"Put some strength into it!"
Sparks sprang from his voice, as if he were the one behind them, illuminating the empty training grounds. But the clashes of his crystal sword and Vlad's steel brass knuckles drowned out any opportunity for him to act.
What started as a surprise from Vlad's side soon turned into a one-sided fight where Cesar couldn't attack back even once. His punches were like bullets, his kicks flew like a snake's maw.
And it was basically a guaranteed victory for him!
But it was far from the truth.
'Stop dodging already!'
His eyes weren't focused on Cesar at all; what he really looked at was the sword, which always hid itself away from his strikes. It looked as if the man was avoiding parrying on purpose, choosing to crush his pride by simply dodging his attacks without much change in his expression.
"Did you give up already?" Those taunts of his were so blatantly obvious that a bystander wouldn't react to them. But to Vlad, who was already frustrated enough by his father's false call, couldn't care less about what the man did.
Instead of responding like he always would and losing his tempo, he shifted his posture before launching a strike. Cesar side-stepped easily.
Not caring about the result, he retracted his fist as fast as he could and sent a left hook towards the man's abdomen.
Watching Cesar spin around and return to his previous place, Vlad's gaze sharpened with determination.
His whole body fell to the floor, seemingly collapsing from exhaustion. But the man's eyes were sharp, predicting the boy's move and leaping in the air. The air whistled quietly as the place where he stood was cut by Vlad's leg in a quick sweep that one wouldn't notice until they were already hit.
In that split second of his dropping to the ground, Cesar had already predicted Vlad's attack and jumped over the leg lightly, thinking that the boy would resume his pointless punches.
Then his eyes widened with wild excitement.
Because Vlad, who hadn't spent a day on training martial arts, had managed to move closer under him and, pressing his hands on the floor, had sent a powerful kick upward. Almost as if he had performed a handstand, his body launched up like a spring that cut right in front of Cesar's face.
His gaze shifted in the air, as he somehow moved to the side, dodging the attack and landing on the gym floor without any sound.
"Not bad."
Cesar muttered while watching Vlad, still standing on his hands, already falling to the floor.
His fate was already sealed.
"But not good enough either!"
Raising his right leg high enough that his knee touched his chest, he leaned back and sent a side kick strong enough that it could be compared to a horse. Vlad's pale face cracked just like his body, which folded on itself and flew through the gym like some sort of ragdoll.
A loud bang followed, as he crashed through the heavy equipment.
Flying through benches and metal plates that let out a dull pang each time he bounced off them, he soon hit the wall with his back, the impact knocking the wind out of him.
"Kagh!"
The blow was strong enough that his body turned limp, sliding down the wall lifelessly like he had been sent to hell with but a single strike.
And then Cesar grinned.
"What? Is it too hawd for Mister Vlad?"
His taunt fell on deaf ears as it echoed in the space. The sound of equipment falling to the floor was the only answer he got back as a sigh soon escaped his lips, and he took a step forward to Vlad.
"Fuck off!"
A yell followed from underneath Vlad's hidden face. He watched Cesar freeze in place, a couple of steps away from helping him.
With his body barely moving, he pushed himself against the wall, meeting the bastard's glinting eyes.
'I'll kill you.'
His weary eyes locked onto Cesar, who stood there like a statue. His clothes had no sign of them sparring, not even a tiny graze on the cheap clothes he could rip apart with ease. His sword was already disappearing into tiny notes of light behind him, looking like a blade of pure light.
Yet the bastard only smiled and pointed at his own left eye.
"Can you see me?" He asked with a strange voice.
It wasn't the voice of someone who wanted to fight him seconds ago, without any hostile intent towards him at all; it seemed oddly unnatural.
'The hell?'
He thought for a second with his lightheaded mind.
"Did you drink something?"
Cesar smirked.
"Of course not." He shook his head. Then pointed with his finger at his own cheek before tracing a single line on it.
'Oh...'
Vlad finally seemed to realise what he meant by his words.
His hand gradually went up to his eye, or rather below it, touching his cheek and feeling the sticky sensation.
His finger grazed it by accident, sending a jolt of pain spreading through his whole face. Vlad looked down at the hand that touched his cheek before silently cursing under his breath.
"It reopened."
It was covered in blood.
***
"Couldn't you go a little easier on me?"
"Why would I?" Cesar scoffed before turning away with his cheeks puffed out like some sort of squirrel.
He looked at Vlad over his shoulder, observing him rinsing his face repeatedly. Blood was smeared all over it, like a gruesome painting; half of his face was covered in metallic crimson that kept pouring from under his left cheek.
Vlad's face, which was as clean and as pale as the stainless walls of marble that surrounded him, now held a long scar going down from beneath his left eye to the middle of his neck.
From the side, it might have even looked like the scar was inflicted recently, and it might have been true by the amount of blood he was now losing.
However, no matter how much time had passed, and no matter how much medicine he used. The wound kept refusing to mend, staying there under his cheek and waiting to reopen at any moment.
"Stop staring and pass me the bottle." He stretched out his hand in which Cesar placed a small bottle made of brown glass.
It wasn't big, barely fitting inside Vlad's palm, which gripped it tightly. He unscrewed the lid and, without any hesitation, poured the mixture onto his scar.
His eyes winced, blinking rapidly under the sudden feeling of his flesh mending. Smoke started to come from his face like the wound had started to burn from the inside out. But no signs of pain were presented on his face that stared back at his reflection in the mirror.
A small, straight nose was hanging from his face, the tip smeared in his own blood, pointed down the sink so as not to mess up the surrounding room. His eyes were a color of tree bark, shining faintly against the mirror that showed his red, thin lips, which panted for more air each second.
'I look so disgusting.'
Vlad thought that while pain spread through the side of his face, it felt like thousands of needles had filled every corner, trying to dig their way deeper into his broken flesh.
It still wasn't enough, so after taking a last look at the half-empty bottle of mysterious medicine.
He gritted his teeth and poured the remainder of it on the pulsating wound. Smoke filled half of the restroom, but he didn't care as he watched his scar closing slowly until it turned into a thin red line just like always.
- Phew
A sigh of relief escaped his hurting lips, from which he wiped the last drops of almost dry blood.
"Um." Cesar hummer from the side, making Vlad raise his brow. Then he looked down at himself, at the suit whose top was now covered in his own fresh blood.
"Shit."
He wanted to take off his clothes, but noticed his hands were covered in blood.
"Took the words out of my mouth," Cesar added, half-teasing. "Finally, some color in your life, eh?"
Vlad didn't pay him any attention as he started to wash his hands repeatedly. Then, after making sure there wasn't a spot of red on his fingers, he wiped them and tried to pull his suit off.
His hands were splashing water all over his chest, trying to wash away the already hardened stains; his fingers fumbled as he tried to unbutton his ruined collar.
But it did nothing. In just a few minutes, his suit that was stained with metallic blood at the top was now dyed from head to toe in a muted red color, both revolting in smell and design.
Watching the last gift his father gave him on his birthday, he sighed, and rinsed his once again bloody hands.
"Who cares?"
Vlad muttered, to which Cesar raised his brow.
"Uh, you?"
Sending a last glare at his lousy instructor, Vlad staggered out of the gym and was most likely heading to the elevator, which would take him back to his room. A trail was left behind him, staining the red carpet with a deeper color and leaving behind a heavy smell of blood.
Cesar stood there alone, a little stumped by what had just happened, and then he looked at the sink, which was like a stop sign blaring in his face.
'I don't get paid enough for this.'
He put his hands in his pockets and disappeared from the restroom like he was never there before.