His Right Arm

Chapter 12: His Right Arm

Everyone turned towards the voice. 

In the row of judges, Shad Cagney was sitting with his hands clasped. Lucas gave him a narrow stare. What would this freak do this time?

He was such a pain in the ass right before he was an Aspho High Student. He opined all people that will come in his ways that hindered his and Vacio's plans. Right now, what plan did this freak has on mind?

"Lucas was good, just about achieving the standard that the Two Bastions have set in…" Shad Cagney slowly opined. "But, don't you think he is simply being a no-go? The powers were just too high. You consider someone like this having Godly Potential?" 

The gymnasium was silent after hearing Shad's views. On the stage, Lucas remained calm from the outside, but inside, he was furious. He treated Shad well in the past, just as he treated Vacio with respect before anything worsen. However, now that he was expelled, why was he constantly getting in his way? Being a pest time and time again? 

He tried to open his mouth to say something in defense, but Principal Lyns had already beat him to it—

"Mister Shad, please don't get Mister Vacio to come next time if you both don't know how to appreciate good things." Principal Lyns never minced her words and was unusually pointed in the recent few days. "Couldn't you tell that Lucas was completely fine?"

She was standing straight right in the middle of the crowd. Lights were focused on her and Shad Cagney. The crowd remained quiet.

Shad gave a cold laugh. "Yes, he could only brag Two Bastions to a large extent and not completely —at many of the intensities he did differ from Bastions because he could not reach those!"

What this freak was saying? C'mon, Shad…

Lucas kept his mouth shut. He knew Lyns have the right to grill this freak in front of all the Whites present in this show. The embarrassment was all his.

The audience started to buzz with sounds of discussion. But to think about it, Shad was right. Lucas' power wasn't nice and he could easily be defeated. His power was not comparable to that of Two Bastions in terms of intensity. There were many attacks that he indeed was unable to retaliate.

Also, incredible feats were displayed by the two. Nearly defeating and knocking out all fifty men all at once, that was a huge gap between them and Lucas in terms of strength.

But it was unconscious to Lucas. All he was conscious about was Shad Cagney hindering him and wanting to get him back at Aspho. He started to realize that he was the topic of those two judges arguing with each other.

What will he do?

"Hence, Lucas miraculously defeated the Two Bastions…" Principal Lyns argued. "Every attack that he was unable to evade, he managed to resolve in a manner that was impeccable, making it as if nothing happened. It did not affect the quality of power at all— can't you tell that this is a talent that is much more valuable than Mister Vacio's three uniquely powered mages?" 

Many in the audience started to nod at Lyns' statement. However, it cannot be denied that Lucas was racy at that battle. He won, but not to the extent that he gave a miraculous amount of effort and exhibited a miraculous amount of magic power.

"Having his right arm injured too bad to the point of bones being broken, fighting with one hand sure was hard, ain't it?" she retorted what Shad had opined earlier.

"Yes, yes. If I didn't know that the Two Bastions were like that, I would think that the two were made for Lucas. His right arm was indeed injured, but that won't tolerate that his win was Goldy!" Shad replied with a lukewarm tone.

Lyns continued, "What's more, Lucas did a completely different style of fighting. Bastions were racy, like a fireball in the middle of the space. Demonic and spectacular, full of the danger of temptation. But Lucas did not fight like that. He was more… cold."

Lucas can't help but gasp. The big shots of Aspho and White Day were quarreling in front of him. He didn't know that Lyns was always this insistent with things. First, she made sure that Aspho would be taught a lesson about the Canteen Fire incident. Now, here she came.

Also, how can he be cold? That compliment came from Principal Lyns herself. There was no reason for her to lie in moments like this. She was defending her like what a Principal should do to her student.

Lyns glanced over at Shad Cagney at this point and said, "His power was like a mist, hiding loneliness and emptiness as someone being lost at fires. For a young boy like him to fight with such aggression, I think his potential is unlimited."

Principal Lyns finished her short speech. She wiped off her dress and decided to sit back on her seat. She placed her microphone nicely on the table and heaved a sigh.

Shad looked at her in silence, his lips pressed together. His stares at Lyns were narrow as if tracing her face intricately.

Lucas knew that Shad did not have anything to rebut Principal Lyns with. With regards to fighting appreciation, he was miles apart from Principal Lyns, and any further discussion would only embarrass him. But he has a point. The problem was, it was pointless.

Being too meticulous with things as subjective as this show will only lead to shame. Powers weren't measured here, they were appreciated.

Shad Cagney stood up, saying, "We'll temporarily leave this boy at White Day High for now."

As he completed his sentence, he gave Lucas a deep gaze. This time, he was able to read his emotions. There appeared to be a tinge of nostalgia mixed with some disdain, some hatred as well as a hint of a sigh…

"Mister Vacio, if you'll let me, we have to leave this school."

Vacio stood from the panel of judges and went towards Shad Cagney. They shared a mutual stare and gave Lucas another gaze as if scaring him. This time, it was unreadable. It was hard to tell if Shad and Mister Vacio were feeling joy or sorrow as the emotions were complicated. 

Mister Vacio started to turn around and left the middle of the auditorium and went away without saying anything to him or anyone —those at Aspho High were people of action, not words.

The light followed them but Mister Vacio gave a hand signal. After that, the light on the side of the auditorium where they exited went off. But Lucas can still see the two walked away. He kept his gaze intacted onto them.

Shad's final look left Lucas shuddering and unable to breathe as if he was being gripped by a pair of freezing hands. He felt a sudden heart thud. It was like he had some connections with him that were strong enough to be felt that way.

He stood in his place until the emcee announced the conclusion of the event and Principal Lyns walked over. The lights on the stage slowly went off and the crowd began exiting.

At the sides of the stage, Principal Lyns continued going upstairs and conversed with the emcee with soft voices. Lucas gazed over them and saw Moon and Doll going upstairs as well.

But it felt like he was zoning out again. The show was finished but his heartbeat remained fast, and his right arm was aching. Mister Vacio and Shad Cagney sure have plans with them. What would that be?

Moon finally came on the stage and patted Lucas on the shoulder. "Lucas!" he shouted.

Lucas came back to his senses. He smiled at him, as Doll showed up and waved at him exhilaratingly.

She held Moon's back as if hiding behind him. "Good job." she smiled, still enthralled.

Moon passed him the items in his hands —a glass of cold water to cool him up. "Don't push yourself so hard next time," Moon said. "You need to protect yourself so that your power can last." 

He gave a start and then smiled at him in gratitude. "I know." 

Doll pounced before Moon and placed her index finger on Lucas' lips to indicate that he should stop talking. "Don't boast. Your arms were injured. You need to rest your right arm."

Moon looked at Lucas. His right arm was bloodied and wounded grievously. By looking at it, he can't help but pity his cousin. He felt the pain Lucas was feeling by only looking at it.

Lucas stretched his right arm and tried hard to endure the searing pain it resulted from that sudden move. He smiled bitterly. "It was nothing. Don't mind me."

"Who would believe you?" Moon stared blankly at him.

They heard the emcee calling them without the microphone with him. Lucas gazed at him at the corner of the stage and dilated his eyes to ask what it was. The emcee pointed over the right side of the conference room where he rested earlier and he noticed medically uniformed people were there.

Lucas walked towards the stairs near them and started to go down. Every step downstairs was hassles as it vibrated his arms, especially his right arm. It caused immense pain that he had to endure.

Moon held his left shoulder and decided to help him be brought back to the conference room and be able to rest. "As Doll had said, you should rest yourself," he noted.

Lucas decided to follow and ended up in front of those nurses. There were seats beside the wall and they ordered Lucas to sit there to be treated.

"You showed a nice game, but you injured yourself badly. That wasn't good for a fighter." One of the nurses whispered to Lucas as he sat on the chair. She removed the towel that the emcee had given him earlier and started dropping alcohol on the cotton ball she was holding.

She passed it to the other nurse and rinsed Lucas' right shoulder with it down to his right arm and elbow. "We saw many students like this determined to win but they never went home after competing at the tournament." she has grimly spoken. "They went home inside a coffin."

He just watched them as they treated his right arm. The alcohol was painful but it was soothing. The pain caused him was nothing to compare to pleasure. He was used to getting bruised, and having it infected wasn't even a new thing. Wounds being sanitized like this was the thing where he felt the most novelty on. Wounds he got before were never treated this way.

But what the nurses have spoken didn't scare him.

"Usually, they wanted to win and put all of their guards down." the first nurse said as she passed another cotton ball to the other nurse. "We saw you as the same. Be different, so that your power will be useful to White Day."

He heaved a sigh, as he saw Moon and Doll waiting for him to be treated at the side of the auditorium. They chatted but they were far enough for his hearing.

He cleared his throat. "Why are you telling me all of this?" he asked in curiosity.

"Last year, the leader of the White Day High group that participated at the tournament gave his hopes that the Two Bastions would be part of the next year's participants. But you defeated them both at the same time."

Lucas gave them a stare.

The nurse that replied to him started chuckling. "I'm not lying, boy. You were special, now that you defeated the hopes of the White Day High. All that remains were the Three Monsters. But I heard you battled Winter, too."

"Well, we're pretty intrigued." the other nurse interrupted. "People like you who crossed ways with famous students here and leaving an impression, I can bet that you'll be part of the White Day High group."

"Not to mention that his right arm was severely injured." she laughed.

Lucas narrowed his stare. He had almost forgotten, he never did this Goldy Potential thing just to prove his skills and stay at White Day High for long. It was done to be selected from the Fire Class: a step closer towards the tournament.

"But the injury on your arm doesn't look like from the battle earlier. Maybe the pain intensified, but I have a feeling that it was already on your arms and you just don't feel it."

"Maybe he practiced so much and it tired his muscles."

"It's not that."

He remained quiet. The nurses were right. The moment he started practicing, he discovered something that only his right arm can do. It was a magic spell that was so strong that he can't master properly.

Every time he tried using it, it consumed most of his energy and he felt exhausted after that. There was one night before the Godly Potential thing started, he was able to execute that move and it destroyed the concrete houses from the vacant lot he practiced at. All the remains were burnt and it doesn't leave any other traces.

By overusing it, he felt that his right arm had weakened, so he decided to renew what he will perform for the exhibition. All of his stunts earlier were some backup plans that he has to pull out well just to prove his worth.

His right arm was his ace, but it had weakened. He can't afford to have it to the point it was no longer usable, so he stripped down its usefulness for the exhibition.

It was the technique taught to him by his foster father Victor, who had left him at a young age while he and Moon were still sleeping. He adopted them and decided to raise them well after learning that they only live at the orphanage near the place.

He has some mad fire starter skills and they've used that on an everyday basis. They cook using Victor's flames; they camp with a bonfire created by him. But he didn't expect that Victor will leave them all of the sudden without even telling them why.

Where did he go? Was he still alive?

He later noticed that Principal Lyns was already beside him. He didn't realize she came, and he didn't know that his right arm was already cast. The nurses that were treating him earlier were already gone.

"You're such a powerful boy," she spoke as she stood beside him, and gave him a towel to cover his body that was smoked and burnt. She can't help but stare at those scars he has on his chest, extending onto his right arm. Atop of it were numerous other scars that were already healed but left traces that cannot be erased.

Lucas received the towel and covered his fronts with it. He didn't want Lyns inspecting all of his scars the way she was doing it now. He sat uncomfortably at the chair, resting his head on the wall.

"Since you win the fire evaluation, you will be a part of the whole selection that contained every class." Lyns continued. "Few other steps, you'll compete for our school."

Principal Lyns patted his head but he yanked her hand. "Why are you so insistent, Miss Lyns? There were a lot of students that wanted to be backed up by you. Why did you choose me?" he asked

"My answer will stay the same, Lucas. You possessed something special," she replied. "Remember when I said that you have the courage that the Two Bastions lacked? Now, you defeated them."

Yes. She had said earlier that: "Maru and Zanc are incapable of causing trouble with the Reputable Vacio at his own office like you did. I know that you were strong. Even the students here that we addressed as Whites have spoken your name that you fought with our mighty Winter."

"By the way, how's your right arm?" Principal Lyns asked and touched the casted part of his arm. "You broke a bone?"

Lucas nodded. "Maybe, but not really. I think it's my fault. I'd practiced to the point of exhaustion. Once it was healed, I think my right arm will be an ace that I can use in case of emergencies."

Lyns smiled. "That's good news, then."

"Not that good."

Suddenly, Moon and Doll went and checked Lucas. They saw Principal Lyns and smiled at her joyfully.

"Nice day, Miss Lyns." Moon greeted with a smile. "So Lucas will stay here with us?"

"Mister Vacio won't pester us again, would he?" Doll asked as she sat at the chair at Lucas' right.

Moon sat beside her, as he stared at Lucas and his right arm that was casted. Principal Lyns nodded and sat. She crossed her feet and had her hands clasped in a classy manner.

"Lucas, you will stay here and had to be practicing already since you were chosen," she told in a clear voice. "Coach Clive will train you!"