A Lie I Did Not Want to Believe. Pt. 4

Knowledge and Power

"So lets get to the point. We are going to train you and mold your body and mind so you can survive as best as you can" said John to me one cold morning.

"You are going to learn to fight with your body first and then everything else" added Alex. "You must always remember that you are the weapon and every tool you use, is an extension of you".

"Being the best fighter is one part of it. The other are the emotions that conquer us" John continued. As he was speaking, I realised that the lesson had already begun. John betrayed not a single one emotion. "Think about your emotions as this little sphere that is inside you and it’s always there. It takes the colour of what you feel. Make it white as ice".

"You will discover that after a point anger will build like a fire in you ready to destroy everything. Mold it to your will and use it. Don’t be consumed by it. Consume it and use it to your advantage" said Alex.

"Will I need to learn or read any books to know what I will be fighting ?" I asked them.

As I asked that question john and Alex both looked at each other for a slight moment. I was almost certain that I said something stupid. Fortunately they did not laugh with me. 

"Don’t worry about it all in good time first your body" they both said.

My Training

The forest was massive and it had everything we needed to survive. I don’t know how many days or even months we stayed there. It was nice though. The moment you can see and hear the true sounds of nature, of what is around you, everything changes.

The first thing I learned was from Alex and that was hand to hand combat. He was ruthless. For a man his size you would expect him to be a bit slow and sluggish. Ecxept he wasn't. He was fast like the wind and his fist was hitting like solid iron. I wouldn’t want to be his enemy. I know that very well.

We used to fight and train for hours. When I was tired, he wouldn’t stop. He used to say all the time to me :

"You are a human, and they are not. If you are to survive and beat them you need to come as close as you can to their physical traits".

When I couldn’t go on, he would keep hitting me without remorse. I would get angry and I would continue the fight as well. He taught me how to control my anger and how to use it.

That man moulded my body in every way possible.

The last thing I was taught by him was how to use the axe, too. He took blunt ones and we started fighting. That was when I learned to use the weapon as an extension of myself and not as a chunk of metal that was in my hands.

He taught me how to use my opponents’ body and use it to my advantage and most of all how to not waste my energy on stupid moves and attacks.

The next person that was going to train me was Jhon. Jhon was a different person, as you can already say. He was a stone-cold person when he wanted to and smart like the devil. He was agile and fast but most importantly he was like a ghost. I would learn very well what it means to be hunted and the paranoia that someone can get.

One day, he took me a bit further away from the hut. We walked inside the forest and he  took me further in it. There he taught me how to use my surroundings. How to ambush someone and trick them. He taught me how to be smart. Don't confuse yourself. Not knowledgable smarter, byut smarter in order to outsmart thwem in combat and at last kill them.

"Being the best fighter is one part of it, but sometimes you can't win through fists and muscles. That is why we are hunters and not fighters. We are men and men bleed much easier than monsters. Always remember that. At the end of the day you are weak against them" was John's first words when we started my training. "So your best bet sometimes" said and I saw a slight smile on his face, "is just to be annoying. Annoying like a mouse".

Looking back at the training John did to me, his training was a child's play, emotionally speaking, from what I was going to witness during my time with John. There are no words to describe the different emotions, of the fear I went through that day. I cannot even say if it was a day or a month. 

But first he taught me the basics as he called them. He thought that if we went deep right from the beggining, I would be dead from day one.

 

The Arduous Training with John

We walked quite a lot inside the forest when he turned around to me and said.

"Here we are. Let us stop here". Then, he turned to me with a strict face. "Did you even notice the way here? Did you try?".

As he told that to me, he turned around with a smile like he already knew that I didn’t. My face went stone cold white because I knew what was coming. When you meet a man like John, you would be a fool to not be afraid of him.

Jhon took a few steps in front and slid down. I immediately lost him from my eyes and I was confused for a moment. I went forward and I saw this massive slope. It was like the mountain gave in and it had this massive hole on the ground. At least at one side of it that massive slope was flat.

I went and slid down as well. Followed him on what it seemed to me to be the giant’s eye or something. Well, this was how I liked to call it. So I slid down and I saw nothing. I was standing in the middle of the giant’s eye. He just disappeared. After a while I started calling out to him. To come out and that all this was a sick joke. After a little while I thought that I was all alone there. No way to get back. Literally lost inside the forest.

Then what happened was the start of the hell that I went through. Suddenly an arrow hit the ground in front of me. I froze and looked at it. Then the logical thing to say is that this is training, there is no possible way that he would try to hit me. Right?

Oh, but he did. The next arrow went next to my face and it bled it as well. I panicked and got terrified. I thought that that was it. My training with Alex didn't kill me , but John would in the first few hours. I could not see him, as the arrows came from different locations. To this day I believe that he had the intent to kill me that day.

So I did what any normal person would do and I run as far as I could, as fast as possible. I run like hell. After running for a while, I stopped next to a tree because I was tired. I looked around me and I just saw the forest. All quiet and moving by the slight change of the wind, as the sun penetrated the leaves.

And then I felt it. I felt something coming and, in an instant, I dodged it. I dodged backwards and the arrow was right in front of me. Stuck on the tree. I did not wait. So, I run like hell. Again...
I still remember it. The dread I was feeling, the fear. Knowing that someone chasing you. The image of him in your head being constantly behind you. The constant thought that he is there next to you and you do not know it. You say to yourself "is this where die?". I thought that yes, this is it. That was my fear.

Where would he come from? A constant question in my mind. After running for so long I was getting very tired and I was looking for a place to camp. My first idea was to start a campfire and use it as a trick to run during the night. I would be too tired though and I would get caught. So, my best bet would be to hide.

So, I started by finding the edge of the mountain. See if there was anywhere I could stay. I ended up finding a small cave. It was cold and wet, but it was all I had. I curled up in a corner of it and I slept.                                                           

That night I slept immediately. I woke up the next morning completely forgetting where I was or what I was doing. Then I look in front of me and I see a scrap of paper on my hand.

“Dead” was written on it…

Author: Jimmy Novak