"The boy learns quickly, master,"
"Yes, he does for now. We must ensure the others don't find out about him. We've spent far too much time hiding and planning for this to fail."
"Certainly, master I'll keep an eye on him."
The figure looked at the image before him.
'I hope you don't disappoint, Evian.'
******
"Well, look who it is?"
Evian turned to see Roy and his gang there.
They approached him, and Evian slowly stepped back.
They had done this several times, and he had gotten used to the fear. But this time, it was different. His heart was viscously pounding. His feet trembling. His hands sweating.
This was a different kind of fear. It was subconscious. Instinctual. At that moment, he felt like prey caught in the jaws of a predator.
"It's because of you that I suffered humiliation," he said as he swung his fist to punch Evian.
"Arghh!!"
The punch caused Evian to lose balance and fall to the ground. He looked at Roy with a bloody nose. His heart was pounding even faster than before.
He mocked his weakness. He thought that this new power of his would simply solve his problems. In the face of true power and ruthlessness, he would only be a coward destined to be crushed under the foot of the strong.
Never again. Never again would he bow his head and let others walk all over him. To stop himself from being crushed because of his weakness, he would become strong enough to make the strong bow before him.
He recalled his training the past week. 'The most important thing in any fight is to remain calm. There is no point in how hard one can throw a punch if your heart isn't calm.'
He took deep breaths and looked Roy in the eye. In the past week, he had learned that you can evade an attack by simply looking at your assailant's eyes. Now it was time to put it to the test.
"Who the hell do you think you're looking at like that???!!!!" Roy shouted
Time seemed to slow down as Evian saw Roy's eye fixed on his face. He knew where the fist was going to land and all he had to do was dodge it.
Evian tilted his head to the right and Roy's fist grazed his left cheek. He curled himself into the fetal position almost instantly. The momentum of the punch coupled with the scrunched-up Evian made Roy fall flat on his face.
His goons stood there shocked at how the pathetic boy was able to dodge Roy's punch.
"Don't get cocky just because you're the chosen one!!" Roy shouted as he collected himself and clenched his fist.
"Hey!!! What are you kids doing?!!"
It was a police officer.
"Shit." Roy cursed.
"Just remember this. The weak can never rival the strong."
And they ran off. The police officer came and performed first aid on Evian and sent him on his way.
*******
The house was empty when Evian arrived home but this did not surprise him. There were days when Aunt Flore would be out at work and would not arrive till the next day late at night. But she would always ensure there was food in the house for this exact situation.
He went to his bedroom looked in the mirror and saw his broken nose. He decided to use Negative to see how far he could push the ability.
He closed his eyes and took three deep breaths. A few seconds passed and the marking on Evian's hand started glowing orange and his nose transformed from a pink bloody mess back to its usual slightly pointed self.