‘Work on my perception eh? And how would I go about that exactly?’ I asked myself. I could do some mental exercises, but that was not perception. I needed to train my senses to perceive things better. I thought about it for a while, and came up with the only thing I knew. ‘Instincts’. That was the only thing I had, which could perceive danger and perhaps beyond that. ‘The only method to train my instinct, would be to seal most of my senses’ I thought. This was counterintuitive. Instead of sealing everything but one sense, I had to seal everything. This was no longer impossible for me, with the mastery in my energy control, I could do that.

‘I will be blind, deaf and unable to smell anything… This can only go bad’ I thought, but I had no other method. I needed to be able to harness my instincts at will, not when there was immediate danger to my life. I sighed, and controlled my energy. My eyes were enveloped by darkness, I heard nothing and smelled nothing. My three senses were sealed. I knew I was at the bottom of a mountain, I just had to go forwards, in order to reach the peak. Seemed easy in theory, but without the help of my senses, it was something very, very difficult.

I walked forwards, not aware of what was in front of me. I stumbled and fell down very quickly, but there was no sound for me, only the feeling of hitting the ground. ‘This is rather impossible. I can’t perceive anything at all… Whatever, it’s not like this is my first crazy idea. Besides, Crow went through a similar thing. Moreover, I was the one who told him to do it. It would look bad, if Crow was able to achieve this, but not me’ I thought.

I picked myself up, and walked a few steps forwards, before I stumbled and fell again. This went on, until my instincts flared up. Something was about to hit me. I punched forwards, and hit something. I didn’t know what it was, but most probably an animal that rushed at me. Time passed, but I had no concept of time, while most of my senses were sealed. It was impossible for me to seal my sense of touch. I still had to rely on something. With no feedback from anything, I could fall from a cliff, and die without even knowing it.

The idea of completely sealing all my senses seemed nice, but it was a double edged sword. Although I wouldn’t be able to feel the pain, I could potentially overreach myself. This meant I could accumulate very serious injuries, which might result in a prolonged harm to my body. Without the pain, a Human could easily perish. Fear and pain, both of those feelings were necessary for a Human.

I traversed the mountain, but I had no idea where I was going, and how far I went. I decided to unseal my senses, and check. I noticed that I was still on the mountain, this was a good sign. The bad thing was that, I nearly made no progress. I was maybe 400 to 500 metres away from my original position. ‘Still a long way to go’ I thought, and sealed back my senses.

I walked, stumbled, smashed my head and killed anything that my instincts flared up against. When I unsealed my senses again, I realised that I was not too far away from the peak. It was already night time. ‘I wonder if I can use the Black Orbs, to help orientate myself. It’s worth a try’ I thought, and sealed back my senses. I then started absorbing the Black Orbs. My body could contain only a specific amount of them, and when I was “full”, I wasn’t able to absorb anymore.

I “looked” around, but saw nothing. ‘Maybe this cannot help me. After all, the Black Orbs can already do a lot. Besides, Black Orbs are not the real answer to improving my perception. I just have to continue like this, until I’m able to learn something’ I thought. I started walking again, the peak and my destination was not that far away anymore.

I didn’t try to cheat myself, and memorize a path. I simply walked, and tried to figure something out. Soon, I hit my head onto something…sharp? I checked with my hands, and it was smooth. ‘Not a tree, so it must be the one of the house’s corners. Now I just need to find the door’ I thought. Because I wasn’t aware of my surroundings, I didn’t know where the doors were. I moved to the right, and tried searching with my hands.

After a while, I finally found a handle and pressed it down. The doors opened. I only knew that, because when I pushed forwards, my arm travelled forward. I think I closed the doors behind me, and tried to locate my bed. It wasn’t that hard to be honest. I already knew the house inside out. I quickly made it there, and found my bed. I unsealed my senses, and looked around.

“I’m finally back”, I said to myself. The old man laid on his bed, and asked “Can I just ask. What the hell were you doing? You didn’t respond when I called out, and stumbled like a blind man. It took you so many hours, just to get here”. I replied “I sealed my senses. I need to train my perception. I might be able to train my sight, hearing and smell to a better standard, ultimately though, I decided against that”.

He asked confused “Why?”. I replied “Instincts. You don’t know this, but my instincts saved my life many times. It’s not that simple though. Not being able to perceive anything, is difficult. I believe that with time, I can learn something though”. The old man didn’t reply anymore. ‘It seems he has no problems with that. Anyway, if this doesn’t work after a long time, I will just focus on my senses. I can still improve them a bit more, probably’ I thought, and went outside.

I wasn’t really tired, so I decided to continue training like this. This time, it was more difficult. I was going downhill, and a stumble could result in a roll and an eventual crash into something. I persisted and walked like this for the whole night. I only returned early in the morning. I was tired, injured and wanted to sleep. I hit the bed, and closed my eyes.

Something suddenly jolted me awake. I was disoriented and tired still. I must’ve slept for only a short amount of time. I smashed into something very hard, and the pain fully awoke me. I noticed that I was no longer in the house. I shouted “What the hell are you doing old man!”. I picked myself up, but the old man was not around. I saw someone else walking towards me. A stout man, with a full facial beard, and black hair long enough to cover half of his face. His face though, there was a large scar on it. I couldn’t see the whole scar, due to his hair obstructing it. He was draped in animal skins, while a large sword was attached to his back. He was releasing an imposing Aura that seemed familiar.

I asked him, “Who the hell are you?”. The man didn’t reply, but released his Aura, and rushed at me. I quickly disappeared, but the Aura locked me in place. I was shocked, the Aura was too familiar to my own. Full of bloodlust and anger. Before I could even counter his Aura, the man punched my face, and I flew through the air.

I broke a few trees in the process, and finally landed with a “Bang!”. I was starting to get pissed. ‘This motherfucker threw me out of the house. Moreover, he still punched me in my face!’. I was tired, but I stood up. “I don’t give a shit if you are a master or not. I will not be punched around”. He didn’t reply. Instead, he released his Aura again. I released my own Aura, and tried to counter him… He was too strong though. I was barely able to move, when another punch arrived.

I controlled my energy, and twisted my body, in a way normal Humans shouldn’t be able to. The punch missed, while 10 daggers flew at him. I thought that with such proximity, he wouldn’t be able to dodge. He didn’t have to. He simply swiped his other hand, which held a short sword, and deflected them all. He punched me again, and I crushed a few more trees.

‘What the fuck is this guy’s problem!?’ I exclaimed in my head. I was even more pissed, since the old man was not around. When I barely picked myself up, I was punched again. I couldn’t take it anymore and shouted “I will fucking kill you! Even if it costs me my life!”. The anger I felt, awakened that crazy Aura inside of me. My vision turned red, and the pain lessened. I started walking forwards, but the stout man didn’t even flinch. He just stepped forward, and with a “Boom!”, rushed at me.

His Aura no longer affected me that much. I evaded that attack, and punched out. He caught my punch like it was nothing, and punched me instead. I coughed out some blood, while he gripped my hand and slammed his fist into my stomach again.