I heaved at the root. It came loose. I carried my bundle up the tree hanging onto the vine and pulling myself up. I placed the firewood in a corner. I had been milling over how to get stronger during my many hours doing chores. That time when I was chased, I was able to run. I had never been able to do that before. I had barely been able to walk fast, yet something had happened and caused that explosive growth. At the moment I could barely jog without collapsing from exhaustion but I had progressed more in that moment than many days before that. The only difference that I could think of between then and my training was the risk. I had been able to run because my life depended on it. Hadn’t Tom said something about this as well. The body can adapt to extreme situations when under the right conditions.

 

The branch above me creaked.

Olivere landed on a branch above the house. It swung under his weight. A net was slung over his shoulders. He was whistling as he jumped down onto the floor and put the sack casually next to his workbench. Some exotic spiked and armoured fruit rolled out onto the floor.

I frowned at his casualness. It had been several days since he had made me his student. Yet there hadn’t been a lick of change to my day since then. I was still stuck doing chores.

 

“Olivere, when will my training begin?” I asked for the thousandth time.

 

“You must be patient,” he responded.

 

“I don’t have time, I need to train,” I begged him.

 

“Why are the young always in such a rush?” asked Olivere complaining to himself. He took a bite of one of the fruits.

Olivere took a speed-walked to the edge of the platform

 

“ Get down,” he said before jumping off fruit still in hand.

 

I followed after sliding down the vine. I landed unbalanced on my feet at the base of the tree.

 

Olivere was standing a bit away from the tree.

 

“Let’s fight,”

 

“What, right now?”

 

He raised one of his hands into a fist.

 

“I thought you wanted to train?”

 

I raised my guard.

 

Olivere took another bite of his fruit.

 

I inched forward, the world seemed to stand still. I had never really fought a human before at least not hand-to-hand combat. What moves would he make? Is he taking this seriously? There were too many variables. Just attack that’s the only thing I can do.

 

I swung at him aiming for his chest.

 

Before I knew it I was on my back with his knee on my chest.

 

“Your movements are way too slow,” said Olivere.

 

“How am I supposed to keep up with your speed?” I got out through gritted teeth.

 

“You‘ll need better timing, you get better timing through prediction. If you’re not good enough to react fast enough then simply anticipate where your opponent will move and act appropriately.”

 

He extended a hand. I took it and got to my feet. We started again.

 

I jabbed again aiming for his tors only to raise it and aim for his face. He easily caught my fist in his spadelike hand.

 

“Good, that was better you’re thinking now,” he said.

 

“I’m not done yet!” I said twisting my body by pushing off from his hand and sweeping my left foot under him. Instead of moving him like I planned. My foot stopped solidly against him. He was rooted firmly into the ground. It felt as impossible as moving the tree in which he lived.

 

“Very impressive,” said Olivere, “I’m pleasantly surprised. It seems you have potential yet,”

“But what if I do this?” He said jumping back. “The greatest defense you have is distance, it doesn’t matter how powerful your opponent is If they can’t hit you then they can’t hurt you. It doesn’t matter then if you barely do any damage the longer the fight goes on the closer you are to victory,”

 

I made up the distance but he moved further away. The closer I got the more he moved away. I paused before continuing. I had to block his movement somehow. He couldn’t see where he was going, that gave me an advantage. I followed him whenever he moved back, patiently without hurrying. I did so until his back was against the tree.

 

“Good good, you’re a quick learner,” said Olivere. He jumped up and held on to the bark of the tree.

 

“But you can’t expect your opponents to be on the same playing field as you,”

 

I jumped up and grabbed the vine I swung at Olivere. He dodged it easily by simply leaning into the tree.

 

“You were rushing me to train you and look at you now, are you sure you are ready to be trained?” he said mockingly.

 

“Your training had started as soon as I let you live in my house, I had planned on training you from the start. What you don’t realize is that the very air you breathe is infused with mana. Down here in this jungle, every part is rich in mana. You might even have noticed a heaviness in the air due to the diffused mana. Mana dwells in the food you eat, and the water you drink, By simply being in this environment your body will recover its mana faster, as it absorbs the excess mana and essentially relearns how to synthesize it. “

 

“Now for my final lesson of today!” said Olivere raising his voice. He leapt to the ground slinging me down in an armbar to the ground. It knocked the wind out of me once when his arm connected and the second time when I hit the ground.

 

“At some point, you will meet an opponent that has insurmountable strength,” he went on. He disappeared from in front of me.

 

“In those situations ….” He whispered into my ear from behind me. A shiver went down my spine. I hadn’t even seen him move. If he hadn’t spoken I would have had no idea he was there.

 

“You will inevitably lose!” He shouted wrapping his arms around my neck. I pawed at them but his iron-hard muscles held on unfazed by my puny attacks.

 

I gasped for breath but I couldn’t breathe. I felt the pressure build up uncomfortably in my head. It was then I realized something, he could kill me. He could kill me right now and there was nothing that I could do about it. I realized how I didn’t really know this guy, I don’t know his past or what he was capable of. How do I know he’s not just some lunatic living in a forest?

 

I felt his grip loosen and the pressure subside. He withdrew his arms and laid me gently on the ground. I still couldn’t move properly and waited for the feeling to properly return to my body.

 

I sat up when I felt ready. He was waiting patiently.

 

“Remember that feeling,” said Olivere. “That feeling of being unable to do anything in front of a stronger opponent. The final lesson is that when you have an opponent that surpasses you in every way you will die, and there will be nothing you can do to stop that. As long as you remember that, it will give you strength, Ideally, you would retreat but there are times when one simply cannot do that. In those situations you’re only other option is to pray to god and do your best,”

 

“Well,” he said suddenly cheerful, “ That probably won’t happen to you unless you’re really unlucky,”

 

He crawled up the tree. The vine suddenly loosened and fell down from the tree and gathered in a bundle at its base.

 

“Your challenge for the rest of this day will be to make it up this tree without using any ropes,” he shouted from the top.

 

I groaned. I knew I signed up for this but I could at least complain about it. I grasped the light brown bark of the tree, there were thick divots in it but I was unable to get a proper hold. I managed to find proper handholds after some time. I leaned my body weight on my hands. The bark carried my weight. You never know it might just be an outer layer. I reached for the next handhold and placed my feet where I had previously placed my hands. I repeated the action. Before long I was covered in sweat and my forearms were burning. My toes were also surprisingly tired from having to hold up my weight in the tiny holds. Crap! The next hold was slightly out of reach. I extended my body upwards to the hold. My feet slipped and I fell sliding down the the tree.

 

I panted heavily. I rotated my wrists in pain. My forearms were cramping from having to hold on so tightly. I would have to do this fast. A lot of time was actually spent thinking of where to place my hands and feet. A red lizard crawled into view. It was climbing effortlessly on the bark as if it was walking on the ground. Its limbs were splayed out on the sides of its body with wide toes grasping the surface. Maybe I’m climbing all wrong, when the lizard’s arms are to the side of its body, it can use its chest and back to press the arms around the tree, almost like it's actively hugging the tree. That might allow it to use more muscles and not fatigue. Its movements are also impressive arguably more impressive than any other natural ability it displays. If I try to copy its movements I wonder how far I’ll be able to climb.

 

I shook off my forearms and feet. It eased the burn a little. I remember being impressed by the swiftness of Olivere’s movements as well. The swiftness and fluidity he had when climbing and moving through the trees. OK, I have to still my mind.I took a deep breath and relaxed my muscles. Remember the movements of the lizard …

 

I reached for the bark. I placed my arms and then my feet. I lay flat my belly grazing the tree with my arms on my side. I reached for the next hold and then the next one. I ignored the fatigue setting into my limbs and the urge to think about my next step. I moved up swiftly. I was doing it, I was doing it! I glanced down. I was several meters above the ground. The hut was now only about 2 bodylengths away. With the last of my strength, I reached the platform nearly losing my footing on the final steps. I collapsed at the top. I climbed the entire six meters!

 

“I thought you’d be down there all night,” said Olivere from over at his workbench. He walked over and handed me a water sack. “Help yourself to some fruit as well,” He said pointing to the pile of fruit piled beside it. “I travelled extra far for those, they’re delicious,”

 

I gulped down the water and devoured some fruits, eating some of the fruits as well. Now that I was full my eyes threatened to stay shut if I blinked. I made it to the hammock before drifting dreamlessly into sleep...