Chapter 58: Unusual appearance

"Master said you’ll be training under me from now on," Ava said, wearing the same blank expression she usually had.

Frost gave the beautiful young woman a once-over, confusion written plainly on his face. He had been called straight here from the infirmary, without much explanation, only to find Ava waiting for him.

"Wait, didn’t he say he would teach me himself?" he asked.

Ava’s brow furrowed, her expression turning disapproving. "Who do you think you are?" she asked plainly. "Master Varren is a busy man, and you’re far too weak and insignificant for him to waste his time teaching you. He simply said that out of kindness. Yes, he does instruct recruits when he feels like it, but you’re not worthy of his personal attention."

Frost felt his heartbeat quicken at the reprimand.

He truly hadn’t meant any disrespect, and the man had said he might teach him, so how was asking about it his fault?

And Ava’s personality was strange, if anything.

She was frowning, and her words were harsh, but she didn’t seem particularly angry.

It was almost as though she had decided she ought to be offended and was doing her best to act the part.

In the end, Frost apologised. "I’m sorry. It’s just that I was looking forward to receiving his instruction."

"So you’re saying you don’t want to learn from me?" she asked. "Am I too weak or not important enough to teach you?"

Frost’s brow twitched, and once again, he found himself at a loss for words. So, no matter what he said, she was going to find fault with it?

That was his understanding of her now, at least.

Words he had spoken without any malice had somehow been twisted against him, and he had the unpleasant feeling that trying to explain himself would only make things worse.

"I’m sorry," he apologised again. "I’m sure you’re also a good teacher."

"Also?" Ava repeated before snorting. "You’re far too weak for Master to bother with you. You aren’t even strong enough to participate in regular group training, yet you dare act so entitled." Her scowl deepened as she looked him over. "How arrogant."

Frost really felt like crying. Apparently, he had managed to insult both master and student without even finding out what he would be learning.

For his own sake, he decided not to say anything else. Surely, keeping silent would be better than giving her more words to use against him.

"You’re thinking something rude, aren’t you?"

A single, silent tear rolled down Frost’s cheek.

Once Ava was done bullying him into submission, she tossed him a set of clothes.

"Put these on. You won’t be able to train properly wearing those rags they give patients," she said, pointing towards a door at the other end of the plain room. "The changing room is over there."

Frost nodded and did as he was told. The changing room was mostly empty as well, though it had a mirror above a narrow counter and a very unconventional toilet seat.

"Oh, haven’t seen one of these in a while," he muttered, stepping towards the mirror. Ignoring the odd design of the toilet seat, he gave himself a good look and winced.

"Damn. I wouldn’t say I used to be handsome, but I wasn’t too bad either. This, though..."

To put it simply, his overall appearance left a lot to be desired. His hair was unkempt and curly, the dark strands looking as though they hadn’t seen a comb or a proper wash in ages, which they hadn’t.

Messy bangs hung over his face, partly covering his eyes.

He had noticed them getting in the way before, but he hadn’t paid much attention to just how long they had grown. He hadn’t seen a pair of clippers in a while either, and it showed.

His hair was hardly the worst of it, though. His eyes were sunken, with dark bags beneath them, but as he leaned closer to examine his face, another detail caught his attention.

"Huh!?"

His hand slapped against the counter beneath the mirror.

"What the fuck is that?"

With his heart thundering in his chest, Frost stepped closer until his face was mere inches from his reflection, then used his thumb and index finger to hold one eye open.

"Am I dreaming? There’s no way!"

For as long as Frost could remember, his eyes had always been hazel, with a black pupil at the centre of each iris. Now, however, the hazel was gone.

His irises were completely black, blending with his pupils so thoroughly that he couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.

He switched between his eyes, holding each open in turn, but the colour remained unchanged. When had this happened? And how the hell had he failed to notice it until now?

Bam! Bam!

A loud knock came at the door, making him flinch.

"What’s taking so long?" Ava demanded from the other side.

"Oh, right! One minute!" he shouted back.

Forcing the matter of his eyes aside for the moment, Frost quickly pulled off the loose clothes he had grown used to wearing.

He examined the set Ava had handed him: a simple black top and matching trousers, both made from a soft, slightly stretchy fabric.

The top went on easily enough, but the trousers required a little more effort. He hopped around while pulling them over his hips, nearly losing his balance before finally getting them into place.

They were tighter than he had expected, though once he had adjusted them, he found them surprisingly comfortable.

He bent his knees and stretched a little, finding that the fabric moved easily with him.

Well, he could understand why someone would train in these. He had seen the other recruits wearing similar clothes, though he wasn’t sure whether they were meant specifically for training.

From what he had seen so far, most people seemed quite happy to spend the rest of the day in them as well.

Once he was dressed, Frost gave himself another quick look in the mirror and straightened the top around his collar.

His gaze lingered on his eyes again, the unfamiliar colour leaving him just as bewildered as before, but he could hardly stand there examining them with Ava waiting outside.

He hurried out of the changing room and found her standing with her arms crossed beneath her ample chest, an annoyed expression on her beautiful face.

"What took you so long?"

"Sorry. The trousers were tighter than I expected," he replied, giving her a sheepish laugh while rubbing the back of his head.

Ava sighed and shook her head. "Why did I have to get stuck with this dimwit?" she muttered under her breath.

Frost heard her, of course, but he could only smile wryly and pretend he hadn’t. He was beginning to suspect that pretending not to hear her would become an important part of his training.