Divine Asura markings

"What is this?" I yelled at Anya who lay comfortably on the ground, curled cozily with her eyes closed.

I couldn't stop my body from attacking the barrier. It felt like all the muscles in my body wanted to experience pain, excruciating pain.

   My knuckles were already bruised and bleeding, my heart was pounding louder than battle drums, threatening to fly straight out of my body if I continued receiving the barrier's counterattacks.

    "Hold on. Nothing comes easy. You have to work for it," she answered dismissively, barely lifting her head to look at me.

Why did the heavens give me such a rude guide? When would I ever get rid of her?

   I gazed ahead, my breaths rasped, and my knuckles splattering blood all over the barrier with each blow. Some red drops shot back and stained my face and clothes, but it didn't matter as the pure pain echoed in every cell and bone of my body. I wanted to rip my soul out, just to get to my death quicker and with less pain.

    "Keep going!" Anya yelled as if to encourage me.

Damn her!

Damn this world!

After what felt like an eternity, my body finally ceased attacking the barrier. Like a log, I fell backward, the back of my head smacking the ground with a loud crack. I was sure my skull had raptured, but I was feeling too exhausted to care or seek any help.

  I panted, my chest rising and falling rapidly as pain I never knew coursed through every part of my body. It moved through my veins and my muscles, leaving a waking and open sensation that I couldn't understand. The more it circulated inside me, the less pain I experienced.

    "Congratulations on mastering your second skill, Asura body refining technique." Anya's voice slipped into my ears, she sounded so close.

I wanted to reach out and squeeze the life out of her, but I was still in a strange phase. It was as if the body was healing itself. Repairing every broken bone and mending any torn skin.

With every breath, the dense pain lifted. A wave of relief washed over me, both externally and internally. I began to sense the rich aura of spiritual energy in the dome without using my demonic eyes. Instead, the pores all over my skin acted as the sensors, alerting me that I needed to absorb it.

"How do you feel?"

"Oddly...good."

She flew above my face and swirled around for some seconds before dropping on my chest. "Ahhh!" Anya sighed. "I can feel his body will not be wasted on a human. You keep proving me wrong again and again."

"Were you expecting me to, fail?"

She laughed.

"Of course. I thought I'd be arranging your funeral this very moment."

Following her words, I kicked her off of me, caring not where she fell before sitting up myself.

My eyes fell on the gold markings starting to appear on my arms. They were continuous thin block-like markings that seemed to be spreading from under the sleeves of the robes. "What is happening?" I tried not to sound panicked while staring at the odd patterns.

I quickly rolled up my sleeves, only to be greeted by the same patterns.

But they looked so badass if I was being honest.

Anya's gasp made my concerned eyes bounce from my hands and onto her levitating body. She rushed over, her eyes peeled wide open and a thin trail of saliva dripping from her open mouth. I moved my arms away from her, afraid she would forget herself and bite me.

"I want to see for myself," she cried dashing around, chasing after my arms while I tried my hardest to hide them from her.

I did not trust her one bit with my body(*cough*).

"First tell me what they are and why they-"

"The divine markings of the Asura gods. How can they appear on you right now? You need to be at least an immortal."

I frowned confused. So many laws. So many stages. And such dense training to achieve something as meaningless as divine markings. Pf! I could have gotten this for a few dollars back on Earth with zero effort.

"What do they symbolize?"

She finally stopped chasing my arms, but only because I had rolled on them and now lay facing the ground. I exhaled and a small cloud of dust lifted in the air. Oh boy! I had forgotten about the punishment.

"Anya? Do you want to see how they look?"

I remained in my position, enduring the dust assaulting my nostrils and mouth.

"Yes!" She squeaked coming to float in front of my vision.

"We can have a little exchange. Clean this place for me and I'll-"

Before my words were fully out of my mouth, Anya spun around and a whirlwind from above her head descended to her right. It quickly swirled around the ground, blowing up the dust at every inch and space till it got to me.

As if I weighed not more than a piece of paper, it lifted me in the air and spun me around before setting me on my feet.

I staggered, feeling dizzy from Anya's wind. My vision blurred for a moment before the dizziness was washed away in a heartbeat. Damn me, this Asura technique was pure gold. With it, I could take on more blows from my opponents regardless of the glaring power difference.

Anya had indirectly aided me in the duels to come. She must have pitied my broken state and the constant torment Shihan subjected me to.

The feel of a tubular body coil around my right arm hauled my senses back to reality. She was already on me, her big eyes glued to the markings with such interest and curiosity. "You're a lucky bastard, your body must have corresponded with the technique. After all, the Asuras were-"

"Were?" I interrupted.

For some odd reason, hearing the past tense made my heart ache, the kind of ache that arises from grief and loss.

Anya lifted her eyes to me. "Not important for now." She painted a smile, one that didn't convince me. "They're beautiful. So beautiful," she praised dreamily.

"But you better hide them from their eyes. This technique was lost thousands of years ago from both upper and the lower realms."

She jumped off of me and I pushed the sleeves down. More questions slipped into my mind. Lost? "How do you have it?"

Anya giggled flying around the dome.

"Because I'm special. When you're strong enough, you'll understand what I mean. You're special too, I mean your body."

That was... harsh, but true. I didn't own the body until a month ago. What would happen if the real Demon Lord came back to claim it?

I sighed out loud and shut my eyes.

I'd deal with that if he ever came back. For now, I only had to survive and live my life the way I had always wanted. Maybe someday I'd find a way back on Earth. Did the time in Agrerea correspond with Earth's? Or would I go back and find it in the apocalyptic phase with all my high school bullies long dead along with their ninth generations?