Chapter 259
"I accept," Gale said. The challenge was on.
Rachel stepped in between them, pulling Gale back behind her. "Absolutely not. This is in no way happening."
"Oh fuck yeah it is!" Kyle shouted. "Clyde, do it!"
"On it!" Clyde turned to the watching students and cupped his hands around his mouth. "EVERYONE! Gather around! We got a fight happening! Attuned versus late Awakened! Place your bets now!"
His voice amplified loud enough that each corner of the gym could hear him. Students who'd been at the far end of the gym started moving closer. A couple of students even came into the gym to hear all the commotion and closed in on the group gathering at the centre.
"Kyle, what the heck?!" Rachel asked.
"Relax. Standard procedure," Kyle said, waving his hand and pulling out his phone.
"Alright, people. We got a fight going on. Taking bets. Candy bars, snacks, whatever you got. Odds are currently two to one on Mikael!" Clyde shouted.
"Two to one?" a student called out. "That's it? Make it three to one!"
"Three to one it is!" Kyle replied. "Who else's in? Bet time, bet time, folks. Cast your bets right here!"
Hands shot up across the crowd. At least twenty students and more were gathering.
"Stop this right now!" Rachel said, temperature increasing around her.
"Can't stop capitalism, fire cheeks," Kyle said, recording tallies on his phone.
Clyde had moved to the other side of the growing crowd. "Mikael's record is fifty and two this year! Lost only to mid-Attuned! Anyone betting against him is either stupid or knows something we don't!"
"I'll bet on the feral! He's spicy!" a girl from the sparring group shouted.
Rachel shot a look at where the voice came from. Temperature increased even further as her eyes searched for the girl who bet on Gale.
"ONE BET FOR THE FERAL!" Clyde yelled. "Anyone else? Just note, this is the feral's first fight! Look at him! He's wild, socially stunted, and ready to break some bones!"
Two more hands went up. Then another.
"That's four total bets on the feral!" Kyle announced. "Everyone else is on Mikael! Current pot is... let me count... thirty-seven candy bars, twelve bags of chips, and someone just threw in a Twinkie!"
Clyde almost reached for the pot, but his hand was slapped away by Kyle.
"No one messes with the pot, not even you," Kyle said.
"But the Twinkie! It's too sacred for a bet!" Clyde shouted.
"Kyle! Clyde! Stop turning this into a circus!"
"Too late!" Kyle said. "If Mikael wins, the pot is matched by your one and only, Clyde. Now take your pick! Last calls for bets ending in 10 seconds!"
The temperature increased enough in the area that the weather sigil above started to shake. Gale could feel that it was probably around 30C, but it'd be hotter if it weren't for that temperature regulator above them.
Mikael put his fist up in a power pose. The crowd roared. A few girls screamed at him, telling him to beat down the feral. More of the crowd threw snacks on the Mikael pile.
"Idiots!" Rachel shouted.
Two more went onto Mikael's pile. But then, a Kinder Bueno bar dropped onto Gale's pile, causing an uproar and whispers to grow.
Rachel looked at the twins and said with fierce eyes, "this is absolutely insane!"
Kyle and Clyde grinned. "BOOKS ARE CLOSED! Final pot is... holy shit... fifty-two candy bars, twenty bags of chips, eight sodas, three Twinkies, one Kinder Bueno bar, and someone put in a full meal voucher for the cafeteria!"
"Who put in a meal voucher?" Clyde asked.
A hand raised in the back. "Eh yo, that was me. What of it, eh?"
"Respect!" Kyle said while pointing at Enzo.
Gale narrowed his eyes. This boy had managed to slip past his senses throughout the chaos. I'm watching you, NETS guy.
Rachel turned back to Mikael. "Isn't this humiliating to fight while being bet on by the twins? In front of all these people?"
"It's only humiliating if I lose," Mikael said.
"You're going to lose and get hurt," Rachel said. "This is for your own good."
"Fifty wins and two losses this year alone. And those two losses came from mid-Attuned people." Mikael snorted. "Look at the feral. His signature's faint. Early stage at best. Fresh advancement."
"Signature clarity isn't everything," Rachel said.
"It's a pretty good indicator," Mikael said. "Now step back. This is a duel of honour."
"There's no more honour here when those two idiots started betting! Don't you see?!" Rachel shouted.
Gale put a hand on Rachel's shoulder with the most serious face he could muster. However, when she looked back at him, the only thing he could do was shrink from her fiercer eyes.
The whispers from the crowd grew louder.
Mikael's gonna kick some ass.
No way. That feral's an Attuned.
Yes way. Look at Mikael's record. 50 wins and 2 losses. That's insane. He's on his best year.
Record doesn't matter against an Attuned.
The feral looks dangerous.
Dangerous is hot.
Rachel immediately cast a glare in the direction of where that last whisper came from.
"Look, Lady Ann, Rachel Ann, or whatever you call yourself," Mikael said. "You wanna know about Lucian and Ariana? Then take it off my metaphorically dead body after this fight."
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Rachel turned back to him. The fierceness in her eyes grew even fiercer. Sparks appeared above her head. Her face flushed before she spoke.
"Oh shit!!" Kyle shouted.
"Fire cheeks is starting to crack!" Clyde shouted.
"Gossip?"
"What gossip?"
"This is no ordinary gossip."
"This is one of the spiciest gossip in Sterling institute--a love triangle of the missing Lucian!"
"SHUT UP!" Rachel shouted, then immediately pulled Gale towards her.
Gale winced at her grip, not from her strength, but from how hot her hand was. It was practically burning.
He already noticed earlier. The moment Mikael said something about Lucian and Ariana, a fire sparked in Rachel's eyes.
"Gale," Rachel said.
He gulped. "Yes?"
"Go easy on him. Hurt him just enough so he can't move, but still able to speak."
He couldn't look her in the eyes. It felt like she was staring into his soul.
"Got that?!"
"Yes!! Got it! Make him talk!" Gale saluted.
"Good," Rachel let go of him and softly pushed him to meet Mikael face to face.
At this point in time, Gale was in his head. How does one even hurt a human enough, but still let them be able to talk? He's always never held back against wolves, bears, garbage truck sized beasts, insane dark knights, and crazy transhuman people. It was always kill or be killed.
But something in Rachel's eyes woke something in him. A fear that if he didn't do this right, something worse was about to happen to him. Gulp.
Clyde walked to the edge of the crowd, spreading his arms wide to push them back. "Alright everyone! Back up! Give the contestants space to work! We need a proper arena here!"
The students shuffled backwards, creating a large circle that looked like an arena within the gym coliseum of about 50 metres in diameter. Some stayed further back while whispering to their classmates.
"Contestants! Centre of the field! Now!" Clyde pointed at the middle of the circle.
Mikael walked forward confidently, squared shoulders, smirk on his face. He moved like someone who owned this space. Technically, he did, as the leader of the CAA.
Gale followed. Walked to the centre and stood about 10 metres away from Mikael. Tendrils fed him the posture of the opponent. No sign of trembling at all. The man in front of him was an experienced fighter, but he was too proudly wearing the title 'feral'.
Kyle stepped up beside the circle. "Ladies and gentlemen! Let me tell you about our champion! Mikael, leader of the CAA! Last year's record was ninety-eight wins and eight losses! That's over ninety per cent win rate!"
The crowd cheered. Their voices amplified by their own ether as they chanted Mikael's name.
"But THIS year?" Kyle continued. "This year he's on track to beat that record! Currently sitting at fifty wins and only two losses! Both losses came from mid-Attuned opponents! This man is a MACHINE!"
Clyde walked to the other side of the circle. "And in the other corner! The newcomer! Fresh blood from the woods who just wants to read books in peace! With a 100% return rate from two rifts out of two, the one and only, Feral!"
A couple of girls screamed. Their voices were high-pitched and excited. Rachel shot them a look, but they didn't seem to care. Redirecting her stare at the twins, she said, "You really have to call him feral to everyone?"
"Relax, princess. It's just a name," Kyle said.
"No biggie. Harmless name," Clyde said.
The crowd whispered immediately.
Of course he has a hundred percent return rate.
If he's standing here on Earth, obviously he came back.
That's not even a real statistic.
What a stupid thing to brag about.
Everyone who's alive has a hundred percent return rate.
Only two rifts? Mikael's been on 5 since September.
Gale heard all of it through his tendrils, puffing his chest out even more and squaring his shoulders even more. His own return rate sounded impressive. Survival was all that mattered. The dark hunter's survival rate will never go lower than 100%.
Kyle raised both hands. "Now! Before we begin! Let us take a moment of silence! To pray for our contestants! That they may fight with honour!"
The crowd silenced. Some students bowed their heads while others just stood there awkwardly looking around, probably thinking to themselves what was the point of the silence.
Rachel leaned over to the twins. "How has a teacher not come in here yet? This is just insane."
Kyle shrugged. "Sterling already encourages this kind of thing."
"By third year, if you still don't get how this place works, nobody wants you. Families. Factions. Even the vagrant guilds pass on people who can't handle themselves."
"Teachers stepping in would just ruin the point."
Rachel shot an eyebrow up. "That's ridiculous."
"Sterling was never about teaching," Clyde continued. "It was always about filtering. What kind of school locks kids inside for entire semesters without letting them leave?"
"A magic school, that's what. Keep 'em here, they don't cause accidents outside."
Rachel opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. "I hate how much you guys always make sense."
"MOMENT OF SILENCE OVER!" Kyle shouted suddenly, ignoring Rachel. "FIGHTERS! READY UP!"
Mikael's whole body changed. The temperature around him dropped immediately. Tendrils fed Gale the feeling of the air. Had to be at least ten degrees colder where Mikael stood compared to everywhere else.
Frost started forming on the grass under Mikael's feet. It spread outward in a circle about two metres wide. The moisture in the air crystallized and fell like tiny snow particles around him.
Mikael brought his fists up in another power pose. Ice formed around them, encasing his knuckles in thick frozen gauntlets. Then he extended his right hand and an ice spear slowly materialized. Maybe a metre and a half long with a sharp point at the end.
The crowd cheered again. This time, they were full on shouting.
"GO MIKAEL. BEAT UP THAT FERAL KID! WOOOO!" a boy said.
"MIKAEL, PLEASE LOOK AT ME. I'M RIGHT HERE!" a girl said.
Materializing Erebus into his hand, Gale saw the slight winces from the crowd. Then he saw Rachel shaking her head. Her eyes told him everything already. Using his weapon against a student would be a death sentence to who he was facing.
Right. Go easy on him. Don't actually hurt him. Looks like he had to do this the old fashion way. Using his fists and legs.
Gale dematerialized Erebus before the mist had fully formed. Then, he put up his fist like he was boxing.
Mikael snorted. "No weapon? That's what I'd call arrogance. And you're going to regret that, feral."
"Thanks," Gale said immediately.
"Wait, thanks for what?" Mikael said.
"For the compliment. You called me a feral."
"That wasn't--you know what. I'm done talking."
Pulling out his dagger from his belt, Kyle amplified his voice. "When this dagger hits the ground, the fight begins! Contestants ready?"
Mikael adjusted his grip on the ice spear and lowered his stance.
Gale kept his fists up. His breathing slowed down, waiting for the signal.
Kyle threw the dagger straight up into the air. It spun end over end, catching the light from above. The gym went completely silent except for the sound of the blade cutting through air.
The dagger reached its peak and started falling.
3...
2...
Rachel's eyes caught Gale's focused expression. "Gale, no! Bad! NO!"
1... the dagger lodged itself in the grass.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rang out from the centre of the arena. Dust shot up everywhere, covering the whole makeshift arena. A hole was left where Gale was, but he was no longer there.
The crowd immediately started coughing. Students waved their hands, trying to clear the air.
"What the hell just happened?!" someone shouted.
"I couldn't see anything!"
"Who won?! Who won?!"
"No way, it can't be over! What the hell was that!"
When the dust started settling, Rachel created a hot blow dryer jet from her palm to clear out the rest of the smoke cloud. Her eyes frantically looked for what happened on the field.
Gale's silhouette stood at the centre of the stage in a power pose after the dust was cleared. One fist raised high above his head as his head looked down on the body below him.
Mikael lay motionless on the ground. His ice gauntlets and spear completely shattered. A few sighs of relief came from the twins as they saw his lungs still moving rhythmically up and down. Other than that, he was knocked out cold.
The entire gym went silent for three full seconds.
"Gale, WHY!" Rachel screamed. "WHAT ABOUT LUCIAN AND ARIANA! GALE!"
That seemed to snap Gale out of his trance and hunch his shoulders. He completely forgot about not knocking him out. But he should still be able to speak after waking up... probably.
Looking into Rachel's eyes, the fire grew, and the heat was now being directed at him. However, when his eyes started watering, the increasing temperature stopped. A sigh escaped her mouth as she shook her head.
Holy shit.
One punch.
Did you see how fast that was?
What the hell was that explosion?
Who cares! I won a Kinder Bueno bar!
A girl near the front of the crowd screamed. "FERAL. LOOK AT ME. LOOK HERE!"
Gale looked in their direction. Multiple cameras flashed the moment he turned his head, making him flinch.
"HE'S FLINCHING AT THE CAMERA." The girls screamed again as if that was something to be excited about.
"Scary as hell, man..." a guy said loudly. "Look at him. Ferally standing there."
"What the hell does 'ferally standing' even mean, idiot?" another guy said.
Walking back to Rachel with his shoulders hunched and head looking down, Gale couldn't muster the courage to look her in the eye. Upon reaching her, Rachel put her hand on his shoulder.
Expecting to be hurt, he flinched, but the hurt never came. From her hands, warmth spread out and melted the frost on his clothes.
"It's ok. I'm not disappointed. I'll get the gossip out of him one way or another," she said.
Gale smiled after making eye contact with her. "Can I have a Bueno Kinder too?"
"Sure," Rachel chuckled.
"Aaaaaand the winneeer iiiis! The Feral!!!!" Kyle shouted loud enough that a teacher had to tell him to shut up from the PA system.