Chapter 29 Aoi's Torturous Teaching Method, and New Life Peeking On The Horizon

"...Haaaaahhh...and we're done, big brother!" Aoi declared happily as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Yeah. Compared to last time, these guys are much easier...or is it not?" I replied as I kicked the sand that settled off my feet.

A week has passed, and things went...somewhat as smooth as I hoped to be. Well, 'somewhat', because we didn't encountered any life-threatening situation in these past week until just now.

"But still, it's regrettable that after struggling to get away from that huge sand storm, we found a desert worm's nesting ground by accident instead." I spoke with a sigh.

That's right.

The place where we are currently standing, was a nesting ground for the desert worms. Usually, the worms hide themselves underground during times like this but much to our surprise, this time of the year is their mating season.

What a perfectly good time to interrupt their 'lovey-dovey' season.

Upon noticing our presence, the worms especially the larger ones (which I suppose to be the males) quickly became agitated and rushed to attack us with their bullet-like movements.

A huge fight had started, and the result...

"...I'd prefer killing these worms over going inside a sand storm any time of the day." Aoi remarked.

"I'd rather choose none of them, though..."

"...What are you saying, big brother? Can't you see those worms? They all looked scary and yet, they all plopped on the ground like jelly when you used your power against them. There's no way you could do that against a giant whirl of dust, you know?!" She let out a frown at me.

Although she says that it might be better to face monsters than being subject to extreme weather conditions, my book still say that it's still best to evade all of them as much as possible. Choosing between the two evils isn't compulsory all the time, you know?

"N-Now that you said it...what do you think...?"

"...Think of what, big brother?" She asked as she tilted her head.

I gulped my saliva, and asked her a question with a hoarse voice. "W-What do you think...of my power...did I improved even just a small bit?"

When I asked her that, Aoi suddenly showed a bright smile at me.

"...Because big brother successfully complied to my 'standards', it is just natural that your power would improve."

When she said that, I felt a sudden frightening chill on my spine.

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Six days ago...

"...You want me to teach you how to use my Arcana, big brother?' Aoi asked me with a puzzled tone after she just finished her dinner.

"Y-Yeah..." I replied as I quickly averted my gaze away from her due to embarrassment.

"...But, big brother can use it now, right? Why are you asking me to teach something that you already discovered by yourself?"

"T-That's..."

Even though you're saying that, but...

"That's because I want to become just like you!"

"...E-Eh...?" Aoi became petrified at my answer.

"A-Ah, that's not it! T-The reason is...I want to use this power given from you as if it was mine right from the start. Although being able to use it is good but if in the end I don't have any control over it, that power's still useless, right? A-Also..."

"...Hmm?"

"I...I-I already told you this many times, right? I want to become powerful enough to protect you. Though that might be just my hopeless ambition, my desire on making you happy and safe won't falter anymore."

When did the last time I faltered on that resolve of mine? It's only been just a few days since we met but I can't remember already.

When I said that, Aoi breathed deeply and pondered for a moment with her arms crossed. After a while she finally looked at my face, and spoke in a serious tone.

"...Are you sure about that?"

"Although a part of me tells that it's a stupid idea...I already prepared myself for anything you wanted me to do. If I die because of your teaching methods, then so be it."

Aoi's face, upon hearing my reply, warped faintly into an evil smirk.

"...Well, if you're telling me that you already prepared yourself for everything, then do I have any choice? I accept your offer."

'Yoshaaaaaaa!!!!!' Because Aoi agreed in teaching me the ways of her Arcana, I started jumping around like a child while raising my arms up.

In the middle if my celebration, Aoi gave a reminder to me as she spoke in a grim tone.

"...I just hope that, in the next seven days to come...your body and organs are still intact by the time you complete everything I have in store for you. Fufufufu..."

A-Aoi...

And so, the lesson started the day after that.

Though I said that I'm prepared to do anything she wanted me to do, I just can't believe how her attitude turned one hundred eighty degrees as simply as that.

'Guhaaaaaaaa--!!!'

'...You stupid, insolent being! How many times do I have to tell you to concentrate, huh? Is it really that hard for you puny low-lives to do it even for just one second?!?' She yelled furiously while kicking me in my gut which made me fall on my knees. As I struggle to get up because of the pain, Aoi landed another kick on my lower jaw which then caused me to have a slight concussion as a result of her assault.

After Aoi agreed to teach me how to use my power, her attitude towards me flipped all of a sudden.

At first, she was only a bit strict when it comes to me whenever I make a mistake but then she started to let out insults at me and calling me names as I'm just a flea in her eyes, maybe lower than that. She would also hit me at the same time she yells at me, even throwing rocks aimed at my head whenever my drowsiness starts to kick in, and prohibiting me from going to the nearest sand dune for me to take a piss until I finished mastering a curse from her Arcana.

And from just simple punches and kicks on various parts of my body, she finally resorted to higher forms of violence towards me as the difficulty of the lesson increased.

'...No! No!!! You're doing it wrong! You're completely doing it wrong! Do you think you can use my power without believing in the inner darkness in your heart, you filthy animal?! Again, you're not allowed to eat until you do it successfully three hundred--no, three thousand times!!!' She shouted before snatching the grilled worm meat from my hands and threw it on the ground just when I was about to eat it.

Three thousand times?! Y-you-re joking right...? N-No? You were serious?! Ehhh...

With her face showing that she's not satisfied at all with the progress I'm making, the day after that--and the next days that came--her monstrosity grew and grew even more as days pass by.

Five days ago, I almost got crushed by a tall rock formation when Aoi caused it to topple over me while I'm doing my meditation under its shade.

Four days ago, Aoi coerced Prick to inject a 'small' dose of his poison to me. Although he frantically objected, Aoi obviously got the upper hand when she threatened that she'll kill me in front of me. Who knows what happened next, but later that night I had a problem sitting down because the left side of my butt hurt.

Three days ago, Aoi buried me on the sand with only my head sticking out, and again she caused another rock pillar to topple down towards me before leaving me behind while riding on Prick. It was already night when I caught up after them, and then Prick (upon Aoi's command) rewarded me with a stinger up my right butt.

Two days ago, when I opened my eyes I thought that I woke up earlier than usual. Upon assessment of the situation, I immediately found out that I'M BURIED SIX FEET BELOW THE GROUND! With my survival instincts kicking in I dug myself out and just like the day before that, Prick greeted me with a stinger on my back.

And then yesterday...

Being unable to sit or lie down, Aoi grew so much disappointed of the results I'm showing that, she created a tentacle-like object with her power and suddenly lashed my stomach with a swift strike while I'm eating, creating a fifteen centimeter horizontal wound on my stomach.

Though I didn't mind my lower half having almost bid goodbye with my upper half because I made her became more upset, but forbidding me to eat was just too much for me to bear.

At least, let me eat before you slice my body into two, Aoi.

However...

"In the end...I managed to survive through all of that hell..." I muttered to myself with a tired look.

Yes, being under Aoi's teaching was really just like hell! But, I complied to her commands nonetheless. I almost cried blood in my sleep, but everything was worth it!

I was so beat...but it was worth it!

Hearing my sighs, Aoi glanced at me for a moment, then walked towards me with a somewhat strange smile forming on her face.

Oi, oi, oi...what did I do wrong this time...?

"...Can you kneel down even for just a moment?" She asked me.

When she said that, the confused (and still terrified) me did what she told me all at once.

I had asked her to evaluate my performance during this past week, but I didn't expect anything like this. Will she punish me, I wonder?

*pomf*

Then Aoi, without any warning, wrapped her arms around my head as she spoke to me in a gentle tone.

E-Eh...

"...Big brother...you had it really hard, right?"

With a voice filled with regret, she asked me that.

"...When you requested me to teach you the basics of [Death] Arcana, I was overjoyed--that big brother's finally showing eagerness in following me in the path that I've already laid in this world! I was so happy that I became motivated, only to end up torturing big brother. It was really hard on my part to hurt big brother! I went overboard, but seeing big brother endure everything...makes me want to also hurt myself as a consequence."

Tons of apologies came after that, as she told me that she already prepared herself to any punishment that I'm going to give her.

I will be suffocated if she keeps on hugging me like this, so I hurriedly separated myself from her.

"P-Puhaaaaa....I thought was going to suffocate there...--A-Anyways, now that you admit that you're actually torturing me...I think everything went fine, as your efforts were not useless at all."

The suffering that I had under her care, although remembering the details make me want to throw up, I realized that her 'torture' is, in reality, a lesson in disguise.

Aoi didn't notice that she's already teaching me one of the realities of this world all this time.

The world is a place full of pain and suffering; and with the endless cycle of life and death, the accumulated experiences of everyone will cause the world to continue in a state of entropy.

A human, just like me, naturally dislike being hurt or put into danger. But through experiencing it countless times because of Aoi that I realized, it would help me understand the meaning behind the power inside my body.

In death, there is pain and suffering.

While pain is physical, suffering is only a matter of the mind. A person experiences pain all the time, but through acceptance of that pain, there is no suffering. Death in itself is also a physical phenomenon, and through acceptance also, it may not cause suffering as well.

Hence, through repeated experience and acceptance, the concept of death would become just an ordinary thing.

With my power solely used to kill anyone who gets in my way, Aoi wanted me to become desensitized of suffering, and instead, divert my pain into power.

It's hard for me to explain what is going on, but the results scattered around us was clear.

"Because you kept on trying to kill me during the past one week, I grew a bit desensitized in the pain that I'm feeling. With that, I think, I could now apply those principles the same as when I'm killing someone. Although it's hard to believe it but, Aoi...thank you very much!"

She can't believe that even after all the trouble she caused me, I still said my thanks to her. Other than that, I'm so happy that she finally returned to her cute side, so I playfully ruffled her hair to show her what I feel.

Being tormented--and being thankful because of that, did I just became an M?! No way I would become like that, right?

"Anyways...what shall we do about this mess? Shall we clean this up?" I asked her as I stood up again, and then changing the topic.

There's too many dead monsters in here...I don't like the scent that's lingering on my nostrils.

"...Ehh...let's just leave and continue with our journey instead, big brother." Aoi suggested.

"Good idea."

And thus, we left the place that was once one of the great nests of all the desert worms living in this desert. To think that hundreds of such huge creatures lived in such a place, it's shocking that I defeated all of them in just less than an hour.

With this, I think, anyone who attempts to go here won't have any problems anymore with those creatures for some time.

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Sand, sand, and more sand.

I don't know, but it seems like I grew tired of seeing the same landscape over and over again. Though we see oases and rock formations sometimes, the fact that this desert scenery has become too monotonous has become obvious.

'Haaaaah...this journey, will this ever end?' I muttered to myself with a sigh.

I diverted my attention from the surroundings, and looked my two companions here in this journey.

Compared to last time, Prick's vigor went up. He started to become more alert now, and his stingers would start to move in an offensive stance should danger comes to us.

My little sister Aoi, on the other hand, has grew more relaxed after she tortured, er, taught me for one week. It really took a toll on her body and mind, that she became more clingy to me than ever. Right now, she's hugging my arm tightly as she slept, whispering 'big brother...big brother...' softly with every breath.

Brutal and cute. Brutally cute, if I should say.

A few minutes later, on the horizon...I saw a white structure from afar. I squinted my eyes to check if I was just daydreaming--but the structure still won't disappear from my sight.

'Could it be...a tower?'

As we drew near, the figure of a tower became more and more prominent, that I started to not believe what I'm seeing.

"Aoi...Hey, Aoi, wake up...look, over there!" I said while lightly tapping her cheek.

Aoi, feeling somewhat irritated because she woke up earlier than she wanted, spoke angrily.

"...Big brother, I told you not to poke on my cheeks while I'm sleeping...--WHOAAAAAAAAA!!!! Big brother, what is that thing over there?!"

She got surprised that she stood up and pointed her finger at the tower.

Even at this distance, we could see that the tower's really high, that its tip almost touched the clouds.

"Seems like, we're going straight towards a city." I said.

"...Nn."

Both of us sighed in relief.

"Do you want to go there, Aoi?"

Looking at her face, I noticed a strange aura of excitement coming out from her, maybe because it's been a very long time since she went inside a city.

"...No need to ask me that, big brother--I'm so excited!!!" She said with a chuckle.

"Then...Prick, let's go at that direction!" I lightly patted Prick's back as I spoke to him. His stingers nodded, and he went straight towards the direction of the tower.

A city, huh.

Starting a new life in a city with Aoi and Prick...compared to the desert, it's obvious that it is more comfortable living there than in here.

Our journey in the desert is about to end, but it was just only the beginning.

I'm looking forward to it!