Acheron in Tensura

It had been a week since my mother's misunderstanding.

'Well, at least I have a good alibi now.'

I slowly got up and got ready for training.

'Master wanted me to eat something, soooo that means I will get a new training. I hope this won't be that hard, right?'

As I was thinking to myself, my mother walked in with a smug face.

"So, is my little horn going to introduce me to his little mate?"

'Ohhh hell nah! My master and my mother in one room?'

I started imagining the horrible things that would happen.

'Not in a hundred years.'

I got distracted.

"You need some protein for your workout with that special someone." She winked.

'This is getting embarrassing.'

"It's not like that, Mother."

'It's better to let her stay in her delusion than to tell her I've been trained by an ancestor who almost kills me daily and is older than time itself.'

I felt goosebumps.

'Hhhhuuuhh, what a dangerous thought. I shouldn't have these thoughts in front of Master.'

So, I ate my breakfast and went to Master. My mother tried to follow me, but I managed to lose her.

'So, what kind of pain will I experience in this training?'

I stepped into the clearing, and there she was again, sitting on that rock, meditating.

"Ehmmm, Master?"

She opened her eyes.

"Do you see the mountain range?"

I looked at it. "Yes."

"Then let's go there," she said, standing up.

She marched forward, but…

"Master, where are you going?" She was walking in the opposite direction.

"..."

"Why don't I test your sense of direction? Go to the mountain range."

"..."

'Something is fishy here.'

"What are you waiting for? Go."

So, I started walking.

'Wait… will we even be able to reach that mountain today?'

"Ehmm, Master, we won't be able to reach it in time."

She looked at me and pulled out a stick.

"Of course we will."

Then, I saw the stick descending toward my head.

"Eeeek!"

I started running.

"If you slow down, I will hit you with it."

So, I ran and ran. To my surprise, I got there pretty fast.

"That was slow."

I felt like an arrow had struck my heart.

Then, Master walked toward a cave. I followed her.

"Ehmm… So, what now?"

"Give me your weapon."

I handed her my weapon.

"So, what is my training?"

Before I could react, I was shoved into the cave. Master placed some kind of barrier at the entrance. Then she looked at me with her usual stoic face.

"Your next training is a test. Survive in the monster cave for a week."

"For a week!? What about my family?"

"You wanted to be my disciple, so prove yourself."

"Besides that, your family won't be a problem." Master glanced at a tree.

From the tree, someone stepped out. It was my grandfather.

"Explain. Now." He looked at my Master.

"That young ogre wanted to be my disciple. I trained him, but this is a real test."

Then she looked him up and down.

"You are human."

Grandfather answered back. "And you are not."

He looked her over. "I see… so you are the Sword Saint."

Master remained silent, just staring.

Grandfather then bowed slightly. "Sorry for being a little rude earlier. My name is Byakuya Araki."

"Hn."

"Don't worry, grandson. I like this test. What are you waiting for at the entrance? Go."

With that, I started walking through the cave.

I felt something was wrong, so I hid behind a wall. I saw a giant bat flying. It was alone, so I jumped onto its back, locked my hands around its neck, and started pressing.

It began flying wildly, trying to shake me off, and then—smack!—it crashed into a wall with me still on its back. I fell to the ground.

'It's harder without a weapon than I thought.'

I looked around and saw some kind of stalagmite. I planted myself in front of it. The giant bat flew headfirst at me, and at the last second, I rolled out of the way. The bat impaled its head on the stalagmite. It writhed a little, then stopped moving.

'At least I have food and a weapon now.'

I started digging out some bones from the corpse and took some meat with me.

'This is a lot harder than hunting on the ground. I need to find somewhere to stay—a safe zone for myself.'

I started walking, but then a monster appeared in front of me—a giant lizard.

"Shit."

There was only one thing to do: run.

So, I ran and left the whole giant bat to the Armorsaurus.

Now, the only thing I had was a fang and a bone.

I sighed. "No food. The only thing I got is this fang."

'This will be even harder than I thought…'

(End of a chapter)