1 Head-on confrontation
The sound of two swords colliding could be heard from the courtyard of the Hache family. Andrew was panting heavily, his body sore from all the exercises done that day.
Even if the training had started when the sun rose, the old man displayed no trace of sweat or tiredness.
For Andrew, his father was like a sturdy mountain. For the thousand times today he was cursing the heavens for making him so different and so weak.
A sudden stroke brought Andrew out of his thoughts and made him focus. The following one was too fast, however. To avoid the blow aimed at his ribs he tried to jump back.
"Your reaction is slow, son. And now you won't be able to dodge my kick." Said his father as his sidekick made Andrew fly straight down to the ground a few meters away.
The feeling of his skins and bones on the ground made him wince; his bones were still aching after he got himself up. A few months ago, a blow like this would have left him unconscious at best, so his improvement this past few months was real.
He patted himself to remove the dust and sized his father.
Arnald stood upright before him and harbored a wide grin that was entirely unusual. While his father didn't help him to get up, the boy could feel that his father was proud.
"This settles the training for today. Meditate on what I told you before our next session and don't slack with your daily training."
Arnald ran his hands through his hairs and took a few seconds to recuperate his breath and recompose himself.
"Father, you know that I never slack on my training. Haven't I gotten stronger lately? I can now keep up with you and even at times, throw a counterattack or two."
Arnald took a step forward and put his hand on Andrew's shoulder. His smile quickly vanished, and his smile suddenly seemed a bit more wrinkled, even the composure in his eyes showed signs of faltering.
"While it is true that you have improved, you are still far from capable to fight the weakest among the empowered, or the slowest magicians.
"I have always been protective of you, and that's why I am so obstinate when training is involved, I know that I won't always be there. You will have to fight for your survival."
The tone employed by Arnald was a bit heavy, and that made him shudder. What would he do if his father suddenly went away? The presence of his father was critical to him.
He got a bad feeling about all this, and his father apparently understood because he quickly continued.
"Don't mind what I told too much and keep working hard my son, know that I am proud of you."
"I will do that father."
The two men exchanged a gaze that only a son and a father are capable of and vacated to their occupation.
Arnald was managing the affairs of the house and had in truth little time to take care of Andrew.
The son of the Hache family didn't mind that; he respected his father too much to find any complaint about it.
Before he could decide what to do after his father's departure, another person quickly emerged to engage in a conversation. A person Andrew wanted to avoid, part of it was because his mood was relatively good that day.
The man was his brother, Zain. He was younger by one year and looked very different compared to Andrew. One wouldn't believe these two were brothers before being told about the fact.
"Eheh, I saw the training you had with father. I still don't understand why he keeps training you when you are simply useless."
"Brother Zain, it's a pleasure to have you visit me every day. What can I help you with?" Andrew said, squeezing his teeth and tightening his fist in the process. Zain was far stronger than him, but Andrew would never bow to anyone."
Zain's smile disappeared from his face when he heard that, and his posture stiffened.
"Stop that bullshit, you know well that I want our father to train me instead. That's what mother wants too. So before anything happens to you, I advise you to talk to him in my favor."
This didn't impress Andrew much; he had heard similar treats so many times already.
"I know it hurts to hear that, especially from me. But if you want our father to train you, then you better start earning his respect first."
Before Zain could react, Andrew chose to leave. He turned around and leisurely walked away. Zain wouldn't do anything to him -- at least yet.
Andrew didn't like the atmosphere at home, so he decided to go on a stroll right after he was done with his training and escaped the confrontation with Andrew.
The afternoon rays of sunshine were massive today, and most of his walk since leaving his house was done to avoid it.
At some point, after crossing a street and taking a turn in an area with a lot of stores and workshops, he stood directly in front of a famous weapon shop. A few people exited the building.
This was Gerdus, the scumbag son of the Lecard family and who was accompanied by his two loyal minions.
Andrew who saw them first made a 180° turn-around. Meeting Gedus was always accompanied by misfortune, and he didn't want him to find his secret hideout.
One of the minions quickly received an order and ran toward Andrew. He then caught him by his arm.
"Halt your steps and turn this way, our young master Gerdus wants to talk with you."
"Say, what if I don't want to talk with him?"
The Minion apparently didn't like that answer because he squeezed the arm he had caught with his hands and forced Andrew to turn.
The sudden and powerful pull almost made him fall. After an uneasy step, he managed to recover his position nonetheless.
People began to take their distances and scrambled in all directions. Only a few fools didn't know how bad it was to make an enemy of Gerdus and decided to watch the commotion.
It didn't take long for Gerdus to start the hostilities. He extended one finger and stretched his arm, pointing toward Andrew.
"Well, well. What do we have here? The trash son of the Hache family dares to show his dirty face in front of me?"
"He doesn't know his place, right young master? " Added the minion who was standing next to Gerdus.
Andrew's reaction made Gerdus, his minion and all of the spectators speechless. He kicked the empowered minions in the balls. A timeless technique that would always deal maximum damage to even a stronger opponent, unless the said opponent was a eunuch.
The scream was so high you would think the minion was, in fact, a little girl that lost her favorite toy.
For Andrew, letting others do as they pleased with him was out of the question.
"I'm tired of you and your useless minions, why is that you always have to give me troubles?" Andrew said with an insolent undertone.
"You dirty scumbag! You attacked mine? I hope that you are prepared to bear the consequences!"
"Bla Bla, that's so lame. You can only attack opponents weaker than you, and when you offend someone you cannot, you go cry to your father like a little crybaby.
" Snif snif daddy I'm a crybaby "
Gerdus's face was distorted. He began murmuring ancient words, and smoke began escaping from his hands.
Waiting no further, Andrew stated "Oupsie, Gerdus lost it again, gotta run." and took a run for his life.
Andrew was quicker than most, even on par with some of the weaker empowered.
But that didn't matter to Gerdus who was even quicker than Andrew. He followed him as soon as he left.
The other minion stayed to help his companion recover. The minion that got severely hurt in the most precious part of his body was rolling on the ground. The sight was quite funny, and Andrew cursed that he couldn't stay to enjoy it.
Andrew was still sore from the training. The sessions had been intense, and this body had yet to recover. This time, escaping from Gerdus seemed very unlikely.
After he took a look over his shoulder, he knew that it was going to be impossible to lose him and that he would never reach his home in time to seek protection.
The pressure coming out of Gerdus was increasing. The man was getting impatient.
He had to take a decision now. Either fight with his head high or let Gerdus catch up to him and do whatever he wanted.
Of course, Andrew chose to fight. When Gerdus got close to him, he suddenly turned, put his leg on a nearby crate and jumped with all his might towards him.
Gerdus didn't have much time to react, the only thing he managed to do was use his magic to create a protective shell as fast as he could. He needed the added protection since he was no empowered.
Unfortunately for Andrew, that was enough to stop his blow. There was only so much a strike from a regular person could do.
The momentum lost, Gerdus apparently decided to trade blow for blow. He didn't use any fancy magic, he merely added a shell around his fist and drowned Andrew in punches.
Even though each blow was strong and Andrew was getting dizzy, no hit would endanger the young man's life. The truth was that Gerdus was afraid of Arnald. That old geezer was, after all, deemed undefeatable among his pairs.
Gerdus didn't stop until he felt satisfied. After he left, Andrew cursed and walked sloppily until he went back to his home.
How ironic, he wanted to leave his home for a while to avoid the trouble that meeting his stepmother would bring to him. Yet the woman was the first person he saw when he got home.
Martha admonished him again; she took the time to talk to him about how bad it was to leave the house without telling his parents, how wrong it was to enter fights and of course she reminded him about how useless he was. She always did.
These sermons were really getting on Andrew's nerve, but again, with respect for his father, he didn't want to start a drama.
It was still the afternoon, and with his plans ruined, Andrew took refuge inside the old library of the mansion.
The place hadn't been cleaned since the old caretaker had passed away, but he didn't mind the dust.
Andrew took a seat at the farthest table from the entrance at the table he kept dust-free for his personal use.
He stretched his body over the table and laid there for a while, his cheeks in contact with the cold, rugged wood.
He stayed like this for a while, thinking about himself and the events of the day.
'Sigh... When will I be able to retaliate for real?
'I can't take this anymore... At home or outside, it's all the same. I'm so weak. I don't understand why with my father being so powerful, I can't use any power.
'I know that... I have power in me, I can feel it. But no matter how hard I try to use it for magic, nothing happens. It's like I am incompatible with every type of magic that exists.
'But all of them... Gerdus, Marta, Zain, and all the others. I swear that one day they will pay for making my life a living hell.
'Yes, they are going to pay. Even if the price for it is my life.'
