Trust Your Instincts

Not even an hour passed, when I heard some noise from within the forest. 'Not again'. Fully expecting a group of animals to appear, I readied my sword and waited. To my surprise, a familiar figure emerged from the forest. "Master Irwin?", I asked. "Are you that eager to have a bout with me?", he replied looking at my sword. This prompted me to hide my sword, since I wasn't interested in sparring with that lunatic.

"Why are you here? Will you finally teach me something?", I inquired, a bit suspicious. "Hmm, I could teach you some sword moves, but that's not why I'm here. Why did you climb back?", he asked instead. "Huh? There were like forty bears down there. By the way, those silver bears… Can animals break past their limits too?", I replied with my own question. "Of course, any being can break past their limit. They are universal after all. Go back down, you are supposed to head north-west", he said.

"Are you guys mad? I can't go down there. Have you seen the amount of these bears? That was near the cliff, what sort of beasts must live deeper inside that forest? I'm not going there", I declined. "You can either climb down, or I'll make you go down there. Your choice", he threatened. "You can't be serious! You were supposed to teach me, not kill me!", I exclaimed. There was no use in arguing with that lunatic. He simply grabbed me against my will, and walked towards the cliff.

"You are mad! I'll die if I fall from such a height!", my complaints didn't work though. "I might be mad, but I'm not suicidal", just when he said that, he jumped down. He actually jumped down with me on his shoulder. "YOU LUNATIC…", I screamed as we flew down. "Boom!", master Irwin crashed into the ground below the cliff, creating a lot of dust and ruckus in the process. "There you go", he said nonchalantly while putting me down.

He was fine, I was fine. There were no injuries on his body, he acted as if nothing happened. "Don't stare at me like that. Once you're strong enough, this will be possible for you as well. Now, ready your sword, we'll have some guests soon", he added. 'He is a lunatic, there's no doubt about that… Though he's also very strong. No wonder he's a master in the Art of War'. The noises woke me out from my thoughts, making me grab my weapon instinctively.

"I'll watch for a while. If you do well, I'll teach you something", he added. "What will you teach me?", I tried to pry. "I don't think you have the time to worry about that now", he replied while pointing at the forest. A silver bear emerged and charged at us. This was the strongest wild animal I encountered so far. Master Irwin also confirmed my suspicions, the silver bear was able to break past its limits.

I utilised my incomplete movement technique to advance, but the silver bear was fast, really fast. That guy was also smart. He didn't jump to slam me, instead used his powerful paws to attack. The swings were fast and powerful. I had to evade them which placed me in a passive or defensive position.

That would be the least of my worries, if not for the location we were in. That bear was basically stalling me, until more bears arrived. I had to do something, fast! The bear was fast, strong and reached the Outer Limits stage, but that was still an animal. 'Three… Two.. Two…Pause... Three..'. There was a clear pattern to the bear's attacks. The more I followed them, the more comfortable it became for me to evade.

Evading wouldn't get me far, but that wasn't the purpose of trying to learn the bear's rhythm. "...Step, step… Step, step, step…", my feet slowly adapted the bear's rhythm as my own. That in itself wouldn't do much, but that wasn't the end. Instead of using the same rhythm to evade, I reversed it. The bear noticed something amiss, but at that point it was a bit too late.

"Swoosh… Tsuum, roar", my sword barely inflicted a shallow wound on the bear's arm. 'What a tough skin!'. That wound made no difference to the bear. Instead, he became much more aggressive. "Swoosh, Bam!... Bam!", each paw struck the ground, caving it by a little. I had to evade once more, since his rhythm was no longer that predictable.

"You are struggling with a single bear, while there's about twenty more coming this way. Including another silver bear. Finish it already", master Irwin's voice sounded from behind me. "That's easy for you to say! That thing is like a wall of meat! Carrying out any sort of attack.. Hap… is difficult to say the least. Moreover, its skin is very tough!", I exclaimed back. "Are you really his daughter? Nex would maim that bear in seconds. You think too much, trust your instincts more", he replied.

That comment really made me mad. How could I compare to my father? He was a legend, and I was no one. '...Trust in my instincts you say? Fine', I thought and closed my eyes. "Haaaah…", though the world in front of me disappeared, the sounds and smells didn't. "Swoosh!", something flew at me. Before I could think about evading, my body moved to the side by itself. "Swoosh, swoosh… Roar!", the bear got angrier and angrier, the more attacks missed my body.

No matter what that bear did, my body was able to react by itself. I even knew that other bears were getting close, but for some reason, my body simply paid them no heed. I simply got lost in the moment, as if accidentally uncovering something new. Something I was always able to do, but never did for some reason.

The seconds slowly passed, making me realise even more about my instincts. My instincts could be used for much more than simple evasion. "Roar! Swoosh!", the raging bear tried swiping at me again, but this time my body didn't evade. "Rise", a single word escaped my mouth, as I opened my eyes and moved the sword upwards. "Tssuum! Roar!...", the bear's left arm got severely injured. My sword cut the skin, flesh and even a bit of the bone, rendering that arm pretty much useless.

That wasn't the end. The bear stood up on his hind legs to roar in pain, which was a natural reaction for him. That reaction also meant the end for that bear. "Tsssuk!", my sword pierced right through his neck, rendering the bear voiceless. No matter how strong any animal or race was, no one could continue the fight with a hole in their neck.

Perhaps healing that was possible, but no bear knew about medicine or carried some on them. Just to end his suffering, I slashed the sword to the side, cutting the neck wide open. The bear dropped to the ground, dead in his own pool of blood. For some odd reason, this sight didn't make me feel bad.

Right on cue, a whole sleuth of black bears arrived, led by another silver bear. Once the bears witnessed the scene, they roared and rushed at me like crazy. "Tap, tap… Tap, tap..", my footwork changed again, but this time my body dictated the rhythm. As if dancing, I moved about the area slashing and evading. My body knew what to do by itself. There was no need for me to think, 'Slash this way' or 'Evade here'. Everything sort of happened naturally, like my body did that countless times.

'I feel… different today…' a thought appeared in my mind. Though my body never ceased to move and kill, I didn't think much about it. Even the roars of injured and dying bears, or the area littered with carcasses, none of that disturb me or my ability to fight. This felt more like a trance of some sort, a dream where I served as a spectator.

Once I finally woke up from that trance, the area became silent. No bears were left alive, as their carcasses littered the ground underneath me. My leather armour was no longer grey in colour, red covered every part of it, as far as my eyes could see. The sword in my hand, no longer black in colour. Instead, red liquid dripped from the tip once every now and then.

Blood was everywhere on the ground, forming a puddle, no, a pool in which I stood. My thoughts were a bit blank, confused or perhaps lost somewhere. While I stared at the aftermath of that battle, one, only one feeling accompanied that moment. Not disgust, not worry, pity or regret. I felt bored.

"Wasn't that hard, was it? You are his daughter after all. When I told you to use your instincts, I never said to close your eyes. You are the same type of lunatic your father is, guess that's in your blood. You've been underestimating yourself, Anna. Your mind was holding you back, hence your abilities suffered. That is your real strength", master Irwin said out of nowhere, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?", I asked while turning to face him. "I've watched you for a few months, and that was a prominent problem for you. Hesitation was part of your everyday life, but not today… Not this time. You didn't notice, did you? Each time you fought, there were unnecessary thoughts in your mind. The best proof would be that exchange with the hunters in the forest. That made us certain of one thing. Your thoughts were limiting your real abilities. Now, how do you feel after abandoning these stupid thoughts? Excited? Invincible? Do you feel like achieving more than before?", he asked.

"...Bored", I replied shortly. I didn't feel excitement from killing them so easily. The feeling of invincibility wasn't there either… I simply felt bored, and perhaps a bit free at the start. "...Interesting… I wonder whether Nex knew about that… What am I saying, he probably saw through you a long time ago. No wonder he asked me to take you in", he said, but seemed to be mocking himself. "That's what you were after, right? Now, it's time for your end of the deal", I spoke rather emotionlessly.

"It's a shame this state will not last, but you'll slowly learn to adjust. Besides, stop acting tough, you are barely standing right now". When he pointed that out, my legs indeed gave way. I fell to the ground feeling a bit dizzy. "Rest, child. There's a lot in front of you…", master Irwin's voice sounded next to me, but it was fading quickly. The last thing I could recall before losing my consciousness, was the feeling of extreme tiredness.