Nathan Parker

Lily let out a small giggle when she heard the sound from Asher's stomach. Asher scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You will have to hold on a bit, but I think I can help a little." She pulled out a chocolate bar from her tracksuit pocket and handed it to Asher.

"Hey, you had that in your pocket all through the tests?" Asher asked.

Lily looked at the floor in an embarrassed manner. Asher saw it and quickly collected the chocolate.

"Thanks, Lily, you are a lifesaver." He didn't want to weird her out more than she was already.

When his fourth duel came on, his opponent was to beat up from his last duel, so he was unable to fight. Asher won by technicality.

Unlike others who were busting their asses to win duels, Lily was not fighting at all as everyone was terrified. The man who was overseeing the test was not happy with this, but he did nothing.

Finally, Asher's fifth battle came on, jumping up he headed to the arena. His opponent wore a black T-shirt and trousers, holding a katana in his hand.

"Before we start, let me introduce myself. I am Nathan Parker, the one who will defeat you. I saw your duels and you are strong, so I will defeat you to prove myself. " Nathan pulled out his katana, dropping the sheath on the ground.

Asher's eyes turned serious. "I am Asher Terron. Bring it on, it not going to be easy to bring me down." As soon as he finished speaking, the alarm rang, and. Like bullets the two shot at themselves.

Both of them collided in the middle, with Asher blocking the katana with his gauntlet. He immediately poured lightning into that arm, but as the lightning gathered, he noticed a red barrier stopping it from affecting Nathan.

Asher quickly kicked back, putting distance between them. "He has a force field ability, this is going to be tricky. "

Nathan pursued Asher, swinging left and right. Asher dodged, blocked, and parried the attacks. He was unable to counter Nathan, as when he did it would be blocked by the force field.

"You just have to get to him quicker than his ability can form, use your speed and get to his blind spot, attack before the ability activates." Elsa who had been watching the duel spoke to Asher.

Asher took her advice, when he dodged the incoming attack, he disappeared from the view of Nathan. He reappeared behind Nathan and struck out with a punch.

Nathan had quick reflexes and sharp senses, but he noticed Asher was a bit late. The punch was about to connect, he formed a barrier, but it was not strong enough. The punch broke the barrier, hitting him on the back, and sending him flying, but he spun mid-air slashing Asher in the arm.

Asher didn't expect Nathan to attack even after getting punched, he didn't expect the attack so he could not dodge it.

*Argh*

Asher groaned in pain, this was his first real injury in combat, though he had been nicked in his first fight, he didn't consider it an injury. Asher's arm stung with pain, he couldn't get his mind off the pain.

"Damn this," Asher forced himself to concentrate, but the pain was still there.

Nathan who had landed at the other side of the arena stood up, spitting out blood, he readied himself. Asher seeing that Nathan was up and ready to rumble, wasted no time, ignoring the pain he shot off with all his speed at Nathan.

The battle just got serious, as the two parties got locked in an unyielding exchange. Asher was faster than Nathan, but Nathan had sharp reflexes, pushing them to the max he was able to block all Asher's attacks at the right moment.

Asher was pissed off at the force field that kept blocking him from landing a hit. Nathan was quite pissed off as well, Asher was too fast for him to land a hit in him.

The two continued this back and forth, till the alarm for time over rang. Asher struggled to catch his breath, this was the most tedious fight he had so far. Nathan on the other forced himself to refrain from gasping for air, probably looked as though the fight did not take a toll on him, but he was burning up inside.

Asher had to admit, that Nathan was good. Asher gave him a nod of acknowledgment, Nathan returned it before both of them stepped down.

"How is your arm?" Lily asked as soon as he sat down beside her.

"Hurts like hell, but it's not too bad," Asher said.

She wanted to say something more, but they were interrupted by the man who had presided over the duels, the man who had spoken to them through the screen at first.

"Now that the duels are ended, all of you return to the first room downstairs, there you will see if you passed or failed. I wish all of you the best."

***

Asher saw his mum as soon as he entered the room. When she saw him as well, she ran to where he was.

"How is your arm? Does it hurt?" She asked in a panicked voice. She had watched all of his duels, and when she saw him getting slashed, her heart almost leaped out hero's chest.

"Mum stop worrying about such a little wound. I will be joining the elites and I will most definitely get hit harder. "Asher explained to his mum. She wanted to retort, but she knew it was true, he was no longer a little kid.

While they spoke, the screens in the room lit up, revealing two hundred numbers. These were the people who had passed.

Tension filled the air as everyone looked to find their number, Asher nervously looked through the list. After getting to the middle numbers, he finally saw his number.

He heaved a long sigh of relief. His journey was officially kicking off, he was now in the Elite program.

The man from the duel appeared on the screen.

"Those that have passed, I offer my congratulations, and those who didn't, I offer my sincere apologies. Those who passed are to report here tomorrow morning."

Asher and his mum left the building, it was already dark out. Asher was hungry and looking forward to having dinner with his mum, as he didn't know when he would have the chance again.