Chapter 12: Rukoshiki art

"What do you mean by this?" Arthur was surprised by the old man's words, he has come out of the game unscathed unlike Arthur, whose body was destroyed, currently Arthur is taking a sitting position and finds it very difficult to move himself, if he did not have a healthy hand, he would have died when they brought him here.

"Ah, you don't know, that Celestial Dragon gave me a small gift before he brought me back here," the old man lifted the blanket he was covering himself with, then Arthur could see his amputated feet from below the knee, rotting blood and rotten flesh filled the place of the cut.

"What happened to you" Arthur's eyes were a little surprised, it is clear that the injury suffered by the old man is fatal, especially since the amputation places have rotted and began to spread the disease to the rest of his body, he has at most a few weeks to live.

"I broke the rules of the game, I jumped up and saw the exit of the maze, so the Celestial Dragon came and made sure that I could not jump again," the old man's blank looks were full of despair, whenever he remembered that moment he felt pain in his feet.

When the old man finished the game, the Celestial Dragon came and ordered his followers to capture him, then he picked up a sword and began to hit the old man's feet, because of the lack of sharpness of the sword, it took several blows until his feet broke off, each blow caused unbearable pain.

Eventually they brought him to this cell and threw him here to rot to death.

Arthuer looked at the old man in front of him and there is a look of heartbreak, he did not regret the fate of the miserable old man, his fate is more miserable, but what bothered him is that he does not have a long time to live, so there is a high probability that he will not be able to teach him all the rukoshiki arts.

"How about we start training now, at least you'll do something useful before you die" Arthur's glances were full of seriousness and devoid of any expression of pity, when the old man looked into Arthur's eyes and saw that darkness forming deep down, he felt some fear and at the same time admiration.

When he saw Arthur's eyes, he wished in his heart if he had such courage when he came to this place, the world government has succeeded in making him a loyal dog that cannot bite the hand that hits him, and here this hand are the Celestial Dragons and their minions.

'Why didn't I fight for survival and revenge like this boy in front of me, I let them do whatever they wanted to me even though I had a chance to avenge your death, my daughter.'

The old man closed his eyes, and then an image of a beautiful young girl appeared in his imagination, her long silky hair falling over her shoulders. The more the old man remembered this girl, the more sadness he felt in his heart.

15 years ago, the old man was a Marine serving at the Navy headquarters in grand line, the old man was not a very high-ranking officer but he was a person who loved justice and was good at his job, all this struggle at work and the danger he faced was only for the sake of his young daughter.

Once when he was on vacation from work, he and his daughter went out to take a tour of the Sabaody Archipelago but unfortunately that day a heavenly Dragon passed by them.

When the Celestial Dragon saw the beautiful girl in front of him, he ordered his followers to detain her and take her as his slave, these words were like a hammer that struck at the old man's head, because of his fear of the Celestial Dragons and their power he hesitated to help his daughter.

But when he saw his daughter being dragged by several armored knights, he gathered his courage and attacked them, pushed them away from her, pulled his daughter and ran away with her.

BANG!

When the old man remembered this voice, a small tear fell from his eyes, he looked up remembering that moment when he lost his daughter, the Celestial Dragon grabbed his gun and fired at them, but the bullet hit his daughter directly in the head, which led to her death, the old man fell from shock and held his daughter in his arms.

In the midst of the old man's shock, the Knights grabbed him and led him to this place to spend the rest of his life suffering.

'I'm really a coward, I had to kill that Celestial Dragon in any way possible even if it cost me my life, why did I hesitate that day, did I think that killing my daughter's murderer is something not worth dying for,' the old man looked at his trembling hand, and then raised his head to look at Arthur in front of him.

"Well, boy, I will teach you everything I know, but first I want you to promise me something. If one day you can kill a Celestial Dragon, I want you to make him suffer before you finish him off." Although the old man said these words, he himself did not believe them. In this world, no one can kill Celestial Dragons.

"Well, I promise you that," Arthur replied and this time his voice was full of coldness while his eyes were filled with malice, he intended to do this even if the old man didn't ask him.

"I like you, boy" the old man slowly pulled his body using his hands until he arrived next to Arthur, sat down next to him in a place where Arthur can see clearly, because Arthur can only slightly rotate his head.

.....

[ After 5 weeks ]

Arthur, with a bony body, sat on the ground while looking at the old man's body, covering his nose and mouth with a piece of cloth. The old man had died a few days ago, and now his body had begun to decompose, and a very unpleasant smell emanated from him.

Arthur looked at the old man and there is a look of sadness in his eyes, during these five weeks there was no one else, so their relationship improved a lot, they were forgotten in this cell alone, even the guards rarely come to this place, they consider Arthur and the old man as useless garbage, their broken bodies would not be of use to them working in the quarry, if not for the arrangements of Don Bernardo who ordered them to leave them alone until they die, they would have been executed.

Arthur looked at his hand as he raised his index finger, closed his eyes and gathered all his concentration in that finger and then with a quick movement pierced the wall next to him causing a shallow hole.

"I still need more time to learn it completely" this was the Shigan movement and he was able to learn it miraculously before the old man died, he received instructions and explanations about the geppo and the Tekkai movements but he has not learned them yet, especially the Geppo because he still can not move his feet well.

GRRRRRR!

The sound of his stomach rumbling, which resembles the roar of a hungry monster, made Arthur wake up from his thoughts. He spent about 5 days without food, this is normal, the guards come here only rarely and they don't care if he dies of hunger or dies of illness.

....

[After another month ]

A small rat calmly walks past a human corpse, the smell of rotting meat has attracted him to this dark dungeon and he is happy at the thought of getting a delicious meal.

He approached calmly, looking at the body lying in front of him, although the inventory was hungry and wanted to eat, he was still cautious.

When the rat found that the place was quiet and there was nothing dangerous for him, he gathered his courage and stood in front of the corpse wanting to take a big bite, suddenly a quick attack hit the rat causing a big hole in his body, Arthur crawled off the floor and took a sitting position while holding in his finger the bloody corpse of the mouse.

When Arthur sat down, his bony body appeared devoid of any signs of flesh, his gaze was miserable and his eyes were dark, he held the rat in his hand and began to skin it using a small sharp rock, Having peeled off the rat's skin he began to eat it, the meat was raw and sticky, chewing only made an annoying sound, Arthur ate the rat while tears leaked from his eyes.

If it weren't for the fact that he was eating Stray Rats and drinking the water collected in the ground, he would have died a long time ago, no one has visited this room for 20 days.

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