"What the fuck is thi--?" I said inward.
But something struck me. My body, it suddenly felt heavy. The sound of my heartbeat thumped even louder.
I raised my gaze from my bleeding hands to the man whose sheathed blade connected with mine.
My senses, they were heightened. Hearing, feeling, seeing... everything was forced to its peak.
"What is wrong? Compose yourself, you're bleeding." The man before me spoke.
I tried to pull away but my body remained unmoving. It was as though.it was paralysed. No, it wasn't responding to my control.
"Move.... move... move.... moreover!!" I roared.
No, I tried to. But my voice didn't Echo out. My subconscious was being forced into a hole. It was being submerged into an abyss.
"NO...!" I said to myself, stilling everything.
Just then, I felt my body get flooded with magic.
My body moved, though something or someone else was still in control. I took a step and my foot stomped into the ground, it felt like I was walking in shallow sand.
My energy was channeled into the sword and I swung it with force. The man blocked it but this time, his sheath cracked.
The cracks spread up on it and the sheath shattered.
The man's eyes widened and he gripped the hilt of his sword on alert. He took a few steps back and stood wary.
I held my blade with two hands and charged. This time, my body was light. It was strong, it felt.... incredibly perfect.
The man parried my sword and my blade slid down to the side. He sent a punch but I withdrew my blade and blocked the strike.
The force sent me flying back and I landed on my feet. My legs furrowed lines in the ground.
"What happened to this boy?" The man wondered as he paid more attention and focus to me.
My body glowed. In a flash, I stood before him. I slashed at him but he caught my age barehanded. But an explosion burst from his grasp.
He was surprised one more time.
"That's not possible." He muttered to himself and made some distance.
I charged at him and sent wave after waves of Slashes and strikes. The man blocked each of them. His advantage was his experience and skill.
But unlike before, he was a bit wary of my movements. He couldn't let himself be struck by my blade.
I held my blade by my right shoulder and gathered energy in it. I could feel the force and strain of my power washing over me.
"That... is... enouuuuuugh!" I roared from the confines of my consciousness.
My senses came back to me. Control over my body was restored. The energy that had built in my sword was too strong and destructive to control.
I threw the blade to the sky as hard as I could. Thank God strength was still in my arms.
The blade was sent high enough above the roofing of the buildings.
"Boooom..!!"
The blade blew up. An explosion powerful enough to send shockwaves across the sky and across the land.
An unbelievably huge ball of fire filled the sky. The attention of most people in the area were alarmed and awed by the display of power.
Almost everything in this sector would have been blown to ashes had I failed to keep that power dealt with.
Suddenly, I felt the strength that filled my body drain. I looked at my hands that were bleeding earlier.
No wounds could be seen anywhere. I was perfectly healed.
"What the hell was that?" I forced myself to speak. My vision became blurred and I fell to my knees.
The panting was somewhat too strong. And heat flared up in my chest. The thumping of .y heartbeat kept echoing in my head.
The man walked over to me and tapped my shoulder. I looked at his face and my gone vision came back. For some reason, I could tell he was proud.
"Hardships shape people. What you felt today wasn't pointless. It wasn't punishment. It was a hardship you needed to deal with and survive." He said to me.
"Be proud of yourself... as I am of you young master Atticus. Today, you displayed great power and true talent." He continued and stood up.
He drew a magic circle and a sheathe appeared. After sheathing his sword and hanging it to the waist, he smiled and offered a hand.
For the first time, I felt happy.
"Come, we're done for today." He said, helping me up.
We were about to walk away from.the training ground when my mother and some other people came rushing into the entrance of the training grounds.
Of course, there was nothing to see and we left the place. The man explained all that had happened to my mother and the others.
I went home and rested. And of course, my lovely worrywart of a cousin was right there with me.
She fell dead silent beside me I even thought she was asleep at some point.
But couldn't mind the cuddling one bit. My body was exhausted and drained of all power anyway. I should probably rest.
But still, something worried me.
What happened back there? Why didn't my body answer to me? Why did I lose control like that?
If my power has overgrown my control, what will happen in the future? And if that's not so, could it be "THAT"?
I couldn't help but wonder.
But that aside, what the heck did that man say?
I thought to myself, remembering the last words my trainer said before we left.
"That's all for today." I heard them Echo in my mind.
"What in the fuck?" I said, unaware of what I just said.
If that was only for today, that old punishing machine is planning to take charge of my training from now, onwards.
"When did I ever anger the skies so much to deserve this kind of suffering?" I felt fear creep at me again.