All These Damn Distractions

"You tall bastard! Wake up!"

I felt a cold, sharp object poking my neck as I awoke the next morning, I opened my eyes, only to find an axe being pointed at my neck by a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard.

Why is it that every time I try and get a good night's rest, some unknown person tries to mess with me like they're the ruler of the world?

"Why do you have an axe pointed at my neck?"

"Shut up, you're in no position to ask questions. Why are you in this forest?"

I'm in no position to ask questions? This son of a bitch has a death wish. The only reason I'm not able to ask questions is because of his stupid axe, but even if he has an axe, it won't help him.

"I'm here to train my body, nothing more nothing less. Now can you get this sword out of my face before I break it?"

"I don't believe you; do you know the name of this forest?"

"The name of this forest? I could care less what this forest is named, I just need a place to seclude myself from the world to train, be it this forest or another."

"I still don't believe you, tell me everything you know about this forest."

What the hell is this person talking about? Is this forest some kind of sacred ground or hiding spot for a spiritual beast? Why is he so protective over one damn forest?

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you the first thing about this forest, I don't care about what connection you have to this forest, I just want to train away from the world in this place."

I stood up as I spoke, preparing to leave this part of the forest and go somewhere quieter. But the middle-aged man wasn't too pleased about that apparently. The man swung his axe at my neck after I spoke but was blocked by an uppercut on the axe head, knocking it above my head as it swung through.

"Who told you to stand up? I won't allow you to remain in these forests until you tell me the truth!"

The man swung his sword at my neck again, he was clearly inexperienced since he was only targeting my neck instead of my limbs. Before his sword could reach me, however, I punched him in the nose, sending him back a few steps.

"Kuak! You fucker"

"I'm the fucker? You're the one attacking me out of nowhere when I don't know shit about this forest! If you leave me be for the rest of my time in this forest, I'll let you go with just a broken nose."

The man had dropped his axe and was holding his nose with both hands as he spoke, "I don't care how much you try to hide it! I won't let you stay in this forest!"

"It's just a damn forest, why are you being so picky about whether I stay or not? Even if there is something special about this forest, I'm not going to covet it, I don't need internal energy yet."

The man was making it obvious that there was something in this forest, but I had no interest in it. I respect people like him who protect spiritual beings and other entities that greedy humans shouldn't touch, but they take it too far sometimes.

I grabbed my bag of food and sword before evacuating the area. I didn't want to deal with that random old man since I was going to stay in this forest for two years, so I'd remember to avoid that area I was just in.

Ten minutes later I would arrive at a new forest area away from where I left the middle-aged man. But now that I'm awake I might as well start training. I leaned my sword and bag up against a nearby tree and dropped to the floor in a push-up position.

Since I worked on my legs yesterday, I will work on my arms and core today. Doing push-ups would hit two birds with one stone since they can also be turned into Planks to work on my core.

However, roughly ten minutes into my push-ups, a familiar voice blurted out from behind me.

"You fucker! I finally caught up with you!"

Seriously, this guy again? I already beat him once so why does he still want to kick me out of this forest?

I stood up and turned around to face the man, but to my surprise, he had two more people behind him, both carrying swords at their waists. It seemed like the fallowing scuffle might get bloody if I'm not careful.

I sighed and looked at the man once more before speaking, "You again? I already told you I don't know anything about this forest. Just leave me alone so I can train."

Thanks to my new height I could act like a grown adult despite this body only being ten years old, but those people wielding swords seem to have internal energy. They're probably warriors from Jianghu, so I should treat them with respect and stay on their good side.

"Pyo Kang, Pyo Yong, that's the man who's trying to reach the guardian! Get him!"

Both have the surname Pyo. So, they're brothers, are they? For a family to have two sons enter Jianghu, they must be so proud of them. I won't kill them if comes to shove because of that, unless of course, they turn out to be Unorthodox.

As Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong reached for their swords, I bowed and spoke, "Master's Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong, please I would like a moment to explain myself."

The duo stopped as I spoke, realizing that I had no intentions of fighting right now. They were clearly from an Orthodox sect; their actions explained it all.

Pyo Kang took his hand off his sword and cleared his throat, "speak then, why have you come to kill this forest's guardian?"

"Master Pyo Kang, I didn't know of the existence of a guardian within this forest. I simply wished to seclude myself from the world to train my body before learning internal energy."

"You brought a sword into this forest, why?" Pyo Yong asked, stepping in front of the middle-aged man.

It seemed like Pyo Yong was the older of the two, his actions were steadier, and his internal energy seemed a tad bit higher than Pyo Kang's.

"I planned to stay in this forest for at least two years, and since I didn't want to leave this forest for the remainder of that time, I brought this sword to hunt animals for food."

Pyo Kang and Pyo Yong looked at each other with wary faces. It seemed like they were using Telepathic Messages* to talk with each other without letting me or the middle-aged man know.

Pyo Yong looked back at me a few minutes later with a smirk running across his face.

"Stranger, we will allow you to stay in this forest for as long as you need, under two conditions. First, you must duel against me or Pyo Kang and win. Second, if you win, you must only stay in the southern portion of the forest. If you agree to these terms you may stay."

Authors note:

Telepathic Message: Messages sent between two or more people that can only be heard in the mind of the recipient.