1 Getting Stabbed Hurts

I can't breathe.

"Again!"

BANG!

It hurts. I need to stop.

"Again!"

BANG!

It's hard to even focus anymore…

BANG!

"..."

***

Klay's eyes opened to see a couple faces staring down at him. Taking a moment to fully become conscious, he realized he was on the floor.

"Did… did I pass out?" Klay asked, despite knowing the answer. He rarely managed to get through a whole session of the extensive exercises his uncle would run him and the other Wynne house students through.

With a sigh, Klay's uncle responded. "Yep, but it's nothing to worry about. Just get some water and rest up." He told him while reaching out his hand, helping Klay up from the floor.

Walking away from the main area, Klay crumpled against the wall in the corner with his water bottle. He watched over the other students standing around the main area where each was punching out at a post on the calls from Klay's uncle. After several more minutes of constant striking, Klay's uncle told everyone to take a short break before walking over to Klay and sitting in front of him.

"Klay, you need to learn how to ignore everything but the goal you're trying to focus on." His uncle took the initiative to tell Klay, with a look of concern and seriousness worn upon his face.

Looking away, Klay silently wished he didn't have to hear this again. "I know, Uncle Phoenix. It's just hard to focus when you can barely breathe, let alone think." As he spoke, his volume fell with each word, as though he couldn't bear to explain his weakness..

Clearly seeing that Klay had more he wanted to say, his uncle waited for a few seconds before standing back up. "Are you going to keep going or do you want to head home for the day?" He asked Klay.

"I'll be heading home."

"Very well. Feel free to stop by sometime, Lavender would love to see you again." Finishing his thought, Phoenix walked back to the center of the dojo before yelling at the rest of the students to hurry up and return.

Moving towards the personal lockers, Klay overhears the other students whispering.

"For such an impressive family, he sure does struggle to uphold it."

"We've barely warmed up, and yet he faints? How are we in the same class?"

"Why does he even keep coming if he only seems to get worse at martial arts? It makes no sense."

Klay walked quicker and attempted to ignore their taunts. Despite trying to push their words out of his head, he fails as his expression droops even more despite leaving their sights.

The Wynne family was a prominent martial arts family, boasting many records and stories surrounding their lineage. Currently, the head of the family is the grandfather of Klay, Rory Wynne. To Klay's knowledge, he is an impressive martial artist despite his advanced age, but rarely interacts with the outside world. Instead, he favors the company of Gideon, Klay's father.

With a sigh, Klay forces the thoughts of his father out of his mind, deciding instead to focus on why he's there. 

I need to be stronger. If I'm skilled enough, my father will tell me what really happened to my mother.

Gathering his clothes, Klay walks out of the family dojo and towards his father's house. No longer wearing the black and white uniform of the dojo, Klay instead wore a gray sweatshirt and slightly baggy pants that he thinks makes him appear slightly less skinny than people often claim he is. Passing the reflective windows of a cafe a couple blocks away from the dojo, he sees his hair matted against his forehead giving him an exhausted appearance that belies his normal look.

With his red hair and purple irises, Klay's appearance is far different from most which tends to garner more attention than he'd prefer. Taking a moment to even out the mood of his face in order to look less ashamed in himself, he brushes his hair back with his hand and quickly walks off, hoping no one in the cafe noticed him and thought he was weird.

About half an hour later, Klay arrived at his house. It sat on the outskirts of the residential area of the city, which allowed Klay a close view of the cityscape across the river. With an unreadable expression, Klay walked into his house, removing his shoes and called out in a quiet voice, "I'm back!" After listening for a moment, nothing was heard as a response letting Klay sigh out in relief.

Since my father isn't here, I don't have to worry about any unsavory conversations. Soon though, when I'm stronger.

Taking a short shower, Klay scrolled through his phone mindlessly, taking short note of two local headlines.

"Recent string of muggings turning increasingly violent in Roseland"

"Talks of expansion? The City Council continues to address residents' issues with the limited housing…" 

I'm sure I'll hear more about the changes to the city on Monday, when I'm back at school.

Ignoring the articles to turn his phone off, Klay looked out the window to judge the amount of sunlight left. It was still before dusk and light out late in the afternoon despite it being winter, so Klay replaced his shoes on his feet and left his house, before walking towards the main city.

Arriving back in the city a relatively short time later, Klay walked around for a while. Passing by the various restaurants and bars, he was hardly paying attention to the things around him nor the time while caught in his own head. 

I wonder how the main characters of superpower stories get a handle on their powers so quickly. Why can't I even grasp the basics of my family's martial arts if they can just be given an innate understanding of their abilities? Isn't that too unfair?

Without realizing, dusk quickly approached as the sun fell further below the horizon, sinking the many windows of the city in a deep haze of yellow and red. The street Klay was walking along was quiet, only being interrupted with the occasional car or other people passing by.

Being abruptly pulled out of his thoughts, Klay hears a loud shout further down the road. Without thinking, his body takes over as he runs towards the source of the noise, bringing him to an alleyway tucked between two buildings in such a way to not receive any natural sunlight at this time.

His brain slowly catching up to the situation, Klay saw a man with his face covered by a hood and bandana standing over a shorter man in a shabby brown suit, with a beat up suitcase on the ground past them. Panicking, Klay stood there rigidly as his nerves pulsed throughout his body and his mind effectively shut down despite his attempts to focus.

Wait, he's getting beat up? Or mugged? Can I just leave? Why am I here?

After so long, the man in a suit noticed Klay and yelled out. "Hey! Help me! I don't have any money on me! I swear!" The short man said, cowering lower from the mugger. In response, the masked mugger turned around, staring Klay in the eyes.

Wasn't this in the news? Something about… violent muggings? This guy's violent? Would I be safe if anything happened? 

Seeing how unnerved Klay was, the mugger scoffed before turning back to the short man. "Pull out your cash while I deal with this rando, or else we'll have some issues." He tells him before stalking over to Klay, causing Klay to take a step back while simultaneously taking up a fighting stance reflexively.

Damn it, now's when I decide I'll know martial arts?!?

The mugger creased his brows before running over while Klay was unfocused and throwing out his fist which smacked against Klay's cheek, knocking him back and to the ground. "That it?" The mugger asked, as if shocked that the guy who seemed to know martial arts lost so quickly. "Aren't you weaker than you should be? And here I thought I'd have to use my knife." He talks loudly, with a cocky tone.

Bending down, the man grabbed Klay's ankles and dragged him deeper into the alley while Klay was out of it.

That hurts so much! Can't I just leave? Or be ignored? Why does it still hurt?!

Gritting his teeth, a jolt of pain was felt through Klay's jaw as he focused his eyes on the mugger, who had let go of Klay and turned his back. Annoyed and irrational, Klay jumped up clumsily before throwing out a kick at the man, sending him forward a few steps and leaving a dusty shoe print on his back. 

How do you like that, asshole? I can fight! I've learned!

Wearing an awkward smile on his face, Klay stood back in a stance before the mugger, holding his fists tight as his elbows flared from his chest, which heaved from the adrenaline Klay felt. The mugger grinned after seeing Klay's state, reaching behind his back to pull out a short blade, which was inadvertently blocked from Klay's sight by his own leg.

"You sure pissed me off now, punk." The mugger spoke before taking the few steps towards Klay that separated them.

Swinging his right arm out, Klay completely missed the mugger's nose as the mugger leaned away slightly, before hitting Klay in the gut with his powerful arm. 

PA!

Klay heaved out, wrapping his arms around his midsection in pain before seeing the mugger move to kick Klay. Out of pure reflex, Klay maneuvered the man's leg away before reaching out to suddenly strike the mugger's side, causing him to wince slightly as his body swung. 

Annoyed, the mugger swung the hand holding the knife out at Klay while Klay had just managed to ignore the feeling of the previous gut punch. Feeling a cold sensation on his hip, Klay tried to ignore it as he was taught that getting distracted in a fight could cause him to lose or worse, but he quickly regretted that choice as a sharp pang of pure pain flashed across his body.

"What th– AHHH!" Klay screamed out, quickly stepping back before falling to the ground from the unrelenting pain following his every movement. "AHRGH!"

The mugger, still holding the short blade now freshly covered in blood, stood there shocked for a moment before quickly gathering himself and running off. "Damn it, I just wanted some cash! Why'd he stab himself like that?!" The mugger asked himself as his voice fades out of the alley.

Klay laid on the ground, holding his stomach with both hands as tears welled from his eyes and his voice rang out incoherently.

"Mother…sniff I'm still weak! ARGHHH! It hurts! WHY?!?!" Klay only stopped screaming out after uncounted minutes, his mind weary and eyes completely unfocused to his surroundings as he lay curled on the ground.

Despite his weak state, Klay heard a voice clearly and opened his eyes partially to see said words in front of him.

"[Congratulations, your Legacy has awakened after the following condition was met: [Survive a potentially fatal wound]! After taking into account your personality and most defining experiences, your Legacy has awoken as the Regeneration System!]"

Klay's vision faded twice in one day.