When Haze got to the courtyard the next morning, he expected to see Master Wei leaning against the tree with an apple in his hand but instead, he met a tall slim boy with dark hair standing there.
The boy's hair was long enough to cover his face and his skin was paler than any skin Haze had ever seen.
The boy looked at Haze as he came in, then he looked away with disdain. Haze seethed, he was tired of being disrespected in his castle.
"Who are you?", He asked.
The boy looked at him with disinterest. "Adam".
"Okay Adam, where is Master Wei?", Haze asked another question.
Adam shrugged and looked away.
Haze felt his anger multiply. He began to walk towards the guy. "I'm talking to you!"
Just then Master Wei strolled into the courtyard, apple in hand. He looked at the two boys and smiled.
"Well you're early today. Shocker".
"I'm not early", Haze said. "You're late".
Master Wei frowned as he considered it. Then he shrugged. "Perhaps".
He turned to Adam and smiled. "Hey there boy. Hades told me all about you. You need some training".
A dull spark went off in Haze's head. Hades had arranged for this boy to be trained and he notified everyone except him?
He was tired of being the only one not let in the loop.
"Hades planned this?" He asked in a scarily calm voice.
Wei frowned at the tone but he nodded. "See,Hades sent him to me. He's the son of Dracula and Hades wants him to be trained in combat and all aspects of weapons. Just like you".
"Just like you". The words rang in his head. Why did Hades want to give someone else his training? Had he decided that Haze was too useless for him?
"Why?" He asked Wei.
Wei shrugged and dropped his satchel behind the tree. "I don't know. Maybe he has missions for him". He stretched and let out a burp. "Now let's start our training".
Haze was still steaming from the fact that he would be training with his potential rival but he said nothing and got into line.
Wei looked at Adam, particularly at the short sword he carried around his waist. He pointed at it. "How long have you been using that?"
Adam's hand reflexively went to the hilt. "Two years", He said.
Wei nodded. "I suppose you're familiar with the basic footworks?"
Adam nodded.
Wei stepped back. "Show me your vertical shuffle".
Adam nodded and his hand left the sword. He moved his feet forward and backwards in a motion that was very fluid.
"Excellent!", Wei praised. Haze scoffed.
"Now let me see your side shuffle", Wei said and Adam nodded. His dominant foot was his right and he dragged his right foot to the side and quickly followed with his entire body, then he did the same with his left foot.
Wei nodded. "That was satisfactory but not sharp enough. Clearly you need more practice".
Haze scoffed, his lips curled in a gloating smile.
"I'd like to see you try dimwit", Adam muttered under his breath but Haze's enhanced senses caused him to hear it. He puffed out his chest and faced him.
"What did you just say!?", He yelled at Adam.
Adam shrugged and looked away. "You heard me".
"I'll show you how to properly do a side shuffle, you incompetent weirdo", Haze said and stepped to the front. He moved his body to the left first, then to the right. When he was done, he turned to Adam gloatingly.
"See, that's how you do".
Adam scoffed. "That was pathetic. My form was better than that even when i had never trained".
"You liar!", Haze shouted.
"Face it, you're not good enough. That's why Hades called me. To save his face from his embarrassment of a son", Adam replied.
Haze lost it then and started to walk towards him. He suddenly felt hands pull him back and saw Master Wei holding his shoulder.
"No fighting", He warned and let go of him.
"As for you Adam, don't rile up your colleague here".
Haze went back to his spot. "He's not my colleague", He muttered under his breath.
Unknown to him, Adam also had enhanced senses due to him being a vampire so he heard.
"I don't want to be your colleague either". Adam muttered in reply.
Master Wei watched them with exasperation,..They thought they were being sneaky by conversing under their breaths but he could read their lips and figure out what they were saying. He shook his head and continued his lecture.
"Today i'm going to be testing you in various ways to see how well you fair in certain situations and to see how much skill you have".
He went to his satchel and brought out a small note pad, there he drew columns.
Then he pointed to the two of them. "Okay you guys come here and we'll start. The first test is accuracy. I'll throw an apple each at the two of you and you're going to slice it with your sword. Whoever gets the most accurate slice, wins the test".
Haze flexed his fingers in anticipation. There was no way he was losing to Adam.
"Haze you're first" Wei said.
Haze nodded and walked slowly to the front of Wei. He brought out his sword. "I'm ready", He said and nodded.
Wei brought out the apple. He counted down from five and when he was done, he threw it at Haze.
Haze waited for the right moment, then he raised his sword and slashed the apple into two halves.
He looked at the halves, they were divided almost equally, he was sure Adam would be able to do better than that.
Adam smirked.
Wei observed the apple and scribbled something down on his note pad.
"You're next Adam", He said.
Adam walked with an air of arrogance. He stopped in front of Wei and brought out his sword.
Haze gasped.