Chapter 115 Skills
Sitting with a calm expression, Christian fiddles with a knife in his right hand while moving a chess piece with his left. "Checkmate, you suck at this old man"
Pursing his lips, John looks carefully at the board, then moves the table with his foot, causing all the pieces to fall. "Oh... a pity, we don't know who won"
"..." Smiling slightly, Christian says "The older you get, the more brazen your personality becomes"
Throwing a pawn at Christian's head, John says angrily "Don't call me old man!"
Not bothering to dodge it, Christian just smirks "Suit yourself"
"You always say that" Grumbling to himself, John looks at Christian and says "How's your cooking skills?"
"Strawberry loves it, she even licks her fingers clean"
"That woman would eat shit if you gave it to her. She has lousy taste"
"Admit it. I'm great, don't be shy"
"..." Smiling slightly, John leans back on the couch and looks at Christian in silence for a few minutes, then sighs and says "My name is Dimitri, Dimitri Ivankov. I'm from Russia"
Raising his eyebrows, Christian looks at the old man in silence and waits.
Taking another pawn, Dimitri throws it at Christian's head "Don't use my techniques against me!"
Smiling slightly, Christian asks "Why are you telling me now?"
"I simply wanted to say it" Shrugging his shoulders, Dimitri continued, "Ask and I'll answer you whatever questions you have"
"Are you a murderer?"
"I had many jobs... mercenary, assassin, mafia guardian, among other professions, but I'm currently retired"
"Why did you train me? Pity?"
"I don't feel pity for anyone" Dimitri smiled.
"..."
"Is that all?"
"Not really, but I feel like I'm interrogating you and it makes me uncomfortable. When you really want to tell me about your life you will say it without the need for me to ask you, but I have one last essential question" Sighing, Christian leans back on the couch and says "Old man... will you ever have bad intentions towards me or my family?"
"..." Looking at the boy silently, Dimitri stands up and approaches Christian, then crouches down looking him straight in the eyes with a smile. "Never"
Fluffing the boy's hair for a few seconds, Dimitri stands up and returns to his seat.
"Old man... I have something to tell you" Christian whispers. There's more warmth in his gaze as he feels all his doubts about the old man disappear.
"What is it?" Dimitri asked, interested.
"I...am special."
Chuckling lightly, Dimitri replied "That's obvious"
"No, I'm talking about something more special than my intelligence or talent"
"..."
"I... I have certain abilities"
"Like what?"
"I can detect lies, and I've never failed to"
"Interesting" Looking at Christian with interest, Dimitri says "Is it difficult?"
"You believe me?" Christian asked, genuinely surprised.
"Why wouldn't I believe you?"
Shaking his head with a smile, Christian continued "It gives me a slight stomach ache every time someone lies"
"To what extent can you detect lies?"
"If the person telling me what they think is real, I won't detect it...if he tells me something that he thinks is a lie, I can detect it"
"So if he thinks it's a lie and it ends up being real, you'll have problems?"
"Exactly"
Rubbing his chin, Dimitri said, "It's an interesting ability, but its a double-edged sword. You have to be careful and never blindly trust in this ability"
"I've always kept that in mind"
"Can I bring you some people? Even though I'm retiring from the mafia, I always keep an eye on them as I have a certain fondness for them, and it seems they have a few spies, it would be perfect to detect them and eliminate them"
"Are they bad people?"
"There are no good people in the mafia"
"Anytime"
"It will be a few months from now. I'll have all the suspects brought in without alarming them" Nodding, Dimitri continued "You have another ability?"
"Yes, this is the most interesting one... when I feel a very strong emotion, I lose control and all my vision turns violet... I was studying the benefits and they are many, I can see in the dark, I have a rush of adrenaline, blood, muscle contractions, I can eliminate my feelings, and have complete and total control over my body"
"That's interesting... you can use it at will?"
"That's the problem. Every day I try to connect with the ability, but I can't"
"On what occasions did it appear?"
"When I beat my father, I already told you how the events were... the second time was when I was kidnapped, I felt a lot of concern and fear for my siblings, that made it activate it again"
"..." Thinking for a few seconds, Dimitri said "So all the times were in conflicting and very emotional situations for you?"
"Yes"
"Both times your life or your family's life was at risk?"
"Yes, you could say so"
"I see..." Dimitri nodded, then brought his hand to his pocket and unexpectedly threw a knife at Christian's throat.
Opening his eyes a little wider, Christian's pupils shrank as he saw how the knife was already inches away from his neck, knowing full well that he won't be able to dodge it and that his death was imminent. But without considering his death, a question popped into in his mind, 'Did he try to kill me?'
Without noticing, his vision began to flicker, and a second later, he had the knife between his fingers as he looked at the old man coolly. "What was that?"
With a glint of interest in his eyes, Dimitri stood up and approached Christian, looking especially at his eyes that really seemed to sparkle in front of him "Interesting..."
Quickly grabbing another knife, Dimitri attempted to stab Christian's jugular, but was quickly held back by the boy's hand as he stood up.
Staring coldly at him, Christian did not speak, as his mind quickly processed his surroundings and calculated his next move.
A second later, Christian bent John's hand and pulled the knife away, then attempted to stab it directly into the man's neck.
"Quick..." Dimitri whispered, quickly moving his hand to grab Christian's. "His strength is different..."
With his hand pinned down, Christian bent his arm and attempted to slam his elbow into Dimitri, but was stopped instantly.
"Let's get serious" Dimitri smiled, then stepped away and took another knife from his clothes, looking with interest at the boy's eyes that seemed to give off coldness.
Taking the knife in his right hand while the left hand is held in the air for defense, Christian began to circle Dimitri.
[A/N: Example of the position here]
"You don't seem to forget what you learn..." Dimitri murmured, watching as Christian wielded the knife just as he taught him, with the tip pointing backward "Kali Knife.... funny"
Without waiting any longer, Christian approached the old man with a perfunctory swipe with the knife, which was instantly intercepted and pushed away by Dimitri.
Grabbing his own knife, Dimitri began to exchange blows with Christian, with their knives constantly clashing against each other as their free hands tried to land a blow or disarm the other.
*Ching* *Clank* *Ching* *Clank* *Clank*
The clangs of metal clanking against each other sounded particularly loud in the room, as Dimitri's smile grew bigger and bigger as he saw how there were several moments where Christian was on the verge of wounding his vital points.
With a swift movement, Dimitri pushed Christian's chin and then used the momentum to slit his throat, but quickly Christian used his knee to land a blow on Dimitri's stomach, pushing him away.
*cough*
Coughing a little, Dimitri smiles and mutters "Play dirty, I like it"
Pulling another knife out of his clothes, Dimitri lunges towards Christian swiftly.
*Ching* *Clank* *Ching* *Clank* *Ching* *Clank* *Ching* *Clank* *Ching* *Clank* *Clank*
After about 2 minutes you could see the sweat running down Christian's forehead, but his cold gaze never left and he was still giving his all to kill his opponent, causing the old man to smile even more.
Grabbing Dmitri's arm with his free hand, Christian bends it and hits his wrist with his elbow causing him to drop his knife, then bent slightly to dodge the old man's attack and grab the falling knife.
Without waiting, Christian aimed with his right hand at Dimitri's lung and with his left hand deflected the attack to his neck, but when he thought he was going to land a hit, his hand was caught and a strong blow to his neck instantly caused him to faint.
[A/N: I will leave an image of the knife they were fighting with in this place, Karambit Knife.]
Picking up Christian's body, Dimitri gently set it down on the ground and looked at him with a soft smile "Amazing... I never taught him to fight with two knives at the same time, but he copied my move like it was nothing... what kind of monster am I creating?"
"..." Remembering the eyes he had to face, Dimitri's body trembled slightly "I knew this kid had something... if I detected it faintly before, now I saw its full splendor and it's certainly scary..."
Holding his hand to his stomach, Dimitri continued muttering "He even managed to hit me..."
"No feelings, absolute control, seeing in the dark... all of this kicks in when your life is at risk... should also be activated when a loved one is in danger... interesting..."
Looking at the scowl on the boy's face as he was knocked out, Dimitri smiled bitterly. "Now he'll be mad at me... even if he knows that attack wasn't fatal"
...
Monday, June 17, 2013. (3 months later)
"Lift the left side of your lip more"
Sitting in front of a mirror, Christian was gradually modifying his smile under the old man's instructions.
"Now show a little bit of your teeth"
"Good, perfect" Staring at the smile that only reflected absolute calm, Dimitri nodded, "This is the ultimate smile, this smile will serve you in many occasions, when negotiating, when you are with someone who wants to annoy you or make you lose your calm, you can even use it for torture, it will give mental pressure to your victim"
Looking in the mirror as he felt the small muscles in his face tighten, Christian nodded, then returned to normal and said "It still hurts my face when I do this..."
"It's normal, your facial muscles get used to a position, when you try to modify them, you work different muscles and you will have to get used to it. Remember to practice your expressions daily, I will send a mirror to your cell so you can see them"
"Thank you" Christian nodded, as he made different expressions in the mirror.
"Now..." Reaching into his clothes, Dimitri pulled out a small black box, then walked over to Christian and handed it to him "For you"
Raising his eyebrows, Christian takes the box carefully and opens it, finding something that left him in doubt "Jewelry?"
"Yes, it's my birthday present to you, they're all gold and precious stones"
"..." Picking up a pair of earrings, Christian looks at them carefully and nods "I like the black color"
All the jewelry was the same color, black.
"It's black gold, I think that color works best for you"
Pursing his lips for a few seconds, Christian picks up a fang shaped earring and then looks in the mirror "Do you know how to pierce ears?"
"Yes, but don't do it yet. Save them for when you're free, because if I hit you in training, you'll get damaged"
"Well..." Looking at the rings, piercings, earrings, Christian smiled softly and looked at Dimitri "Thank you... I really like them"
"You're welcome" Dimitri smiled kindly, then turned and walked with his hands behind his back "You have the rest of the day off, your lawyer should come to see you with a cake as usual, today you have authorization to talk to your mother. Strawberry will pass you a cell phone for sure, enjoy"
"Thank you..." Looking at the old man as he left, Christian turned his gaze back to his gift and smiled softly "Father..."
Christian with each passing day with Dimitri, looked at him more like a father, feeling the warmth of the crazy old man deep in his heart, but has never had the courage to tell him straight out during the year they've been together.
Sighing, Christian puts the box in his pocket and gets up from the couch, then walks quietly through the corridors of the prison to the visiting area.
"Here, you can return it later" Upon entering, Christian was intercepted by Strawberry who handed him an old cell phone with buttons and left, leaving him all alone in the place.
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Edited By: Joy_a
We surpassed the goal, all next week we will have double chapters per day, congratulations!