I'm going to do a time skip after this chapter because nobody is going to care about his training or daily life until the nightmare. This chapter is a little bit shorter than the last one.
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I woke up at what appeared to be the early morning. I had one small window in my room, and the sun was hovering just above the buildings outside. The events of yesterday hit me like a truck.
'Last night I saw classrooms, so it's safe to assume I can receive an education about this world.'
Heading to the kitchen, I saw a group of children were currently there eating. They mostly ignored me , and I got some food. It was nothing special, just some porridge, but I wasn't going to complain.
'It seems new additions are quite common. This area is the slums, so there is probably a proper city nearby.'
After eating my food, I was approached by Mira, who had appeared without me noticing.
"Good morning dear, there are classes that will educate you on the nightmare spell and the dream realm, along with some other helpful info starting soon. We do not have many children here, but there is a list of each subject and its starting time over on the wall."
She pointed to my left, and sure enough there was a list with a couple subjects. There were things like combat mastery, basic survival courses, etc. I decided I would attend all of them, so that I could gain more insight into this world.
'I'm actually quite excited for the combat lessons, hopefully my skills from the past can be put to good use.'
I thanked Mira and said goodbye, before heading off to the first class. For some reason, the words Nightmare Spell seemed to ring a bell.
'Ah, so this is Shadow Slave. Should I be freaking out right now? Truthfully I am excited to awaken and pursue divinity.'
Panic would get me nowhere, and I couldn't change anything about my situation. Anything was better than existing in that strange void. I felt like I was going insane in there.
'Hopefully I'll attend the academy the same time the main cast does. On second thought, I'm getting way ahead of myself. That would be years away, and I can't even guarantee i'll be alive until then.'
The first couple of classes were long, but they were not particularly hard. Through them I confirmed that this was indeed the world of Shadow Slave. My last class of the day was combat.
Walking into the dojo, I saw about 15 kids already gathered. A middle aged man stood in the middle, waiting for everyone to arrive. About 5 minutes after I came into the room, he cleared his throat. There were now 23 children present.
"Hello, it's nice to meet all of you. Many of you probably know me, as you have taken my classes, but I see a couple new faces. My name is Dan, and I will be teaching you some basics of combat. Your survival in the dream realm is not based on just your fighting capabilities, but It is a big part. We only have spears and swords available, so you will have to pick one of those. First, perform 100 downward swings of your weapon. If you must stop, then that is fine."
We all grabbed our weapon of choice. I chose a sword because I had been part of a dojo club before, and so I had some familiarity with it. Organizing into rows, instructor Dan guided us on a proper stance. It was very basic, maybe even too much so, but I guess that's what we were here to learn anyways.
I swung over and over, until my body was covered in sweat and my muscles were practically screaming at me. I loved this feeling - the feeling of growth. Improvement. I already knew this body would be weak, but I could work with it and build a strong foundation.
After 100 swings, I was exhausted but happy. Instructor Dan looked at everyone - some children were laying on the floor, others stood covered with sweat but determined to continue. In this world, in the slums, survival required strength or wit. Luck was a luxury only a few could have.
We had 10 minutes of rest, and then we continued on. Sometimes we would run laps, other times the instructor would demonstrate parries or thrusts. A couple hours later, he dismissed us.
"Feel free to come back and train later tonight."
The orphanage had showers divided by genders. I washed myself and went to get something to eat. It was about dinner time - I had completely forgotten about lunch - and I was starving. After dinner I returned to my room to rest a bit. My muscles were incredibly sore, and I knew I couldn't do anything too intensive, but I still returned to the dojo that night. I did simple exercises to work on coordination and balance.
Before going to sleep, I sat on the floor meditating. It had been a habit that did nearly daily in my past life, and I believed it could help me in a world filled with madness and terrifying creatures.
Finally, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Everything faded to nothing.