NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Training with a god
"What?" Was the only word Ethan managed before the man smiled and took just one step, instantly he stood in front of Ethan, his speed so high he couldn't even see him move. In the blink of an eye he found himself spinning through the air like some toy and only then did his body even realize it was hit, the pain flared in his side where the staff hit him, his entire left side was just an explosion of pain. Then a second hit followed right when he was upside down, a hit from the right that slammed into his temple, a hot nail of burning pain drove into his skull and stars danced before his eyes. On the edge of losing consciousness he heard the man utter one word.
"Pathetic." The man practically spat out the word as he looked down to Ethan's twisted body, but even when he should be dead his health points stayed the same, the pain was real but it vanished rather quickly compared to a real wound, it seems he couldn't die for now. His face got even paler when he realized how much pain he could receive without the chance to make it stop.
"I hoped you would fight me Hatchling." he grabbed Ethan's arm and pulled him back to his feet, his vise-like grip nearly crushing his bone into a fine powder, as he looked down at Ethan his eyes were cold, this man wasn't here to kill him, for him it was more like playing a gamer.
"What do you even want from me?" Ethan whined but didn't dare to look into the man's eyes again. The small amount of confidence he built since killing that goblin vanished in mere seconds, but even if he wanted to quit, there was no way he could defeat the man. He was the definition of power
The man, Ouroboros, forced a staff into Ethan's hand and gave him push back so there was some distance between them. The man took his stance, one foot pushed back and his knees bent slightly, the staff back into his two handed grip. "Now, defend yourself!" Again he swung his staff into an overhead swing to hit Ethan on the head. Luckily this time he managed to see the strike coming for him.
Ethan didn't know if it was instinct or his fear or a combination of both but he raised his staff and tried to block the strike aimed for his head. The sound of wood hitting wood could be heard and his hands turned numb from the vibration and strength of the hit. But he managed to block this time. "Good, again! Concentrate, you need to focus as a mage in every situation!"
A swing from the left side, that he managed to block again, his left hand moving down, the right moved up to hold his staff vertically. Again the wooden staffs hit each other. Ouroboros was relentless, one attack followed the other while he talked with him like this was some kind of casual conversation. "A mage is a ranged fighter in nine out of ten cases but you still need to be able to stay alive in a close quarter fight. The thing you will mostly have available for that is your staff."
The man thrust his staff like a spear, Ethan gasped as it hit his sternum and pushed him back a few meters. His vision turned black for a moment when he nearly died again only for something to interrupt it. He took a deep breath and his eyes opened wide, he jumped back to get a bit more distance to compose himself. Nevertheless, he did not let go of the staff and simply held it even tighter.
"A mage shouldn't fight with his staff, leave that to the monks, there are ways to make your staff into an actual weapon but you need to focus on the thing you're good at and that is magic!" He kicked Ethan into the belly and threw a red orb into his direction. He attacked with magic at the same time!
Ethan bent to the side and managed to evade the projectile, then he raised his staff as another swing from the right approached him. He let go with one hand to throw an ice spike towards Ouroboros but when the next swing followed from the man his hands were in the wrong spot after casting magic and his right hand was nearly crushed by the hit of the staff, his skin exploded in a cloud of blood when his knuckles cracked like walnuts, Ethan screamed and dropped the staff to press his hand against his chest.
"Never drop your weapon Hatchling!" a foot landed against his shoulder, making him fly a few meters before he landed on his side and rolled for a while longer. His clothes were already covered in mud, blood and soaked through. "In a fight you need to be able to defend yourself. Defend, if you can gain distance and then attack with magic while your opponent closes in. Then…"
He appeared in front of Ethan again. He was pulled to his feet, the staff got thrust into his trembling hands and Ouroboros smiled. "Then you defend yourself again or die trying!"
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Hours vanished under the brutal tutoring of the man, Ethan cried, screamed and begged for it to stop but the man just continued like it was some sick game to him. He fought with him like there was no tomorrow, hits that should have killed him just led to more pain, his mana was empty so many times from all the magic he used while fighting. His hands never stopped trembling and he was twitching nervously with each attack from Ouroboros.
What Ethan didn't notice was his improvement, sometimes he managed to block strike after strike, evaded thrusts and used his magic more effectively to give himself openings so he could hit Ouroboros but he never managed to hit him.
Despair and fear turned into determination at some point and then into anger. He hated every second of it as it made him feel like the young boy again that got pushed around by the older kids back in his school days, a time he wanted to forget but here it surfaced again. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the staff so tight his knuckles turned white, he wouldn't give up and show this prick of a god what he could do!
He wanted to hurt this man, hit him over and over again while he screamed his whole pain out, the pain of being bullied, the pain of losing his parents and his sister. The man just blocked him, not even using two hands anymore to hold his staff. To him this was a game.
"Maybe your sister died because you aren't strong enough…Hatchling." the man mocked him with the most hurtful insult, how did he even know about his sister?! Those red eyes just stared right into Ethan's. He got kicked again, the heel of the man's boot hit his knee, making it snap like some dry twig. Ethan screamed as he sat there on the ground
"You're not strong enough, not for your sister and not even for yourself." he pulled Ethan back up again, the knee healed again. Without him even noticing. "The system gives you power but you just press a button instead of using it." He defended himself again from Ethan's swings. "You are pathetic if you keep seeing this as a game. You're more than just a human now, a person with magic and power so use it! "
The man slapped him, which caused his head to turn almost 180 degrees, only to snap back in place the next second. Ethan didn't even notice the pain at this point, he just wants the man gone. Without a thought he activated his magical energy, opening the floodgates while something changed inside of him.
Magical energy, mana, streamed from his heart to every part of his body, pressing against his skin while it looked for a way to escape, his own skin felt too tight for him and Ethan offered the energy a way.
Mist started to leak from his pores, streamed from his body and gathered in a cloud around him. Everything it touched started to freeze over, the torn up grass, the mud and water under his feet. Like a cocoon the freezing cold air surrounded him, more and more gathered until it stopped one arm length away from his body all around. While he threw ice spikes for the whole fight this was different, something more complex, he wanted to explore it but there was still a fight to be fought.
He noticed an update from the system but he couldn't be distracted. Ethan Just needed to hit the man, if he managed one hit he could count it as a victory, at least for him this sounded like a goal he could achieve. Ethan grabbed his staff that started to freeze from his touch. He summoned ice spikes, one, two, three, four…five of them hovered over his shoulders with the fifth over his head. He attacked again. The frozen staff in his hand felt better, powerful and more like an extension of himself, permeated by his energy.
The fight continued for the last time, Ethan never stopped attacking, thrusting his staff towards the man, spinning around himself to deliver a powerful hit, a thrust turned into a swing as he brought the end of the staff around to hit the man's shoulder. While doing that he shot one ice spike after the after towards the god, the moment they launched themselves towards Ouroboros a new one was already forming and ready to be used.
Ouroboros smiled, the Hatchling turned out to be worth his time. He managed multiple things since their fight began. He stopped dropping his staff and he stopped being controlled by pain for the most part. But what made him smile was the ability he displayed right now, the boy unlocked an aura ability out of pure anger, he even managed to infuse his staff with energy and he finally combined his magic with his defense, a valuable skill he would need in the future.
It looks like Ethan was a prodigy in terms of magic but he wasn't that bad in physical combat either. The man blocked another wild swing from Ethan and he felt his energy move around him, the aura expanded when he attacked and contracted when he defended. It was interesting to see, the ice affinity being a rare thing in the multiverse, most people just threw fireballs or shot lightning. But Ethan knew it was the right choice because it gave him something he always desired, control.
I know I can hit him! Ethan thought and while he thought he could win Ouroboros pushed him back with three quick thrusts of his staff. With the second he disarmed him and the third pinned him to the ground. "You fought well boy, but I won this fight." he smiled, but Ethan just smiled and his blue eyes glowed softly, the smile never wavered "What's so funny Hatchling?"
An ice spike shot from the ground and hit the man on his thigh, it didn't leave a mark or any damage at all but Ethan's smile grew, his words only a whisper. "I won…" he said before passing out.