The Inner Demons?

Chapter 3

The air in the dojo suddenly seemed thicker, as if the entire world had stopped to watch this fight. Blade seemed different, not angry exactly but not holding the same smile he always did. Was he happy that Ayden had come here or was he mad that Ayden might follow in his father's footsteps and end up the same way? The door was now to Ayden's back, left open from when Blade came in. Almost as if reading his intent, Blade vanished from sight, the sound of the door closing echoing throughout the building. Ayden turned around to see Blade lock it. It was simple enough to unlock the door, but it was an almost impossible feat in the middle of a fight. "You may have grown faster but you still don't own a poker face. When you are in a fight do not let your eyes or body language give away your intent." Ayden knew his eyes never left Blade, so hearing the words he looked down and noticed that his right foot, the one that held his weight, was facing away from Blade. In a fight the dominant foot will always face the direction the person is thinking of going. Since his foot couldn't turn completely around it was the farthest away from blade at the moment it could get. Ayden let out a defeated sigh, a smile growing on his face at the realization.

"I forgot that me and my dad trained as much as you and he did. Should have figured that you'd know the same things he taught me." Blade stood tall at the comment, taking it as a compliment.

"Well, he wouldn't want me to let you slip up, even if it has been so long since you last sparred with someone." Blade took a few steps closer, getting halfway between the door and Ayden. "Your father was a gentle, supportive man who had no ill-mannered bone in his body. No matter who he fought he would show them the same respect and power he'd show anyone, regardless their strength." Blade pulled off his shirt, showing all of the scars that ran mostly along his forearms and chest. None of them were severely deep but all of looked painful. "Ayden, you are my best friend's son and for that reason I can't go easy on you. I have no intent on killing you, but I will not hold back like George would have. You know as well as I have that losing him was hard, but that is no excuse to stop your training. If you had continued to this day, there is no way I'd be a match for you." Blade got back into his stance, the smile fading from Ayden's lips as he got into a shaky, but formal stance himself. "Too sloppy."

Blade didn't seem to move, leaning forward slightly before suddenly being airborne, heading straight for Ayden. The man stopped in front of Ayden before sweeping his leg, catching Ayden's ankle and tripping him onto his side. Ayden closed his eyes from the impact, looking up to see Blade's heal coming down on him. Ayden rolled out of the way before climbing to his feet. Ayden was used to being knocked down because of the guys from school, but at least with them, he always knew that was it for a while. With Blade there was no stopping, not until either Ayden won, or he could no longer continue fighting. Getting back into the same stance, Blade waited for Ayden to prepare himself. Hey, Dion. You there? You said you'd help if I called on you.

No answer. Of course, he wouldn't just talk, that'd be too easy. Ayden widened his stance, lowering himself slightly to bring his center of gravity closer to the floor. It would make it harder for Blade to trip him. "Harder to trip, harder to dodge." Blade said, launching himself into the air again, bringing his right arm forward and centering a punch directly into Ayden's stomach. Bile spilled from Ayden's mouth as he was launched ten feet back before landing on his back, sliding another foot. He rolled onto his side where he let the remainder of the bile exit onto the floor. The anger that came with the pain and humiliation was more than Ayden had felt in a long time. He knew he wasn't mad at Blade, not really. He wasn't even really mad at himself. He was mad at the world, if things hadn't played out the way they did then Ayden would have still been training with his dad and he wouldn't be this weak. Getting back to his feet, Ayden didn't get into a stance. Instead, he stood, legs wide with his chest facing Blade. 

"Are you surrendering?" Ayden closed his eyes as he let the anger dig into his bones, feeling the heat flush his face and the tips of his ears growing warmer. He gritted his teeth before letting his eyes rest on Blade again.

"If I had continued my training, would I be as strong as my father was?" Blade's body lost its rigidity, his face growing pained for a mere second before relaxing. 

"If I had to guess, I'd say you'd probably be stronger than he was." Ayden's eyes closed again, his hands closing into fists, letting the heat burn into his, hotter and hotter until his body couldn't handle it anymore. A thought had popped into his head at that moment, something his dad had told him once. 

Your element is your strongest ability. I'm not saying that because it is yours. To do strong attacks you must do the hand signs to call upon the element, but to do simple spells, such as summoning a candle flame, all you have to do is concentrate on it. Forming the fire into a shape takes too much energy and focus to not rely on hand signs. Remember the hand signs are there to guide you, help your mind center on what you want. If you don't use hand signs your mind may wander, and the fire could become explosive.

"Be explosive." The words came out almost as a whisper, causing Blade to squint his eyes at Ayden as fire exploded from Ayden's now open palms. His hands were facing behind him, giving him the force he needed to be launched towards Blade. The sound, sight and shock of what happened causing Blade to lose focus for a moment as Ayden closed the distance. He closed his left hand so the flames would stop, causing the flame from his right hand to make him spin, bringing his foot down onto Blade's shoulder. He took the force directly, having not been expecting it, he didn't prepare himself to absorb the impact. Ayden already knew the attack wouldn't be enough to take Blade out, but it was at least enough to steady his own resolve. He moved his hand to face behind Blade so that the force would move him out of range of the man. Ayden landed on his feet, the flames coming to a stop. Ayden's smile forming again from the successful attack.

"Ayden. Ayden!" Blade was screaming at him, but he didn't know why. Everything was becoming foggy and dark as Blade rushed towards him. He blacked out before Blade made it to him.

Ayden woke up, the groggy feeling still clinging to his mind as he opened one eye. The sunlight had dropped but it wasn't sunset yet. He saw that Blade was standing in the doorway, shirtless, having used the shirt he discarded as a pillow for Ayden. "W-what happened?" Blade turned around but didn't move away from the door.

"You blacked out. Do you remember what you did?" Ayden opened both eyes, sitting up and crossing his legs.

"Uh, I remember...oh, I remember using my fire to land that hit on you." Once the thought returned, he looked back up at Blade to see the red mark that was still on his upper shoulder. Blade's hand moved to touch the mark. He looked at Ayden with eyes that revealed how impressed he was.

"You did, it actually hurt a little bit. After that you blacked out. Your body isn't used to using that much magic at once. That was a lot of fire you released and with no funnel either." Ayden looked at him confused at the wording. "A funnel is the technical term for the hand signs and wording of the spells we use. The hand sings limit the magic to a single type and the wording funnels that magic into a single spell. Every spell, regardless how simple, has a name. It is so you don't use too much of it too quickly. The spell you used, if I'm not mistaken, was known as Inferno Burst. Instead of a constant stream of fire being released it would have been more of a single burp of flame."

"Yeah, but if I had done that then I wouldn't have been able to complete the attack I did. All it would have done was get me close to you, which at the time wasn't enough." Ayden's voice rose as if he was arguing with someone. Blade's hands came up to calm the boy.

"Yes, I'm aware. I'm not saying that what you did was wrong exactly. I'm just trying to teach you as we go. You have to remember that if you had been fighting anyone else you would have left yourself vulnerable after passing out. At Thodes Torneo Balsi that move may be effective but not against someone like me."

Ayden got to his feet, dusting off his pants and the shirt that Blade had given him. "And when is this open tournament anyway?" He handed the shirt back to Blade who held it but didn't put it back on just yet.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I am your guardian but in the eyes of the Dragon Council I'm just some human who is watching over you. You'll be told before I am." Ayden rolled his eyes at that. He had never met the Dragon Council but even his dad used to complain about them. "Either way, let's head back inside. We can pick up your training tomorrow." Ayden gave a pained smile before following Blade towards the house.