A month or so passes and it is time for the children's festival again. I am happy because I'll get to see my little sister. In this past month, I have been sprinting and swinging till i am a temporary parapalegic and I must say, this procedure has produced great results. I can already feel the difference from one month ago.

Jorgen has also proven how strong he is. Yesterday, I got him to show me, since he had mocked my father, even though he had considerable strength from my point of view. Before I even know what had happened, I had the air knocked out of me, and was several feet up in the air. Sufficed to say, Jorgen is really strong. In addition, he seems to at least be 60 years old, and not that muscular.

Time and time again I am reminded by this world to throw all I think I know from the old one out of the window, but I just can't seem to pinpoint my deepset assumptions before I have gotten hurt by it at least once. I wonder how exhausted I would be from this, if it weren't for my self-healing power. Every night, I go to bed sore and exhausted, but in the morning, I awake fit as a fiddle. Jorgen also seemed slightly surprised at first. My healing power may be truly outrageous.

At the children's festival, my sister calls my name and hugs me dearly when we meet, seems she really missed me. This little  Sten is also here, seeking to meet up with our previous family, but we kinda just don't talk to each other. Lod is nowhere in sight. I wonder if he thinks he is not welcome? It sounded like Jorgen let slip that he advocated our separation.

I go to sleep in my comfy new bed, but the day after the children's festival, I awake in a carriage. It seems Jorgen is pulling it at quite the impressive speed.

"What happened? Where am I?"

"Oh, you woke up" Jorgen said astutely "We're heading to a new place for training"

"What? Why did you move me in the middle of the night?" I ask, genuinely confused.

"So you wouldn't know the way back" Every now and then, Jorgen have given me some serious bad vibes, and my skin is crawling right now. I take a look around. There is no road, only a grassy field. In addition, the damn fog that is everywhere doesn't let me see more than, at best a mile in every direction.

"Why should I not know the way back" I fear the answer.

"Because you're gonna want to run away". I knew it, this guy is a psycho, he is gonna put me through hell.

As I climb up, jump out of the carriage and aim to start running, Jorgen quickly abandons the cart and catches me. Even though i am so fast, I can't hope to compete with his speed.

"Give it up, Yos. What are you gonna do? Aimlessly wander around and die of starvation?"

"Let me go!" I scream, trying to struggle as much as possible with my arms and legs flailing, but Jorgen quickly subdues me.

"Listen up, kid. You may regret it now, but I am going to forge you into the strongest hunter this world has ever seen!"

Slightly resigned to the superior might, I ask "Why me? Why did you take me from my mom? What do you gain from this?"

Jorgen starts to calmly explain. "In the cities, there are what is called the hunter's association. They dispatch contracted hunters to fetch rare or difficult materials from dungeons in the vicinity, or leases them out as escorts."

"So what! What does that have to do with anything?" PANG, a strike hits my head.

"Listen till I am doing speaking, you insolent boy. When I was young, I sought my fortune in the city. It's where I met Hannah, and it's where I became strong and it's where I met the strongest man I have ever seen in my life. Do you know what that gift that strongest man had, boy?"

I just jerk a little defiantly in response.

"Self-healing" I freeze a little. There should be all manner of gifts, how can self-healing be the strongest?

Jorgen continues "When I inquired him how he got so strong he told me that every day, he could train in almost perpetuity, because his stamina kept regenerating and increasing. Every wound he got, first from monster, later from himself, only served to grow him tougher and more resilient, and you know what the best part of it is?"

"No" I said, having lost all hope of escaping.

"He only started when he was around 20. I only insisted on getting you, because a little while before, it spread like wildfire through the village that your gift was one of strong regeneration."

Silence falls, and it starts to feel awkward, having this old man embrace me.

"And you, what do you get out of this?" I ask with a spiteful tone.

"I am already an old man. My purpose in life is now to create the best future, the one with the most and strongest hunters. You have real potential here kid. And I won't lie, it's gonna be hard for you, but I am going to forge you into a man many people will rely on in the future"

"Don't need. All I want is to run. And spend time with my little sister."

"Run? And how can you make a living just from running? Best bet is a courier but you'd have to spend most time sitting around and doing nothing, only waiting to run. Do you want that?" 

"I don't know"

"And noone goes through life alone kid. It is not only better for you to become a great hunter, but also for all of those around you. You have the potential, so you have responsibility to do so"

Even if he puts it like that... "I-"

Jorgen immediately cuts me off. "And you know what? The greatest hunters often get in cahoots with nobility. There you can make your own rules, even make a small paradise for running if that is what you want to. Power not only improves your because of what you can do, but also how you can shape society."

Ugh, I feel like he's got me. I don't really want to, alarm signals in my head are still ringing about trusting this old man, but I can't refute him anymore. And even if I could, he's kinda right in that I don't know the way home. I don't even know the way to the village. If I come across civilization before I starve, I might be able to convince somebody to help me because I have a gift, but what if more weirdos will seek to do what they want with it.

Jorgen relaxes his grip and we both stand up. I follow him reluctantly to yet another drastic change in my life.