I didn’t think I could feel any better than that first day here and every second of every day going forward proved me wrong.

  For the first week, it was like I’d been transported back in time. Whatever vegetables (and horrible herbs forced upon me by the doctor) that I ate, had to be packed with protein. It was noticeable in just a few days that I was filling back out. It made me concerned, really. If I didn’t start moving I might actually grow fat!

  That wasn’t a problem. After being bedridden for nearly a month I was more than happy to spend my time moving. Swimming felt like the call of the ocean in my heart, a return to the past, and the frog people here only added to that. My heart felt free and my natural joy seemed to infect them. Some of them came up to me, the bravest ones, and they tried to talk to me. Underwater. It wasn’t long before me and Ragual’s half slapped together pantomime language spread. The children who ‘talked’ to me especially loved the eyes rolled back and tongue sticking out for the word ‘dead’.

  They swam with me, talked to me, and accepted me once they got to know me. I was never more thankful for being underwater, because it hid my tears. It all pulled on my heartstrings too much. Sorrow at what was gone and joy at what I now had, it was a heavy and hefty mix. For that first week, I did little else but play, swim, eat, sleep, and talk. I was a guest in the village, their first one, and they were more than happy to have me.

  It was when I was thinking of helping with jobs here that I knew my time was over.

  Master had been right, as he so sadly is. I could have lived here. I could have. If I’d been taken here shortly after the destruction of my village, if I’d somehow fallen down here within the third year after it, I maybe could have accepted it. Opened my heart back up and decided to live here for good. Developed a very rich language that would have been identical to talking, except with your hands. I could see it clear as day. That future for Mutai. The one where I join this village and live with Ragual as the ones who’ve lost everything but found peace in something new.

  I let the pebbles slip through my fingers as I sat and watched.

  But that wasn’t me. Not anymore. I had pride. I had strength. And I wanted to use it to see Vega beaten bloody and broken in front of me. See him crawl away, pleading for his life, as I destroyed and killed him. To tear his face apart, to rip and tear and punch and break and-

  I took a deep breath, calming myself. It would all happen in good time.

  I also had a desperate need for strength. It clawed at me, rending me in a way I wasn’t familiar with. I hadn’t gotten stronger in a month. A month. Over a month. The healing didn’t really count in my mind at all. I needed to fight, I needed to. Not just a want. It felt like I was going to go insane if I didn’t. I was already feeling the urge to rush back into the sewer and pick a fight with a sewer rat. It was that bad. The entrance to the village had begun to plague me. Even my dreams had begun to turn to it.

  What if a chain wraith walked through that entrance? A small alligator? Or worse and possibly even realistically, that water elemental? Everyone would be slaughtered immediately, unable to flee, unable to do anything. There wasn’t even one entrance, what if things came from one of the other tunnels? I was weak, weak, and if I didn’t get stronger I would die.

  Not to mention I wanted to fight. It was so, so much fun. To push yourself, to break past your limits, to see that endless stretch of strength and grab towards it. Always new moves, new ways to fight, new things to try. It felt unlike anything else I’d ever experienced. It resonated with me. Like the first time I’d gone swimming.

  With a start, I realized I loved it. It shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was. Ever since that day, I’d been hungry for strength like a starving dog. Now, I was even more desperate and I could use the small amount I did have. It was like a taste of another world, so completely separated from me for so long. Every moment was like embracing something blocked off from me. Growing in a way I never could before. It felt right. It felt hefty. It felt amazing. Like freedom after being chained for so long.

  Which meant there was one last thing to do.

  “Ragual.”

  “Mutai.” Ragual replied. Well, my name in croak form. He had sat beside me on the shore at some point, watching the people go about their days and lives. I’d been so focused on my own thoughts, I hadn’t even noticed him at first.

  I stood, as did he, and punched a jab towards his face. It didn’t connect, it was just a message. He understood with a wide smile. No more words were needed.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  A fist came soaring for my head but I ducked, getting a jab into his side. He tried to turn the extended arm into a falling elbow drop but I was already skating to his side, my left arm swinging into his face in a haymaker he couldn’t move out of the way from. He went stumbling back but I kept on him, throwing multiple punches into his face.

  He seemed stunned but I didn’t let up. Punch after punch flowed into him, aimed for his head, before he eventually backed away in a dash. I let him. This wasn’t a fight to the death. I’d like to treat it like one but I’d also not like to spend another month in the hospital.

  He stumbled and stared at me in shock. I understood but he should’ve realized this. A look down at my Vambrace said everything I needed to know. And for once… I used its ability on someone else. First on myself.

  [7.13]

  And then on Ragual.

  [8.82]

  He was strong. The weight training he did wasn’t for nothing and he hadn’t even hit a real wall yet, not really. But he was stuck as a guard and even our previous fight could only raise his power level so much. He’d fought me at the weakest I’d hopefully ever be. Diseased, already broken, bruised, burnt, and more. And I’d won that. That was only the beginning of my advantages against him. I knew how he fought now, knew the feeling, knew the speed and power and the way he flowed.

  As he came at me, I realized just how little power level mattered without the knowledge to use it. His moves felt telegraphed, repeats, he wasn’t trying anything new or that I hadn’t seen.

  I punished him for it, harshly.

  As he came I spun, my foot whipping around me and slamming into his gut. His eyes began to bulge as he grasped his stomach involuntarily and I hit him with a rising uppercut. Fighting felt so… natural. I didn’t really have words for it. I’d thought about hundreds of different ways to fight Ragual since we last sparred. Was that not normal? It didn’t feel normal. But I couldn’t help it and now it was more like I was following a set path than anything else.

  I was going to win-

  Ragual spat in my face. It was only a blind panicked dodge that prevented me from having my nose broken again. Punches came and now they landed, disrupting my thoughts. It was like an avalanche was hitting me and my freshly healed body was getting beaten black and blue. He focused on my face, my nose barely surviving the punishment.

  I ducked and dodged and weaved, frantically trying to get the spit out of my face. When I felt the air from a leg come for me, it was only my own rising up that stopped it. I still nearly fell over, the strength immense. Finally opening up my eyes, I nearly panicked as Ragual dove for me, tackling me to the ground. Right next to him, it was impossible to move out of the way.

  We landed, grappling, struggling, punching and jabbing into each other’s kidneys. He leaned back for a headbutt and I decided to meet him blow for blow! My own head pulled back and-

  I felt stars in my vision as a fierce pain exploded inside my head. We continued to jab, both wearing out, before I finally got the upper hand with my legs and managed to push him off me. We got up dirty, tired, and barely beginning.

  I rushed him, going for something I’d seen out of a movie once. A drop kick. As he slightly turned his body to the side and brought down an elbow, I realized belatedly that I was stupid. Nothing in movies were ever real.

  The elbow drop nearly cracked my sternum and slammed me into the ground. I heard a strangely croak like chorus of ‘Ooo’ but my mind was busy dealing with the awfulness of having my back broken on stone.

  A minute or two spent writhing and realizing Ragual hadn’t broken my back and I got up bruised and defeated. He’d won for sure on that one and judging by the smile on his lips he knew it. It was only now I realized that most of the village was surrounding us, either in the water or out, having watched our fight. They almost seemed worried but not too much. Perhaps they had been beforehand but this was just a spar.

  I smiled at Ragual who looked smug as hell.

  “Hey, you won big guy.” I said, giving him a thumbs up.

  He gave one back. I had to tone down my arrogance. I’d never been trained to fight, I had no idea how to. As natural as it felt, it didn’t matter at all. I had even less of an idea of how to leverage my actual power than Ragual or almost anyone else did. I’m sure he’d been fighting for far longer than I had been. I needed… training. And there was only one place I was going to get it for free and easily.

  “Ragual.” I said, my voice serious. His smile slipped away, staring at me intently.

  “I need to go.” I pointed at me, and then upwards. He got the message, a grimace coming across his face.

  He pointed at me and then gestured to the village.

  “You can stay here.” I was touched. I had assumed but… to actually be offered it was, it was amazing. Great even. But I had places to go. Things I must, things I had to do.

  I shook my head. Pointing at me, pointing upwards, and then throwing a fist up.

  “I can’t. I have to go upwards. I have someone I have to fight.”

  Ragual kept grimacing, staring me down, before nodding seriously. He pointed at me and then himself, then walked two of his fingers, and pointed upwards.

  “I will guide you up there.”

  I gave him a smile and thumbs up.

  “Thank you.” I said with all the gratitude I could.

  It was time to escape these damn underground sewers and punch master in the face.

  Patreon (20 Advanced Chapters)

  Discord (Get notified via ping when a new chapter comes out!)