Restart Again: Volume 1 by Adam Scott (pocket ebook reader TXT) 📕

Brusch shrugged. “That’s just what I know, kid. Ya paid me to teach ya, and this is how I was taught. Not my fault if ya just don’t have it in ya.”

I bristled at the challenge. There was a tight knot of resentment in my gut, which had been slowly starting to burn with shame over the course of the week I had been training with him. I didn’t want to believe I just didn’t have the ability to master something so seemingly simple. “Oh, shut it. I paid you good coin for these lessons, which I’m now regretting.” I turned back and shut my eyes once more, starting back in on the breathing techniques he had taught me.

“Good, breathe. Focus on the energy inside ya, down in your core.” He walked around me in a slow circle, observing. “Once ya feel it there, say the words, and let it all go. It’ll flow where it needs to go.”

I desperately tried to look inward and find the “energy”. However, all I found was the self-doubt and anger I was trying to lock away. Exasperated, I gave up and let it overwhelm me, ready to give Brusch the full extent of how I was feeling and try to get my money back. Before I could even open my mouth, the energy exploded out from my core like a bolt of lightning through every inch of my body. I was so shocked at feeling “the river” that I nearly forgot the words.

“Oh!...Lesser Agility!” All at once, the energy rushed down my arms and into my sword. My eyes snapped open, and everything seemed sharper, somehow, glowing with a faint green buzz. “Brusch, I did it! I...I did…” The clarity faded immediately, replaced with the encroaching blackness of tunnel vision. I heard a thumping sound, and lazily realized it was my own body hitting the ground.

According to Brusch, I woke up five minutes later. He was red in the face from laughter, saying something about my graceful dive into a heap. “Oh man, that was the best one I’ve seen in a long time, kid!” He slapped his knee and started laughing again.

“This is something that happens often? And you didn’t think to warn me about it?” I yelled as my face darkened, scowling at his laughter at my expense.

“Rite of passage, kid.” Brusch took a few seconds to get the last chuckles out. “The first time ya tap into that energy, the body doesn’t really know how to control it. It sort of just goes all out, and leaves ya with nothing left in reserves. Hence the nap.” He smirked, but my angry expression kept him from another laughing fit. “Now that ya did it once, it’ll be a whole lot easier to do it again. And next time, ya probably won’t pass out. Keep practicin’, and you’ll be able to do it four or five times in a row before ya run out of gas.”

My eyes widened as I suddenly realized the new world of opportunities opened to me. “And after that, I’ll learn better techniques?”

Brusch shrugged. “Maybe. Not from me, though. I’m outta town at daybreak tomorrow.”

“Awwww. And I was just starting to get it.” I looked down, now disappointed. “Could you at least tell me about some of the other techniques, so I can try practicing those too?”

He looked me up and down with a measured look, then nodded. “Alright kid. But promise me ya won’t try something way out of your league. If ya overexert yourself too much, it could cause some permanent damage.”

I bounced up, running over to him, the roller coaster of my emotions cresting high again. “Thanks, Brusch! You’re the best! If you’re ever in town again, I’ll give you a great deal at the forge!”

Brusch smiled. “I’ll hold ya to that, kid.”

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It should have been obvious that “Combat Enhancement Techniques” were just magic evocations with a different name. Back then the true gravity of my situation hadn’t set in yet, and I was still living under the impression that I was in some sort of anime style video game world. Everything was new and exciting, and I was finally feeling at peace with myself after so many years of restlessness. Nowadays, I was all too familiar with how things really worked in these “life in a new world” scenarios. The dampness of the stone cell I was currently sitting in punctuated that thought a little too perfectly.

I shouldn’t even be in here, I thought sullenly to myself. It won’t be long now. I’ll be dragged up out of this cell into the presence of some noble, and they’ll tell me about some growing threat, and how I’m supposed to be the one to go stop it. My expression darkened, and I scowled at the empty cell. That’s how it always goes. Someone telling me my life isn’t mine to decide, and instead I have to sacrifice everything I have for some kingdom I’ve barely heard of.

That’s how it had happened in Alderea, and the same thing had happened again in Hedaat. As soon as word started to circulate of a new, mysterious stranger in town, it was only a matter of time until the ruling party became involved and ruined everything. In Alderea, I had years to start a new life before I was discovered. A random man appearing in town wasn’t exactly uncommon: There were a lot of towns in Alderea and a lot of people in those towns. It wasn’t until I had truly distinguished myself that anybody cared about the random stranger.

Hedaat had been a different story. It had barely been six months before I was summoned before the court and told of my “epic destiny”.

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I shouldered the door open aggressively, sending it flying open and bouncing against the wall with a loud crack. Snow blew in from behind me on biting winds, spinning wildly for a moment before settling down on the plush red