Chapter 17: Fascinating

"You think you match me human?! I will beat you until your bones are dust!!"

Godfrey catches the blur and finds it to be an unconscious young man. He lays him down on the floor and stares at the screaming lunatic.

He looks closely and he realises that it isn't a human. An imposing height of 3.5 meters, muscles that strain through a combat suit, a blade as large as a door, and bull horns with a bull face.

Godfrey is shocked. He floats up to the mini giant and tries to calm it down.

"Calm yourself. I mean to ask a few questions if you would answer them?"

The bull simply nods its head upwards to ask Godfrey to continue.

"What manner of creature are you? Are you related to a bull? Was your moth-"

A blade cuts down towards Godfrey's head and he catches it in his hand. He looks to the bull-like creature and raises an eyebrow. He sees rage and hatred in its eyes.

"YOU DARE MOCK ME?? I AM XARATH AND I WILL NOT BE BELITTLED!!"

Xarath goes for a headbutt and Godfrey pulls the blade. This forces the bull to try and correct itself but Godfrey doesn't give it a chance. He throws the bull to the ground by using its own momentum against it.

Godfrey presses his advantage, and shoots out a bolt of concentrated lightning that strikes Xarath before he can even react.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"

The bull screams in agony as he is flung out and skips across the gravity room floor. Godfrey propels himself at Mach 6 and slams the bull with a brutal straight punch that breaks its snout.

The room trembles under the weight of the blow and the bull loses consciousness for a split second. Its mouth is split open and its brain is shaken considerably.

The bull flies across the entire gravity room and crashes into the wall. Dazed, it tries to stand but the world spins and the bull falls face first onto the ground. He snarls as he forces his arms to move, but finds that they are unable to muster any strength.

Godfrey appears in front of the creature and asks again.

"I meant no offence. You attacked me and I retaliated. I have simply never seen a creature like you. My curiousity has gotten the better of me. Let's start over. I'm Godfrey."

The bull stands and screams out in rage.

"YOU'RE DEAD! RAAAAAAAAGH!!"

The bull's veins suddenly glow a bloody red and its muscles become larger. A shockwave of pure physical force bursts from the bull and it charges at Godfrey head first.

Seeing that there was no reasoning with it, Godfrey grabs the charging bull by the horns.

His feet dig trenches on the ground as he is surprisingly pushed back a couple of meters. Godfrey stops the charge by flexing his muscles. A second of silence passes, then it is broken by a brutal knee to the bull's face.

The bull's face fractures and he drops to the ground, unconscious. Godfrey carries him on his shoulder and lays the bull by the wall.

'That last attack was interesting. It felt as if my body was forced to move away. Unfortunately for the bull, it just wasn't strong enough.'

Godfrey takes to the air and goes to the young man who was knocked out earlier. He finds him sprawled out on the floor in a weird angle.

'He most likely got displaced by the shockwaves of our blows.'

Godfrey places both combatants next to each other and makes to leave the gravity room. A groan, however, captures his attention. He looks to the young man, and sees him stirring.

Godfrey waits until the young man is fully conscious. The young man looks at Godfrey and then to the bull creature. He then questions Godfrey, his voice laced with doubt.

"Are you Godfrey? Did you defeat Xarath??! How??"

Godfrey smiles lightly and answers simply.

"I beat him into unconsciousness. He was being unreasonable and refused to calm down. That's not looked down upon here is it? I had thought that competition was encouraged."

The young man shakily stands and openly gapes at Godfrey.

"No, no, it's definitely encouraged. Here it's even more pronounced. However, that was Xarath. He's the second place in the beast clan. You'll find that years don't matter much. Only power does."

Godfrey nods and walks off.

"Then I need not worry."

The young man catches up with Godfrey and introduces himself.

"I'm Noah. The fifth place for the humans. I was asked by Principal Jefferson to introduce the basics of the Academy's structure on Mars to you."

Godfrey merely keeps walking forward and answers.

"Well met Noah. Please, enlighten me."

Noah takes his tablet out and a holographic ranking list is displayed.

"We are not alone in this solar system Godfrey. There are 4 other races, that we know of, that occupy different planets. Our relations with these races are strained at best in the current moment.

At 5th place are the Orcs. Powerhouses in physical combat. They dislike humans for some reason. They can enter a battle frenzy, so not many like them. They antagonise all the other races regardless of status.

At 4th place is the Beast Clan. Xarath is the number two of the clan you beat. They have powerful bloodline skills. They like challenging anyone that can get their instincts to awaken.

At 3rd place are the Cendars. They incredibly skilled marksmen and have light based abilities. Never give them distance in battle. Once they have a step on you, it will turn to ten and you won't be able to catch up.

At 2nd place is our human race. We have the most diverse set of powers and so we can counter a lot of the different races.

At 1st place are the elves. They are powerful combatants in both magic and martial prowess. What makes them dangerous is their various elemental abilities."

Godfrey's eyes widen and he grabs Noah by the shoulders.

"What do these elves look like? Are they pointy eared? Do they have bark like skin? How about their eyes? Does there seem to be stars twinkling in their eyes? Can they regenerate from even a drop of blood?"

Noah panics at the strong grip and hurriedly answers.

"No to all except the pointy ears!! Look man I don't know where you got that idea from but these elves aren't what you just described. They are mostly human in appearance, but more refined. They have pointy ears and are generally petite. They get injured and heal much like us humans. Only difference is that they live for hundreds of years but that's it."

Godfrey lets Noah go as he ponders on his words. He nods and continues walking. Along the way he spots the sign for the cafeteria and quickly goes to it.

They arrive at the cafeteria and Godfrey sees the other races. They all turn to the newcomer. Some are intimidated by his glowing gold eyes and large stature, some look at him with challenge in their souls. Whispers resound loudly in Godfrey's ears.

"Is he a new species? His eyes are glowing."

"I mean, some of our eyes glow too. He may just be an overly large human."

"Are we sure he isn't an elf? He's gorgeous!"

Godfrey piles up food on 2 trays and sits with Noah in a secluded corner. He eats his meal at an astounding pace and almost finishes in 1 minute. Noah continues his explanation.

"You must have realised that there are heroes and other races living in the city. Students have the option of moving into the base along with their family after they finish their education. This is to test if it's at all feasible for the races to exist in harmony. Also you can remain in the Academy for up to 2 years after you graduated."

Heavy footsteps then appear behind Godfrey and he feels a hand closing in on his neck. With a quick spin, he grabs the hand and tosses the poor fool.

Godfrey now sees that it was an Orc, most likely trying to establish dominance. He crashes into an empty table and snaps it in half. A table of orcs suddenly stand and they would make for an intimidating sight, if they weren't currently shaking.

The thrown orc stands immediately and his green cheeks turn a shade darker as he roars.

"You would throw me when I was simply saying hello?!! You have no manners human!"

Godfrey devours the last of his meal and stands. He looks down at the orc and clamps a hand on its neck, then he slowly lifts him up.

"So this is how you say hello amongst your people?"

The struggling orc is unable to say anything as Godfrey squeezes even tighter. He lifts the orc up and looks to the rest of the cafeteria.

"Well then. Hello."

Godfrey drops the orc and picks up his tray. He then goes for more food and ignores the others in the cafeteria. The food disappears once more and Godfrey stands up. He turns to Noah and nods at him.

"Thank you for giving me such valuable information. I will see you around Noah."

Godfrey exits the cafeteria and heads back to his dorm room. He freshens up and sits on his bed. Excitement builds in his chest as he closes his eyes in meditation.

'This new life is fascinating. To think that other planets would have life. None of that was mentioned by my parents. I can't wait for what this academy has in store for me.'

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Far away from the base

"GRIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAKKKKKK"

Eyes like molten lava awaken and stare at the the Mars base's direction.

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END