1 Death Valley
"Ahhhh!"
A loud cry of pain was heard as it echoed throughout the valley.
"Again", yelled a frail-looking man.
A young boy around the age of seven got off the ground and wiped the blood from the corners of his mouth. He cautiously picked up his wooden sword on the ground without breaking eye contact with the man in front of him.
He transitioned into a lunge with the sword thrusting straight towards the man's chest. As it was closing in on its target, the man that was standing motionless till now raised his hand and smacked the sword away.
The force of the collision caused the surrounding to become unsettled.
The wooden sword vibrated violently, trying to slide out of the boy's hand. He felt as if had hit a mountain instead of a man.
He had used all his strength to keep his hand on the sword. Having learned his lesson time and time again; he knew better than to drop his weapon.
Having gotten control of his sword again he grimaced in pain as he looked down at his hands, these weren't the hands of a young boy but rather those of a warrior, the skin had regrown countless times already but it was still painful no matter how many times he went through this.
After re-affirming his grip he attacked the man again yet this time from a different angle. The result was the same as the last collision. The boy carried on these attacks ferociously without reserve---slashes, thrusts, lunges but again and again, he would be sent back until eventually, he could take no more. The wooden sword, which he was barely hanging on to, finally fell from his hand.
The young boy dropped to one knee and started panting rapidly due to the exhaustion while his hands slightly shook.
"The weapon is your life, without it you are worthless, no matter what you must never drop your weapon", said the man.
Although his voice was stern and face was expressionless, his eyes carried a hint of approval.
"He has grown a lot."
He stared into the boy's dark brown eyes where he found a steady gaze staring right back at him. This was not the look of a normal seven-year-old, this was the look that a man acquired after countless years on the blood field.
Secretly approving this look, the man opened his mouth to give further instructions.
"What you need to…", before he could finish, he spat out a mouthful of blood and he suddenly fell to the ground.
While touching his chest the man thought to himself
"Hmm, it seems like it's almost time for me to part from this world".
"Father!", the young boy came running across the field and helped the man up.
"Father, it's your injury right?" he asked in a worried voice.
Although his relationship with his father, Therol, wasn't intimate he was still the only family he had ever known.
"No need to worry about it, go and get supper ready," replied Therol in a detached voice.
"Father, if you keep pushing yourself like this day after day then your condition is going to get worse!", said the boy.
"I said go and get supper ready, don't worry yourself about my health!"
Therol had no choice but to stay detached from his son, knowing that he was eventually going to die soon he couldn't afford to be intimate with him.
Giving Therol a resigned look, the boy turned around and slowly moved towards the forest.
"The world is a cruel place as it is and he's going to have to walk a tough path, my death would cause too much of an impact on his emotional state." Therol mused.
Although he was forced to mature beyond his actual age, he was still a kid at heart.
"With my injury acting up recently I doubt I have more than a month. I believe it's time I finish the preparations. Jedan my son, I, your father, have failed you miserably. You must be a better man than me until you have the power to avenge our family. Avenge me. Avenge your mother."
Therol whispered to himself, not daring to say these words out loud.
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Jedan walked out of the woods with a beast about 3 foot tall slung over his shoulder, he headed back towards the clearing in the valley while watching the sunset.
This was what he did every day. Although he didn't like killing wild beasts, he understood that it was a necessity in this world. What he did like though was watching the sunset, it would calm his heart after his and his father training sessions.
Arriving at the clearing in the valley, Jedan got to work on preparing a meal for himself and his father. This had been his home for the past seven years. Two wooden houses, one for him and one for his father, and a small fire pit for him cook food on. It wasn't much but it was enough for him.
After he finished preparing the food he served some to his father, who was resting in his own house. They both ate in silence as was the routine.
Tomorrow would be a new day.
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Jedan was up and about before sunrise. For him the day started early. His everyday training consisted of three segments which were training, learning, and sparring.
His training was carried out alone by himself while the latter two were done with his father.
Jedan didn't enjoy his training at first but now he welcomed it. The training was a breath of fresh air in his usually static life.
He made his way to the waterfall which was located near the mountain wall. He looked up to the very top and said in a determined voice.
"I will conquer you soon and see the world beyond".
According to his father, this was the only entrance and exit of the valley. The walls of the mountains were as smooth as a granite slab. Usually, this wouldn't pose a problem to climb but due to the smoothness of the mountain, there were no crevices in which to get a firm hold on, making it virtually impossible.
The only part which had these crevices was the mountain wall that the waterfall ran down. The waterfall stood over 290 feet tall, the height itself didn't faze Jedan. The water, on the other hand, was a different story. The pressure made if near impossible to climb.
Jedan put down his wooden sword, removed his shirt and dove into the water making his way towards the waterfall. The water was freezing cold yet refreshing.
The water slammed against Jedans body, making a loud 'Bang' noise. The pressure made his knees buckle instantly as his chest similarly dropped towards the ground, but after years of going through this training, he had gotten used to this. And in the next instant, he straightened his body.
"It feels like the pressure is dropping every day", he thought.
The pressure from an 800-foot drop theoretically should be enough to crush any normal seven years old.
Not Jedan though. His body was special. He had, what was called, a reforming body. Or at least that was what his father had told him. It was what allowed him to train so hard every day. His body's endurance and durability increased according to the amount of stress he put on it.
Without fear of injury, Jedan jumped up and grabbed the first crevice and slowly made his way up. The fissures in the rocks were on average two to three feet apart from each other. With great difficulty, he made his way from crevice to crevice.
"I have to keep going!", was the only thought going through his head at this point.
His stamina was decreasing every time he moved up but he kept on persevering through the fatigue.
"120,121,122….", groaned Jedan, making sure to keep count of the number of fissures he already scaled.
The most he had gotten to this day was 150 which was around 450 feet.
After climbing for a while he reached the 150th fissure which was his limit thus far.
Jedan motivated himself as he looked up.
"One more, just one more!"
The reason he had been stuck here for a while was that the distance to the next crevice was 6. Not something that he could reach by conventional methods. Instead, he would have to throw himself up which was seemingly impossible with the rapids crashing on his body.
Yet, his desire for the world beyond the valley had been the fuel to his fire all these years.
Taking a deep breath Jedan looked down and let out a sigh, then turned upwards towards his objective and leaned forward. He bent his legs and moved his chest closer to the mountain wall getting into a leaping position then let out a faint cry as he threw himself upwards.
"Arrhhgg!"
Time seemingly slowed down for him as he narrowed his focus on the fissure barely a foot away from him. His pupils dilated and his ears were void of noise except for that of his heartbeat.
"Just a little more!", he yelled out loud, his right shoulder reached further to the point that it felt like it was going to pop out of place then quickly relaxed. He finally felt his fingers digging into the opening.
He had reached it, after the countless amount of tries he had finally reached it in the end. This was the biggest obstacle which was in his way to the world above and at this moment he knew with a bit more training he could eventually conquer the waterfall.
"I..did it, I really did it haha!", Jedan let out a rare laugh and lost himself in joy until suddenly his expression froze. In his excitement, he forgot to reaffirm his grip on the crevice. Water shot into his mouth, which was wide open, and shot him back towards the bottom of the waterfall.
Jedan slowly dragged himself to shore and looked off into the distance. For once, he was happy to live in isolation. At least when you lived by alone no one could bear witness to embarrassing moments, like the one that just transpired.
"Note to self, when you reach the outside world. Don't be an idiot."
He nodded and started drying himself off. Quite satisfied with his declaration. But he forgot about the other person he shared this valley with.
On a mountain across the waterfall Therol let out a long series of laughter, he hadn't laughed like this in seven years. Maybe it was because of how innocently his son had said those words or because he wanted to enjoy the little time he had left, nevertheless, it felt good to let loose.
"The child is yet but a child"
The one 'pleasure' Therol had throughout the past years was to watch Jedan train. He would overlook his training every day from a distance to see his progress. Although he never personally intervened he didn't want any serious injuries to befall his son and he thoroughly enjoyed watching his son be unrestrained during his exercises.
After composing himself he went into a train of thought as he recalled the earlier events.
"He seems to have stimulated his inheritance, although it was for a bit. Nonetheless, it is about time to teach him"
