(Thomas POV)
The next day started out the same as the days before. Rohan took me to train with the group I had been with for the past month, and I was tired of it. After laying waste to a group of 4 at one time, I stormed over to Rohan.
"Enough of this! I did not come here to beat up weaklings. This is wasting my time."
Rohan didn't change his expression, "You are wrong, Thomas. This is not your training, but theirs. They believed that they were the best in their generation, only one step from being the strongest. Now they know just how far they have to go."
He took a breath and let it out, "It has been nearly a month, so your tether to the mountain should be enough that you can once again transform at will. Come with me, and we will begin your true training."
As we walked, Rohan spoke. "The ones you have been sparring with lately are just encountering their transformation power, none have yet to fully change. You have had an advantage because you were able to use your fire-enhanced strength like you did with your Vampire friends back in Forks."
I nodded at his words, "I have found it strange that you are able to keep regular vampires out of your country with so little strength. I was beginning to think you were doing so only with numbers."
I didn't bother telling him that I had not been using all my strength during the training yet, because it wasn't needed.
Eventually, we came to another training area where the group looked older than the last. The youngest looked mid 20's and the oldest looking young 30's. There was one that stood out with her beauty, her features were more traditional Chinese than any I had seen yet.
When the group took notice of our approach, one broad-shouldered man with his long hair tied back shouted out, "Finally done playing with the kids, Rohan? Bringing us fresh grass to get chewed up?"
Rohan didn't so much as twitch at the taunt. He only gestured toward the broad-shouldered man. "Dorje, meet Thomas Raizel. You will go first."
I stepped forward and gave a nod to the man, then looked around to take in the size of the area.
Rohan shook his head, "There is no ring here. You will fight, and we will get out of your way or be trampled."
The man Rohan called Dorje laughed and moved towards me. "I hope you heal fast, Thomas."
Not one to let a taunt go, I replied. "I hope you don't cry easily, Dorje."
The clansmen watching all laughed, but not with me. No, they laughed at me. Their laugh had an edge to it, like they were all in on something that I didn't know. It made me even more cautious.
Dorje's smile faded, and he charged me with a shout. Arms out like he was trying to catch me in a hug. Knowing that he wouldn't be nice enough to let me go once he got those arms around me, I side-stepped and moved forward out of his reach. As I passed him, I knocked his arm out of the way and landed a strong left punch to his ribs.
He quickly moved out of my range and brought a hand to his ribs, no longer smiling. "That hurt."
I stood back on the balls of my feet, ready to move in whatever direction I needed to. "Well, you didn't think I was looking to hug it out with you, did you?"
This got a laugh of amusement from a couple of people in the crowd and more than just a few whistles.
Dorje straightened up and smiled an ominous smile. "No, I didn't."
The muscles of his chest and shoulders started to wiggle and ripple, his arms started to elongate with the sound of popping bones, and then the rest of his body began to change. His jaw jutted forward into a muzzle, the sides of his head just above his ears suddenly sprouted horns. His legs bent unnaturally, reshaping until hooves gouged the dirt.
Now standing before me, clenching its hands was a figure from ancient Greece, a Minotaur.
I froze for half a second, "Well, that's new. And ugly."
Dorje laughed in a much deeper voice. "Time to feel pain!"
Dorje now stood just over seven feet tall, if I had to guess. Quite the change from the stocky five-four frame he'd had moments before. I wasn't used to anyone having the height or reach advantage over me.
My first thought was that he'd be strong but slow—maybe clumsy, having to relearn his body with the new bulk from his transformation. Not much to worry about.
I was very wrong.
His charge came faster than I could track. Instinct yanked my arms up across my chest just in time. His fist slammed into me like a wrecking ball. Bone-shaking power surged through my forearms, and for a heartbeat, I was sure they'd snap. Not since Henry Burgess on the trail back in Forks had I felt so completely overpowered.
The blow launched me backward, my breath taken away by the force of the punch. I managed to dig my heels into the dirt, sliding instead of rolling, dust spraying up around me. My chest burned, my arms screamed before going numb, but I was still upright. Barely.
Gasps and low whistles rippled through the crowd. They weren't surprised by Dorje's strength, but by my ability to react in time. They were watching to see if I'd fold.
Dorje didn't give me any chance to recover from my surprise. He was on me instantly, hooves gouging the earth, fists hammering down like iron clubs. It was all I could do to dodge and redirect his blows, knowing a solid hit could potentially end the fight.
Trying to pull in just enough of the fire to increase my speed and strength like I had learned to do with Jasper, I started my counteroffensive.
Dorje's next swing came from the right, a sweeping hook designed to get around my blocking forearms and take my head off. But now my surprise was past, now I was ready. My body blurred in the eyes of the spectators as I moved faster than before, slipping under his strike. My fist drove up into Dorje's gut, attempting to force air from his lungs.
Not waiting to see the results, I fired off two more punches to his midsection before jumping away as I felt him trying to yet again enclose me in his arms. Once we were separated, we both reset ourselves.
Dorje snarled, "So… not just grass after all."
I bared my teeth in a grin, "Are those tears I see in the corner of your eyes?"
Dorje's nostrils flared, his teeth grinding in frustration. He scraped a hoof against the dirt like a bull about to charge, then he came at me with a renewed fury. His fists blurring between one-two combinations, broken occasionally by him trying to grasp any part of my body in reach at the time.
I ducked and wove, redirecting his blows where I could. I was pulling in more of the fire as we continued. Every strike I landed now drew a grunt or a flinch, but every time one of his fists grazed me, I could feel the pain rattle through me.
The back and forth lasted for what seemed an hour but was probably less than 5 minutes. But as I pulled more and more fire in, he was hitting me less and less. My blows were starting to really affect him, causing him to stumble a time or two.
Dorje swung wide, his horned head lowering as though he meant to gore me. I sidestepped, my fist cracking into his ribs again, and this time the sound wasn't just impact—it was the sound of bone's breaking. He staggered back, bellowing in pain and rage, nearly losing his footing. He clutched at his side where I and everyone with ears knew his ribs were broken.
Those watching were in shock, many letting out sounds of surprise. Amazed that Dorje was being overpowered, something they thought impossible.
I pressed in, my vision going red-tinged. My fists hammered against his guard, each blow pushing him just a little further back. His hooves kicked up dust as he tried to dig in, struggling to hold me back.
Dorje tried one last desperate swing, with all his might. But this left him wide open as I slipped under his blow to deliver an uppercut straight into his jaw. His head snapped back, and his eyes rolled. His legs went stiff, and he fell sideways. His body bounced once when he hit the ground, then he was still.
I stood over him, breathing heavily, and tried to trash-talk, but all that came out was a mix of a growl and a tiger's roar. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and stepped back from the downed form. When I started to calm down a little, I noticed that the hair on my arms was standing straight up, and if I wasn't mistaken, it was longer than usual as well.
The crowd murmured as Rohan went to check on the still form of Dorje, who was slowly reverting to his human form. Bruises and welts started to show now that his fur had receded into his body.
Rohan stood after checking on him, "Well, he should be just fine, if not sore for a few days." He then turned his eyes to me, "I think you have trained enough for the day, Thomas. We need to work on your control and transformations next. The mountain doesn't usually form a tether so strong, so quickly."