A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 91  The Unshakeable - Part 1

He knew that what he had to find wasn't necessarily tied to anything. In act, it as probably tied to everything. He got that sense from it, there was a strong pull in whatever direction he walked in, directing him inwards, urging him to take notice of something that he refused to take notice of before. But he had not yet gleaned exactly what it was. He knew the precarious nature of his situation – that he had been cursed by Ingolsol and at the same time blessed by Claudia, but he had no idea what that meant, exactly.

He only knew that it had opened the door to progress for him. He wasn't aware that the door had merely been opened a crack and this wealth of progression – the best he had ever seen in his life – was a mere trickle when compared to what should be available to him. Nor did he realize that such progression was tied to his own demise, at least with how unbalanced things ere currently. He only felt a strong sense of resistance in his head.

Here, his experience with suffering held him back – for he was used to that feeling of resistance. Whenever he felt it and he felt like giving up, he merely ignored the feeling and pushed onwards. He did the same even now, as his leg bled, for there was no worth to his life if he was not allowed to at least struggle.

He did what had started to become a routine at this point – he walked around his campground and then he attempted to jog around it. After that, he went to attempt to lift the stones, only to fail just as gloriously as yesterday, hardly able to lift the second one at all.

But the fact that there was movement in his leg again made him unwilling to sit down and do nothing. "I can at least walk, right?" He said aloud, wondering how he might find some progress today.

He could indeed walk, but not without a limp. Anything strenuous was completely beyond him. Yet still, before Dominus left for the day, he called out to him.

"Did you remember to look after the log sled and axe as you said you would?" Beam asked.

"I did…" Dominus said with a squint, as though trying to sense his intentions.

"Where are they?" Beam asked.

"Ah," with that question, Dominus understood. He looked Beam up and down carefully. "This is rash," he told him.

"I know – but I'm done resting. It's time to start moving again," Beam said.

Dominus heaved a sigh. "You know…"

It took him a moment to finish that thought, as though struggling to find the words. Beam waited patiently.

"Ah, nothing. Your impatience might be a blessing as well as a curse. But since it bothers you so often, you should train moderation. For now, I will not get in your way. But know this: if I believe your actions to be too reckless, I will forcibly make you rest, and you will lose the autonomy to decide just how you recover," Dominis finished. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Beam nodded. "Fine. I won't be too reckless. If I think I've pushed myself too far, I'll stop."

"Somehow, I don't think I can trust you to do that… You don't seem to know your body very well at all," Dominus said, before relenting. "Fine. The axe is with the sled. They're where you left them – only covered with a significant amount of leaves and sticks. I've been checking on them periodically. No one has touched them."

"Thank you, master," Beam said with a nod of his head, as he picked up his knife and threaded it through his belt.

"Careful now," Dominus warned him again as Beam left.

"I know!" Beam called back over his shoulder.

…

…

Just as Dominus had said, the log sled and axe were exactly where he'd left them. Though, if he hadn't known they were, he would have walked past them, for they were so thoroughly disguised in a mound of leaves and sticks.

It took far more effort to free the log sled than he had anticipated and once he did, he saw that the axe wasn't with it and he began to panickedly search through the leaves. But he found the axe soon after, seeing that it had slipped out of the sled as he pulled it free of the debris.

He ran his finger along the axe's edge, making sure that it was still sharp. It was, of course. A mere week wouldn't be enough to dull it significantly – and he'd sharpened it before he came out last time.

The tree that he'd felled was still where he'd left it too, right before Nila's call for help came.

It was strange to Beam, seeing that same forest be so peaceful now after the calamity of a mere week ago. After so much violence and aggression.

But he supposed the trees were oblivious to his plight. A mere boy and some Goblins fighting probably meant nothing to them. They'd seen far more interesting things in their many years of life.

Beam began to process the fallen tree with such thoughts on his mind, hefting it up between a cluster of trees and clamping it, then using the tree's leverage to snap it continually.

Of course, his leg pained him as he went. These tasks that were so easy before now took a significant amount of effort. But they were doable still, even lacking his strength and steadily he worked through them.

He hacked another couple of trees down – that too taking more effort than normal. But once more, he got through it.

Slowly he filled his sled up, until it got to half way full. Then, he paused to look at it doubtfully, wondering if he would really be able to manage to pull it along. They were quite a distance from the village after all, since Nila had insisted that they go deeper to hunt that deer that she'd wanted.