My internet went out for a while :/ Fun.
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“Talentless bastard!”
Udelo did nothing but stay curled up in the fetal position on the rough, stone road as Malo vented her frustration on him with a few kicks to the ribs.
Eventually, she stopped, panting. Malo clenched her fists and spit on the ground beside Udelo, who hadn’t, moved a muscle since the beginning of his torment. All around, passersby only glanced at the poor boy for a moment before going on their way, uninterested in giving assistance or staying to watch him suffer.
“You’re so boring when you don’t react!”
Malo gave him one last kick before turning away to storm off, only slightly relieved of her irritation from not meeting her mentor’s standards that day.
A few moments passed as Udelo listened for Malo’s footsteps, making sure that she was really gone. Then, he struggled to get on his feet, wobbling as though he would collapse any second. Yet, he stayed strong, pushed forward in the direction of his home, and even smiled. Udelo retrieved a small loaf of bread from his pocket and took a bite. It was forbidden to steal from another in their Clan, and even if the boy had carried twelve gold pieces with him, no one was permitted to take them. Even from him.
Now, that wasn’t because the rule enforcers and elders cared about him—because they definitely didn’t—but because to take another’s belongings, one had to fairly win them from a duel after the items were designated as the winner’s spoils. Such was the staunch rule of his Clan, and why his food or money was never taken from him.
But that wasn’t why Udelo smiled.
“I see you’ve made some progress.”
The boy turned a corner to be met with a statement. Nonchalantly, he placed his right fist within his left palm and bowed, whispering in a hoarse voice, “Greetings, Elder.”
“I’m glad to see you persevering, boy.” The Elder’s gaze landed on Udelo’s chest. “In a few days, the same beating won’t even phase your rib cage anymore. Keep it up.”
Then, he disappeared with a wisp of smoke.
Udelo rose from his bow and continued on his way home, not bothering to look around for signs of the Elder. Although he was beaten by random Clan Disciples almost every day, Elder Anfu only checked on his body strengthening’s progress a few times a month.
That old man had been the one to give him the technique that strengthens his body with every beating he received on the condition that he survived and healed from it. But Udelo knew not to delude himself with the idea that Elder Anfu cared for him. Udelo deduced that the Elder only wanted to raise him to be a Shield—a member of the Clan who would put their life on the line for any mission.
One would think that such a position would be important and only for the highly skilled, but they’d be wrong. The only requirement for becoming a Shield was something so dastardly that Udelo would sooner kill himself than let it be done to him—to become a living puppet, because a Shield needed to be mindless to follow orders absolutely.
Yet, the process to make someone into a puppet would ruin their spirit and prevent the individual from growing stronger. Thus, Elder Anfu gave Udelo the body strengthening technique to passively grow in physical might as he was used by his fellow Disciples to vent their frustrations, which would likely continue for another few tens of years before his body was strong enough to be of any worth as a puppet.
Finally, Udelo was met with the sight of his hobble—a weak, wooden shack situated at the border of the Clan’s territory. It couldn’t even shelter him from the rain, but it was the only home he ever had.
Before opening and stepping into the front door, Udelo took a good look at the dense forest only a few hundred meters away, and the jagged mountains that loomed far in the background. No one would stop him from running into them and away from the Clan. No one would search for him if he left. No one would even bat an eye at his disappearance… Okay, maybe the insufferable bastards who enjoyed beating Udelo would bat an eye, but they would just find another target to harass afterward.
But Udelo couldn’t escape. Not yet.
“Awooooooooooooooggghh!”
A powerful, nasty howl echoed from somewhere far in the forest, followed by more howls that sounded equally dangerous.
Udelo didn’t bat an eye. Such sounds were commonplace at his home, because the forests surrounding the Clan were densely populated by beasts of all kinds that could kill Udelo with minimal effort. A pack of wolves howling relatively close by didn’t mean anything.
At least, as long the Clan’s boundary defenses stayed active. Those were what kept Udelo from being eaten by any random hungry beast.
But, when Udelo eventually grew powerful enough, he would escape into that forest.
Udelo yawned, tired from a day full of working in the fields and having his ribs nearly caved in. He wanted to sleep until the next dawn but needed to meditate. For the sake of someday escaping into that dangerous forest, Udelo would never skip meditation. He entered his hobble and closed the door behind him.
……
“Damn. Can you believe our luck?”
A shadowy figure perched atop a jagged mountain top, his eyes locked on something far in the distance.
“No, I actually can’t. Are you sure he’s the one? Double check.” On the shoulder of the shadowy figure sat a crimson rabbit the size of a man’s fist. At first glance, one would think that the rabbit was only a baby, but it had actually been the second one to speak.
“I did, idiot. I even triple and quadruple checked! This kid is the one. But…”
The rabbit finished his statement.
“But we aren’t the only ones to find him. Not only that, but the kid’s Clan is mere moments from turmoil. This isn’t looking good for you.”
