"Wow, I was finally able to finish the routine and the first martial arts formations I used to practice," I thought as I lay on the floor. My whole body aches, and I'm as sweaty as a freshly bathed dog. I wish I could stand up and wash all this grime off, but I'm too tired to do so.
I feel great. Even though I'm lying on the floor and can't move much, I have a big smile on my face. After a few years of effort and practice, I've been able to improve my body to better adapt to the martial arts I remember. The small lentil of energy I had in my abdomen has grown to a marble; getting it to that size took a lot of effort. Every time I tried to make it grow, the pain and burning in my body returned, as if something was preventing more energy from gathering.
I've tried to take things slowly. I've been practicing exercise routines to strengthen my body for over five years, but I've only just reached my first goal. Now I can fully understand the language, or at least the words my parents use.
After one of the harshest winters, things started to improve. No one got sick again, and we haven't had any trouble selling our farm produce. Although we don't have much to spare, we aren't starving either, which is a good thing in this normal world.
After breakfast with my parents, I started helping them with some of the housework. I've wanted to learn how to do magic like my mother, but she always tells me no, that I'm still too young. My curiosity has become a torment, and every day I try to use what little energy I have, but it's so difficult and painful that I always end up giving up. When I begin to circulate the energy, I feel as if there's some obstruction preventing it, and it burns me from the inside out. Even so, there's progress, and more energy flows, although there always comes a time when I can't stand it anymore.
Right now, I'm trying to get into the woods. I've always wanted to know what's beyond the house, and why they always say it's dangerous. My body is already a little stronger than normal; it seems the circulation and exercise have helped maximize the benefits, but I've realized that the further I go, the more nutrients I require, and I get hungrier and hungrier. With the little food we have, I'm not even satisfied, so I decided to go into the woods to try and see what I can find.
After making the decision, I started getting ready to go out without my parents getting too suspicious. We'd already had lunch, and the sun was at its peak. My parents were inside the house resting. I'd sneaked out just after they'd started resting; that was their routine.
I left the house slowly and silently. As I walked away, I began to run toward the forest. It was a bit far away, so I wanted to make the most of it. The closer I got, the clearer the landscape, which couldn't be seen from the house, became. The forest, or what little I could see, was beautiful, lush, and full of life. I felt very anxious because I could sense the danger and the magical energy that dwelled within it.
After a long period of jogging at medium speed, although I wasn't tired, I decided to take a break; it was better to be in top condition for whatever I might encounter. When I felt ready, I made my way.
Just as I took my first steps into the forest, everything fell silent, as if recognizing me and saying that strangers weren't welcome. Just before I entered, there were sounds, and the forest was teeming with life wherever you looked. Now, it was an intimidating silence, and I began to move as quietly as I could.
I began to venture deeper into the forest, but I made very little progress. Being vigilant and stealthy the entire way made it very difficult to make rapid progress; footprints and marks could be seen on the trees. I didn't want to touch many plants that hadn't been bitten by animals. In this world, I still don't know what's poisonous and what isn't. Today, being my first time, was a journey of trial and error.
My back was already hurting from the stress and from keeping low to avoid attracting attention. I started seeing flowers and greener, more contrasting grass. I followed that path until I spotted a small, crystal-clear blue lake. Surrounding it were some rock formations, grass, and flowers that made it look very pretty. I decided to take a break by the lake to recharge my batteries. I could try to drink some water; the lake wasn't stagnant and didn't look bad.
After a while, I felt refreshed and decided to head home again. Entering the forest today was just a bit of a reconnaissance run, to see where I could go and how far I could get in the short time I had. It had already started to get dark, and I didn't want to stay inside any longer; always, in the movies I watched, the worst things happened after dark.
As I walked back, I thought about bringing a weapon next time. I should also start training with one, whether for mid-range or long distance. That would help me hunt animals or defend myself from whatever might appear. In the forest, everything seemed to happen faster. It had started to get dark earlier than expected, so I decided to start running.
As I was running, I felt something coming towards me from the right; I couldn't help but be surprised and increase my speed. It looked like some kind of small dog, barely reaching my knee, but it was very fast. I started to take longer strides trying to go faster, but it was no use. Instead, it made things worse, as I tripped over a branch on the ground. The next thing I knew, the small dog lunged at me, jumping from the right to catch me. It had large fangs for its size and its small snout was full of foam, but before it could catch me, something faster than both of us caught up with it, and in the next moment, the small dog was gone. All I could see was a shadow passing over me and attacking the dog. I took advantage of that time to stop and continue running, while I heard growls and whimpers behind me. I couldn't tell if they were from my saviour or the attacker.
I ran and ran until I was able to get out of the woods. I was out of breath and gasped for air to try to recover faster, but between fear and running so fast, I couldn't catch my breath. After a few minutes, I finally managed it, albeit only a little, and started jogging back toward the house. It had already started to get dark, and my parents were sure to be furious.
As I was getting home, I looked at my clothes. They had rips all over them, and my skin was also marked by the fall and the branches that had whipped me while I was running. I thought about how upset my parents would be that I had ruined the clothes they had gotten for my fourth birthday. I tried to get off as much of the dirt as I could and also cover up as much of the wounds as I could.
"Young man! Look how late it is. Where the hell have you been? Uhh, your clothes are ripped! Are you hurt? Where does it hurt?" my mother yelled when she saw me. She was waiting at the entrance to the house. Right next to her was my father, as serious as I'd ever seen him.
My mother rushed out to examine me to see how bad the wounds were. I looked at them and smiled inwardly, not daring to let it show on my face. Doing so would be like laughing in front of the devil. "What could be worse than laughing in front of an angry mother?" I thought.
"Mother, it's nothing. I fell and my clothes ripped. I'm fine," I told her, moving my arms and legs so she could check.
They dragged me into the house to ask me where I had gone and why I was in that state. I didn't want to tell them that I had gone into the woods and been attacked by a small dog, and if it hadn't been for the shadow that caught it, I might have died. I decided to tell them that I was playing in the field, slipped on a branch, rolled down a hill, and ended up like that.
They looked at me with suspicious eyes, but still sighed and advised me to be more careful in the future.
I hugged them and thanked them for their concern. It's been a long time since someone worried about me. Back on Earth, although my mother worried, it wasn't in the same way; she was much gentler and calmer. The dangers weren't as great as they were to cause me undue concern.
After I got ready, my mother called me down to lunch. I took the opportunity to apologize for the clothes I'd damaged and promised I'd fix them.
"What do you think you're saying? Can't my son play around and damage a few clothes?" my father shouted, still keeping a straight face as he said, "Those things can happen, Sam. It's better to learn from your mistakes so they don't happen again. This time, according to your version, which I don't believe, you say you tripped and fell. Those things can happen."
"The first time is our fault, and that's why I don't want to scold you. Tripping a second time could be due to lack of attention on your part, and that can happen to anyone; but tripping a third time is entirely your fault, and those are the mistakes you should never make," he said.
I looked at his comment with very surprised eyes. I never expected this from my father, who almost never gives me advice, let alone scolds me. He said those words, those few phrases, that echoed in my mind, not only because of today's events, but also because of everything that happened in my previous life. I should think more clearly, since I have a great advantage in knowledge, and not rely on it. After nodding at my father, my mother, who had remained silent, began to organize everything.
For my part, I got up and went to my room. While I thought about what had happened in the forest, I took off my clothes and set them aside to be arranged later. For tomorrow, I resolved to find a long stick or a plank with which I could make a wooden sword. I had to learn to handle a weapon while I improved my magic, if I could ever improve.
Since it was night-time, I settled down on the mat where I always train and began meditating, working with the energy circulation in my body. After practicing for a while, it became easier; it wasn't as painful; I could barely expand the energy to my shoulders and part of my hip. Just when I thought everything was starting to feel easier and better, I felt a great pain, like bee stings; as if boiling needles had been stuck all over my skin; it stinged, almost like torture.
I tried to stop the energy from circulating, but I couldn't stop either. My breathing began to become heavier and faster. I began to feel a fluid dripping down my skin. It was thick and smelled very strong. Since my eyes were closed, I couldn't see what it was, but everything pointed to the liquid coming out of my body.
My breathing continued to increase in pace, and the energy entering my body also grew more and more. I could feel the accumulation of energy in my body growing larger; it was small and slow, but constant. I felt dizzy, the sounds became softer and less frequent, my breathing finally began to regulate and was now slowing down, until I felt my entire body shut down, and I fell into the unpleasant puddle that had formed.
End of chapter 3.
Thanks for reading. :D