“I was right to think you trained with your brother, wasn’t I?”

“Oh, yes,” Omen said, nodding quickly. “I was there, every single time. They brought in experts from loads of martial arts, loads of other combat systems … I was on the mat, same as Auger, for every one of them, and I’d leave the mat at the end of the day battered and bruised and exhausted.”

“So you were taught to fight?”

Omen nodded again, then shook his head. “Well, no. You’ve got to understand that all of my parents’ attention was on Auger, and everything was geared towards him. So, while I was there for every moment of his fight training, I was really only needed to … get hit.”

Skulduggery tilted his head. “I’m sorry?”

“A few of the instructors, they called me the Human Punchbag. That’s kinda what I did.”

“You stood there and got hit?”

“Yes.”

“For years?”

“Yes. Auger didn’t like to do it, but the instructors always needed someone to demonstrate on, so …”

“That’s quite an extraordinary way to be raised, Omen.”

“Life in the Darkly household was pretty unconventional,” Omen admitted. “Do you, uh, think I can get better?”

“At being hit? I’m not sure. You seem pretty good at it.”

“And what about the other part? The hitting back?”

Skulduggery observed him for a moment. “I think you can improve,” he said at last. “And I don’t think it’d take you long. Even as the Human Punchbag, you’d have picked up on how to move, how to fall, how to absorb damage and keep going. I’d say the biggest obstacle to overcome would be a change in mindset.”

He leaned in. “You think of yourself as the weak one, Omen. You think of yourself as unimportant. That’s got to change. You need to figure out your own value. You need to face up to your own worth. The first step in winning a fight for survival is understanding why you deserve to survive. You haven’t done that yet. Just because your brother is the Chosen One doesn’t mean you’re any less vital.”

“OK.”

“And saying OK does not mean you understand.”

“Sorry.”

“And stop apologising.”

“OK.”

“You’ve got some excellent combat instructors,” Skulduggery said, “and some wonderful teachers in your school, but only you can decide who you want to be in life.”

Omen nodded, and Skulduggery stood up. “You’d better get back to school, Omen. You’re probably in a lot of trouble right now.” He nodded, and walked away.

Omen jumped to his feet. “What do I do?” he blurted.

Skulduggery turned.