Chapter Three: Kenjutsu

I fell...

I rowed my arms helplessly and I felt my fingernails shatter on the coarse stone walls of the well, and I shrieked as my knee clattered into the ancient chamber. The sound of me falling resonated throughout the cylindrical structure and after about a minute of falling, I sploshed into the water, and fell prey to shock and pain, closing my eyes and letting the darkness envelope me...

When I woke, there was no light from the opening of the well which I could barely see without squinting, my leg felt broken, but it was able to hold my weight so I figured it would be a little chip of my bone. The walls were thick with moss and all kinds of bacteria, clearly, Zenith must use some kind of purification magic on the water to drink it. Analysing the situation before me, I fell into the water behind me and dove beneath the surface, escaping from all my woes. 

There was no way up! Unless that madman father of mine expects me to climb up...

Four Hours Later: Unused Greyrat House Well:

I fell for the hundredth time since I had the idea of climbing and I ever made it further than halfway, this particular time, i found the place where I hit my knee, I saw the blood and marked it off, before falling due to the thick green moss. 

I looked upwards in despair, begging for some way up, I may be a middle aged man but I am in the body of a five month old, fate has really fucked me up, I cant have been that bad in my past life. I watched as the sun rose in the sky and the rays of light travelled down the hole that held me captive, making me scrunch up my face and look away, one hand on my forehead shielding my eyes. 

Wait...

I watched as the light rays pierced the water and render it fresh and less opaque then it was in the night, something was still shrouded in darkness... A patch of wall? An object? What was it? 

I didn't know whether to acknowledge the trepidation in my chest or the terrifying excitement building in my arms and legs, kicking them into action, sending my frail body diving through the murky depths of the water, swimming rapidly headfirst into what could very likely be the end of me. 

As I reached closer to the strange darkness, it ceased being dark, the light was reaching it and I witnessed an opening, that's it! The only way to reach the outcome is not the direct path, in this case, climbing the walls, if I had tried both ways, I would have already been out of here, I swam past the opening of the hole and hurriedly passed strangely dug out cylindrical walls with patterns, the whole scene set with what seemed to be... bones? 

I kicked and kicked until my legs and arms felt numb from the constant pedalling, I was finding it hard to breathe and my lungs were struggling to conserve oxygen, the seemingly easy way was so hard to... to...

-------

I gasped as my lungs were met with fresh air, my legs shook as I stood up, my head reeled from the effort, I was in a river, wading in water up to my chest, my legs trembled, burnt and shook as I tried to reach the shore where... a man was standing. 

I fell head first into the mud and that was the last thing I remembered. 

When I woke, I was on the river bank, it was still dawn from the sun rise and there was a pile of berries near me, and a man in front of me laughing, Paul!

I pouted convincingly which made the man laugh harder, "Papa hate!" I said. 

"Oh there is so much left for you t hate me for young Adolf! Eat your berries and stand up!" 

-----------1 hour later-----------

"No Adolf, like this! Grab the hilt with both hands!" I grabbed the hilt of the wooden bokken (practice sword made of wood) that Paul had given me and listened to his words.

"Good now hit this rock until it breaks, the faster you do it, the easier I will go when you break it, oh and every time you want to find this rock, you have to dive into the well, through the hole, wade through the river and there will also be a list of exercises for each day of the week, good luck my boy" 

"Papa, too hard!" Paul sighed and scratched his head, "That's what your mum said, but with no magic, all you can do is hone your body to perfection and study kenjutsu with me!" And with that explanation he turned and dashed off in a random direction, leaving a note on the floor, a map. I guess I could use it whenever I want, he doesn't care if i break the rock or not? No, he wants me to make it my initiative! 

That night, I stayed up until midnight, hacking and slashing at the rock, barely nicking it before I found my way home, my mother spoke briefly and gave me food before I woke up and repeated my now daily reality, what did I do to get God's wrath this bad huh?!

<*Hey Author San here, look, its the third chapter, if you're still here I don't think have to do my usual disclaimer... look I'd appreciate you like concept and leave a review, but want read more before judging then that is totally fine, thank for your time spent reading novel it makes me happy... 🥺🥰*>