Ranking (2)

I opened my eyes and saw an unfamiliar white ceiling. I tilted my head, and looked towards my feet. I was laying down in a hospital bed, with my body wrapped in several places, and I was hooked up to a breathing apparatus.

It was assisting me in breathing, and I had another tube that was hooked up to a blood bag.

'I'm getting a blood transfusion? Ah... Right... I was stabbed...'

I laid back to rest, when I suddenly remembered.

'No, wait, I was in another world... What was it called? God my head hurts when I try to remember...'

As I was clutching my head, a nurse came in through the door, and dropped her chart.

"He's awake! Doctor Hardings!"

Hurried steps came from the hallway, and a group of people rushed in. I caught a glimpse of a nurse's nametag.

"Head Nurse Hilton"

'What's... what's going on?'

The hospital personnel examined me, and told me I was lucky to be alive after having been stabbed as many times as I did. They also told me how I truly saved my brother's life. That was when they told me that he was actually waiting downstairs, and that since I was awake I could have visitors.

"Would you like to let them visit?"

Still out of it, I took a moment to reply.

"Huh? Uh... Yes. Of course they can visit..."

I waited, and after about ten minutes I saw my family enter the room.

My parents came over to me, crying, and my brother came to my side to hold my hand. Tears in his eyes, he apologized profusely to me, thanking me over and over again for saving his life. I was so overwhelmed, I didn't know how to respond, so I simply kept my mouth shut.

They brought me gifts, and flowers. It was the first time I had really received anything from my parents. It didn't feel as amazing as I thought it would.

Instead I felt really empty. As if something was missing.

I spent the next two months recovering. It was mostly waiting for my wounds to heal, and getting physical therapy accomplished. There had been some damage to my spine, but they were able to preserve most of my lower body movement.

However, I now had a limp, and had to use a cane to assist me in walking. Today was the day I was going to be released, and I had asked the hospital staff not to tell my family. I would get a taxi home and surprise them.

I bid farewell to all the people I had met, and headed home.

I soon arrived outside the familiar house that I grew up in, and slowly let myself inside. The front door was unlocked, just like how it always was, so I quietly walked in. Right as I walked in, I heard shouting coming from upstairs. I walked slowly, making sure not to make any noise, and stood at the top of the stairs listening.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE BANKRUPT?!"

"I-I went in debt while borrowing money to start my business... And well.. We aren't making enough, so I can't pay it back... BUT! When we go public, I'll-I'll be able to pay them back!"

"How could you even try to justify this? Your brother almost died, and it's all because you got involved in shady business!"

"Your brother, your own brother was stabbed in your place, and he doesn't even know why?! You're despicable!"

I was rooted to the spot on the stairs.

'My... Brother... The reason I almost died was because he owes money to loan sharks, and he wasn't even going to tell me?!'

I clenched my fist hard, trying my hardest to suppress the anger I felt, and decided to quietly head downstairs to get some air.

After a few minutes, I decided to make my presence known, by ringing the door bell. I didn't hear anything for a while, so I rang the door bell again. This time, I heard some hurried steps, as they must be hustling down the stairs.

"Who is it?"

The door creaked open slowly, and my mother came from behind the door. She opened it widely when she realized it was me.

"Honey! Ethan is home! Ethan, come in come in!"

I nodded and walked inside. I went towards the dining room, where my brother and father were standing awkwardly. I looked at them, but didn't say anything, instead I sat down at the table and grabbed an apple.

"Uh... Since Ethan is here, I'll head out.."

My brother left under the unkind gazes of my parents. It seemed that the love my parents used to shower on my brother, had no where to go, and it felt like I was not the recipient of it.

'The love I always wanted, is mine... but why do I not feel happy about it.'

However I knew the answer.

I watched my brother leave the house, with his head hung in shame, and my parents ignoring his presence entirely. I realized that he must have felt the same way.

I remembered the heartfelt conversation we had right before he was attacked. My brother might have made a bad decision by taking money from a loan shark to start his business, but mistakes happen. It doesn't mean he is a bad person.

After he left, my parents began to dote on me, asking how my work at my brother's company was going. I exchanged some pleasantries, before I made an excuse and left the home. I said I was going to go home and relax, but I was actually going to my brother. I called him while in the taxi, and found out he was at the office.

Once I got there, I took the elevator to our offices on the 12th floor. Along the way, I went through the lower parking garage, and stopped along the way.

I was staring at the place where I was attacked only a few months ago. I subconsciously touched my abdomen where I was stabbed.

Suddenly I had a memory of a fantasy battle, where I fought off someone with a spear, and I felt a pang of pain in my shoulder. When I lifted my shirt, there was no scar, but I felt that the memory was vividly realistic.

My head hurt, but I was able to calm down after a few moments. When I felt fine again, I decided to leave the parking garage, in fear I might have some traumatic episode again.

*Ding*

I stepped out of the elevator, and saw my brother in the meeting room. Walking up to the glass doors, I knocked lightly, causing my brother to jolt from his thoughts and motioned for me to come in.

"Sigh.. What are you doing here Ethan? Shouldn't you be having dinner with our parents?"

I limped over to the chair across from my brother, and I could see his guilt as he saw me hobble along. Sitting down took a lot of effort, but once I was down I let out a long sigh.

"I didn't want to be with them."

"Huh? Why..."

I looked at him. It was a simple case of someone desperately wanting the approval of their parents, but now they disappointed their parents. No longer receiving the love, they didn't know what to do.

I shrugged at my brother's question.

"I didn't feel like I would enjoy it."

My brother had a look of shock on his face.

"Wouldn't enjoy it? But... Haven't you always wanted them to look at you?"

It was then my turn to be surprised. It turned out that my brother knew how I felt, but it hurt me a little to know that he knew while never helping.

However I let it go just as fast as it came.

"I did... but I don't anymore. If their love, is on the condition that you lose it... I don't need that kind of love."

"Hah... If it's on the condition that I lost it..."

He sat back, slicking his messy hair and looking at the ceiling. It was a long time before he spoke again, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know what it was, but sitting in silence felt comfortable.

Another unfamiliar memory floated into my mind. A bench on the side of the road, and the cool breeze soothing my mind. I closed my eyes, and felt like I could feel the breeze on my face.

The cushion under my head was warm.

*Ba dum. Ba dum.*

A faint heartbeat began to sound softly in my ears. The wind carrying the sounds of the trees breathing.

I felt...

Fingers combing through my hair. A soft hand patting my head.

"I have to confess something, Ethan..."

I nodded. Not daring to open my eyes in fear that the sensations I was feeling would abandon me if I turned my back to them.

"The man who attacked us... Works for JYZ Financial... I.. Owe them a lot of money. I..."

Tears began to pour out as he sobbed.

"I'm the reason... the reason you were almost killed."

*Ba dum. Ba dum*

I stood up, finding my way around the table with my eyes closed, and placed my hand on my brother's head.

I patted his head, as the sound of the heart beat rose to a cacophony, slowly he began to calm down.

However he didn't have a chance to fully collect himself, as the door to the conference room were thrown open, and in came a group of five men in black suits.

I opened my eyes.

*Ba dum. Ba dum*

"That's him boss."

One of the men pointed to my brother. I leaned down slightly.

"You should get out of here. I'll handle this."

I whispered in my brother's ear.

"Wha-No, Ethan I can't not agai-"

"Go. Your place is with mom and dad."

My brother got up, shaking, with tears in his eyes.

He began to walk towards the door, while the men moved forward to stop him, but I quickly moved forward to block them.

I slammed my cane onto the first loan shark.

"Wh-what about you Ethan?!"

I stood between the door, and my brother.

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

"My place isn't here..."

The men took out knives, and began to approach me.

"You gotta move, our business is with him, not you."

I exhaled a long breath.

"I'm not moving."

Veins bulged out of their foreheads.

"He owes us a lot of money. We plan to get it from him."

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

"One."

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

"Organ."

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

"At a time."

I cracked my neck, and loosened up my arms.

"Come get it then, bitch."

A man lunged forward.

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

Memories of a sparring session flooded his mind.

'Parry the arm holding the dagger. A dagger is close quarters, but you know what...'

Using the cane, I pushed his lead hand to the side, and pivoted while spinning my upper body.

'An elbow is ultra close quarters.'

My elbow connected with his jaw, dropping him as I pushed the limp body so that it fell away from me.

This time, two men rushed towards me, at the same time.

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

'When facing multiple combatants, face them one at a time, but they won't be nice enough to let you do that. So always attack suddenly, and decisively.'

I threw my cane towards one, catching him off guard and causing him to flinch.

The second attacker ran forward. I spun to avoid his knife, hitting the man with a spinning back fist. The first attacker caught up, and swung recklessly downwards.

Step back.

A horizontal slash.

Blocking the arm preemptively, and throwing a straight at his jaw. Causing the man to fall to the ground.

However it wasn't enough.

The other two men ran forward. One grabbed me in a bear hug, while the other stood in front of me. 

The one standing in front of me was the one called boss earlier.

"You have balls... I'll cut them off and feed them to you since you love them so much."

*BA DUM. BA DUM*

Memories began flooding my mind, with clarity.

'This is the trial.'

I began laughing.

"You know, someone said that to me recently."

"Hah... Oh yeah? How did that go?"

I looked at him in the eyes, my aura changed, and he flinched for a moment.

"He's dead."

*spit*

A knife swiftly flew out, stabbing into my side, causing me to cough out blood.

"How does that feel? HUH? YOU BASTARD!"

*spit*

This time blood splattered on his face.

"Feels like you might have got my liver... $40,000 gone. Hahahahahaha!"

I threw my foot forward, straight into the man's crotch.

Slamming my foot down, I heard a crunch as I broke the toes of the man holding me, causing him to let go of me momentarily.

Gripping the knife in my side, I pulled it out and slashed the face of the boss. Grabbing his hair I pulled his head back up, and stabbed the knife into his collar.

The four other men watched in momentary shock, before they ran forward to stop me.

Knives began stabbing into my back, but I just held on the boss man, staring him in the eyes. It was then, that his expression changed.

Fear.

Smiling a bloody smile, I spoke to the boss as his men tried to pull me away.

"You're going to die here. While my brother will live."

I pulled the knife in his neck out, slashing his jugular upon exit.

"How does THAT feel?"

My vision went black.

****

"Why'd you throw away the opportunity to get the attention, that you so desperately sought all your life, from your parents?"

"Because... My brother needs it more than me.. That sort of love... Isn't what I wanted."

Silence.

I didn't know where I was, instead I just felt like I was floating, but couldn't feel my body at all.

"What sort of love do you want?"

A cool breeze. A bench under the spring sky.

"I don't know yet... But I know I need power if I want to obtain anything."

"..."

My eyes opened.

I was back, standing before the pedestal in the hedge maze, when I heard a voice.

'Use this to protect what you care about.'

[Ring of Defiance][Rare]

[Increases your resistance to damage by 10%. When on the brink of death, damage resistance spikes to 90% for ten seconds.]

[Symbol of Pride][Unique]

[Your pride, becomes your strength. Harness a unique mana type. Show the world your pride.]

I immediately noticed a new energy surging through my body. It was so much, that I was afraid it might even make me explode, but that surge soon died out. I put my hand on the pedestal, and willed that power to come out. With a squeeze, the stone pedestal crumbled in my bare hands.

'This should be enough for now...'

I could feel that the mana I had now, was solely for enhancing things past their limits. I channeled my mana into my belt, letting it greedily devour my pathetic mana pool, before stopping as I started to get light headed.

I looked down at my hand, and felt the mystical flow of magic within me.

'I... can use mana now.'

It was only a matter of time before I buy magic, but at least I could increase my mana reserves in preparation. I could also utilize my mana like aura. This made me much more confident in the ranking test on Wednesday.

I left the hedge maze, and headed back to my dorm. I still had a lot to prepare, and my mental fatigue had piled up. I needed desperately to rest my mind.

****

[Highest Rank Monster Defeated:]

1st: Mary Heath - Upper D-Rank

2nd: Tyler Spindel - Middle D-Rank

3rd: Barron Thundercliff - Middle D-Rank

4th: Ashley Rinnetti - Lower D-Rank

5th: Edwin Triscal - Upper F-Rank

...

"Next!"

Mary opened her eyes slowly. She had been sleeping during all the tests so far, but this one was the only one she was interested in.

'I wonder how he's been.. He looks thin.'

Mary had been looking for him in the cafeteria, but noticed that he didn't show up for every meal. Skipping meals was bad for anyone's health, and she could see that he was thinner than a month ago. It wasn't all in a bad way, but she was slightly saddened to see his lack of self care.

Artemis walked up to the arena, and stepped inside calmly. Even though he was ranked at the very bottom, Mary knew that was not an accurate representation of his strength, because he was able to easily crush throats of lower F-Rank terrorists.

She had also seen him receive an item from the king himself, which would no doubt be useful. Although she tried to put on a cold front, she couldn't deceive herself. She was interested in how much he had grown.

The first monster that was summoned was a lower F-Rank Grey Wolf. These creatures couldn't use spells, but they had enhanced bodies because of mana, so they were ranked lower only because of their straight forward nature.

The wolf, once fully materialized, looked around the arena before spotting Artemis. Instead of moving around, circling the arena to find a chance to attack, he stood perfectly still. Just staring at the wolf.

'W-what are you doing Artemis?'

The wolf charged forward, seeing that the prey in front of it had no intention of moving, and opened it's jaws wide open.

"ARTEMIS MOVE!"

Mary unconsciously stood up from her seat and shouted aloud.

However the scene that unfolded wasn't what anyone expected.

Artemis had turned his head completely away from the wolf, locking eyes with Mary, and smiling softly.

The wolf however, never reached Artemis, instead it was about an arm's length away with it's jaw wide open. There was a golden glow around the area of it's upper and lower jaw.

'The wolf's mouth is being held open... The biting power of a wolf is enough to break a femur with ease... Is this his magic?'

Mary watched with awe, as the mouth then slowly began to force wider and wider. The wolf began whimpering, but that was soon ended.

With a sudden give, as if whatever was holding the wolf's jaw disappeared, the wolf's jaw was ripped apart. The wolf's body immediately went limp, and then disappeared.

Mary's heart raced.

Not because of the dominant display of strength, but because Artemis had not broken eye contact with her at all.

****

'The fairy was telling the truth. Even though I tried to push her away... Her feelings won't just magically go away. Also..'

I looked at the expression in her eyes.

'She was genuinely scared for me.'

I waved and smiled at her. We didn't care that people were staring at us.

She awkwardly waved back, before looking around and sitting down.

"You have a really brutal way of fighting, Mr. Kiltec."

I turned. Ms. Hilton was standing next to the ring.

"I'm not a trained fighter, this is all I know."

She nodded lightly, signaling to the illusion mage, before turning back to me.

"Whatever it takes to win. That's all that matters in a fight for survival. There are famous heroes who fight using only their bare hands."

I nodded, and turned my attention back to the arena. The next monster would be a middle F-Rank, which would be the same strength as the other low ranking students in the class. This was about the level a new student should be at.

This time the monster that appeared was a goblin. It hard a club, and was higher rated because of how they fight in groups. Surprisingly, this middle F-Rank monster was actually weaker than the wolf who was a lower F-Rank, so I didn't worry about it at all.

The fight started the same as the wolf, with the goblin looking around in confusion before identifying me as the enemy. The goblin had a rusty sword, and didn't rush forward recklessly like wolf. Instead it slowly began to circle me, but before it could find an opening, I made the first move.

I instantly showed off my new item.

Summoning a tentacle, I propelled myself forward, managing to catch the goblin off guard.

I was now in front of the goblin, who was only about 4 foot high, summoning two arms and lifting the goblin off the ground.

It squirmed, trying to swing it's sword at me, but that was blocked by another arm. I then threw the goblin towards the ground.

[Falling Star]

When the goblin hit the ground, it sunk unnaturally deep into the ground, and it's skull cracked from the impact. The goblin soon began to dissipate into particles.

I turned to look at Ms. Hilton.

"Next, please."