Identity (Editing)

Chapter 18

When I look up, I see his eyes trained on me, burning a dangerous and fiery red.

"Are you done sympathising with yourself? It's pitiful and annoying to watch." His tone is dark as he speaks, causing a small bit of fear to rest in the pit of my stomach.

"Y-yes..." I mumble back, tucking away a stray strand that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. He scoffs under his breath and turns to completely face me.

"Then we will begin with the second aspect of your lesson." I know I need to be worried because he grins widely at me.

"And what is-" I cut off as he dashes at me, his movements practically a blur as I try to move out of his way. There is a sharp pain that rattles in my head as his fist connects to my jaw, knocking me back a few feet.

"The hell was that for?!" I demand, wincing as pain shoots along my lower cheeks when I talk.

"You should always be prepared." He chuckles and plants his left foot behind him, digging it against the hard stone. I take a step back, my eyes wide with fear. There's no way I can fight him head on like this. He sees my defeated expression and sighs.

"I suppose we need to start from the beginning, then." The left corner of his thin lips begins to tilt up more so than the right, creating a wry and deadly smile. My attention is drawn by the flickering white and black orb forming in his hand.

"W-what are you doing?" I ask wearily and he responds by turning away from me, shooting the ball of twisted destruction towards the mostly desecrated mountain. There is a loud boom that echoes around the air and a large white some spreads out, obliterating the remainder of life on the entire segment of land. Pain rips through my chest and my legs give out from under me. I wince as my knees make a hard clack against the stone, but that dull ache quickly fades as the fire around my heart grows.

"Interesting... But a weakness nonetheless. Something like this will be used against you. If the opponent is clever enough, that is." His expression becomes more serious and he moves back to me, peering down at my trembling body menacingly. I slowly stand, my hand still resting on my chest as if I am pledging to him. His face is void of emotion, a blank slate that seems to scare me more than his wicked grin.

"It is not something that I can just easily get over..." I grumble and then it returns, that sadistic smile that tells me that I should have just opted to keep my mouth shut.

"Oh? In fact, there is a very easy way to 'get over it' as you say. I would even dare to call it amusing... For myself that is." The White and black auras spark in his hand and my eyes widen in fear. His words finally sink in. Pain tolerance. Another explosion and more of that dreadful fiery heat scalds my chest, causing me to collapse again. My chest heaves as I writhe on the roof, trying to suck in air that doesn't end up making the pain worse. Once it fades he chuckles and more booms sound, increasing the agony until black dots swim in my eyes.

"P-please... Stop." I rasp, reaching out to him desperately as the raging inferno consumes my body.

"Absolutely disgraceful." He growls and adjusts his gloves, the white fabric bunching slightly as the creases of his fingers. "Pitiful, worthless..." He doesn't say another word and sighs turning away from me. That is my silent dismissal. Training is over for the day. Once my head stops spinning, I slowly stagger to my feet, pressing my hand against the wall as I make my way inside. The dark and brooding hallway greets me with an unpleasant sensation resting in the pit of my stomach. The pain in my chest has subsided, but there is still a dull ache in my jaw from where his fist connected. Maybe only a few hours have passed, but it feels like I have gone days without sleep.