Chapter 1296 First Day of Training
Hadden thought he would drown and die on 3 separate occasions when he was tossed into the ocean time and time after not being able to remember the alphabet. He couldn't imagine just why his teacher was trying to kill him. Was he trying to get rid of him? He didn't even question why they were in the ocean. That never even crossed his mind. All he did was desperately try to save himself from the crashing waves that threatened to slam him onto the cliff wall multiple times.
He wasn't sure how long he had been in the water or when he was pulled out and placed on the beach. His eyes opened blearily, and his vision was filled by sunlight the moment he opened it.
He tried to move both his arms to block the sunlight, but only his right arm listened to his command. He heard footsteps and quickly turned his head toward the figure.
"How do you feel?" Ning asked, towering over him, shading him from the sun.
"I... I feel like I'm dying," Hadden said. "You tried to kill me."
"Nonsense," Ning said and reached for him before pulling him up straight. He dusted the sand off his back and smiled. "So, how was it?" he asked.
Hadden looked confused. "How was... what?" he asked.
"Your first day of training of course," Ning said. You can track the origins of this material back to n0velbin★
Hadden looked confused. "You were trying to kill me," he shouted at Ning. Ning took one swipe at his leg, and the boy fell back into the sand. "Don't raise your voice at me," he said seriously. "And I never said your training was ever going to be easy."
"Urgh!" the boy grunted in pain. He hadn't realized just how much pain his body was in. Just how much the water had hurt him.
"Anyway, that is enough for today," Ning said. "We will continue the same tomorrow until you can improve your resistance to pain. I'm hoping to do it in the next few months. Then, you split your core."
Hadden looked at Ning as if he was seeing someone else now. He knew his master was strong, but this... this was something else.
"Where were we just now?" he asked, looking outside the tavern. It was morning here. But it had been noon back on that island.
"It was an island, east of the Azurage country," Ning said and brought out something from somewhere that Hadden couldn't see. "Eat this."
The boy looked at the small ball of powder. "What's this?" he asked. "It's called a pill," Ning explained. "It can heal you very quickly. All the pain in your body would be gone at once."
"What?" the boy looked with wonder at the pill in Ning's hand. He took it and ate it, chewing it before swallowing. Ning looked at him eat, knowing what he just gave the boy wasn't a healing pill at all. It was just a placebo, to make the boy he would heal. He had to let the boy sit in pain for a while to get used to it. Ning planned to heal him half a day later so the boy would think the pill worked.
The boy showed signs of relief on his face, not knowing what he had eaten. Ning almost wanted to smile.
He looked around for a second and then asked the system where Emma was.
"Stay here, and learn your alphabet," Ning said. "Emma should be back soon and she will help you with food. I need to go somewhere for now."
"Okay, teacher," Hadden said blankly. Ning nodded and turned around to leave. When he was at the door, Hadden called him again.
"Teacher!" he shouted. Ning turned back around to look at the young boy.
"What is it?" he asked. "Thank you for teaching me," he said. "I will not let you down. I will definitely become stronger."
Ning smiled at the strong face the boy had put on, despite all the pain he should be feeling right now. He couldn't help but feel happy about that. "I have no doubts," he said and left with a face full of a bright smile.