My eyes opened, and I found myself back in that dreaded place. It used to be a space I could collect my thoughts and gather more information, but recently it turned more into a torture cage. Before me stood my torturer with his coat off his shoulders again, as he gave me some time to get to my full senses so that he could start with the torture he calls training.
Though now this training just sounds like a grandiose excuse for him to cause as much pain to me as possible, so I get desperate to drink far more blood than I am supposed to. All under the umbrella of calling this self-defence.
He lunged at me, as always, without saying anything. I know he won't utter a word until his arm is through one of my organs, and I braced myself to defend myself and delay the inevitable pain. He kicked my feet, throwing me off balance, because I could react and stomped his foot right through my head. I couldn't feel anything for the first few moments since my brain was nothing but a pile of meat slurry.
It soon reformed its shape, and the inevitable came. "ARGHH!" I screamed in pain, holding my head. Though my brain itself didn't hurt, my skull, the nerves under it, and the little tissue dividing that and my skin felt like they were on fire. It was the worst sort of headache.
"You're getting better at reacting," he said. Is this his way of joking with me, because the last time I remember the current situation ended like the last one, too?
"Thank you, I guess?" I said, unaware of where I actually progress. I'll have to say, he is not the best teacher. Give me Natsumi-san a hundred times over before I have to be taught by him.
"Your body knew the kick was coming, and your legs were slightly harder to knock you off balance," he explained. "You are anticipating the moves better, good job. Though you have a long way to go."
"I doubt I would reach the level you want me to by the time Sarah wakes up," I said, getting on my feet as the pain disappeared.
"No, we are on pace. It should be enough, I think," he said.
"Your words don't really instil much confidence in me, you know," I replied, and he tapped his forehead.
"I know, but it has been so long since my calculations were this off. An error rate within two percent or so was acceptable, but her waking up this early brought so many variables into the equation, it is hard to tell what will happen," he said and summoned a chair, much to my surprise. "Don't worry, your training for today isn't over yet. I need some time to make some estimations. Sigh, if only I could be next to her right now, I would be able to tell everything right away. Why do I have to die before her?"
He rubbed his forehead and summoned a notebook and a pencil, and started to scribble with it on the paper. I snuck a peek to see what he was doing, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was writing. It was a bunch of formulas I have never seen in my life, and only a few symbols I could recognize, though I don't even know if he is using them in the standard way. I hope at least that a man who is over a millennium old keeps up with the modern notations and symbols.
He kept scribbling but ended up tearing the page, crumpling it, and throwing it to the side before he continued again. He was concentrating so much that I could see the wrinkles on his head becoming more prominent. After what felt like an hour, his hand stopped, and he let out a sigh, scratching his head.
"This is not working. I have been at it for so long, but no matter how I try to think about it, the only conclusion I come down to is that she is being forcefully woken up," he said. "My original estimation was not wrong, given the original circumstances." His eyes landed on me and started scanning me for something, and I just stood there, not sure what was going on in his head. "That would make sense."
"What would?" I asked him, thinking back on his words. Wait, don't tell me.
"She is being fed your blood," he said, and my eyes widened. If what he says is true, we both know who is responsible for this. I could feel Ethan's aura getting stronger as his face twisted into an angrier one. Though the man didn't change, his presence did. I could feel it looming over me, covering every part of the room. It was taking up so much space that I started feeling claustrophobic. "Dominic, that worm. He dares to mess with my Sarah. I should have killed him when I had the chance."
I wanted to say something, but I felt all the words refusing to come out of my throat before him. An overwhelming feeling was making my knees weak, pushing me to fall to my knees before him, begging him for my life. He slammed his hand against the table, disintegrating the inanimate object into the smallest of pieces. He stood up from his chair and walked over to me, his presence making me shrink more before him. I was a fool to this the worst someone's aura would get would be from that bastard, because before me didn't stand Ethan, the vampire in my head, but The First, the creator and ruler of all vampires.
"Stand up, boy," he commanded, and my body quickly moved on its own. "It's decided, we have to increase the intensity of your training. I don't care what happens anymore. You will kill Dominic for me."
I instinctively nod my head right away, unable to even fathom refusing him. He placed his hand on my shoulder, and it felt like boulders thrown onto my body. His eyes filled with wrath as they stared right through me. I couldn't hide anything from those eyes; they saw right through me. They knew every little thought that came to my mind, every fibre of my body that might move for a microsecond, and every emotion I could feel. Those eyes could see it all.
"You, Shiba Kazuki, will no longer just be my mere successor. I declare you as my champion. Fight, in my name. Slaughter, in my name and survive, in my name. Your entire existence is tied to me until your last breath. I will train you to become the finest of weapons, a weapon truly worthy to be called monstrous. Be ready to bear the responsibilities of such a title," he said in a commanding voice, and I couldn't do anything but nod. "You will dedicate every moment of your being in this place to train. Your motive is not only to survive anymore. Do I make myself clear?"
"You do," I said right away, and he took his hand off my shoulder and placed it over my other and then onto my head.
"You will now improve at rates you can't even fathom, no matter the cost," he said, and I nod my head again. "Now take your stance and attack me. Merely defending is not going to be enough."
My body moved on its own, and I charged myself at Ethan, my nails grown out, plunging at his heart, but he quickly moved his body to the side, dodging it. "Too direct and slow," he said and kneed me in the stomach, easily pushing my intestines against my spine. If not for my backbone and muscles, I'm pretty sure they would have painted the roof in whatever messed-up colour they are in.
I coughed hard, only to face an uppercut right at my face, tossing me in the air. Luckily, my head was still intact on my body, but I don't think that was a fortunate thing since Ethan's assault didn't take a pause. He followed me up in the air and raised his leg, bringing his heel down at my body, but I quickly turned my body back to dodge it and pushed it away from me, putting distance between us.
"Distancing yourself from an opponent who has a much longer reach than you," he said, and appeared before me as I was still falling, grabbing my collar and throwing me against the floor. I braced my body to take the impact since yesterday, stupidly tried to stop it with my hands, and ended up with two fractured arms.
I hit the ground like a cannonball hitting concrete and could feel my arms and legs shaking from the force thrown on them. Though I didn't have the leisure of worrying about it since I felt Ethan's presence closing in faster than I could move, so I put every last inch of my strength into my legs, propelling me out of the blast radius of where the hammer of god just landed.
Turning around, I saw him standing in the rubble staring at me with such blood lust that the fastest way for this to end would be the stab my own heart. This isn't even training anymore. He is just using me as a means to vent out his anger.
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