One year and eight months.
That was how long I had been isolated in the forest training.
I'm now 14 years old, almost 15.
Just another ordinary morning.
Sweat ran down my chest as I caught my breath before grabbing the ropes, already patched several times due to wear.
I took a deep breath and pulled the tree once more, making the massive trunk groan and crack.
For a second, I thought it was just another false alarm, but the sound changed.
The trunk snapped like a whip, and the tree began to creak, finally starting to tilt… toward me.
'Ah, shit.'
I quickly released the ropes and tried to run, but it came down too fast.
Outside the reach of the trunk, a shadow appeared, switching places with me in the same instant.
I fell to the ground, and a thunderous crash followed as the tree collapsed.
"..." I removed my blindfold, and for a few seconds, I could only stand there, staring at it.
"Ha... Ha..."
"Haha…"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
"Finally!!! It finally fell!!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!"
I let my body drop to the ground, completely drenched in sweat, my heart pounding like a drum.
After laughing until my stomach hurt, I stretched my hand into the air and summoned the guide, opening it straight to the page that said I could proceed "after knocking down the tree."
"I hope you didn't get crushed by the tree hahahahaha."
My smile faded.
The laughter continued.
For two entire pages.
"I'm going to find you, you bastard," I muttered, flipping through the pages angrily.
The next chapters were "Basic First Aid" and "Anatomy."
The first aid one was useful, having information about: bandages, tourniquets, recognizing poisons and hemorrhages.
The anatomy one… well, that one was a joke.
It was literally a crude drawing of a human body, covered in arrows and red circles.
On the side, in large bold letters:
"Hit here"
"Critical area"
"Break here to ruin the funeral"
I moved on.
The next chapter was about bomb creation.
And here, the book actually got serious.
There were detailed explanations about pressure, chemical combinations, traps, and even improvised weaponry.
Some illustrations showed rudimentary designs of gas bombs and contact explosives.
Funny enough, the drawings in this chapter were quite professional... unlike the stick figures from before.
In just a few hours, I already knew enough to craft something deadly with a handful of simple ingredients.
But the next chapter was the one that truly made me uneasy.
"Poison creation and resistance."
The introduction already started suspiciously:
"Since worlds may vary in fauna and flora, I have devised a special way to compensate the reader: upon opening this page, flasks containing basic poison samples will materialize."
"I recommend drinking them all at once. They are weak, so it should be safe. (I hope)."
"I hope?"
Yeah… I have a bad feeling about this.
Then the book began to glow with a blinding blue light, and from it, small flasks appeared between the pages, emitting a faint purple glow.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"Ingest everything at once." That's what the guide said.
'I hope this doesn't kill me.'
I opened the flasks, took a deep breath, and downed everything at once.
The taste was horrible, I had never tasted anything so bad.
A wave of nausea hit me right after swallowing.
The next instant, my entire body reacted, I felt as if invisible blades were tearing through my skin from the inside out.
My vision blurred.
The world spun around me, and I finally collapsed to the ground.
My throat tightened, and foam began to form in my mouth.
I started suffocating, but somehow managed to stay conscious long enough to breathe again, just a little, before finally passing out.
─── ◆ ───
I woke up the next day, drenched in sweat, my body aching… but alive, I think.
"How the hell is this supposed to be weak????" I muttered, my voice hoarse.
I felt like my body was lighter… maybe I was still high from the poison, who knows.
I finished reading the rest of the chapter.
"Blah blah blah, keep consuming poisons to increase your resistance, blah blah blah"
The explanations about neutralization, extraction, and application of toxins were precise and detailed.
I memorized everything.
When I reached the last page… nothing.
The sheet was blank.
For a moment, I thought the guide had ended.
But before I could close the book, letters began to appear on their own, burning into the paper slowly.
"May the blood of your enemies never blind your eyes before your own justice."
"May the mountain of corpses beneath your feet be formed only by the unjust and those who deserve such a fate"
"Good luck, child."
"May the shadows be your guide."
The flames spread, consuming the entire book.
I stepped back, ready to put out the fire, but then I realized, it wasn't burning anything except the paper itself.
When the last embers faded, what remained wasn't ashes.
It was a mask.
Black, smooth, simple, but sturdy and cold to the touch.
Its shape resembled the masks used by shinobi.
It covered the face from the nose down, with no straps or support to hold it in place.
I picked it up and held it against the light.
"So that's it… it's over."
For a moment, I felt a strange emptiness.
The guide, with all its absurd jokes, useless advice, and "brilliant" teachings, had become part of my routine.
And now, all that remained was the mask.
I put it on.
The fit was perfect, attaching itself to my face as if by magic.
Air flowed through it with strange ease for a mask without any visible respirator, feeling even purer.
I sighed and removed the mask, observing it carefully.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… thank you… Master."
"..."
"Author… yeah, if I ever tell someone who trained me, I'll just call you Author… It's hard to say your master was Shaolin Pig Slayer…"
"Hahaha…"
"..."
Growl! My stomach growled...
"Sigh… I need to get something to eat."
─── ◆ ───
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