"Ugh!"
WHACK! Even against a punching bag, my fists couldn't do much, even with the uncontrolled moves that resulted in a really bruised hand. And there I was starting to think my intrusive thoughts were just lies. After a spar with a girl, something in me had shifted from conquer to total embarrassment.
Ember. She'd fought effortlessly against me, like I was only supposed to be a flea in a net. Just like this punching bag, she hadn't moved from one spot. And even worse was the way she'd responded to my attacks. A single blow that was as mighty as the force of the truck.
Scratch that, I was just weak.
If only I'd been able to match up with her strength, I'd have at least one advantage. Her force. She'd pulled it off without an inch of willpower. It threw me off without even a warning. How did she do that?
WHACK! WHACK!
"You should be thankful that she spared your ass." Amelia inputed. "I warned you about her difficulty, didn't I?"
"If you intend to talk to me about my life choices, then forget about it," I said, still hitting my fists against the punching bag. "I intend to fight with her again soon."
After all, it was what she'd said. Grow stronger and find me. Sheesh, the typical final boss script line. I could still picture the ego in her appearance as she stated those last words before walking away. And for some reason, it didn't exactly fit what a psychopath would say.
Speak less of a girl who was just looking for a playmate. Fuck, Ren! You lost against a girl who wanted to play tag.
The more I thought about it, the more embarrassing it was. And the more energy I found to slam my fists into this bag. How long had I been hitting it? I lost count. But I sure wasn't getting anywhere with my weak stats.
And speaking of which,
"Stats."
[Player's Info]
[Name: Ren Mora]
[Ability: ??]
[Rank: D]
[Statistics]
[Force: 25]
[Agility: 35]
[Stamina: 40]
[Fortitude: 2.3]
What? My mouth literally flung open as I stared into the system screen. A D rank. And a fortitude that was way more than the measle numbers that were earlier there?
"Amelia, what did I miss?"
"I'm not sure either. Your rank suddenly went up during the fight against Ember. And if that affected your fortitude, that means it's something related to your ability." I was trying to catch on to Amelia's words as she spoke.
"My ability?" I looked back at the stat screen, where the ability section just displayed two question marks. "You're right. It's no longer reading as none."
"It's possible that you might've awakened, Ren."
Awakened? Awakened what exactly? The sheer power of being beaten up by a little girl? If someone had diagnosed me with a pitiful look that was my ability, then I wouldn't find it too hard to believe.
But then, I didn't register any feeling of an awakening during the fight against Ember. Abilities were supposed to come alongside powerful beacons, surges, lighting. Something to show that a character was finally proving useful.
But then, I'd gotten mine while getting an iconic ass-whooping of my life. And even worse, I didn't feel like anything had changed in my body.
"If I awakened, why does it read as a question mark then?" Plus, was I really a D-rank ability user?
I mean, I was at least grateful. A D rank ability was anything better than being at the bottom list. Cripple. F rank. But then, was it really worth all the trouble and mysterious burnout?
Once during biology class, Mr Chen had highlighted that a person's ability was 80% of their fortitude, and the remaining 20% was an aggregate of their physical stats. And after all the energy I'd worked into both my stats and my awakening, the best thing I could come off with was a D?
There had to be a glitch with the system. After all, I'd beaten Tyler's ass and faced opponents that were three times stronger than him afterwards. If anything, B rank was a proper fit for whatever grind I'd been doing in the last few days.
"I think I know why it's a D." Amelia pointed out. "It's not reading your ability."
"What?"
"I can't decode why there are question marks where your ability should be. But I'm sure the system isn't reading it. That's why your fortitude only rounds up to a D rank."
That made sense. I think? The D rank was only a calculation of my physical statistics, which in fact, I thought was a really impressive record. I was probably physically stronger than most high tiers. Able to hold out on my own if they decided to fight without their abilities.
After all, that was all I'd be honing myself through during these tournaments. Physical improvement.
But then again, I still wasn't strong enough. If a girl could easily deflect my punches with one of hers, then I had more training to complete than I had initially thought.
I needed to learn how to fight. Literally. Not just the strategic aim and dodge tactic. I needed force, real strength that could take out my opponents even before they thought of aligning an attack.
Like Aria's...
"What are you doing here?" Maybe I was actually imagining it, but I heard her voice behind me.
I turned around for clarification of doubt, and there she was, walking into the arena like a summoned devil. It was hours after school, so she was no longer in her school uniform. Just a black tank top and cargo pants, camo grey.
"I should be asking you that question," I replied. Really, what was the supposed hero of Silvic High doing in King's den?
"I came here for revenge." She said, mouth opened to an 'o' as she looked around the dojo. Apparently, this was her first time in the arena. "Whoa, so this is the whole reason why that asshole schemed against me? I must admit, it's a cool place."
I wanted to ask her what she meant when she said she came here for revenge. But then, I just decided to wait for the explanation to spill out of her automatically.
They always did.
Her eyes settled back on me, asking questions before she did. "Were you punching that bag?"
"No. I was just romancing it and telling it how cute it is." In my response, she lowered her eyes at me. "What about you, were you admiring the arena of your biggest enemy?"
"Zael is not an enemy." She said that part the same way someone would try to say that the sky is red. "We just happened to be in each other's paths, that's all."
And by Zael, she was referring to the King of Silvic High. The same one who'd trashed her out with a suspension the moment he was about to build the arena.
"So, what do you plan to do now?" I asked, grabbing the punching bag. "Bring this whole place down?"
"What? Why would I do that? Do you know what the cost of a reimbursement is?"
I punched the bag. "So, what do you plan to do?"
"I'm not sure yet. " She said, a smile curling its way up her face. "Maybe I'll just beat him up in front of the whole school. Teach him a lesson or two."
I didn't argue. Not because she'd just said something far-fetched. But because she'd just said it with all sense of casualty. Obviously, Aria was more powerful than the order. No one had actually seen her fight or use her abilities, but we all had it deeply in our instincts.
Apparently, that was why King had gotten her suspended in the first place. He was scared that she would ruin his place. And anyway, suspended or not, she was still after him like a ghost.
"You call that a punch?" Aria's tone shifted to mockery as she focused on what I was doing. "I know low tiers with better skills."
"Why don't you go focus on them?" I said with a grunt, throwing harder punches into the bag.
Aria was quiet for a while, then the only sound in the room was my fists against some persistent heavy bag stand. Then she bothered to ask,
"Why are you doing this anyway?"
"Training my force. I need to be stronger if I'm going to defeat—" I stopped when I realised that I was saying too much. "Never mind."
"If you're trying to train your force, then you would need something that can help you push past your limit without inspiration." She said. "Come with me."
"I'm not leaving here until I'm stronger." I insisted, still throwing punches at the bag.
For once, I thought she was actually going to respect my decision and quit trying to bother me. But she just walked me and grabbed my collar, pulling me away from the punching bag.
"Come on." She insisted. "I won't bite."
Hopefully, she wouldn't.