Technique

The boy's strangulation had left him in a very bad state, but without knowing how or why, Nathan had survived and escaped from the realm.

He had woken up a few seconds ago and was now breathing heavily as he lay on the cold wooden floor of the old man's house.

Suddenly he heard something fall on his other side, and turning his head slowly and with great effort, as he groaned in pain, he saw a wooden sword in front of him.

"You're very lucky... Or should I say unlucky?"

Just rolling his eyes, Nathan looked up to see the old man looking at him indifferently.

He had a lot to complain about, mainly the fact that he had sent him into a realm that was especially deadly for a ten-year-old boy.

Nathan tried to speak, but only a soft grunt came out of his mouth. His throat was sore, and it had hurt him to try to speak, so he just glared at the old man angrily.

A small smile appeared on his face when he saw Nathan's expression.

"Are you angry with me? You should be angry with yourself, you asked for my help, and I only helped you. That you were too weak is not my problem"

Nathan clenched his teeth in anger.

'¿Does pushing me into a relam sound like a way of helping me?'

The old man turned and walked towards a room in the house, then stopped and looked at Nathan who was still lying on the floor.

"Are you just going to lie there?"

Nathan grunted again and slowly began to move his limbs, no matter how sore they were. When he was finally on his knees, he looked at the wooden sword at his side and gripped it tightly.

With one last effort he stood up and walked slowly towards the old man who, seeing him, entered the room and waited for Nathan to come in a few seconds later.

Nathan leaned against the door and looked around.

'A dojo...?'

The room was rather simple and spacious. The walls were made of wood with no decorations, there was a carpet on the floor big enough to train on and a large window looking out to the forest behind the house.

Nathan had visited the dojos in his family's home before, but he had never really been interested. He knew he would have to start training one day, they were a family of warriors, but his father had never forced him to.

But that was all behind him now, Nathan thought he would never enter a dojo again, he even thought he would never start training as he was supposed to.

But the old man seemed to have a different plan for him.

The old man climbed onto the carpet and walked towards the center before looking at Nathan and indicating with his eyes that he should do the same.

Nathan approached the carpet, but just as he was about to step onto it, the old man stopped him.

"Take your shoes off, you're a mess"

Nathan hadn't noticed, but in fact all his clothes were completely dirty and torn.

From the many times he had fallen on the village's dirt roads, from crawling through the rubble, and from the blood from the wound on his forearm.

Thinking about his condition, he suddenly remembered the wound he had received. He looked down at his forearm and saw that there was now a long scar from his elbow to his wrist, but the wound seemed to have healed.

'How?'

Even if the wound hadn't been that deep, it was still quite serious. He knew the old man had given him something, probably the same thing he'd given him to heal his own broken leg.

Nathan shook his head and kicked off his shoes before climbing onto the carpet. He would have another chance to ask him about the miracle cure another time.

Nathan walked over to the old man and stood a few meters in front of him.

The old man cleared his throat.

"How are you feeling?"

Nathan looked at him boredly and took a few seconds to answer honestly.

"Annoyed"

All that came out of his mouth was a low whisper, but at least he could talk a little now.

"Who are you upset with?"

Nathan had to think hard about his answer.

He really was angry at a lot of things in general. With the old man for sending him to this realm, with the monster for making him suffer, but most of all with himself.

All Nathan did in the realm was cower in fear. Only at the end did he try to defend himself by punching the boy... if such attack could be defined as a punch.

Even now, Nathan was afraid to recall all the horrible memories that floated around in his mind. He was only relatively calm because he felt he was in a safe place... or so he wanted to believe.

As the boy began to hang him, Nathan realized how weak he was. He subconsciously compared himself to his brother Noah.

He realized how special his brother was and how useless he was. His brother had started training shortly after discovering that he had the power to see other people die.

His own father had started training him before he was old enough, just because he thought it was a good idea. Even Nathan could have started training earlier... the problem was his emotions.

Growing up together, both brothers had been idealized as great warriors, but all that changed when Noah's power was revealed. Nathan felt jealous of all the praise his brother received, of the attention his parents gave to his brother and not to him.

But Nathan was only a child, these were normal feelings for someone his age, a simple child is not mature enough to understand the reality of the world.

Even without his brother's strength, Nathan could have been a great warrior. He had the genetics of his family, the best trainers, the best food, the best resources in general.

Nathan could be just as important and powerful as his brother without having that power. Even his father didn't have such power.

But all that was left behind. Nathan discovered that he had the power to see his own death, but he could no longer compete with his brother, he could no longer go back in time and tell his past self that he was special too.

That's why Nathan was angry with himself.

"I'm angry with myself"

The old man smiled slightly.

"Why are you angry with yourself?"

Nathan looked at him annoyed but concentrated on answering.

"Because I'm an idiot, because I'm selfish and because I'm... weak"

Without knowing it, Nathan's experience in the realm had helped him mature from the self of half a year ago.

The old man said nothing and raised his hand, palm facing Nathan.

"Hit me"

Nathan saw the old man's open palm and felt as much desire to hit him as he had ever felt before, so he took the sword in his left hand and clenched a fist with his right before walking up to the old man and delivering a light blow to his palm.

The old man stopped and said disappointedly.

"That's it?"

Nathan tightened his bite and his fist before punching the old man's palm again, a little harder than before. But he felt that one punch wasn't enough, so he struck the palm a second time.

But a second wasn't enough either, so he threw a third and then a fourth, followed by a fifth.

With each punch Nathan's frustration grew, but also each remorse left his body.

Nathan kept punching the old man's palm, losing all sense of himself and everything around him.

Nathan was angry, but each blow helped him to let off steam. Each blow eased his mind like he had never felt it before.

All his worries began to fade, his fears and nightmares disappeared, even his most disturbing thoughts began to fade. But it was only temporary, once he had calmed down Nathan knew that those fears and nightmares would come back to eat away at him.

But he had found something more important, a way to forget everything for a moment.

Nathan felt amused as he continued to strike the old man's palm, he felt freer than he had ever felt before. His mind was empty of unnecessary thoughts.

Without knowing it, Nathan began to awaken something in him, something that the old man noticed.

The old man caught Nathan's fist, closed his hand, and stopped him from moving. Nathan seemed to snap out of it and looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

The old man was silent and smiled slowly.

"You feel good, don't you?"

Nathan didn't know what to say, his breathing was ragged from all the blows he'd taken. His arm was tired, but none of that bothered him, instead he felt revitalized.

"Yes..."

Nodding, the old man released him and lowered his arm.

"Congratulations, you have acquired your first technique"