Torturous Training

Outside the shelter that was in the middle of the lake was a mass of land that floated on the same glacial lake that Altair almost drowned at. It was the humble training grounds of the stoic warrior Oculo. Pillars of rocks that was vegetated by various numbers of magical plants and flowers encircled the massive platform that was connected by a chain, glaciated by the freezing wind sharp solidified icicles formed on the massive connector which remained unmelted for a long time.

On its background mystical mangrove trees arose from the cold lake to cover its vicinity in an enchanted aesthetic. Transluscent insects scattered in the cold air and littered the surroundings with their dull lights of different dark colors, red, violet, forest green, gray, and black creating a calming atmosphere that can calm the mind. This was all Altair needed to heal from the trauma, even if it only allowed him to temporarily forget about it.

Oculo stood in the middle of the training grounds waiting for Altair to step foot into it. Without any hesitation Altair followed him and stood in the middle of it and faced the mighty warrior with his cold eyes, a peaceful silence befell between the two as Oculo twisted and stretched his entire body his joints continuously producing a cracking sound. Making the same circular motion on his hand over and over again he formed a fist with it his huge knuckles that could potentially crush mountains exposed. He undressed his upper clothing and upon removing his tunic revealed countless scars embbed on the stoic man's body and one that stood out from the rest, a fresh massive wound still bleeding from the neck down to his hips. His muscles perfectly honed from the bottom to the top, his ribs which created a muscular depth on both sides tightly contracted upon tensing his entire body, his abdomen revealed a numerous pair of steel-like abdominal muscles and countless veins appeared on every massive muscles that the man has in his body. This is a figure of a godlike being.

Not moving from his spot Altair did the same. He prepared his entire body for the upcoming training that Oculo is going to give him. Although not that defined and massive, his muscles started to reveal itself, veins popping out of the thin but muscular arms of the man, his abdomen though lacking in fat contained a solid proportion of muscles making his body appear to be lean rather than skinny. His skin did not feel the harsh cold of the wind, it was instead gently embraced by it. Altair breathed out, a misty air coming out from his mouth.

Oculo looked impress.

"Oh wow Altair, that build of yours is pretty decent. Did you exercise regularly back then?"

Altair who was feeling the wind of nature opened his eyes and relaxed his entire body.

"No." he responded with utter bluntness.

"A natural blessed muscles then?"

Altair drastically changed his expression.

"Can we just start this training of yours? My past is beyond you, it is none of your business."

With a disappointed look in his face Oculo looked down and sighed.

"Alright alright."

Not even changing his battle stance, Oculo signalled Altair to attack him with all he got.

"Come, punch the living shit out of me, let out all that pent-up anger you have. Do not hesitate." he loudly encouraged.

Altair could only remain standing in the same place upon hearing Oculo say those words.

"Punch you?"

"Yeah, go ahead, do not be so meek."

Giving Oculo an intense glare Altair lifted his fists up and stanced. The combat arts that Altair decided to use was boxing. Gripping his own fists and tightly pressing his foot to the ground he prepared to strike the giant with his strongest attack.

Carefully inhaling and exhaling he was building up a rhythm for his blow.

'1,2,3-'

However in a blink of an eye he was sent to the air flying, a crushing pain was inflicted on his stomach painfully disabling his ability to breathe, spit and blood came out of his mouth while he's in the air. He flew yards away from his position where he ended up laying down on the floor with shattered ribs that ruptured his own flesh, he was unable to breathe and he can only continuously puke dark red blood while his broken bones continue to be fragmented inside his body.

'Th-the fuck?!' he can only think as he still remained breathless for quite an amount of seconds. He can feel his body bleeding from the inside as he can only continue to puke tons and tons of blood on the rocky surface, painting it in ugly red.

"You were too slow, stand up!" Oculo strictly commanded.

Altair cannot stand up, he cannot move, moving an inch fragments his broken ribs into smaller pieces and continue the internal bleeding even more. He can only kneel on the ground and stomach the bone pulverizing blow that Oculo inflicted to him as blood still continued to exit his mouth which was getting thicker with every drop slowly forming bloody foams on the dried out lips of the man. Even if he wanted to his own body refused his orders, it cannot take any more pain, it did not want to deal with any more of it.

"Stand up, I will only give you 3 seconds, if you fail to comply I will deliver a devastating blow right to your skull."

'D-DAMN YOU!'

Forcing his body to move the pain in his sides magnified by a lot, it consistently screamed and begged Altair to stop. Altair who was now coughing more blood gritted his teeth with every ounce of strength he has as he continued to drudgingly stand up, he stared at Oculo a deadly look on his eyes still continuing his struggle to stand up to his own feet. His body is shaking, an overwhelming aching pain of broken bones and a pulverizing sensation slowly ate away what remained of his mental fortitude. He continued to struggle and stood his ground as he was eager to become even more stronger.

Oculo gave him a smile.

"Good, good."

The attack that Oculo performed was so fast that Altair's keen eyes could not see it coming. The only thing that he was able to perceive was the devastating and crushing pain that mashed his stomach in a blink of an eye, it was like being hit by a truck. If he receives another blow to the abdomen, his bones this time will be completely pulverized, and his death will be a painful certainty.

Altair mustered all the strength left in his body and performed the same stance again. This time his eyes wide open.

Then, in a fraction of a second, Oculo's figure dissipated into thin air, his fist connecting to Altair's right side. Unable to block because of the overwhelming speed Altair could only receive the crushing blow of the giant once again, breaking his shoulders and gruesomely dislocating his elbow, sending him flying to the air once again.

Coming in contact with the ground once again he rolled in pain, his back pressed into the hard and uneven surface of the training grounds. It was a miracle that he was even alive at this point, the blow of the mighty giant should have sent him into another hell, yet Altair was able to take on his devastating strikes, although his body was in a fatal condition after receiving his attacks he was contented with being able to at least barely withstand two blows from him.

'This isn't training, he is just killing me at this point.'

Not long after Altair's broken bones and ribs were healed by an unknown force, and he was back at his peak shape again.

"Alright your peak state is back, let us continue."

Standing up to his feet Altair could only ask.

"How the hell?"

Oculo then simply explained.

"This is a training grounds to improve your physical resilience and your reaction, it would be bad for my students to die in just one hit right? That is why these pillars exist, to heal you if you are at death's door. Quite useful if I do say so myself."

Altair then quickly glimpsed at his own hands and touched his abdomen. There was no longer pain. It was completely healed now.

"Now, let us continue." Oculo said as he continued to launch a fury of devastating blows on Altair, consistently mauling his body in a crushing pain that did not allow him to retaliate.

A devilish thought can only enter Altair's mind at this point.

'Aha you bastardous bitch, I promise, one day I will kill you with my own hands for letting me deal with your absurdities. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, or maybe not even in the centuries that I will live in this hell, but I will still kill you. I will one day become strong enough to be the one to dye your mighty body with your own blood and replace that immovable stoicism with fear. I swear.'

Altair now had his own motivation to become stronger, he will kill Oculo with his own hands.

This is the beginning of Altair's hellish and torturous training. The path to obtain the strength of a god. Altair could only currently endure, endure and endure again, until he finally gets used to the attacks of the giant. This was the ultimate training for pain tolerance, a training Altair has to master to move on to the next step. And he will overcome each single one of them no matter how long it takes, just to become strong enough to slay the mighty warrior of the underworld.

Altair finally found his purpose in this hell.