Chapter 22 CHAPTER 22
The pool area wasn't like anything I'd seen before. A natural beauty that spanned for lengths yet it was contained within the stone walls. Like a contained lake, but cleaner, I could see the stones that were far in the ground.
A naturally occurring masterpiece.
Smoke was pouring out of it as we all headed towards it.
We'd been screened at the entrance, no object was to be carried into the pool area, and I saw the wisdom in that. This was too beautiful to be desecrated.
I looked back at the stone stairs that led us into here as more students walked down.
They didn't have the same awe in their eyes as I did, having grown accustomed to the view.
I feared that.
Being unable to appreciate this view every time I see it because I have seen it too much or something else is overpowering my senses.
I looked up to see the two springs feeding it, and I couldn't decipher if it was just the smoke or if the water was actually glowing. I felt thrilled, trying to figure out how this entire thing worked.
There was a narrow path at the end where the water flowed out from but I had to squint my eyes to see it properly. If not for the tight security system, this would have been a perfect place for me to hide.
There are no fishes but there are fruits up on the stubborn greenery that sprouted at the upper side of the mountain.
I was in the middle of planning how I could survive here if I found a way in when that annoying Master Torrin clapped his hands together and all idle chatter ended, and all eyes turned to look at him.
“Alright everyone, I have to reiterate the rules even though most of you are already aware of the way we train because of the new fledgling who seems not to understand what we're here for.”
I took a step back, trying to hide from his searching gaze but I knew it was of no use, his green eyes found me in seconds.
“I hope you remembered to keep your stomach empty,” he said, and although there were no emotions on his face, he poured fear directly into my soul.
“We don't want to drink your vomit human,” someone snickered from the back, and everyone else joined in, laughing.
I inhaled deeply, it's not my stomach that bothered me. It was how deep that water was, and the longer I look at it, the more I realise the water is actually deceptive.
It's deeper than it appears, and the path I could clearly see was even the shallow path.
“Quit that crap Ryker!” Master Torrin surprisingly barked, ending the torment before it got worse. “Now take your positions. Ferguson, stand next to Asher. You're to swim three laps. Only stop when you're done.”
He was saying words but their meaning refused to register in my head or maybe I refused to accept they meant what they did.
The last time I was in a large body of water, it was when I was thrown into this world and I know how I struggled to survive that relatively short distance.
What he was asking for was a suicide mission and I refused to accept that he actually meant for us, me, to swim back and forth this distance three times.
No.
Impossible.
“Hey,” a young guy with tousled blonde hair and bronze coloured scales flowing from his neck to his arms said to me, a friendly smile on his face. “I'm Asher, you're supposed to swim next to me?”
“Oh,” I smiled with glee, “thank you. I was confused for a bit. Does he really mean all of what he just said?”
“Of course,” he replied, his freckles moving in the blue light of the pool area, “we do this once every week. Don't worry, this isn't like running. You'll adjust quickly, your body was made for it.”
His enthusiasm didn't reach me, he could have said gibberish for all my nervous system cared.
I was terrified, point-blank.
I had very little nutrition in me, very little strength, and a lot of fatigue.
I didn't see how this entire thing was going to go well.
But there was no way out, Master Torrin was still drilling out instructions, tightening the noose around my neck, and making it as clear as the water below that I couldn't run away.
Once again, I was presented with the options of dying here or going back so Baldwin could kill me.
Of course, I followed Asher to the spot.
There were fifty-one of us and everyone fit at the beginning of the pool.
We were all dressed in black coloured swimming trunks that clung tightly to our body and while the girls tied their hair to the back, I let mine fall. The incident of this morning wasn't allowed to keep happening, especially around the men who were more hostile towards me.
“I don't have all day you gremlins! Jump!”
And they all did, while I slowly waded in. The water was warmer than I thought but my body quickly adjusted to it.
“Ferguson! What the hell are you doing? Is this a walking or a swimming exercise?”
“I'm sorry Sir,” I whispered before I dived in and began swimming.
The best way I knew how, with my head out.
“If you don't want to die in there, you'd better dip your head in and open your eyes!” He yelled and something that was supposed to be instructions, became a reprimand.
But I tried, and to my shock, he was right.
I moved through the water, enjoying the warmth, the feeling of my legs kicking through it and my hands pushing me forward with every stroke.
I pulled my head out to breathe and then put it back again.
“Go faster, Ferguson! This is not a vacation!”
‘I will treat it as one sir,’ I replied in my head, not increasing my pace an inch because if I was meant to do this three times, exhausting my strength on the first lap wouldn't be a smart idea.
I could already feel the strain on my legs and my shoulder blades were already protesting, asking me to stop.
But how could I? I was literally in the middle of the pool, the others were far ahead of me and even if I veered left to the stone by that side, it was still a long way.
So I kept my pace, moving, coming up for hair, and heading towards the end.
The others were done with their first half and were heading towards me, and I could see what Asher meant by my body being built for it.
Well, not mine, theirs. They moved like snakes in the water, zigzagging quickly and swimming past me in seconds.
I wanted to try their pattern but I stopped myself.
If I could stop myself from dying, I should definitely do that instead of trying a technique I didn't know anything about right in the middle of the water.
After a long swim, I was finally at the other edge.
I tuned out from the teacher's screaming and took some time to breathe.
Until the others got to where I was.
I noticed that they had mixed up the line, not everyone though but Asher wasn't next to me anymore, some strange faces were.
And as they swam up to me, a wicked grin laced their expressions.
“Come on Ferguson,” the boy on my right called, “let's swim!”
I didn't let myself overthink it. If I kept slowing down, the teacher might do what he did yesterday and I would really hate that so I joined them, trying to join in the pattern they were using.
I was beginning to get it, although I'd drunk a few gulps of water but my speed was increasing quite a bit.
Until I felt something gripping my ankle from inside the water.
I screamed for a second before I got dragged down.