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Manga Creations / Re: Immortal
« Last post by Pavo on January 23, 2022, 02:21:12 AM »Chapter 10.
Spoiler
The bathhouse was humid and noisy. The carvings on its walls became unrecognizable due to years of decay, but that gave the whole building a sense of long history.
Many of the ohrols were complaining throughout the whole washing process. Egill was not one of them for he finally got the way out of his miserable life.
It was a comforting change to use warm water. As he massaged his scalp, he realized that the only complaint he would have would be if they forced him to cut his hair. But that was a small price he was more than willing to pay for his safety.
On top of everything, he was lucky enough to be trained by the Hero herself. Even though the rumors about her turned out to be true.
“What idiot would want us to wash before physical work,” some ohrol complained. “We will be even dirtier at the end of the training. This makes no sense.”
Egill looked at the ohrol and smiled. “I don’t see a reason for complaining. When was the last time we got the chance to clean ourselves so thoroughly?” The ohrol gave no response. “We are finally getting to live like decent ohrols. I think we should rather be happy.”
“That’s right! We finally get to live to our fullest,” a tall ohrol called Rhenos exclaimed. The guy drew attention to himself from the moment he was drafted. Many hated him for his overabundance of energy, but Egill liked him. It was always easier to enjoy what you have if you had someone positive by your side.
“We will no longer have to work all day long, and get nothing in return,” Egill said to all. “I think that is a very good reason to be happy, don’t you think so?”
“Yeah,” Rhenos shouted.
Egill sighed. He knew that Rhenos needed help. It would have been a waste if everyone ended up hating him. As he walked up to Rhenos, he was surprised by the size of an ohrol. With his muscled body, he looked like he was a seasoned soldier who grew up in these old barracks.
“Okay Rhenos, I will need you to calm yourself down a bit for now. It is great that you are full of energy, but I think you are drowning others a bit in it,” Egill said.
Rhenos was surprised. “Really?”
“Take a look around,” Egill said.
Rhenos looked around and several ohrols nodded. He looked back at Egill with the saddest face Egill had ever seen. His heart ached for warning Rhenos to calm himself down, but it was for his good. Rhenos sat down and held his arms around his legs.
“Don’t worry, the time will come when you can express your joy to the fullest,” Egill said.
“Really,” Rhenos’s eyes were watery.
“Really! Just let me get the others close to your level. And then…” Egill paused.
“Then what?” Rhenos asked.
“Then you can take them to the skies with your soaring energy,” Egill answered. The tears vanished from Rhenos’s eyes. Egill never thought that he would see a grown ohrol smile like a child. That meant his dreams weren't crushed by reality yet. Egill would make sure it stayed that way, he already let too many be crushed right in front of his eyes.
Egill turned to others. “Listen up, everyone. What you heard so far were the stories of fame and glory. It would be nice to get those, and some of us most definitely will get them. But for most of us, those are just dreams, too far for us to reach. After all, not everyone can be in the spotlight.”
Gloom crowded the room after those words. “Way to cheer them up”, Rhenos said under his breath.
Egill ignored him. “I know that it sounds rough, but all the promises that you have heard until now are in the far-off future. And let me tell you, looking to the future to seek happiness and satisfaction is a stupid thing to do.”
“If we look forward to something, we still have something to live for,” some ohrol said.
Egill shook his head. “As I said, that is a foolish thing to do.”
The ohrol leaped at Egill, “Take that back. Hoping for the better days to come was the only thing that kept me from ending it all. I worked to exhaustion every day, and in return I got nothing. I didn’t have time to rest. The only thing I had was hoping that one day it will be better. If I shouldn’t look forward to the better days, then what should I do to endure all these hardships?”
Egill picked up a bucket of hot water and poured it over the guy. “Tell me, doesn’t this soothe your sore muscles? Doesn’t it feel refreshing to use hot water instead of the cold and grimy one?”
He watched at ohrols clenched fist as the anger surfaced on his face. The ohrol swung, but as the floor was slippery from the water, he slipped and missed Egill.
Egill caught the ohrol before he fell flat on his face. He expected another punch to be thrown at him, but none came.
“Please, sit down,” Egill said as the ohrol calmed down. “I will show you what to do when you are tired.”
Egill poured more of the hot water over the ohrol and started rubbing his back recalling what his old master was doing to ohrols who needed a recovery. “Doesn’t it feel good when you rub this spot? You can feel the pain go away as you press here. Come on, try it yourself.” Egill grabbed the ohrols arm and put it to the place on the shoulder where he was massaging it a moment ago.
“Now, just press it lightly and rub it in circles,” Egill said. The ohrol was confused but did what Egill told him.
“You are right. It does feel much better now,” the ohrol smiled.
“That’s right. Such a simple thing could make your day better,” Egill said. “And if you only look to the future, hoping that something better will come, you spend your days in misery because you do nothing but dream of the future while ignoring your present.”
The ohrol stopped massaging his back and lowered his hands. Egill knew how his words worked by the ohrol’s downcast gaze.
“Instead, you should do what’s in your capability to make every passing moment of your life as good as it can get. That way, no matter what kind of future comes, you won’t have spent every moment of your life in misery.”
Egill turned around and exclaimed, “And that is why we should not hope for fame and glory. We should instead start enjoying what this new life has given us right now.”
He poured another bucket of hot water over himself. “Let’s enjoy this warm bath that we got. Then, after training, I’m sure we will get another bath just for ourselves.”
“Suppose there is some benefit to be taught by the clean freak.” The whole group laughed.
“Yeah, we get to enjoy a nice bath twice a day,” someone from the group said.
“That’s the spirit! We get to enjoy twice the baths than the other groups do.” Egill smiled.
“I would say that our lives are already much better than they were a few days before, don’t you agree Rhenos?”
“Yeah!” the tall guy shouted.
Everyone stared at him.
“Too soon and too much,” Egill warned him. “But we’ll get there,” he quickly added before Rhenos started sulking again.
Egill picked up the empty bucket he had used and grabbed more water from the stream.
“Let’s enjoy this bath we have right now. And who knows, we might even get a decent meal by the end of this day.”
The ohrols started talking among themselves at the mention of the food.
“What do you think. A warm meal that actually has some taste to it, not that crap we are used to. Doesn’t getting something like that today sound much better than all the fame and glory that you might get some faraway day in the future?”
“Yeah,” everyone shouted.
Egill smiled as he was finally able to teach others what his father taught him. Now that he no longer had to worry about certain death he felt that he could follow those teachings himself as well.
“Well, what do you say guys? Shall we wait for the glory, or should we enjoy the day in front of us?”
No answer came, only the shouts of joy as everyone readied themselves to start training for the war.
Many of the ohrols were complaining throughout the whole washing process. Egill was not one of them for he finally got the way out of his miserable life.
It was a comforting change to use warm water. As he massaged his scalp, he realized that the only complaint he would have would be if they forced him to cut his hair. But that was a small price he was more than willing to pay for his safety.
On top of everything, he was lucky enough to be trained by the Hero herself. Even though the rumors about her turned out to be true.
“What idiot would want us to wash before physical work,” some ohrol complained. “We will be even dirtier at the end of the training. This makes no sense.”
Egill looked at the ohrol and smiled. “I don’t see a reason for complaining. When was the last time we got the chance to clean ourselves so thoroughly?” The ohrol gave no response. “We are finally getting to live like decent ohrols. I think we should rather be happy.”
“That’s right! We finally get to live to our fullest,” a tall ohrol called Rhenos exclaimed. The guy drew attention to himself from the moment he was drafted. Many hated him for his overabundance of energy, but Egill liked him. It was always easier to enjoy what you have if you had someone positive by your side.
“We will no longer have to work all day long, and get nothing in return,” Egill said to all. “I think that is a very good reason to be happy, don’t you think so?”
“Yeah,” Rhenos shouted.
Egill sighed. He knew that Rhenos needed help. It would have been a waste if everyone ended up hating him. As he walked up to Rhenos, he was surprised by the size of an ohrol. With his muscled body, he looked like he was a seasoned soldier who grew up in these old barracks.
“Okay Rhenos, I will need you to calm yourself down a bit for now. It is great that you are full of energy, but I think you are drowning others a bit in it,” Egill said.
Rhenos was surprised. “Really?”
“Take a look around,” Egill said.
Rhenos looked around and several ohrols nodded. He looked back at Egill with the saddest face Egill had ever seen. His heart ached for warning Rhenos to calm himself down, but it was for his good. Rhenos sat down and held his arms around his legs.
“Don’t worry, the time will come when you can express your joy to the fullest,” Egill said.
“Really,” Rhenos’s eyes were watery.
“Really! Just let me get the others close to your level. And then…” Egill paused.
“Then what?” Rhenos asked.
“Then you can take them to the skies with your soaring energy,” Egill answered. The tears vanished from Rhenos’s eyes. Egill never thought that he would see a grown ohrol smile like a child. That meant his dreams weren't crushed by reality yet. Egill would make sure it stayed that way, he already let too many be crushed right in front of his eyes.
Egill turned to others. “Listen up, everyone. What you heard so far were the stories of fame and glory. It would be nice to get those, and some of us most definitely will get them. But for most of us, those are just dreams, too far for us to reach. After all, not everyone can be in the spotlight.”
Gloom crowded the room after those words. “Way to cheer them up”, Rhenos said under his breath.
Egill ignored him. “I know that it sounds rough, but all the promises that you have heard until now are in the far-off future. And let me tell you, looking to the future to seek happiness and satisfaction is a stupid thing to do.”
“If we look forward to something, we still have something to live for,” some ohrol said.
Egill shook his head. “As I said, that is a foolish thing to do.”
The ohrol leaped at Egill, “Take that back. Hoping for the better days to come was the only thing that kept me from ending it all. I worked to exhaustion every day, and in return I got nothing. I didn’t have time to rest. The only thing I had was hoping that one day it will be better. If I shouldn’t look forward to the better days, then what should I do to endure all these hardships?”
Egill picked up a bucket of hot water and poured it over the guy. “Tell me, doesn’t this soothe your sore muscles? Doesn’t it feel refreshing to use hot water instead of the cold and grimy one?”
He watched at ohrols clenched fist as the anger surfaced on his face. The ohrol swung, but as the floor was slippery from the water, he slipped and missed Egill.
Egill caught the ohrol before he fell flat on his face. He expected another punch to be thrown at him, but none came.
“Please, sit down,” Egill said as the ohrol calmed down. “I will show you what to do when you are tired.”
Egill poured more of the hot water over the ohrol and started rubbing his back recalling what his old master was doing to ohrols who needed a recovery. “Doesn’t it feel good when you rub this spot? You can feel the pain go away as you press here. Come on, try it yourself.” Egill grabbed the ohrols arm and put it to the place on the shoulder where he was massaging it a moment ago.
“Now, just press it lightly and rub it in circles,” Egill said. The ohrol was confused but did what Egill told him.
“You are right. It does feel much better now,” the ohrol smiled.
“That’s right. Such a simple thing could make your day better,” Egill said. “And if you only look to the future, hoping that something better will come, you spend your days in misery because you do nothing but dream of the future while ignoring your present.”
The ohrol stopped massaging his back and lowered his hands. Egill knew how his words worked by the ohrol’s downcast gaze.
“Instead, you should do what’s in your capability to make every passing moment of your life as good as it can get. That way, no matter what kind of future comes, you won’t have spent every moment of your life in misery.”
Egill turned around and exclaimed, “And that is why we should not hope for fame and glory. We should instead start enjoying what this new life has given us right now.”
He poured another bucket of hot water over himself. “Let’s enjoy this warm bath that we got. Then, after training, I’m sure we will get another bath just for ourselves.”
“Suppose there is some benefit to be taught by the clean freak.” The whole group laughed.
“Yeah, we get to enjoy a nice bath twice a day,” someone from the group said.
“That’s the spirit! We get to enjoy twice the baths than the other groups do.” Egill smiled.
“I would say that our lives are already much better than they were a few days before, don’t you agree Rhenos?”
“Yeah!” the tall guy shouted.
Everyone stared at him.
“Too soon and too much,” Egill warned him. “But we’ll get there,” he quickly added before Rhenos started sulking again.
Egill picked up the empty bucket he had used and grabbed more water from the stream.
“Let’s enjoy this bath we have right now. And who knows, we might even get a decent meal by the end of this day.”
The ohrols started talking among themselves at the mention of the food.
“What do you think. A warm meal that actually has some taste to it, not that crap we are used to. Doesn’t getting something like that today sound much better than all the fame and glory that you might get some faraway day in the future?”
“Yeah,” everyone shouted.
Egill smiled as he was finally able to teach others what his father taught him. Now that he no longer had to worry about certain death he felt that he could follow those teachings himself as well.
“Well, what do you say guys? Shall we wait for the glory, or should we enjoy the day in front of us?”
No answer came, only the shouts of joy as everyone readied themselves to start training for the war.
)