Knowledge and Power: Reincarnated Into A Society That Only Values Strength. (A weak to strong fantasy story)

Everything was hazy and blurred, the only thing that was in clear focus was Mara standing next to my bedside. 'No, even if I got sick from being in the cold, it wouldn't be this bad. This is something else...'

"You're awake, that's a good sign." Her voice rang through my ears like a bad hangover and it took me a moment before I could even process what she was saying.

"What?" 'we were in the bath… Weren't we? My bed, no… her bed? How…" I gasped, heavily wheezing with each breath. It wasn't anything like the dreary fevers I would get from pushing myself too hard. I felt an intense burning in my chest. My lungs were collapsing as my throat closed itself off.

I rolled over to my side, reflexively crawling to my hands and knees and continuing to breathe heavily as my first fully conscious thoughts began to form. 'Cold sweat, heavy nausea without being able to vomit, struggling to breathe. It's poison… Which poison, where's the antidote?'

"Po-s-n." I wheezed out.

She snarled, glaring at me and gritting her teeth.

'No… was it you? Did she do this?'

She remained still, her eyes as cold as steel.

Chills ran through my body and my blood turned to ice. "POISON!" I yelled, my eyes starting to water, desperately hoping for a different reaction.

'There's an antidote in the kitchen downstairs. The medicine cabinet… If I can get to it…' I tried crawling to the edge of my bed. 'If I can just make it there, then maybe I can… But what poison is it… How long ago did I take it? Fast acting… I watched Catherine make that tea, she drank it too, so it's not that…''

My mind blurred to a haze as I suddenly found myself staring at the ceiling. Mara's face loomed above me and her hand pressed down on my throat, feeling just as cold as the blade that scarred it when I was an infant.

I shoved her hand away and scrambled to the far corner of the bed, pushing myself against the frame, even without breath to keep me going, my whole body going numb from lack of oxygen. 'So the poison didn't kill me… And she's going to choke me out? No, she said it was good, I woke up, is it just a test? But then why would she be trying to choke me now? She… Unless she wasn't? I don't…'

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"If that was supposed to be you defending yourself I'm disappointed."

As she approached me again I lifted my arms to cover my face, but the last of my strength was quickly disappearing.

Her icy hand stung as it gripped around my ankle and she yanked me towards her. My airway had completely closed off. I lay there, sprawled like a starfish on a rock, completely helpless against her. 'Why now, why like this? It doesn't make any sense!'

Her cold fingers wrapped around my neck again and my mind went blank.

As I closed my eyes and gave in, I felt something sharp sliding down my esophagus like metal shards.

I could still make out her voice, but it was getting more and more blurred. "Drink this." She said, at least… I think that's what she said. It was either that or "pink mist," And while I admit my pessimism. It seemed too much of a stretch to think she was hoping my blood would mist the air… I wasn't aware of any poisons that did that.

Whatever she was forcing down my throat, I choked on it, spitting most of it out and rolling over to my side from the pain. "Swallow," she grunted, propping my head up and pouring more into my mouth. Every sip felt like it was tearing me apart from the inside. Tears ran down my face like bottomless streams. 'Just let me die…'

I tried to kick and scream, but my body was so weak I could hardly move under her weight, her grip around my neck only tightening to hold me still. With every painful swallow, her hand's pressure grew stronger until my body somehow managed to jerk away.

I was in so much agony I wanted to scream, tensing every muscle in my body, but I was so exhausted I couldn't even get out a squeak. I lay there motionless like a chalk outline. 'Just keep breathing.' I told myself, 'wait… Wait, I can breathe again?'

"You didn't die…" her voice was dull and hazy, and my eyes hurt too much for me to look at her. I tried to ask why she had done all that, but the words got caught in my throat. "Good job." She continued, but I still couldn't respond.

As she stood up I grabbed onto the hem of her pants. "No– Leave–" I coughed between words. I had meant to say. 'You're not leaving until you explain.' But my voice was so weak that was all I could manage…

She paused, freezing stiff for a long while. Eventually, it began to feel like I was holding onto a statue. Finally, she sat down, awkwardly folding her hands.

I wanted to ask her so many things, but before I could, my eyes began to go dark. 'No, I need to stay awake, I need to know… I…' My desperation to stay awake wasn't enough to overcome my exhaustion and I drifted off.

When I came too, She was still right there, and I was still clinging to her pant leg…

"Feeling better?" She asked in a monotone voice.

I still felt as though I couldn't respond, my firm grip on her being the only steady thing in my whole body. "Why?" My voice cracked, whining as another tear trailed down my face from the pain before I quickly wiped it away, the burning in my eyes slowly vanishing as my body cooled down.

"I-it…" She looked away.

'She stuttered? Mara stuttered? But she never status… What?'

"Hm… You won't be returning to normal training… I don't think… You're getting stronger, but just not fast enough… This was a test, or something… I think… I'm not sure… Bhaltair is–"

"Bhaltair…" I growled, coughing again to finally clear my throat as I rolled onto my back. 'I'd poison him right back, but he's immune…'