I in for a surprise.
The first thing he targeted was my mental fortitude. Like a seasoned veteran torturer, he made me exhaust my mental energy before the pain commences. Every morning he would make me stand in a clearing, surrounded by six wooden poles, having papers attached to them. On my hands and feet, were brushes dipped in ink. My, task each morning would be to write similar characters on all six papers. Initially it would be something simple like the kanji letters for one ,two,three and so on. But soon, he made me write complex characters like house, heart, tree by using a combination of my hands and feet. I had to focus very hard in order to write the letters correctly. Each kanji character has a specific stroke length or a positioning, or a size limit that I had to adhere to. For each and every mistake I made, I would receive a penalty, that I had to make up for later in the day. And once I struggled to finish one paper; I had to do the same for the other five remaining sheets.By the time I was done, I would have accumulated a lot of mental strain as well as penalties, which would inevitably cause me to feel discouraged.
Next on the list is my physical endurance. Malcolm would make me do a huge variety of tasks like sprinting while dragging heavy objects, run freestyle through an obstacle course while having objects thrown at me, climbing up the rocky cliff as fast as I can and most importantly how can I not mention the little game of 'fetch the rock' Malcolm makes me partake in every day . Each time he would throw the rock a little farther away or would increase the weight of the rock. A this point I am not even curious as to where he gets these smooth rocks of varying sizes. One thing I am glad about is that he would never let me do tasks that were detrimental to my body's growth. Even if he did, he would make sure that it wold be under his strict supervision. By the time I have completed these tasks my body would be in so much pain that I am unable to move.
And lastly, he would make me train my mental fortitude by doing meditation… while performing a HORSESTANCE! The duration would be for thirty minutes, wit an additional ten minutes added for each penalty that was received earlier during the day.
At the beginning, The additional time was half an hour for each penalty. This caused me to perform the Horse-Stance for nearly three hours. By the time I was done, I broke down into tears due to the pain. No matter how mature I may be I am still a three year-old. This caused me to sob and sniffle on my way to Malcolm's house. When Mrs. Rose saw my clothes all dirty and my sad face, she got worried and tried to soothe me, but once she saw Malcolm behind me she became furious.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE CHILD MALCOLM! DON'T LOOK AWAY WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU MISTER!!SPIT IT OUT RIGHT NOW! TRY MY PATIENCE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!"(Rose)
Malcolm got scared shitless and started spluttering out every nonsense he could. Damn! This woman had Malcolm wrapped around her fingers, the very cold blooded killer, was now standing before me without any shame, trying to appease his wife with a pleading look. It was only until I told Mrs. Rose that I cried because I fell down, that she let things slide, but not before giving Malcolm a stern glare as if warning him.
From then on Malcolm allowed me to rest for a couple of hours before starting the meditation training, and I welcomed that change. Things only got worse from there, because whatever leniency Malcolm gave in rest, he made sure to 'balance' it by increasing my training intensity.
Such an Incident happened today, when Malcolm threw a nearly fifteen kilo stone into a trickier part of the sea, one where the ocean bed was bumpy and inclined. In the mid-way of carrying out my task, my vision started blackening, I realized I was going to pass out soon and hurriedly tried to swim to the surface, only to pass out before reaching the surface.
When I regained consciousness, I found myself at the shore, shivering,throwing up and struggling to enrich my lungs with some sweet beloved air; barely registering the crappy attempt at comedy that Malcolm made. Gruesome as the training regime may be, I have to give him credit for it because Malcolm sure knows what he is doing. Every day I feel like I am surpassing my limits and taking my physical prowess to newer heights.
After this Malcolm left me be in order to have my lunch at heir place and then rest. I quickly gorged down the food and made my way to my chilling spot recharging my reserves for the evening torture session.By the Time I reach home I could barely move my body.
One thing that I am grateful to Oda-San for is that, the technological advances in this world was very… vague. In a world without any aeroplane or even a coal powered ships, there were inventions like the Television, Or Pacifista present, and most importantly Fridges. Each day I thank him mentally for this glorious loophole, for with a fridge, I am able to make Ice and with Ice, I am able to have an Ice bath. Ice baths are great for reducing muscle soreness and increasing testosterone levels.
I dip my body into the bathtub containing Ice, and close my mind. For the next few minutes, I start envisioning all my future adventures in the sea and all the lives I will save. This is my coping mechanism. A coping mechanism is an essential skill to have in order to combat mental breakdown. In fact during my previous life, when I was training to be a paramedic, the first skill that my mentor insisted that I acquire was a coping mechanisms. It helps you keep your shit together even during the toughest of times. For me that ability is paramount.
After getting out from the Ice bath I quickly take a shower and go to rest prepared to face tomorrow's ordeals, mentally at least.
(Author's note)
Hello everyone.thank you for your reviews, comments and support. It really motivates me. Also I have a tiny misunderstanding to clear. MC is currently three years old, not five like I had stated in my earlier chapter. I'll try to correct it if I can. Also timeline reminder, Luffy is born this year! Until next time, Happy reading.