Chapter Five.

The first month of the mental training went by fast and smoothly, and didn't really have anything special happen during it. The only noticeable thing that happened was that I could handle more of the pressure Grim was releasing on me, which ended up in getting more pressure.

My understanding of the pressure was pretty good in my opinion, I could release the pressure myself although on a lower level then Grim could, it was still there. This also helped me during the days that I would be on my own by releasing the pressure I could release on myself which resulted in a faster growth then normal. This eventually led me to the second month where I would be meditating with Grim every other day.

The second month was harsher than the first month, the pressure went from a formless pressure that pressed on me to a pressure that felt like the gravity increased tenfold. Which resulted in growing faster and faster, I could feel a mental barrier forming around my mind and soul which was the final goal of all this of course.

The third month was simple and passed by quickly without me realising much really but that doesn't mean that it wasn't important since every part of this training is important for my growth.

The last and final month was the worst, the pressure was so immense that every time we trained I needed to rest for a long time because every breath would ache my whole body, but I persevered and at the end of the month a steady and sturdy barrier was formed around my mind and soul which ended up with Grim ending this Phase of training. The pressure I could release on my own improved drastically so that will help me when I meditate alone.

"Since your mental barrier has formed doesn't mean you can stop meditating, continue meditating every other day so as to not lose your progress you made during these four months." Grim said as to which William nodded as an understanding.

"The next phase will be defense training, this part is easier than the last one so expect it to go by quicker. Rest up so you can be prepared for tomorrow since I will beat you up." Grim said with the now familiar malicious tone to which William is used to.

…

After William had rested for a day he went to the empty field where he had trained his physical skills a few months ago. To William's surprise Grim was already waiting for him so William sped up his approach and stood in front of him with a neat posture.

William waited for Grim to explain todays new training but to his surprise Grim just punched out and hit him right on the chest, with Grims amount of strength William flew back a hundred meters and he rolled on the ground before he came to a stop, William looked up confused to Grim only to hear Grim tell him "Dodge, or get hit."

…

The first day William managed to not dodge one of Grims attacks so he ended up bruised and aching, and unlike the mental training this training will be everyday as to force him to learn quicker. William wanted to curse Grim with every known curse word known to men but he knew it was for his own good even though the method was unorthodox.

The first week William only managed to dodge a few due to his huge amount of luck, that is what William likes to call it. But due to his luck he gained some insights as to how to dodge the punches that were thrown left to right. See the punches weren't always aimed for his chest, some hit his stomach and some square on his face which was especially nasty from Grim.

…

The next month William improved a whole lot and his instincts were honed to a peak level, but William felt that he could go beyond that level and become even more stronger. The best part was that combined with the meditating and his instincts being honed he could detect malicious intent and everytime he trained with Grim he could feel it radiating from him, this in turn helped William dodge more punches.

The second month things changed, Grim started pulling less punches and every so often a kick would find his way into Williams stomach. Williams' skin started to change, it became more flexible and dense, it was harder and harder to find any bruises on his skin after every day, this meant that his durability has increased so now he can take a punch or two without getting injured.

The third and last month was by far the scariest thing he had done during his time with Grim, Grim started using his scythe… After the first day William's clothing had cuts and his skin was worse off then his clothes, but due to the hardening of the skin the scythe didn't really cut deep even though Grim was probably only using a small amount of his true power let alone if he still had his powers of his prime.

Getting bruised and cut up became a part of his day to day life and he also didn't forget to meditate since you know, even Death can get rusty. This phase was over quickly and Grim went to do his business reaping souls. It is really funny, Grim can stop reaping souls for an undetermined amount of time since death is everywhere, in the past, present and future, so he could just travel back to the specific time where the person would die and he would reap those souls, this though doesn't mean he can let undead wander since they can evolve into powerful beings that could affect time.

Now two months have passed and Grim has been away all this time, all i could do was wait for new training instructions, meditate and physically train myself. I mean, this is almost the same as my past life, waking up but instead of going to work is training and getting back from training I relax for a bit and then meditate and repeat.

I have been here for a year and since I do not know the date I did not know my birthday, but technically today is my death day so I'll celebrate that, sad isn't it.