CHAPTER 11 - FIRST BLOOD

Olivier examined the changes in his body after exiting from the cocoon. He realized that he had grown a few inches taller after the body refining process, standing 5 feet 11 inches tall. His body was packed with chiseled muscles which contained explosive strength. He felt a huge amount of energy inside his body which flowed smoothly through his energy channels.

Olivier could easily detect a change in the energy flow in the air. As he walked around, his body felt incredibly light and agile. Another great change that he noticed was in his vision. He could now see everything clearly and notice minute details in his surroundings, such as the grasshopper hiding in the grass and the narrow gap between Kratos' mustache. He felt as if a cloud had lifted from his eyes, allowing him to peek into things he had previously thought were impossible.

If Olivier were to be characterized by a third party, he would be described as a tall and handsome young man. He had sculpted jawlines and sharp features. His eyes, in particular, were captivating; his pupil was tri-colored with purple, green, and gold. His hair was somewhat longer in the front with a mop-like haircut, but the side and back of his head had short hair that became longer as it progressed up. His hair had golden flecks at the edges as well. Overall. He was a dashing young man.

'Did I experience a 2-year body transformation skipping all the troubling dieting and training montages? Sweet! The fiend body art is really miraculous. Olivier thought as he moved forward to greet Kratos and thank him properly.

'Huh?' As he moved his body, he could feel something swinging between his leg like a thick vine hanging and swinging from a tree. He looked down between his legs. 'Aaahhh'. He shrieked inside in surprise. He saw that his stabbing weapon was thicker and ...uhh... stronger? than he recalled. His new weapon was even more powerful than the dudes in the blacked.com videos he had seen back on earth. He was pleasantly surprised. 'Did my little guy finally hit puberty? I guess, he also benefitted from the body refining process. Hahh.. I could totally model for those 'increase the size of your penis' ads that used to pop up on porn sites. Hahahaha'.

When Kratos saw this, he felt sorry for Olivier. 'Was he concealing the pain of having a little penis deep within his heart all these time? Oh, poor boy.' When he watched Olivier swinging that thing, he felt even more terrible for him. 'How a could a frog trapped at the bottom of a well know the immensity of heaven? I'd rather not burst his bubble and let him continue to be happy.' Krotos pondered as he looked down at his own proud weapon.

Kratos then coughed lightly to stop Olivier's action. " You better wear some clothes rather than running around naked like some exhibitionist". He threw Olivier's clothes over to him.

Olivier caught his clothes with some embarrassment. He knew that he overdone it in his excitement. After getting dressed, Olivier thanked Kratos, "Thank you, Uncle Kratos. I don't know how long I would have remained powerless and helpless if you hadn't taught me the fiend body art. I will definitely repay your kindness in the future".

"Even If I did not teach you the fiend body art, someone else might teach you better techniques any way".

"Uncle Kratos, you don't have to undermine your efforts. Even if alternative techniques were offered to me, I would still choose the fiend body art. Anyway, we should go back to the village and put my improved body to the test ". Olivier took the lead and started descending the hill.

'Does your body refining method even count as a fiend body art?' It's nothing like the fiend body art I trained in.' Kratos pondered this as he followed Olivier down the hill.

Olivier was smiling, happy with his body's progress, but his smile froze the next second. He was horrified as he saw the ground covered in blood and the amputated and mangled corpses on the ground with flies buzzing around it. His heart began to pound loudly, like if it wanted to leap out of his chest. Olivier felt his stomach twist in a knot with an urge to throw up. He felt buzzing in his head and the ground beneath his feet was slipping.

Kratos supported Olivier with one of his arms as he heard Olivier's feeble voice," What is this, uncle Kratos?"

Kratos saw the pale face of Olivier which was turning even paler by the second. However, he calmly replied," They came to kill you when you were in midst of your training but sadly, they encountered me and got themselves killed instead".

"Wh.... why do you have to kill them? You could have caught them or trapped them. We could punish them later according to their crime. They are dead now, they could have lived and maybe, they would repent for their action". Olivier questioned back. He was not used to all this. Back on earth, rules and regulation were strict. Criminals were punished for their crimes according to the law. While some of the criminals were executed, normal citizens would never them getting executed. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the reality that was catching up to him rapidly. He understood killing in this world was quite normal. He was prepared to do so if the situation required him or he thought he was ready. Seeing the corpses on the ground, he was reminded once again of the cruelty of the world he lived in.

"Are you even hearing yourselves, Olivier?" Kratos called him by his name for the first time. "The world is a cruel place filled with evil. Small benefits bring out the darkness in people. Even if you never try to provoke people, sooner or later they will try to kill you. So, you should be prepared to take lives when necessary. It was difficult for me to kill my own people. I know they might repent and turn over new leaf. But there is a chance they won't. Knowing you know what they did and afraid of your revenge, they might plot against you repeatedly in the future. So, I had to eliminate them. Remember this Olivier, never spare someone who might return to bite you back in the future. Eliminate them whether by hooks or crooks. The is the first rule of survival".

Olivier remained silent. After thinking for a while, he said, "I understand, Uncle Kratos. But I need some alone time to think. Can you leave alone for a while?" He wanted some time to think and organize his thoughts. He wanted to harden his determination, he wanted to be ready to murder when necessary.

"Then, I will leave you alone. Always be aware of your surrounding. They might attack you again when I am not around". Kratos left leaving behind those words. 'Guess I expected too much from him. I will need to temper him in fire and blood to make him a warrior'.

Olivier remained alone for a long while. Absentmindedly, he walked towards the corpses on the ground. He looked at them closely. He could see the unwillingness to die and despair in some of their eyes. As he was observing them, he suddenly felt the urge to vomit. He dropped to his knees and wretched spilling out everything from his stomach. All that came out of his mouth were some liquid. He remembered that he had not eaten for days but strangely he did not feel hungry. wiping the tears in his eyes and vomit from his mouth, he stood up. He did not stop and examine each corpse. He was scared watching those corpses up close, but he did not stop. He wanted to change his mentality, the mentality he had developed while living on Earth. For that he needed to be used to seeing the corpses, he might need to kill someday. If could not even remain calm after seeing a dead body, how could he take the life of another person?

While Olivier was lost in his thought, a pair of cold and calculating eyes were watching him from afar. "That guy finally left. I thought I would have to return empty-handed today, guess luck is on my side today".

She drew an arrow from her back quilt and knocked it on her bow. As he stretched the bow to its full limit, she closed one of her eyes. As she glanced at Olivier, her eyes began to glow mysteriously. She could see him crouching in front of a corpse, she could observe his movements perfectly, and she could even predict his next move. "'Since you like to watch corpse up close, I will turn you into one as well. It will undoubtedly make you happy ".

Fixing her target, she released the arrow. She shot several more arrows in the areas she predicted he would dodge or move as soon as she released the first. Then she watched the arrows, ready to fire more if necessary, despite the fact that her attack was already an overkill.

Olivier was observing corpses one by one. When he first saw them, his heart was in turmoil but now after observing them for a while, he was starting to feel a lot calmer. Then he noticed a change in the movement of energy in the air. He had taken Kratos' words to heart. He was keenly aware of his surroundings. Thus, as soon as he felt the change in the air almost immediately, he was sure something was approaching him and it would certainly not be some gift to congratulate on his success in body refining.

He was already thinking about his next move: a dodge. So, he dodged to the left. His body responded immediately and his movement was swift. But the feeling of something approaching never disappeared. So, he moved left and right following his intuition. Just then, he spotted arrows moving through the area where he had been.

'Archers! They haven't given up on assassinating me, have they? I have been too lenient in my treatment of them'.

His mind was strangely calm despite the danger he was in. Even though this was the first encounter with a life-or-death situation, he was calm enough to make decisions and his body was always responsive. It could move the way he wanted, unlike his former body which was sluggish and less agile in movements.

'I have to somehow get close to her otherwise I will soon get overwhelmed. I roughly know her location but I need something to block those arrows with while I move'. He thought as he continued to move around. 'If only I had a shield or that vessel where I trained'. He was dodging but he lost focus for a moment and an arrow pierced him in the arm drawing blood.

Dodging is of no use. Another slip and that might pierce my heart. I need to make a decision'. He then decisively carried one of the corpses on the ground and used it like a shield blocking the incoming arrows. Coincidently, the corpse was of an archer.

"You are ruthless enough. Using the corpse of my people against me, I will give you cruel death". The archer increased her fire speed and the arrows started following curved movements in the air after leaving the bow. That put Olivier in a dangerous predicament.

He was having a time dodging straight arrows but the arrows were now following random patterns. He was pierced by another arrow in his left shoulder which could have pierced through his heart if he had not lowered his upper body to the right. 'I could die here'. He thought.

His eyes shined with ruthlessness, as he picked up another corpse on the ground. Using his left hand to carry one corpse to his front and his hand to carry another corpse to shield his back, he ran madly towards the direction the arrows were coming from. To his surprise, his speed was great. He ran faster than even the supercars on earth and his eye could capture everything in the surrounding.

Using the corpses to protect his vitals, he ran. He ignored the arrows coming from his left and right if he couldn't dodge them.

The archer was surprised by his decisive action. But she had fought several battles, she decisively choose to maintain her distance. She did not want to prolong this battle more than necessary, she was wary of Kratos. If he came back, she was dead for sure. But to her surprise, Olivier was faster and gaining on her. 'So be it then. He is an amateur. I will use the natural terrain to my advantage against him'.

She maneuvered her body skillfully, as she used trees as cover and continued to fire arrows. She had chosen this place as Olivier's burial ground. Olivier soon caught up. He found several trees in this location. 'A perfect place for archers'. He thought. Several arrows were already coming his way. He used the corpse as a shield as he moved and arrived before her location. He threw the archer corpses to the ground which was already riddled with arrows and punched in her direction with his strength.

She was using the trees as her cover but the tree's trunk shattered under Olivier's strength.

'Such strength. He should not have that strength even if he succeeded in refining his body'. The archer sensed the danger she could be in. She skillfully maneuvered among the trees firing arrows but the location was a little narrow. Trees were destroyed one after another and finally, she had nowhere to hide.

'I can only rely on you'. She thought looking upwards as she prepared to fight in close quarters with Olivier. Olivier was already getting the hang of his body strength. He could now control his body easily. He knew that was faster and maybe stronger than the archer. He was adept at hand-to-hand combat, he had learned to fight even though he could not grow stronger before, he had gained some experience by sparring.

He threw the final corpse to the ground which was slowing him down. He flashed before the archer throwing a right hook. As he used her bow to block he followed with a left kick landing a hit. She was sent flying but he followed and sent an elbow from above pushing her to the ground. She was already coughing blood. His kicks and punches packed great power behind them. so, she had already suffered internal injuries.

He picked her by her neck and looked her in the eyes. He saw her pleading with her eyes. The thought of forgiving her appeared in his mind by instinct as his had loosened a little. But he sensed a change in the flow of energy in the air above him. His body was warning him of danger. He instinctively took a step behind to dodge.

An arrow landed from the sky impelling the archer through her head splashing blood all over his face. He did not realize but the archer was now in the exact position that he was standing before. If he had not dodged, his head would be pierced by that arrow. He felt a chill in his heart. What methods!