The raven called loudly and burst into the air, causing Assad to fall backward in surprise.
"I mean… that… that seemed to come out of nowhere."
He looked at the creature that was flying above him in the air and flying around in little circles.
CLAP. CLAP.
Applause was now echoing around the arena and he looked to the other side of the arena to see Taura standing with arms folded and a smile.
"Well, well. Looks like the rookie finally learned how to use his powers."
Assad sighed.
"Have you really watched me the entire time?"
Esme looked at him but didn't seem the least bit interested as she stood back from him and shifted her gaze to Taura. Then she leaned back against the wall again.
"I guess that's his thing," she muttered quietly to herself.
Assad chose not to acknowledge her.
The raven continued its circuit overhead.
Training would progress for another two weeks until he had a bruise of some sort on him almost every day. Sweat soaked into all his clothes each day, and each day he learned just slightly more.
Taura would continue to stop by to jeer him from time to time, Esme continued to watch once in a while but rarely spoke, and Lokei would often correct Assad on how to do something correctly during their hand-to-hand training.
After two weeks of that, the training area had once again become empty now that he was finished putting his handwraps on. He exhaled a slow breath to calm down.
With just two days remaining, he had done everything imaginable to prepare for what was ahead. As he lay on his bed, awaiting a response from Sévon regarding whether or not Vonessia had approved his request to come to the auction, in his previous life, his parents would certainly have been proud of him.
He sat in silence for a moment staring at his Sweeper's jacket, which had been literally given to him by Vonessia - thus, he was automatically included in the agency.
He thought back to the days of his previous life on earth, when he was living a typical life as the rest of humankind. He had a family he truly loved, an exceptional girlfriend, and a job that earned him an income that would be considered as high by most individuals. To some, he would be considered as living the same lifestyle as the most prominent and highest paid of the rich and famous.
Somehow, he was transported to this world, and took over the body of a violent felon he knew nothing about, except through the memories of whoever owned this body before.
He has lost all memories of what happened to him, if they were ever recorded in the first place or not, and even though he's very excited, he wants to return to his family and, if he plays his cards right, he has a chance of returning to his family.
He sighs deeply and sits on the bed again with his head down and continues to contemplate everything in his head. Suddenly he jumps up and remembers he needs to have a cool bath to cool his body down because he feels like he's burning up from within.
He then walks into the bathroom, removes his clothing, and slowly steps into the shower with the faucet open and lets the hot water hit him from above. He lets out a series of loud moans as he stands under the water.
He has no idea why he feels this pain. Perhaps it just comes from his body getting used to the amount of training he has been doing. Once he is finished bathing he comes out of the shower and picks up a towel to dry himself. As he is drying off he looks into the mirror and sees himself; however there is a difference between the way he looks from one side of the mirror and the other.
On one side of the mirror he sees Assad the dangerous gangster; and on the other side of the mirror he sees Toon Horst the average college student.
He sees one tear fall down his face and wonders why he was crying.
'Why am I crying?'
He shrugs it off and wipes his tear off with his hand. Then he dries off before putting on his pants, but he does not put on his shirt. On earth whenever he took a shower he would walk around with no shirt on because it was the old days of living alone.
After he leaves the bathroom he notices a wind draft coming from somewhere.
"Is that wind coming from the open window?" Assad said to himself.
Well it was and he thought he left it open, so he left the room through the door and noticed someone in his bed lying very casually. The girl in bed was Esme, the one that hopped his bed with a little bouncing ball that barely left the bed.
Assad froze for a second but then went back to his original style of being.
"You're up so late right now, you have a mission two days away and you haven't slept at all, why not?" Esme asked
"What are you doing in my room and did you climb through my window, when?," Assad asked.
"Don't confuse the small part of the building you see from the outside, it's actually really long and tall so my room is really above yours," Esme said.
As Assad was preparing for his shower he noticed that Esme was hearing him making the noises of a man in pain. She looked at his body and noted that he was covered in tattoos and there were scars all over his body that looked like they were from knives or bullets.
"Wow, I don't know what caused them but I assume they're related to your tattoos/scars you've accumulated throughout your life - which must have been pretty rough. I assume you're afflicted with pain and suffering from all types of emotional abuse?By the look on your face, I know I won't get a bedtime story from you, so that's ok you don't need to tell me a story because you probably have stories you want to take to your grave."
Assad didn't respond verbally but he did nod in acknowledgement of what Esme was saying.
Esme got up from laying on Assad's bed and looked out of the window.
"Well I can guess it's probably your father or some other family member or a friend. If that's your life I can totally understand how you are going through a tough time because of what other people did to you."
After that, she decided to leave the window and head back to her room but when she looked back at Assad before leaving.
"What a pain our lives can be if we decide to be with the wrong person huh? Anyway, cool tattoos and your fit body are attractive. I like it."
Assad stared out at the open window thinking only about Esme's words like a well-known poet would
"That was a very interesting way of saying goodnight". Assad stated.