Beads of sweat shone on your forehead as you took a step back, fists raised. Your feet turned, the weight of your body shifted. In one swift swing, your fist chased forward.

With full force, the punch hit, making the punching bag bend under your power. A dull sound filled the silence, followed by your gasp.

All day long you did nothing but train, every day, the same thing over and over again. Your gaze wandered out the window.

Outside, wide meadows spread out, covered with the colourful blossoms of flowers spreading their fragrance. Trees grew out into the golden sky. You were tempted in your fingertips to just leave the house and find something more fulfilling than this training.

"You're dreaming again.", your mentor's voice sounded from the far corner of the room.

You flinched in surprise. A groan escaped your lips as you rolled your eyes.

"I'm bored...", you complained, letting your shoulder slurp. "When can I fight someone?"

A huff escaped the old man's lips. Disregarding your mood, he bent over a cup of boiling hot tea to take a sip.

Boredom made your eyes heavy. You thought you were falling asleep standing up when suddenly the cup shattered against the wall next to your ear.

Startled, you jumped back and took up your position.

"So you want to fight?", your master asked with a smirk on his lips. "Very well. Fight me."

With the speed that only a master of martial arts possesses, the old man already wielded his hands and let them swing with the wind.

Tai chi was his speciality, a noble art that was lenient towards his opponent. He wouldn't hurt you, a few bruised ribs if that.

But you didn't care about yourself. It was about him.

Your way of fighting, despite his many lessons and complains, was far more brutal. Your motto was, with broken legs, the opponent could offer no resistance.

Besides, you didn't see any sense in fighting fair. When the going got tough, you wanted to be the winner. Maybe one day that would be the difference between life and death.

"I want to fight.", disappointment showed on your face. "But not against you, master."

An old chuckle made the man's white whiskers tremble.

"You're afraid.", he said smugly.

"Kinda?", you shrugged.

"Good. You should never overestimate your opponent."

Abruptly you frowned in confusion.

"Overestimate?", you asked with a sarcastic grin. "I'm afraid of hurting you, master."

Indignation rose in his eyes. His teeth clenched, he pointed at you, his hand trembling with strain.

"Watch your tongue, apprentice! You have not yet surpassed your master."

Smiling uncomfortably, you looked around. But it was just you and him and this vibe that made you feel like you had done something wrong.

"I already have, tho?", your eyes wandered over the man's body, bent by age and countless broken bones from his glory days.

"Your pride will bring you damnation one day.0

"I am not vain... you are just... uh, old. What if I break all your bones? My mother taught me to respect the elderly.", you wiped your face with both hands, pacing left to right on the spot. "I mean look at you! My grandpa used to collect stamps that looked fresher than your face."

"You think of me as an old man."

"I know that you are. I have eyes.", you pointed to your face with two fingers.

No sooner had you blinked than something suddenly brushed your cheek. Surprised, you froze. Your brain was unable to understand what had just happened but your body gave away at least a little.

Something cold stroked your face. It felt like a kiss of winter. Only without the beautiful scenery and more like a bite through ice that slowly ate into your body to freeze your bones and the blood in your veins.

Somehow this feeling didn't feel natural but that didn't change the fact that it was definitely there.

Your gaze was still fixed on your master.

He stared at you with wide open eyes. His hands hung loosely at his sides. He couldn't move either, but that wasn't because of the surprise written all over his face.

His feet were frozen to the ground, his hands stuck in two huge lumps of steaming, glassy ice. A soft blue shimmer clung to them.

"What the fuck?", you mumbled in confusion.

Your gaze wandered to the side.

There was only one direction from which someone could have entered the room. And indeed. There were two men standing in the large doorway.

Both looked uninviting, more like the kind of person you avoided in the dark. One of them was dressed in blue while the other wore yellow.

"Who the hell are you?", you asked, throwing your shoulders back to make yourself taller. "M and M's? You chose the worst colours. Everyone knows the red ones are superior."

Hastily, the old man shook his head. It was apparently not wise to upset the men.

But the damage was already done.

With an annoyed scoff, the man in blue lifted his chin. He wore a mask but the black hair and the shape of his eyes told that he was of Asian descendent.

"A big mouth.", his voice quivered in his throat. "We will change that."

The ground shook beneath your feet as he came closer.

You sucked in a sharp breath.

From a distance he hadn't been so intimidating, but now that he was almost directly in front of you you had to admit he was almost as wide as he was tall. And he was, in fact, unfairly tall.

At least over six foot.

"What did your parents feed you?", you asked with a whistle of admiration and reached out to jab a finger into his bicep. "Hard as steel. Ha! I'm in danger..."

In reply, he lashed out and punched you in the face with full force. You were swept off your feet by the sheer might. You stumbled, the ground received your fall with a hard hug.

"Gawdayum!", you groaned and grabbed your chin to make sure it was still in once piece. "You know, when I said I wanted to fight someone I didn't mean god's strongest."

"Enough!", the man growled. "Fight. Or perish!"

Scoffing, you made it back to your feet. A thin strand of blood ran down your nose and covered your lips with a thin layer of iron taste.

"If you insist, Schwarzenegger.", you made your neck crack. "Lez do this."