Chapter 19: Truth be told

"You have no choice!"

A blade of fire chops down at Godfrey's shoulder and he chooses to stand still. He crosses his arms as he watches. The blade of fire nears but slows considerably as it gets closer.

The blade sputters and weakens in strength as it approaches Godfrey's barrier, and is repelled when it makes contact.

Long Batian uses the repelling force to transition into another slash before the sound of the barrier even fades. Again he is repelled, and again he naturally flows into unending attacks. He moves as if he is used to fighting the electric barrier and it makes sense. Godfrey nods his head as he watches and thinks to himself.

'Truly the son of the number one. Judging by his skill alone, he can easily defeat Xarath the bull.'

Long Batian sees Godfrey's nod and believes it to be a mocking gesture. He shifts his blade into a spear and condenses his flames to an absurdly high heat. The tables and chairs become singed as the flames intensify. Godfrey uncrosses his arms as he feels a slight sense of danger emanating from the spear.

*boom*

The sound barrier breaks as the spear pierces towards Godfrey's chest. The very air seems to be burned away as the spear enlarges. Godfrey, at this very moment, raises a hand. The electric barrier collapses into a compressed ball of energy, which Godfrey gathers in his palm, and he thrusts out aggressively.

The ball of energy bursts out into a wave that clashes against the flaming spear and violently rips it apart. Long Batian is thrown back by the shockwave and slams into the back wall. He immediately recovers and moves to stand, but is halted by a fist in front of his head.

Godfrey nods and opens his hand as he speaks.

"Well fought. You truly are your father's son, though both of you have a knack for holding back when the fight is not actually necessary."

Long Batian's facial expression shifts into one of unwillingness.

"This means nothing. I will not be accepting protection from you Godfrey. It would be an insult to both myself and to you."

Godfrey smiles as he grabs Long Batian's shoulder and lifts him up since he refuses to grab Godfrey's hand. Godfrey notes the time and finds a seat at the back of the class as he replies.

"It's not protection, but an alliance. The situation on Mars seems to be worsening, at least from what my parents could gather. I owe your father, and I intend to repay my debt. We will still compete against one another, but I shall have your back when the time comes."

Godfrey looks at Long Batian and notices that his features seem to have eased.

"I hope that you will have mine, in time. Also I do not think you should sit at the back."

Long Batian is confused and tries to ask Godfrey but is interrupted as the large classroom door swings open.

A large burly tiger beastman walks in and waves at the duo. Then an even larger orc comes in, followed by multiple large figures of different races. They all take seats at the back and block Long Batian's view. He looks at Godfrey and sees a smirk on his face.

Long Batian is about to curse at Godfrey but is interrupted by a Cendarian asking a question.

"Hello human. Would you like to switch seats with me? I am much too large and the only seats available are at the front."

Long Batian hurriedly nods and they switch seats. The classroom quietens down after an Elf holding a large holo pad enters the room. He quietly writes his name on the board.

"I am Mr. Sol'Nira. You may all call me Mr. Sol. For those of you unaware, this is merely an introductory class for new students. You may all enter race specific classes in the future. However, we here at the academy encourage inter-species socialising, and hope you will all get along."

A wave of pure killing intent explodes in the room and the entire class is stunned into horrified silence. Godfrey looks at the teacher and simply raises an eyebrow. Mr. Sol looks around and notes a few who have passed out. He speaks to the rest of the class after his observations.

"I will be frank with you all. Some of you may very well die."

Murmurs sound out around the classroom.

"What's he talking about? Die??"

"Is this just a test?"

"My parents never told me about this??"

Mr. Sol lets the situation simmer for a while. When the discussions become too loud, he raises a hand and the students stop. A large hologram appears at the front of the class and shows the school emblem. He speaks at that moment.

"Your parents, relatives, and even their friends that have gone to the Ascension Academy have been sworn to secrecy. It is by means of magical contract, therefore, it is foolproof. We had to take this measure, for knowledge of other races and the chance for death could cause your worlds to panic."

He paces and continues.

"This Academy was built so that the newer generations could shift their worldviews earlier. This will facilitate future cultural exchanges. I admit that tensions between the races are...tense. That's putting it lightly."

He stops pacing and turns dead serious as he looks at the students.

"What they won't tell you, is that the natives on Mars were never the friendliest. For the last 20 years, they have been harassing our people to no end. Recently, they have been encroaching on our borders quite aggressively. Truth be told, we lost 6 students last month alone."

The students panic and some even stand up to leave. Mr. Sol claps and forces everyone down with a wave of magical energy.

"Allow me to finish before you make a decision to leave."

He switches to an image of what the "Natives" look like.

"They are humanoid in shape and have grey skin. They average at around 1.85 meters. They have a dense body structure and possess immense physical strength. They also have mandibles that are strong enough to crush magically enhanced weapons and armour."

The hologram shuts off and Mr. Sol looks at the students.

"When you eventually encounter them, make sure to go for the kill. They most definitely will. That is the end of the introduction. Your tablet will be updated with your schedules. Keep an eye out for 'Expedition', this class will yield the most points that go into deciding the first place in each of your races. You will only go once as it is a week long exercise, and will be decided randomly."

Mr. Sol walks out and the class explodes into conversation once more.

"What the hell?? They didn't think this would be important information to give to their younger generation??"

"It's almost like they want us to die! I'm too young to die!"

"I want to go home."

Godfrey shakes his head lightly and looks to Long Batian. What he sees impresses his warrior spirit.

Long Batian has heat emanating dangerously from his body, along with a large grin. He exclaims loudly.

"YES!! An adventure for the ages!! People will remember my name!! This is what I have longed for."

Godfrey laughs and walks out after checking his tablet for the next item on his schedule. He walks for a while and finds himself in the ability testing field.

'It has been a while since I have tested my lightning. I cannot wait.'

Godfrey enters and sees a teacher is sitting on a chair, while watching students attack robots within a gigantic open field. He registers with the teacher and goes to find a lone robot.

He takes it to the outskirts of the base, with teacher supervision, after explaining the power of his lightning.

After finding a spot, Godfrey raises a hand and concentrates.

'There is no need for control with this attack. Only pure overwhelming power.'

Gigantic clouds suddenly gather and the smell of ozone suddenly appears. The sky lights up in a golden display of power. Godfrey raises another hand and pushes his power even further. The clouds now look akin to black rocks and golden lightning threatens to explode outwards.

Godfrey clenches his hand and can feel his lightning about to go berserk. He grins and holds it until he can hold no more. Then he tears downwards, and the base shakes.

A colossal lightning bolt strikes the robot and completely atomises it. A violent explosion suddenly destroys the landscape, and sends everything flying.

The teacher hurriedly tries to shield himself and gets flung away. He smashes into a rock formation and dazedly stands back up.

The teacher looks up and is in shock at the damage. An area of about 300 meters is completely decimated, the ground is torn out and rock formations simply vanish.

Godfrey kneels on the ground and gasps for air. His body is drenched in sweat and he shivers in exhaustion.

'That is my current limit. It is most definitely not feasible to use in a battle.'

The teacher gets up and praises Godfrey.

"That was incredible!! Never have I seen a student wield so much power! You must be Godfrey. I've seen the videos and I must say the videos are nothing."

Godfrey just smiles and asks if he can go. The teacher nods and helps him back into the dome.

Unbeknownst to them. A pair of eyes were stealthily watching them.

"Defilers.."

Dorm Room

Godfrey plops down on his bed, still a little exhausted but largely recovered. He checks his tablet for his results and he is satisfied with his progress.

.

.

Godfrey Gallahad

.

.

Age: 13

Height: 2.1 meters

Weight: 350 kg

Eyes: Gold

Blood Type: ???

.

.

Abilities:

Lightning Manipulation:

Voltage Limit: 1.2 billion

Flight Speed Limit: Mach 10

Super Strength Limit: 8700 tons

Super Speed Limit: Mach 6

Super Endurance Limit: To be determined

.

.

.

'Hm? The measurement of force is gone. To be fair, lightning is hard to measure in that way....my strength has hit a plateau.'

Godfrey looks to his hand and clenches them.

"This is not a setback. Merely a constraint of time. I shall focus on refining my existing abilities. Firstly. Combat."

.

.

.

.

.

.

END