I awoke in the middle of the night. My muscles were still a bit sore and stiff, but I could move them. It was amazing to be a Jotun. I got up and stretched, warming up my muscles. I called for Edward and told him to get a hot bath ready for me.
As I soaked in the bath. I thought about yesterday. The training was brutal, but it was enjoyable. My sword had broken along with my body, and yet I missed the familiar weight of it in my palm. It felt like an extension of myself. I had been doing things that a novice should have no business doing. It was like I was born with the sword and by the sword. The small cuts on my body had healed completely by now. I didn't even scab, just smooth skin.
"Edward!" I called out. Moments later, his skinny frame shuffled into the room.
"Yes, prince?" His face stayed monotone as he gazed at the floor.
"The water isn't hot enough."
"Prince, this is your usual temperature. Any hotter and the water will start to boil." At some point, Edward had started to speak to me more openly. Before, he would have just followed my orders.
"Let it boil. I hardly feel anything."
"Yes, prince." Edward got to work. He pulled out a red crystal from one of the hidden cabinets in the room and dropped it into the tub. The water immediately started boiling, and I sighed in satisfaction.
"Edward, what was that crystal?"
"It is a fire crystal. It is found in the Nalan mines. There are different kinds of crystals with different elements, but fire is the most common. They contain mana in them, but Jotun call it seithr." Edward explained, used to my random questions by now. He hesitated, "Anything else, your grace?"
"hmm, yes, why do you know so much as a slave?"
His face relaxed as a hint of a smile crossed his face. "I was a curious child, too, your grace."
"How old are you, Edward?"
"Sixteen this year, your grace."
"You look thirty-four."
"Thank you?"
"You don't look healthy my personal servant can't look so ugly. from now on, you'll eat the same meals I eat. "
"Yes, your grace,"
After my bath and bullying Edward a little, I put on my training clothes. Which was simply tabi boots and trousers. I didn't wear a shirt like father. I ran to the courtyard with Edward following close behind.
Before I could ask where this supposed hill was, I saw a giant piece of rock just haphazardly placed in the middle of the courtyard. It was still dark out, but I knew this wasn't here before. The rock was massive. I didn't know what father considered a hill, but this wasn't what I was expecting.
I sighed. "Edward, wait here."
"Thank you-"
"If you were up there, you'd fly away immediately." I laughed. I pointed at a servant who was conveniently standing at the edge of the courtyard. "You there! Feed this bag of sticks the same thing I had for breakfast."
"Yes, your grace." The servant scurried off.
"Have fun, prince." Edward was becoming bolder, huh. I laughed and started to climb.
This damn 'hill' poked at my skin as I climbed. My palms and my chest quickly started to bleed as I grabbed onto jagged pieces of rock.
My trousers were constantly being pulled by the pieces of rock. I continued to climb up as my muscles burned in pain. Pulling myself up became harder and harder as I climbed higher. I could barely feel my hands.
My left hand grabbed onto a ledge, but my blood made me lose my grip. I grunted as I almost slipped, but I powered through and continued to climb.
By the time I had reached the top, my hands were dripping with blood, and the sun had started to peak out on the horizon.
"You're late, boy." Father stood alone, gazing into the mountains. "Look towards the Southwest. What do you see?"
My head snapped up. "Mountains,"
"The other way, boy." He sighed and pointed towards the rising sun. "This is north. Everything else should be straightforward from there. Now what do you see?"
I looked and scanned the horizon. Faintly, I could see giant glowing islands within the clouds. "Wow," I couldn't help but exclaim. Then I remembered his question, "Floating islands."
"And the East," I looked towards the horizon, and saw a bright red mountain. A- "Volcano." It was releasing smoke into the sky, and there looked to be birds flying over it.
"Scan the horizon, boy," Father commanded. I looked at the horizon; the moons had moved from the spot they were in the previous day, and there were distant lands hidden by the clouds. "Take it all in. This is Lifthrasir, the earth you and I walk on. The land of perilous survival. The land you are destined to conquer. All the land you can see before you is mine; it's all I could accomplish in my life. The land beyond that horizon will be yours to conquer. Are you ready to take on the mantle?" He turned his gaze toward me. "Are you ready to do everything in your power to make the world yours? Are you ready to bleed to take it all?"
My eyes shone in determination. " Yes, Father!"
He tossed one of the swords at me. This time, I fumbled to catch it. The climb and the blood had made my grip weak.
"Then, Fight!"
My stance relaxed as I held my sword tightly with my left hand. My back bent forward as I dashed towards him.
"Aaahhhhhh!"
"Up, boy." There had been no warning. When I reached him, he side-stepped my slash and jabbed a finger at my left hand. The pain was unimaginable. My finger hung loosely on my grip as I had lost feeling in it. "Pain is a lesson."
I struggled to my feet. 'This is day 2? Is this guy really my father?'
I looked towards the horizon. My grip on my sword tightened, and I clenched my teeth. I got into my stance again and charged at him again. My sword slashed at him from the ground towards his neck. He dodged immediately and jabbed at one of my fingers again. I grunted in pain but just slashed at him again.
He continued to jab at my fingers. I lost use of my fingers slowly, and soon I was down to my thumb and ring finger. My sword hung loosely in my grip as I swung at him again. He jammed my thumb, and my sword dropped from my hand.
As he retracted his hand. I caught my sword with my right hand and moved to cut off that damn index finger from his hand. His eyebrows rose in surprise. He looked down at the tiny cut on his finger. For a moment, the only sound heard was the wind blowing and my breathing.
Then he smiled. A smile only a devil could smile. "Good."
The speed of his movements increased as I tried to catch him with my sword, but he just kept on jabbing at me with his finger. At times, I'd try to block, but I could hardly keep up. My eyes were in constant strain as I tried to catch his form. At some point, I had placed my sword's hilt in my mouth and rushed at him like that, but he just continued to shut off the connection to pieces of my body slowly and painfully until I had crumpled into a heap on the floor.
"Does it hurt, boy?" He sat in front of me. Watching as I gasped for breath.
"Yes,"
"Pain is a lesson." He reached his hand out and held the first finger he had broken. "I didn't break a single bone in your body. I just dislocated the joints between your bones." He moved my finger just right and-
pop
"Aaaaahhhhh." A feeling of electricity spread from my left hand up my arm and throughout my body. My muscles spasmed as the pain going through my body was too much for them to process efficiently.
He grabbed the next finger. I grunted in anticipation of the pain. "Jotun have dense and strong bones-"
pop
I screamed through gritted teeth.
"-BUT our joints aren't as strong as our bones. This pain will wake them up and have them strengthen themselves, along with your bones."
pop
pop
pop
"Aaahhh"
…
He started popping the bones in my back into place. I felt my ribs shift with each set. I was gasping for breath by the time he was done.
"Pick up your sword, boy."
"What?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. FIGHT through the pain!"
I slowly brought myself to my feet. My body trembled, and my markings squirmed in my body, but I ignored the distractions and got up. I got into my stance. He stepped forward and I flinched back.
A low rumble of a laugh came out of him. "You fear me, boy?"
"NO!" I shouted, my teeth clenched together as I forced my body to move forward. I took a tentative step forward.
He took another step forward. I took one back. He continued to move towards me as my body instinctively moved back. At some point, my foot had reached the ledge. I looked back at the drop, and I felt queasy just standing there so close. I had climbed it, but I had ignored the height until now. I felt like a cat stuck in a tree.
"What now, boy?" He spread his arms wide and laughed a booming laugh that shook the earth. Pebbles tumbled off the ledge and spiraled down into the drop. "Which fear will you conquer today? Fear is an interesting thing, isn't it? Placed between a rock and a hard place, one will be forced to make a choice. So what will it be? The ledge or me?"
I hesitated as I glanced at him and the ledge. But ultimately, I dashed forward at him, jumped into the air, and slashed at him from above.
"I am honored to have been chosen, but jumping into the air leaves you open, boy. Don't be an idiot." He didn't even dodge as he took a step forward and jabbed a finger into my jaw.
"EuGhHh," I couldn't move my lower jaw as drool and spittle began to roll down my chin.
"Pain is merely a lesson, boy."
I kept on trying to slash at him, but he continued to move around me, jabbing and dislocating different parts of my body. I felt helpless.
As I lay on the ground, a mess, he popped my bones back into place one by one. I couldn't take it anymore, tears streamed down my face as I crawled towards the ledge. He grabbed me and turned me to face him, "DO NOT RUN, BOY! PAIN is a lesson, and you will learn. Fear will be conquered today."
He continued with the torture as we danced over and over until I started to ignore the pain altogether. When he dislocated a bone, I would pop it back in myself. I kept on dashing at him as I swung my sword with all the strength I had left.
I stood at his side, sword swinging straight towards his ribs. He blocked it offhandedly and punched me to the ground. "That's enough for today." He lifted me by the back of the neck as he slowly walked towards the ledge.
He held me above it, and I shut my eyes tight. "Do not run, boy. Open your eyes." I opened them and glanced down. Nausea crawled up my gut and settled into my stomach. "Strength isn't all about swinging your sword. Kill all the fear in your mind, boy."
"Fuck you!" I shouted, glaring into his eyes.
"Good," He smiled proudly.
Then he dropped me. Air quickly sailed past me, and my stomach did flips as I spiraled down. I threw up in my mouth and passed out. Consciousness was forcibly ripped from my hands.