#8
Helmut
Episode 8
“If you have a sword in your hand, focus all your attention on the sword. You should never slack off or think about other things. The sword is honest. “I will reward those who pour their heart out to me in the same way.”
Helmut nodded silently as he listened to the rushing of words. It was a neat explanation that I had no choice but to follow.
If what you say is right, follow it. Thinking about ‘why’ was Helmut’s habit. If the explanation of ‘why’ is convincing, there is no objection.
Instead of submitting to fear or pressure, separate your emotions and follow the answer given.
Helmut, who was only ten years old, was able to do things that were difficult even for adults.
“Do you understand?”
“yes.”
Helmut responded with enthusiasm and was handed a wooden sword. I was about to take my stance again and focus on training when Darian opened his mouth.
“Don’t you want to get stronger and get out of this forest even a little faster?”
The Forest of Pahe is a familiar home for Helmut. However, it was true that the human world was anticipated.
After I started receiving Darian’s teachings, unfamiliar emotions such as haste, nervousness, and impatience began to build up.
As Helmut nodded, Darian spoke solemnly.
“Your accomplishments depend on you. Don’t be complacent and just do as you’re told! “You have to push yourself to go beyond that.”
Helmut listened carefully to Darian’s words.
‘Elaga said that Darian was a rare strong man even among humans.’
To become strong, you must learn to be strong. Just like I learned how to hunt by watching Elaga. Darian was an example for him to follow. Helmut instinctively knew that.
Training continued the next day and the day after that.
Helmut’s schedule strictly followed Darian’s wishes. For the most part, it boiled down to simply eating, sleeping, training, and learning.
I wake up in the morning, fill my water jar, eat, and then start my daily routine.
The pattern of training changed frequently. Some days, I would just repeat one posture over and over, while other days, I would learn about the human body and vital points and practice with my body how to subdue an opponent. One day, he took on a wooden sword and fought Darian with his bare hands.
It was too one-sided to call it a sparring match. Because I was beaten unilaterally.
After sparring, Darian, standing with his back to me, asked Helmut, who was out of breath, out of breath.
“Do you know why your attack failed?”
“No matter how I attack it, it seems like it will fail.”
As soon as Helmut spoke bluntly, Darian shook his head. Perfect!
“You poor bastard. “Didn’t I tell you to think?”
“I thought about it a lot.”
The tone was casual, but Helmut was quite angry. It doesn’t work if it doesn’t work out.
A little while ago, Darian said, ‘Stay in place and only use your right hand. “Go for it as much as you want,” he confidently declared.
If you move him or the wooden sword touches a critical area, Helmut wins. However, Helmut was defeated spectacularly.
The old man in front of me was just deceptively strong. If you show any gaps, it is a trap.
Helmut, who was trying to do whatever he said, fell and rolled on the floor.
After a while, my whole body became covered in dirt. I feel like I’ve been tricked.
“I had too many thoughts. Moreover, my body did not follow my thoughts. Your movements are hasty and sloppy. “No one will be able to deal with someone who attacks so recklessly.”
Helmut was young. Thanks to his well-trained body, he has strength for his age, but he has no skills. It is possible to compensate for inexperience with physical ability, but even that has its limits.
“There are many times when an effective attack is just a single needle away. The balance of your body, the strength of your partner and the speed of muscle movement. You have to look through it all and make the optimal decision. Judgment should be neither slow nor wrong. If you can judge properly, you will be able to fight and win against enemies stronger than you. What you’re doing with me is just sparring, so it’s okay to make mistakes in judgment. But if you make a wrong decision when facing the enemy, your life will end immediately.”
Helmut narrowed his eyes. What Darian says is correct.
But it’s easy. Darian was talking about the level he had already reached. That was a state that felt far distant to Helmut.
You can’t get there just by blindly hitting it. Even if you hear it, you’ll think, ‘Oh, that’s it!’ It’s not like you’re going to hit your knee.
Helmut knew one thing well: if you want to know something you don’t know, just ask.
“So how do you make quick and correct decisions?”
“The best thing is experience. Try as many different things as possible while sparring. And when the sparring is over, think about how you attacked, how I reacted, what mistakes you made, and what you could have done more effectively. If you keep doing that, at some point you will be able to make the best judgment like instinct.”
It seemed like it meant ‘think’. Helmut nodded heavily.
‘Do all humans in the outside world learn swordsmanship like this?’
Something was more painful than I first thought.
Darian’s movements were as elaborate as he said. Darian blocked Helmut’s attack with minimal movement and used the power of the attack to knock him out. It was different from the instinctive fighting style of Elagan and other monsters.
‘Is it because of that fighting style that humans are weak but cunning?’
Certainly, if that is the human way of fighting, the human world may not be easy.
In this way, Helmut began to have the illusion that his focus was off.
It was a mistake I made because I didn’t know that Darian was one of the greatest swordsmen in the human world.
*
Each day passed quickly. Life with Darian was unfamiliar and colorful.
A complicated and difficult life compared to when I lived with Elagawa. There was little freedom, but there was a lot to learn.
Helmut learned the basic knowledge of the human world, how to read and write, how to find food, how to cook, how to make a fire, how to make sewing tools, and many other things.
It was practical knowledge needed for living in and outside the forest of Pahe.
We made pots out of clay and baked them, and we also pulled out tough strings from tree trunks. They were used for fishing and sometimes archery hunting and trapping. The meat was cooked and the fur was trimmed and cut to make clothes.
The human hunting methods taught by Darian were very useful to Helmut, who did not have strong claws and teeth like Elaga.
Helmut is now able to get the necessary things and survive no matter where he ends up.
In fact, there was no reason for Darian to teach Helmut diligently. Because I wasn’t getting any money.
However, as if he was being chased by something, Darian continued to stir and press him every day, forcing his knowledge into Helmut. Helmut absorbed the cruel teachings well.
Helmut was a large, seamless vessel. The size of the entrance was limited, so even if something leaked out while pouring in, everything that came inside was kept as its own.
Starting with meeting Elaga as a baby, then meeting Darian.
Although he didn’t realize it, Helmut was lucky. Because it was extremely rare to get help from someone in this forest.
*
After fifteen days of living with Darian, Helmut gained freedom.
“Sometimes you need to take a break to increase the efficiency of your training. “Don’t train separately and rest.”
Darian emptied the cabin in the morning and headed somewhere, leaving behind his own admonition.
Helmut, who had slept well for the first time in a long time, left the hut at noon, wheezing.
It’s good not to train, but I feel somewhat empty. My eyes fell on the wooden sword, but I immediately lost my attention. Today was a day off.
The tight schedule wasn’t so difficult that I couldn’t bear it. Although he harbors a seed of darkness, Helmut is a naturally strong man. If you roll it, you will adapt and get used to it.
-hey.
As I came down to the water, a leopard wandered out of nowhere and started talking to me.
“Hello Ella!”
Helmut waved his hand. Since his territory was nearby, I didn’t think it was a breakup.
‘Still, it’s nice to see you after a long time.’
It is not appropriate to say that they are father and son. But haven’t we always been together until recently?
Helmut couldn’t deny the feeling of emptiness that often filled him. I was especially disappointed by the warm and soft fur.
Elaga might have thought it was a good thing that she didn’t have to take care of that annoying guy.
Elaga sarcastically looked at Helmut wearing a realistic black fur and leather suit.
-Are you trying to imitate an animal when you’re a hairless human?
“Humans have to wear clothes.”
-You need something like that because your skin is delicate. They’re not even from the snake family, but they’re a hairless race. Don’t do anything.
“I just put on clothes instead. Anyway, I had a good meal.”
I had noticed that the warm animal carcasses that were sometimes placed near the cabin were Elaga’s work.
All of the game Ella caught was so large that Darian and Helmut could eat their fill for several days.
Darian only said about Elaga bringing him game, ‘She’s acting like she’s entrusted her own baby.’
Helmut took out what he had brought in return from his arms.
“I made it. Do you want to try it?”
-What is this dead rat thing?
“A dead rat. It’s delicious. Now, eat it.”
Elaga ate the heap of meat mixed with mushrooms with her tongue that Helmut held out to her as if he were being generous. And immediately he was horrified and spat it out.
-Keu!
Clap! He spat so hard that fragments splattered on the floor. Helmut muttered bluntly.
“I’ve done my best to make it. “It’s a waste.”
-Ugh, why does it taste so disgusting? Why do you cook and eat meat like this? You are now fully human!
“I was human from the beginning.”
-Okay, anyway, that kind of food makes you lose your appetite, so eat it alone. Don’t bring it to me.
