It was such a beautiful morning — annoyingly beautiful, actually.The sky shimmered in soft gold, birds sang like they were auditioning for some divine choir, and the breeze carried the scent of fresh grass, dew, and flowers like nature had gone overboard with perfume.
And here I was… standing on the mansion's training ground.
In front of me stood a man, my instructor — and calling him a "man" felt like an understatement.He was huge, a giant disguised as a human.His height towered over me like a living fortress, and his muscles…
Each one looked as thick as my entire torso and hard enough to shatter boulders out of sheer intimidation. His scarred arms, stern face and eyes sharper than a drawn blade gave the feeling of a battle-hardened warrior
His presence alone gave off the feeling of a battle-hardened warrior, the kind who had survived more fights than I had breakfasts in my entire life.
Exactly why I decided the chore of boring training?
Very simple.
In my previous world, I died because I was weak.So weak that even the old grandpa near my neighborhood fought better than me with his stick. So, yes I was pathetic.And even this body is only technically "fit," but that is just decoration — no real strength, no fighting instinct, no muscle memory.
And the other reason…This world was a novel I had read.So it was my sacred duty to "borrow" things before the original protagonist got them.But you couldn't even borrow anything in a man-eating world unless you had strength or divine plot armor.
And I had neither.
The giant instructor finally spoke, his voice deep and rough like rolling stones.
"So… you're the young master Rishi?" he asked, studying me from head to toe.
"Yes," I nodded politely.
He raised an eyebrow. "You look… softer than I expected."
"That's just my morning face."
He didn't smile.The man probably didn't know what smiling was.
"I was told," he continued, "that you want to begin combat training."
"Yes, Instructor."
"Why?"
I blinked. "Why…?"
He crossed his massive arms, waiting.
I cleared my throat. "Because I don't want to stay weak." I said simply.
He studied me for a long moment.Not impressed. Not disappointed. Just evaluating.
"…Good enough," he finally said. "At least you're honest."
He stepped closer, and I instinctively stepped back.
He frowned. "You fear too easily."
"I call that intelligent survival instinct."
"That," he said flatly, "is fear."
I sighed.And he added, "Don't worry. I only beat the fear out of people on the second day."
"That is not comforting."
"It wasn't meant to comfort you."
I realized this would be the most brutal introduction of my life.
******
"Run," he said.
"How many—"
"Run."
"…What?"
"Run. Means run until I say stop."
This man was dangerous.
Still, I ran.In the beginning, it felt manageable — the wind was cool, the ground steady.But after a few laps, my lungs started burning.My legs trembled.Sweat poured down my face like I was in a shower.
The instructor observed with an unreadable expression.
"Too slow," he said."Your steps are uneven. You're losing rhythm. Fix it."
"I'm… trying…"
"Try harder."
Next came body training.
Push-ups.Sit-ups.Squats.All under the eyes of a man built like a war deity.
My arms shook violently.My back felt like it was cracking.At one point I was certain my soul floated half out of my body before the instructor's glare stapled it back in.
Then came combat basics.
He tossed a sword toward me. But it was not a wooden one but a real one.
"Hold it."
I picked it up. It felt heavier than it had any right to be
"Hey",I said not sure whether to ask or not.
"What?", he asked with mild annoyance like he had expected this.
"Shouldn't noobs use wooden sword?" I finally asked.
"Are you a kid?" He questioned back.
"No"
"Then shut up." he raise his voice a little.
But this raised a little doubt in my mind regarding his sanity
"Now, take stance," he ordered.
I tried to mimic what I remembered from movies.
"No," he said instantly, stepping toward me. He pushed my shoulders back. Adjusted my elbow. Moved my feet apart. Then tapped my leg to bend slightly.
"Your posture is weak," he said."Your grip is wrong. Your center of gravity is unstable."
"That's… everything."
"Yes, everything."
He stepped back. "Swing."
I swung.
He sighed. "That swing is… sad."
"It had emotion!"
"It had pity."
He pointed. "Again."
So I swung. Again and again. Every swing burned my shoulders until they felt like melting wax.
He corrected me each time.Too slow, too tense, too stiff, too loose.Until finally — finally — it looked like a real swing.
He gave a slight nod."Not bad. Do it a hundred more times."
"One hundred…!?"
"Yes. Unless you faint. Then you'll do two hundred after you wake."
"You're a demon."
"No," he said seriously, "I have trained demons. They were easier."
"I'm honored to be harder than demons."
"You are not harder," he corrected. "Just more fragile."
I wanted to collapse right there.
Still…My chest felt strangely warm. This pain… meant something. This exhaustion meant improvement.
In this world…Power mattered more than anything.
And for the first time, I felt like I had taken one real step.
A painful, sweaty, borderline death-like step.
But a step.
**********
My hell mode training has ended after an entire day. I have skipped my dinner as I was too tired. After taking a shower I was resting on my king sized bed.
This is the advantage of fantasy world, I can already feel the improvement.
By this level of improvement in a single training session, I felt satisfied. I was already imagining myself at the top with the powerful artifacts I had already planned to loot and even hypnotizing about what kind of cheat I might awaken.
As I was a transmigrator I should have a golden finger...right?
Even though after calling different things like system, old man, divine scroll, arise and what-not I still didn't had any cheat. But I was expecting something after my awakening ceremony.
"Haha" I laughing like a moron.
But his might be last true laugh of my mine for a long time. As I didn't what hell was waiting for me tomorrow which will break all my illusions and show me the true face of the world.
As reading and experiencing is different and I was soon going to find out how delusionist I was.
As they say Ignorance is bliss, because this night is going to be my last peaceful night for a long time in future, which I enjoyed peacefully thanks to my ignorance.
I slept snortingly without knowing what nightmare is awaiting me tomorrow.