8 HOHB - the question and the promise…

Chapter #8

"How far will you go to become powerful?" Instructor Yates gazes intently.

"If power was obtainable, but the cost of your common rationality and willpower were put on the line, would you take that risk to obtain unimaginable power? Answer me Damien, would you take that gamble?" Instructor Yates sternly inquires.

"unimaginable power… if I could obtain that kind of power, the type of power that others adore and desire for, no bounds of restraint could halt me from accomplishing it.

"Oho, as expected, that resolve of yours is quite interesting. I knew my intuition of you was correct, especially from what I witnessed moments ago. Instructor Yates beams in elation.

"What do you mean, moments ago?"

"Oh yeah, considering you were unconscious for most of it. You probably wouldn't have any recollection of well, whatever that was."

"It's only appropriate to start from the beginning, it was right about the time where you and that pea-brain, Brenner started your training regiment…"

"After the short instructions I gave, Brenner came up to retrieve the pair of protective suits per my instructions." Yates glances at the shattered suit.

"It seems the brat must have forced a malfunction of your suit while retrieving it. Furthermore, the suits were fortified by a veteran yex user, who is a master of "defensive yex" and had full control over his authority."

"There is no way he would make such a careless mistake by botching the fortification for the suit. The confusing part of this whole ordeal is if Brenner did cause the malfunction of your suit, how would he?"

"A powerful dispersal attack of "aura yex" would need to be used to destroy the "defensive yex" fortified on the suit. I know Brenner is a top-ranking student of the academy, but the possibility of him destroying the suit is low."

"But Brenner was the only one to have possession of your suit before the accident." Yates ponders in uncertainty.

"And the brat swears his innocence after the whole ordeal, blaming it on the malfunction of the suit. Ugh, the brat is so confident in getting away with it scot-free too it pisses me off. Yates answers in annoyance.

<And he will. Brenner's dad is a high-ranking aristocrat and a respected and revered businessman in a variety of prestige in circles. If talk got out his son was bullying his fellow classmates for his own personal amusement, his social status would be destroyed completely. But none of that matters to his old man. Based on Brenner's common tendencies that sort of thing doesn't just magically develop. Furthermore, a rumor recently surfaced that Brenner's older brother has violent tendencies and terrible anger issues. I wouldn't be surprised if Brenner learned this sort of stuff directly from his brother.>

"Instructor Yates, I appreciate all the help and everything you did for me. I really do appreciate it. But aren't you going to tell me why you're so interested in me?"

"Mhm. I guess I shouldn't be ranting to an injured student, to begin with. But truthfully I'm trying to figure out what happened myself. Over my sixteen years of teaching studen- no, during the entire span of my life, I have never seen such mysterious yex before."

"Let me describe to you what I witnessed moments before the incident. The weather was faultless and the outpour of external yex from the atmosphere was continuously flowing smoothly, an exceptional time to practice unfalteringly all day."

"But abruptly a surge of compelling yex purged near a nearby training court, as I swiftly ran to investigate the disturbance, I ultimately found the two of you."

"I eyed Brenner who was relentlessly bombarding you with a seizure of attacks. The overwhelming pressure radiating from the attack even stunned me, the surrounding area was encircled by polluted yex."

"Realization struck me, as I quickly focused on Brenner, the abnormal force of his attack dawned on me, he wasn't using the "aura yex" stun I taught."

"But rather an attack from the classification of "offensive yex" instead. The attack Brenner performed seemed to be a strato (second) grade attack for the sole purpose to inflect unthinkable agony to the marks reticular activating system and the brain stem cerebrum near the spinal cord."

"During his onslaught of attacks, I tried to contain and minimize the damage from pummeling the nearby students. I confined a barrier infused with "defensive yex" approaching 10x10."

"Maintaining the barrier for a while was placing a toll on my body, so I instructed the students to leave the premises. After the students safely left, I could only imagine the worse. Realizing I prioritized the safety of the other students instead of shielding you."

"A heavy sting of transgression clouded my mind, but my internal repugnance was cut short. A ripple of yex shoots out from a distance, a faint scent slowly injects in motions as it eventually wraps my surroundings."

"Without forewarning, a mass of illogical madness starts to exemplify as I realized the location of the origin. Mesmerization strikes my eyes, as reflection riddles me, as I glance at a seemingly implausible inhuman feat."

"Unconscious and morbid, without motion an instantaneous tide of rage surfaces exhaustively as undiluted wrath solemnly concentrated onto me. My life has been threatened countless times before, and not one time have I been blinded by such uncontrollable fear."

"The watchful gaze from you Damien in that instant wasn't from an average student, no it was from a beast. A beast who has been cursed, with such devastating fury that is unprecedented before."

"If not for retaining my sanity and grabbing Brenner before the attack could collide into us, I'm certain I would have lost all control over my body."

" But it seems that just the intent of your attack, broke down Brenner's control over his mind, instinctively regressing the extreme sense signals he felt and erasing his traumatic memories from the core of his mind, and repressing the trauma into his endocrine glands."

"It seems this has happened before as well, and most likely he wouldn't remember the brute of what transpired moments ago," Instructor Yates concludes his narrative.

"A-ah, well that was quite a hit to take in. My dad would always be cautious for me but I always thought it was just his fatherly love. He would often say that I was special and different from most, but who would believe such outlandish sweet talk that was obviously meant to make me feel better for feeling like a complete loser?"

"I always thought that my dad pitied me ever since he found me. Moments occur when I think he just sees me as a replacement for the son he could never have."

"He shows me love and devotion, warmth when I feel uncertain, kindness when I show tactlessness, and provides me with overwhelming confidence when I lack it at my lowest."

"The love he provides me unconditionally feels wasted on me. A son who brings disappointment to his dad shouldn't be titled a son. My father would come home after work every day smiling in contentment when he sees me. I don't get him sometimes, why does he smile when he sees his pathetic son?"

"Noice surfaces now and then that the genius scholar, a worldwide renowned genius with honors in physiology and psychology, harbors a talentless son with miserable grades to show. But you wanna know what this idiot does. He looks me in the eyes and says"

"Fathers are men who place the world's hopes and dreams in their children. If a father falters due to some noiseless rumors how will he properly teach his children? A father's love is eternal and without end, no unjust or blinded chatter can affect the love I feel for my one and only son."

"Saying something so cheesy like that, of course, made me cry like a baby. The idiot didn't care about his pride or the disapproval of his peers, but just for the love of his son."

"So when you ask what I would do for power, I didn't answer out of greed or fame in mind, but to finally show the overdue respect my father deserves."

"I don't know of this "power," you say I have, nor do I know how to control it. But if there's the slightest chance you can teach me how to use it. I don't care what I have to overcome, give it to be head-on, and show me what true undefined power looks like."

Instructor Yates chuckles "if you ask me like that, I can't help but get excited. Ok! I've decided that you will become my pupil, you are indeed special and truthfully I haven't been excited about something in quite a while."

"Starting tomorrow, you will sit out until your injuries have healed. When you recover, come see me after class. I will then show you what true power looks like… my pupil." Yates grins steadily in anticipation.

*to be continued…*