Good Things Never Last

Chapter 89

Many weeks later, I was drained, battered and bruised. Let's just say Punz hadn't been going easy on me. To say I was exhausted would be an understatement. I'd been forced to get up at the brink of dawn and train for the remaining hours of daylight, only taking a break for a snack or a sip of water.

I hadn't really said anything either. I used to try to defend myself against Punz's harsh remarks, but as time went on, I just found it easier to keep my head down and stay quiet.

It was sunrise. I was walking through a green field that seemed to stretch on forever. I came to a halt as I caught sight of the silhouette in front of me and my hand instinctively reached for the sword slung about my waist. The only sound was the birds chirping happily in the skies as a pleasant spring breeze blew through my hair as I waited for my opponent's first move.

I wore no armour at all, just a t-shirt and joggers. Apparently I didn't need armour because I needed to 'learn how to take a hit' so that explained all the cuts littered across my body if anyone cared enough to ask. Which they don't.

The man before me held nothing but an axe and a shield, something I'd hoped for every day, but instead, I was stuck with a shitty sword. Quickly looking him up and down, I realised how his hips were turned more to the left than the right, making his left side the easier target but he had his shield for protection. He had spread his weight evenly between his feet so he wouldn't be knocked down.

So I did the only thing I deemed to be reasonable at the moment, I waited for him to strike first. I knew his first move before he took it. He tensed for a fraction of a second before springing towards me, taking away the element of surprise. His swing was hard, yet I blocked it with ease as our blades of iron crashed against each other.

I backed up a little, keeping my sword out in front of me and taking a defensive stance. His following strike wasn't as powerful as it should've been, allowing me to avoid it but not move away completely.

As the sharp blade slashed through my forearm, I winced slightly. I paused for a moment before lunging towards my opponent. He responded just in time, sending me tumbling back as he sliced at my legs. It was like a dance, the pair of us taking turns to leap and strike, while the other simply weaved away.

Now you see, after a couple of weeks of training with someone, you begin to realise their habits. I'd come to learn that my opponent preferred short simple fights that could end in a couple of simple blows, so when they get dragged out, his skill begins to falter.

A brief opening was all it took for me to land a hit on his right arm, taking him by surprise. With no shield to protect him from my blade, blood soon began seeping down his bicep, but we paid no mind to it.

Following my slash with another strong hit, our blades meet once again. I began to twist my wrist, forcing my sword harder against his axe, taking advantage of his weaker arm. He really didn't see that coming as his grip faltered for a second, allowing me to launch the axe into the air, leaving him almost defenceless. Almost.

I charged towards the boy and swung my sword at him, only for it to get stuck in his shield. I realised it wouldn't budge after a few yanks and released it, staggering back a little as I did so. Almost immediately, I dropped to the ground and swept out a leg, striking his knee and sending him tumbling to the floor.

As I smirked at his helpless form, I dashed over to him and straddled his waist, firmly pinning him down. And it was then that his fist collided with my nose. Quickly scurrying away from him, I gently prodded my bleeding nose with my hand, cringing at the contact. It was definitely broken.

"What the fuck was that for? I won fair and square"
Punz just rolled his eyes and gathered his weapons, making sure to leave my sword on that grass a couple of metres away.
"You should never let your guard down. Now go get cleaned up, Dream's coming back soon"
I dragged myself from the ground, snorting at his comment. I quickly grabbed my sword and turned to head to the place I'd been calling home for the last couple of weeks, dreading what was about to come.

Dream.
The son of a bitch that practically abandoned me to get tortured by Punz and his 'skilful' swordsmanship. He'd left me by myself without a word for weeks and then expected me to look presentable when he showed up again.

Yeah, not happening.

I was just going to act like he didn't exist. Yep, that was the best way to go about it.

It didn't take me long to stumble into the bathroom, prepared to clean my wounds. The first thing I did was stuff two pieces of toilet paper up my nose to keep the blood from running down my face, allowing me to focus on the gaping wound in my arm. It was a lot deeper than I anticipated, requiring about eight or nine stitches to avoid becoming a visible scar. The first aid bag was somewhere in the kitchen, so that's where I headed. But at the sight of a masked green man sitting on the counter, I almost did a one-eighty.

"What the fuck happened to you?"
Rolling my eyes, I made my way over to the other side of the room and grabbed the first aid kit.
"So I'm getting the silent treatment. Very mature"
I didn't say anything as I walked out of the room and returned to the bathroom, but I was well aware that the blond was following me. Using the bathroom mirror to have one last look at the gash, I opened up the first aid kit and grabbed the needle and thread, quickly coating them with alcohol. With no hesitation at all, I pushed the needle through my skin and twisted it clockwise so it could come up on the other side of the cut.

"Woah woah woah"
A hand reached out and gripped my own, attempting to pry the needle from my grip.
"Let me help you"
I swiftly yanked my hand away from him and glared at him.
"Why on earth would I need your help? I've been dealing with this by myself for the past few weeks so I'm not just going to change that because you finally decide to show your face. I'm not incompetent"
His mask just looked down at me, not even saying a word as I began to dig the needle into my arm again.

"You know. This is kinda like what you put Tommy through, isn't it? Isolated from everyone, but it doesn't matter because they all hate me now. You may not be manipulating me on a daily basis, but I do have Punz beating the shit out of me. You don't even need to be here for me to be completely under your control"
I turned to face him, expecting a reaction, but all he did was shake his head and walk away.