"Your legs are shaking; be steady."
The sound of a whip cracked the dry air as a low groan escaped the lips of a teenager, who was struggling under the weight of a flexible stick and two large buckets filled with water attached to both ends of it.
"Is this the way you shall overpower the monsters? Rather sit down and become their prey willingly!"
Behind Drek the teenager, a man with a well defined physique raised his hands and whipped him once again, leaving a horizontal slash on the naked skin.
'Sometimes I really wonder if the saying that one suffers from the sins of their forefathers is really true. Or else nothing can explain how I ended up under this monster. Even real monsters out there are merciful... probably!'
However, to his master he pleaded, "But Master Zhong, I have been standing like this for two hours now. At this rate, I won't even be able to participate in the awakening ceremony: the very reason I am training so much in the first place."
Zhong went silent for a brief second before smirking with a smug face, "So without a ceremony, you wouldn't have trained? Is that what you are suggesting?"
"Th- that was definitely not what--"
"Shut up, rascal. A person should strive to grow stronger regardless of the presence or absence of any given crisis. It's not necessary that you need to have a goal to grow. Sometimes, you should ignore everything and build yourself without any limits."
Drek felt a wave of shame pass through him. Zhong could have been a ruthless man, abusive even. But this man was also the very reason he was still alive.
"No matter what, you shall listen to him. Don't fail his expectations, my boy." The last words of his father rung loudly in Drek's ears and subsequently, he let out a sigh and refocused on the task at hand.
Grounding himself, he felt the muscles of his legs tighten. Then slowly, he raised himself from the bent position he was currently in.
"Good, good. Keep on at it." Zhong said in appreciation before walking away to a chair and sitting on it.
Time passed by and with every passing minute, Drek felt his arms grow weaker from all the strain.
But just as he was about to completely falter, Zhong got up from his chair and shouted, "Enough, now keep those buckets down."
Drek sighed in relief, quickly dropping down everything on the floor before straightening himself and letting out a satisfying groan as he felt his muscles relax.
But as if dissatisfied with the very fact that he had received some relief, a metallic clink resounded through the room as something rolled up to him.
Looking down, he saw his sword lying at his feet.
"Pick it up and charge at me." Zhong said in a nonchalant manner, setting aside the chair at a corner of the room.
'My arms feel like they shall fall off if I move them even a little.' But knowing his master, he knew there was no escape from this. And thus, with great effort, he picked up the sword.
The cold hilt was hard to grab for Drek, whose palms were now full of sores. But somehow persisting, he lined the sword in front of him and faced Master Zhong, who calmly dropped down the whip and took a stance. No sword, just pure fistfight.
Drek moved first. In the not so spacious room, he clipped his sword downwards in a vertical slash. Zhong stepped away and feigned a roundhouse kick before stepping on the ground where Drek had been a second ago.
Heart hammering, Drek leaned to his left as he jabbed at his master's head. By this, he wanted to work on both offense while at the same time, make enough room for himself to escape.
But as if reading him like an open book, Zhong moved his head away and dashed forward. Before Drek could even step away, Zhong kicked his extended leg as Drek stumbled.
Taking advantage of his vulnerable state, Master Zhong clamped down on Drek's sword hand.
"Ouch!" In response, Drek let out a pained grunt feeling the heavy force at his wrist and unconsciously, letting go of his sword.
The moment he realised what had just transpired, he panicked and immediately bent down to reach his sword.
It was however, too late as an elbow crashed into his back and he fell on the floor with an audible thud.
From above him, a cold voice spoke.
"Drek Minsi, you lose."
***
A month passed just like that as Drek trained in the rental home amongst the slums. His eighteenth birthday came and went as well. The day, which was considered quite important and worth celebrating, was however just a regular, bland day in Drek's life.
Although he didn't ask for anything from Master Zhong, his heart had held a sliver of hope that just maybe...he could get to celebrate the day by doing something.
Even a day off would have been fine for him.
But sadly, his master didn't show the slightest intention in doing anything for him. Only in the morning when Drek had woken up did he say, "Drek, you have turned eighteen today. Which means you are going to join this year's awakening ceremony. That also means you need to train harder. Treat your household chores as a part of training from now on, is that understood?"
"Yes, master." was all Drek could say with a serious face but a faltering heart.
From thereafter, in the morning where he previously would fill buckets of water from the public pipeline to store it in his house for the entire day, now he was made to run there with two buckets in each hand and come back the same way.
Zhong had even found out places outside the slums where owners were in need of people to clear off the tall grasses and outgrowths in fields and buildings.
And so, Drek without his consent, not that he was ever asked for his permission, was sent to these places to work for some bronze coins.
Before he left, Master Zhong had instructed him clearly, "The main aim in this isn't to make money...well, something is still better than nothing."
Saying that in an almost inaudible voice, he added.
"The very reason you are doing this is to improve your accuracy. So while on the fields, you are not to use your brute strength. Do take care the soil doesn't get affected even a little bit."
"Yes, master." Drek nodded, though in his mind he was questioning how cutting grass was even related to increasing accuracy.
But if Zhong said so, he had to.
Drek's entire afternoon was spent this way, before heading for lunch at home. Then come evening, he would be busy with his books, reading about the history and the geographical importance of all the seven domains of humanity.
A few pages would cover a little about the other minor kingdoms and the constant strifes between them.
There were even books covering the different types of monsters and where they had the highest probability of residing. And obviously, they also covered about the most important topic: the Cull.
A species highly resembling humans - two forelimbs and hindlimbs, a pair pf eyes, ears, capable of walking on two legs and intelligent.
At the same time, they were different from any human on the planet. Because the Culls weren't just a species - they were the epitome of dread and fear. They were immortal; death only kissed them when killed.
Their skins were a shining silver colour and were icy cold and looked as if an artist had left their sculptures unfinished: they were just that ugly.
The most interesting thing in them is that they have no genders. While a Cull could look like a male or a female, they lacked any genitalia for they need not eat, excrete....or even reproduce sexually.
As for their battle powress, even a youngling was stronger than an average human adult. And on top of that, the Culls don't need to go through any awakening ceremony; they awaken at their birth naturally.
'I wonder how master would fare against them?' Sometimes Drek would question himself. He was no ordinary child himself but rather a prince, now in exile. Zhong was one of his father's most trusted subordinates.
'Logically that would surely mean he was one of the strongest as well, right?'
His evening would then descend into another session of building endurance and sharpening his sword techniques.
"Go and sleep now." With that, Drek's day would come to an end. And the cycle would continue the next day. And the next.
As days passed, the awakening ceremony neared as well.