I looked straight into doctor's eyes, and said "I choose death". The doctor actually started saying "Good choice bo…". He stopped when he realised, that I didn't chose what he wanted. "Wait, you choose death?", he asked dumbfounded. I chose death, because I choose not to live for someone else's sake. The old man's face looked grim and he, asked "Why? You don't want to live?". I answered, "No, I want to live. But I want to live for my own sake, not yours!". He asked confused, "What do you mean?". I said "What I mean is, I don't intend to do your bindings for you. I will get my revenge for what they did, with or without your help. I would be dead anyway, if they didn't find me. What do I have to lose?". He looked me in the eyes. I don't know why he stared, but it seemed he changed his mind. He said, "So that's how it is. You eyes, they tell an interesting story". I was confused. 'What does he mean? Has he gone crazy completely?' I thought. I was still alive, I decided to use that. If he was crazy, I could have a way out of this. I asked, "What do you mean? What eyes?". He replied, "Boy, you are different. When I think about it now, it's even more apparent. Those Unyielding eyes. I won't kill you boy, I will give you a chance". No dying was the best result, but I had no idea what that crazy fool talked about. I said "I don't understand". He continued, "What I meant, is rather simple. You have your own path in life, with your will and nature, nothing can change that but you". I was bewildered, he talked about stuff I had no clue about. 'My nature, path in life? My will? Why is he sparing me exactly? He will give me a chance as well... I'm lost' I thought. He continued "That's good, even very good. Kid, take the chance I'm offering you. No obligations, just learn my skills, be my inheritor". He then mumbled to himself "Ha... Unyielding will... what luck". I just stared at him, lost in my thoughts. 'I chose death, yet I feel like he is the one begging me to live. What is this situation?'. If I had to do nothing in exchange, why not take it? 'He might be crazy, but his skills are real too. This means, I will get what I want, and don't sacrifice anything in return' I thought. I said "In that case, I agree". The old man laughed out loud, and replied "Wasn't that hard, was it? I will only impart the skills to you. I will help you with nothing else. Your current wounds, are yours to take care of. You being a slave, it's your problem as well. Meet me tomorrow as usual, I have some thing to explain. Your training will start as well". I asked pissed, "Crazy old fool, I can barely move now. You want me to visit you tomorrow? You can wish I guess". He thought about it, and replied "Guess you are right. In that case, return when you heal your wounds". He unlocked the the doors, then sat in his chair. I couldn't get up, the drug that he used was still in effect. 'He won't help me, so I have to wait. How long can this thing hold me up for?' I asked myself. Suddenly, the doors to the house opened, and the Village Chief Rand barged in. He looked at me, with wounds and knives stuck in my arms still. He furrowed his brows, and said "We leave for a while, and already a shit show happened. Why is he in such a poor state? How did he kill that woman?". Nick replied "How should I know? From what he said, it was at her request. I guess the things they did to her, was too much. As for why he is in such a state? That's his punishment". Rand's brows eased up a bit. He said, "Fine, I won't take this matter any further. I don't want him to bleed to death either, why are you just sitting there?". Nick replied "He will take care of himself, I will not treat him". Rand again furrowed his brows, and asked "Why?". Nick's reply was simple, "That's part of his punishment. Don't worry though, he will not die. Just let him rest for few days". Rand replied angrily "Fine", and left. Nick returned to his so called sleep, while I laid there unable to move my body at all. When the drug finally stopped working, I could move my arms and legs again. My whole body ached, I decided to stay there for a while longer and rest more. The bleeding ceased a long time ago, so I didn't have to worry about bleeding myself to death. With some rest, I was able to get up and move a bit. I went to the treatment room, to get some medicine and bandages. I used some medicine on my legs first, and wrapped the wounded areas with the bandages. Then, I took care of my arms. I still had to take those knives out, which wasn't a nice feeling. With my arms mostly taken care of, I worked on my stomach. With all the treatment completed, I slowly limped back to my house. Inside, I saw that the quilt and the bed stained with Dina's blood. I was too tired to care about that, I simply laid on that and went to sleep. There was no dinner waiting for me, that in itself was bad. I could use some food at that stage. I woke up in the morning the next day, with a very familiar feeling of starvation. Not only was I wounded, I didn't eat much yesterday. Adding all that, the condition of my body got a bit worse again. I tried to move, but everything hurt like hell. I decided to rest a bit more. 'The less I move, the less energy I will spent' I thought. Nick knew where to aim. Although these wounds are not life threatening, the pain is real. I laid on my bed for a few hours. I knew it was around time I should get my breakfast. But no mater how long I waited, my breakfast never arrived. 'This is ridiculous, they will not give me any food? I'm supposed to starve to death?!'. My body was already weak, and my skin got worse due to lack of food. A few more hours later, I couldn't take it anymore. I decided to go out, and find Nick. I didn't care about anything else but food. I tried getting up, but it wasn't easy. When I finally managed that, I slowly limped outside my house. Nick's house was a few minutes away normally. But that distance in my current state, was like a journey through hell. It took most of my strength, just to arrive at his doors. I pressed the door handle and… nothing. The doors were closed. I knocked couple of times, but heard nothing. 'He must've gone out somewhere. NOW! Of all times!' I thought. I slumped down while supporting my back against the door. I had no strength left, I was starving, and I had no food. 'Turns out, it's not Nick who will kill me, but lack of food... What a stupid way to die...' I thought. I closed my eyes, and lost my consciousness shortly after. I dreamed of a huge feast, all the delicacies I could think of, were in front of me on the table. I could eat as much as I wanted, no one was there to stop me. The dream suddenly vanished, and was replaced by Nick's face. I said weakly "You... bastard". I was inside his house, lying on the treatment table it seemed. He replied, "You should have said something about food earlier". I had an urge to strangle that guy. He continued, "Your body is very weak. I'm amazed that you managed to live until now. I'm even more amazed you were able to do those tasks, with this broken body". I didn't like his tone. He was quite happy about it. I squeezed out one sentence, "Go die... bastard!". "Alright, alright, enough joking around" he said, and opened my mouth. He threw something in, then closed it. I didn't care what it was, I just ate it. He fed me like that for a while, then said "I will provide you with more food from now on. But I can't give you loads at once. This can actually harm you, instead of helping you". I could feel some of my strength coming back, after eating something. I was very weak still, but at least alive. Some more feeding later, I could move my hands and legs a bit. Nick said "Your body is burning the food away. That's first time, I see this kind of thing". I sat up slowly, and replied "Why would I fish at the stupid river? For fun?". He said, "Here is some food, just eat it slowly. I will explain some stuff to you in the meanwhile".