14 Kidnapped

"This is finally getting a little interesting" Owen said as he crackled his knuckles and a wide grin dawned on his face.

As soon as he said that, he dashed towards Duke. He knew that Duke can't use his speed and telekinesis at the same time. Which was why he decided to use this opportunity and get a few good hits in and if things go well end the fight here and right now.

Although the blood lust Duke was exuding was very oppressive, it didn't faze Owen at all but instead made him even more excited and increased his fighting spirit.

"DIE!!!" Duke yelled and sent out many energy blasts towards Owen who dodged it but only later realised that they were following him.

The energy blasts moved erratically and struck Owen from all sides resulting in a huge explosion. That shut the whole crowd up. It seemed that they had judged too quickly. Duke became the strongest person in the academy for a reason and it seemed as if they had forgotten about it.

Everyone's eyes then focused on the place where the explosion took place. As the dust settled, it revealed Owen with tattered clothes and light bruises and scratches over his torso. But overall he was fine.

Most people in the crowd sighed in relief as they had bet their money on Owen for this match.

'Looks like he was deserving of the rank 1 after all. His energy level is almost as much if not higher than mine and his attack power is amazing too. But.....as long as I bypass his defence and get even a single hit in, I will win.' Owen thought as a smirk was showed on his face which completely infuriated his opponent.

"What's so funny?!!!" Duke yelled as he flared his power even higher. He had his pride hurt by Owen multiple times throughout this match.

His speed was useless, his opponent was smiling at him all the time as if not taking him seriously at all and even taunting him to attack more, he was brought down to his knees with a single punch and even after landing one of his strongest attacks the person in front of him was still as carefree as ever.

He hadn't gone through such humiliation in his entire life. He had always been the one at the top but now...now there was a person who will take away everything he had worked so hard for. His position in the family, his reputation, his rank everything important to an awakened one.

Not knowing the internal monologue going around his opponent's head, Owen used Soru and ran around the arena creating multiple afterimages to confuse his opponent.

This thing left everyone shocked as being fast was one thing but to be able to create 20 afterimages was something else entirely. Not even Duke could create more than 5 afterimages. This had just convinced everyone in the audience that Duke was no longer the strongest or the fastest rookie but Owen was.

However, only Owen knew the truth. He wasn't faster than Duke in the general way. With Soru, he could move in hyper-speed with sudden bursts of speed but he could not manoeuvre his body while using this technique. He could only use this for an attack if he was going to attack right up front but even slight manoeuvres such as tilting his head or bending his back will result in losing control of the speed and crashing.

This was why he did not use Soru at the beginning of the fight when they were engaged in hand to hand combat.

Every single ability has a weakness and this was Soru's. Though as long as your opponent don't know about it's weakness it will only look like an overpowered ability to them.

And this was what Duke was felling right now.

'He surpasses me by that much?! He was holding back against me until now!!'

This thought echoed in Duke's mind bringing up memories he wanted to forget. Memories of the time he was treated as a weakling and a burden in his family.

This turned out as a huge mistake on his part as Owen realised that he was distracted and he was not one to let go of such an opportunity.

He stopped instantly, concentrated his energy over his fists again and dashed forward using Soru.

Duke noticed his actions but it was too late. By that time Owen's fist had already reached him and connected to his abdomen.

The only thing Duke remembered afterwards was an extreme pain and pressure that pushed out all the air inside of his lungs and sent him flying through the arena and crash into a wall. He passed out afterwards.

With this victory, Owen won the match and took the title of the strongest rookie in the academy. Gaining respect from not only his peers but every teacher in the academy as well.

***

[MC POV]

For the week after my spar against Duke, my life in the academy had become a lot more smoother.

There isn't anyone dumb enough to start a fight and use their abilities on campus grounds anyway meaning that my job as a member of disciplinary committee was really easy.

Aside from that, wherever I went, people made way for me. I still had no friends and only an acquaintance that is Glant. He is the only one had a favourable impression in my eyes.

I got approached by many people from other groups namely Arthur Brian. As he said he wanted to have a close relationship with me which creeped me out with the way he said that but I still didn't refuse.

Knowing Duke's personality and the Grayne family's pride and principles, I knew they will target me sooner or later so actually having a close relationship with him wouldn't hurt. In fact it works in my favour. For some reason Arthur loved that Duke lost. They don't really get along I guess and Duke is stronger than Arthur so he doesn't have a way to stand upto him.

So getting close to me is his way to acquire strength to stand upto him. I will use him as a shield against Grayne's family and he will use me as a sword against Duke. This will be the dynamic of our relationship.

And this dynamic was fine by me as there was no such thing as true friendships among the awakened ones.

Oh, another interesting thing happened today. Earlier this afternoon, I was walking towards the cafeteria after my workout and ss I walked, I noticed a group forming at a rather secluded area. This doesn't really happen unless someone is being mocked or bullied.

I used my Observation Haki to see who was there and to my surprise, Duke was there surrounded by Jessica and her lackeys.

I walked closer and strained my ears to hear what was happening.

"So how does it feel to be on the losing side." Jessica said in a mocking tone and continued, "You couldn't stop belittling me when I lost to him and now look at you." She said with a hint of anger in her voice and a wide grin on her face as she was now able to mock the person who had always hovered over everyone's heads.

"Watch what you say very carefully or else..." Duke said or rather threatened Jessica as he narrowed his eyes and glared at her with such a furious expression that she could not help but take a step back in fear.

She didn't expect Duke to retort back as what she said was indeed true and she might have gotten the result she wanted on another day but her timing wasn't right.

Duke hadn't even recovered completely and was in a foul mood after getting all the hurtful remarks from his group and his parents and just at this time an ant started annoying him.

"What's going on here?" I asked and decided to intervene to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.

On seeing me standing right behind her observing what was going on, Jessica got a sly smile on her face. She turned towards Duke and said, "Or what? You think you can beat me up as you wish and that too in front of the student council member here?" she pointed her thumb towards me as she said the last part.

'This bitch.' I thought as I realised she was planning on saving herself by relying on me. I bet she thinks I want to mock Duke as well and will join her in doing that.

Duke looked at me with a frustrated expression as he clenched his fists and lowered his head in embarrassment.

'Fuck! Now I feel like the bad guy.'

"Go ahead" I said to Duke who in turn looked at me with a surprised expression on his face along with Jessica and the others.

"W-Wh-What?" Jessica stuttered in disbelief

"My job is to prevent a fight from going overboard not to stop a fight before it even began. Also to restrain the person if he or she decide to use their abilities on campus. Those two are the only conditions where I am allowed to intervene according to the rules. Of course I will also intervene in a case of bullying but that isn't what is happening here."

I turned to Jessica and said, "You are the one who egged him on, it is only natural for you to face the consequences."

I said and stepped back from the group while Duke went around punching and kicking everyone away.

After he was done, I told him to take them to the infirmary as well as it was his duty to do so as the one who beat them.

I can bet my money that my behaviour and decisions seemed diabolical to him but I don't care.

In short today was really long day.

I went to my room after my evening workout and the student council meeting to take a small nap. But...

[Ding!]

The message that I received jolted me out of my laziness as I looked at the message in disbelief.

I immediately called Dad to confirm what I saw and he picked up the call immediately.

"Dad! I just got a message that-" I said immediately before he cut me off

"I know I got the same one."

"then does that mean? that-" I said as my voice broke in the middle

"Yes...Your friend Elsa has been kidnapped by our rival group Virtuosos." he said after a long pause.

The message I got was from an anonymous person. It was a photo of Elsa lying on the ground while being bound to a chair inside a dimly lit room.

I couldn't figure out how did they even found out about my relation with her as I made sure to hide all my personal info. No one should even know about which school I go to.

The only way to find a relation to me is if they researched about Elsa. But why would they? She is just a normal civilian. Suddenly a new realisation came to me.

'But if they did research about Elsa they must have also found out about Emily and Mark!!'

"Owen?" My dad said as I had been quiet for a while

"I am coming back!" I said and hung up the phone.