“Wha-” was the only response Ethan managed before the man appeared in front of him like he just teleported, he suddenly was in the air, his body spinning around while he got thrown away, only then did his body even realize the hit from the man’s staff. He felt pain like never before, the left side of his head was burning, like someone drove a hot glowing nail into his temple, he was hot and cold at the same time and moments just vanished when he got unconscious.

  “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.

  “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.

  “What do you even want from me?” Ethan whined but didn’t dare to look into the man’s eyes. The 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.

  A staff got pushed back into his hand. The man taking 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.

  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!”

  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 staff hit each other.

  The man thrust his staff like a spear, Ethan gasped as it hit his sternum and pushed him back a few metres. His vision turned black for a moment when he nearly died again only for something to interrupt it.

  Another swing from the right, he managed to move his staff but his hands were in the wrong spot 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 popcorn, Ethan screamed and dropped the staff to press his hand against his chest.

  “Never drop your weapon hatchling!” a foot landed in his belly, making him fly a few meters again, 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.”

  He appeared in front of Ethan again and again he was pulled to his feet, the staff in his hands he defended himself again.

  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.

  What Ethan didn’t notice was his improvement, sometimes he managed to block strike after strike, evaded thrusts and even countered but he never managed to hit the man.

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  Despair turned into determination 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. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the staff so tight his knuckles turned white.

  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.

  “Maybe your sister died because you aren’t strong enough…hatchling.” the man didn’t mock him, his 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.

  “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.”

  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.

  He noticed an update from the system but he didn’t care, he just needed to hit the man, if he managed one hit he could count it as a victory. 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.

  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.

  It looks like it got me a prodigy, he blocked another wild swing from Ethan and watched 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 throw fireballs or shoot lightning.

  Time to finish this, Ouroboros thought and with three quick thrusts he first knocked Ethan back, 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 when he saw the smile on Ethan’s face he raised an eyebrow. “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.