บท 17: Gym
The professor carried on his lecture, mostly about the rules of the special class. This town they were in was in a different space only accessible through the forest.
First years will get ordinary houses with 10,000 points given to them every month. These points can be considered currency for the special class. Doing missions, getting high test scores, winning in tournaments, and many more could be done to gain more points.
Most of the stores and amenities were located at the center of the town. Only the fourth years are allowed to live there, being the most sought after real estate in the town.
Anything can be bought with enough points. There are designated factories for state-of-the-art technology, there are high-end blacksmiths, there are even teleportation gates leading to other worlds. The points are the name of the game.
Hugh couldn't concentrate on the professor's lecture. He could feel the sharp glare coming off from Aric. After about an hour of lecturing, the professor left the classroom and the students left the room. Hugh saw Aric stand up from his chair and walked towards him.
"Come with me. I'll teach you a lesson."
Aric didn't stand any longer and walked out of the classroom, leaving Hugh to sit there speechless.
Hugh was furious and his indignation prevented him from thinking clearly; he could not ignore the taunt. He walked towards the door and followed Aric. Dempsy smiled and followed the smoke.
They walked outside which were full of students talking and mingling with each other. The benches in the grass were full as different cliques sat together. Some were boisterous, some were studying with books, and some were just chatting and discussing their Desires.
The three of them walked towards a dome on the left of the building. The dome had a giant holographic sign that displayed 'GYM'. They walked in the gate that had a giant touchscreen. Aric navigated through the menus and booked a private arena for them.
Professor Kain warned them about fighting on the campus. Any fight or any use of Desire that causes harm will be reprimanded and will lead to the deduction of points. The only way for students to spar or settle their differences was in the gym.
The door opened and into a dark room. Once they stepped in, the lights activated and showed a circular ring made of soil and bleachers surrounded it. Aric walked towards the center of the ring, loosened his tie, and folded his sleeves. He opened and closed his fists, shaking in anger.
Hugh walked in the ring, practicing his Desire under his clothes. If he was gonna fight Aric, then he would have to win in one shot. He needed to attack fast, releasing all his power in one point when Aric least expected it. Hugh had the advantage of surprise since Aric assumes that he had a low ranking Desire.
Dempsy walked in the front row of the bleachers and munched on popcorns that he miraculously got. He sat down, crossed his legs, and watched the fight with clear eyes.
"How did you manage to enroll here? You're just a piece of fat!"
"...."
Hugh kept quiet. He needed to remain calm to grasp at the right opportunity. After hearing those words for years, he had become immune to insults and abuses.
"You dare ignore me?! ME?!"
"...."
Hugh kept silent which made Aric even angrier. He wanted this. He wanted Aric to be hot-headed and create openings for himself. Hugh lit the oil on fire when he flipped his middle finger and showed it to Aric.
"YOU!!!!!"
Aric went down on all fours as smoke came out of his ears. His forehead turned red and two tiny horns protruded on his temples. He exhaled hard and steam came out of his nose; his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes only glared at one thing, Hugh.
Aric burst out power and ran down the ring like a madman, running on all fours like a bull. Hugh could feel the power emanating from Aric just from the sounds of his footsteps. The ground shook as Aric dented the ground he ran on.
Hugh could only see a blur. His instincts told him to dodge but the physical limitations of his body prevented that. Panic ran through his mind and he subconsciously used his Desire and brought his steel and wood armor on his legs.
Aric didn't see Hugh's legs turning silver and brown. He had a tunnel vision to Hugh's large body that acted as a beacon for him to clash against.
Hugh pushed the wooden muscles on his legs and dodged the incoming bullet towards him. He barely dodged as the wind cut his skin as he tumbled to the right. Aric was confused. In his head, the picture of Hugh getting mowed down and shrieking in pain didn't come to life. Instead, he collided against the bleachers. He looked around and saw Hugh on the ground, unscathed.
"HOW?!?!"
Aric howled as he once again ran on all fours and rushed to Hugh's large body. Hugh was vulnerable right now. He was not in a great position to dodge using his legs so the only thing he could think of was to roll around.
Aric came to him in a flash as Hugh dodged to the left but his shoulder was in the line of Aric's attack. He had to think fast. The world went in slow-motion as he activated his Desire on his shoulder in just the nick of time. Aric's horn collided with Hugh's shoulder as they both flew across the ring.
Hugh was once again unscathed. His shoulder was in pain but there were no external nor internal injuries. Aric tumbled down the ring with his mind blank in confusion. He couldn't understand why he was thrown away when he was the one attacking.
Aric laid face down on the ground as he crushed the soil in his arms. His ears were physically fuming in anger; the humiliation he felt and his crushed pride almost broke his sanity.
He stood up slowly with his eyes hidden from his disheveled hair. He didn't go down on all fours but Hugh knew he was preparing something.
Aric rushed to Hugh, significantly slower than before but his arms were burning with reddish fire. He went into a punching position and reared his burning arms backward.
Hugh was able to stand up in the meantime. He looked at Aric and readied his Desire. When he saw Aric's burning arms, he activated his Desire on his arms. The silver and brown liquid formed on his hands as it met the burning hands of Aric.
Hugh was thrown backward due to Aric's punch, but his hands were fine; there were no burn marks visible. Hugh looked at his smoking hands with curious eyes and was ecstatic that his Desire was able to stand against Aric who had better talent than him.
Aric panted in anger. No matter how much power he manifested, Hugh always came out unscathed; it was like his Desire was useless, not even powerful enough to defeat an F-rank talent.
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Aric roared in anger. His hair started burning in a reddish fire, the same as the ember on his irises. He rushed to Hugh and punched around wildly, like a deranged person. What seemed like a crazy move was actually Hugh's greatest nightmare.
He could defend against one concentrated attack but once those attacks become more frequent, he wouldn't be able to activate his Desire fast enough.
Hugh backed off, losing space to move around freely. Hugh was able to defend against the first few punches but on the sixth punch, he was hit right in the stomach.
He lost all his breath as the gut-punch took everything away from him.
Hugh fell on the ground as he felt the urge to throw up. His sweat poured on the ground, staining the soil with a darker color until he realized it was mixed with his blood.
Aric grabbed Hugh's collar and lifted him to his eye level. He looked straight at Hugh's eyes and Hugh reciprocated. He felt angry that even when he was beating Hugh up, Hugh still rebelled against his will. His balled-up fist shook as he punched Hugh in the face.
Hugh felt his brain get rattled that made his head ache. His mouth was cut up, releasing his blood on his mouth. He gathered it up and spit it in Aric's face.
Aric's eyesight got stained with blood and some were burned in his hair. He felt speechless and sneered at the pathetic attempt at disobedience. He wiped the blood off his face and got ready to punch Hugh's face into oblivion.
"Let me join in the fun!"
Dempsy suddenly appeared right next to them and punched Hugh away from Aric's grasp. Hugh passed out. Aric got surprised and wasn't able to react. He suddenly saw a fist coming right at his face.
Dempsy used all his force and punched Aric's face away from him. Aric flew off from the punch as his tooth dislodged from his gums and fell from his mouth. Dempsy was the only one left standing. Hugh passed out on the left side and Aric fell on his back on the right side of the ring.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"
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