Stronger First Year

After a while of rolling non-stop on the floor, Marcus's cries for help had finally come to a halt. Staggering for a while, he eventually managed to regain his stance, standing upright and facing Kayden with a mixed expression on his face.

'Why wasn't I able to tell him what was going on?' he asked himself. 'Does it have something to do with this mark?'

His gaze then fell upon the red mark on his arm. For a moment, nothing seemed too out of place about it at this point, but then, after looking away, his eyes went wide in shock as he looked back at the mark on his arm.

'It changed!' he hadn't noticed it before, but now, looking at it for the second time, he couldn't help but admit that there was something different about the mark, abd remembering the sizzling pain he felt when he tried to tell Kayden the truth, he had a feeling that the change of the marking had something to do with it.

'The last mark was meant to keep me from betraying the second years, but this one. This one must prevent me from telling anyone about they're plans. In that case, this is not good.'

Marcus's hands began to shake as his face became really sweaty. If he couldn't tell Kaydethe truth, then the shapeshifter would simply assumed that his classmate truly had ulterior motives for tempering with the memories of everyone at the academy.

Kayden was just about thinking the same thing, wondering why Marcus hadn't answered his question after waiting for so long.

'I guess he's not interested in talking,' Kayden thought, getting ready to attack at any moment since Marcus was being reluctant to explain what was going on. He would jusy have yo beat the truth out of him and see what he would do with such information later on.

Seeing that Kayden was coming in to strike, Marcus quickly got into a fighting stance and began to throw punches of his own. Although the mark on his arm had changed, he also noticed that his Mana hadn't reduced even after changing everyone's memories back. It seemed as though the second year students still had unfinished business with him even now.

Using his Mana, he quickened his movements, making his body move faster than it usually would. This allowed him to keep up with the werewolf's movements, even making it possible for him to put up a good fight, landing consecutive blows every now and then.

'This guy is fast. What gives? I thought this guy was weak? How is he so string and fast all of a sudden? Weren't we just sparring with each other yesterday during the abilities class?' Kayden wondered, moving back to create distance between the two of them.

'Right now, for some reason, Marcus is faster and stronger than me. How am I going to win this fight?'

[The academy is currently under the control of one Marcus Vonx]

[Quest Received]

[Defeat him to receive a greater reward!]

Thinking back to the quest he had received regarding this matter, the fact that he hadn't failed the quest meant that he would still have to defeat Marcus Vonx. But, how was he supposed to do so if the student in question was far stronger than him?

This was just like the fight he had with Kayla the other day.

Standing still, his fingers curled, he contemplated on what course of action he would take next. He obviously wouldn't be able to beat Marcus in a fair fight, but what sort if cheap tactics could he use to enable him win at a time like this?

In the midst of his thoughts, Marcus was the first to attack as he ran forward, gritting his teeth as he readied his fist to deliver a blow. Using his explosive speed, he covered the distance between the two of them within seconds, abd just as his fist was about to collide with Kayden's face, the air around the fist would distort slightly before the fist made contact.

"Awooooo!" Kayden howled in pain, his body sent flying, hitting the wall and skidding towards the ground. Quickly getting back onto his feet, he felt a hand grab hold of his snout, applying pressure to it as he was now unable to breathe properly.

"Did you really think that I have would just stand back and let you beat me to a pulp?" With his other fist, he punched Kayden in the gut, over and over again, while his other hand grasped his snout tightly. The werewolf attempted to scratch the student with his sharp claws, but it seemed as though they weren't sharp enough to even leave a small scratch on his skin.

'This is just like when I fought Kayla. Most of the time, my attacks were barely able to penetrate her skin. It was a miracle that I was even able to hurt her a couple times. This guy, where did all this strength of his come from?'

For a moment, during the fight, Kayden was starting to get jealous, jealous of the fact that there were students like Marcus who had discovered ways to increase their power to such a large extent. He remembered the students who had gone rogue. He knew that if he had to fight against them, that he would most definitely loose.

That, plus the fact that there were more students who were gaining strength so fast, was making him feel like he was doing something wrong, like he was inadequate, and that he should be doing something else to improve himself.

'If I'm going to be able to protect my uncle and Stacy, then I have to grow stronger. I have to become strong enough to surpass the Shales! Strong enough to surpass Kayla and that nasty brother of hers!

'But most importantly, I have to become strong enough to surpass you!'

Swiping his claw out, he managed to strike Marcus right across his chest, however, just like before, the attack wasn't even able to cause a scarch on his skin, only managing to tear through his uniform and revealing his chiselled chest and abs.

"What's this now? Are you interested in seeing my abs?" Marcus taunted, swinging his legs, kicking the werewolf against the side of his face, sending his body crashing into the wall once again, this time to the wall off to the side of the room. "I never knew you swing that way."

Moving back, Kayden was upset to see that the attack had still failed to pierce Marcus's skin. Seeing this, his breathing began to grow unessy as he was wondering what else he could do to help him defeat his opponent. It was already clear that physical attacks against his body wouldn't do anything, and he didn't have any form or energy-based attacks to help him out.

"Marcus, why did you change everyone's memories? Why did you do it? What was it that you believed you could gain by doing such a thing?" Kayden was hoping that this time, his words would get through to the first year student, but, just like the time before, there was no response, and as Kayden was getting ready to move in for another attack, Marcus was the first to move from his position, pulling his fist back and striking the werewolf right across the neck, pressing against the windpipe and jugular.

'Kayden, as much as I want to tell you the reason, this damn mark on my arm won't let me do that, and I just can't stand back and let you beat the crap out of me!

'At the end of the day, I am well aware of the fact that only one of us can leave this room unharmed.'

Moving in, the teenager proceeded to land a flurry of kucks and punches, all of them with the intention of knocking the Werewolf unconscious. Although Marcus was upset that he had been forced by the second years to do their bidding, he was also glad that his power had been enhanced as a result, giving him the ability to withstand and even overpower the first year students' Titan four.

'Completing this damn quest isn't going to be easy!' Kayden screamed in his mind, still trying to swipe at the face of his opponent. Despite knowing that such attacks would do nothing to inflict damage against his opponent, he saw no other way of winning in the fight.

"Time to end this!" Marcus screamed, clenching his fists and delivering a strong blow to the werewolf, around his fists, there were slight distortion that, when they made contact with the werewolf's fur, they began to grow in size, quickly spreading across his body and causing him extreme pain.

Kayden had collapsed against the floor. He wasn't running low on Mana, but just like his fight against Kayla, he saw no way of him winning this fight. In reality, one may have the skills and battle tactics to help them win, but when faced with an opponent with similar battle IQ, and a higher level of power, loosing the fight would be inevitable.

"I have finally grown stronger than you, maingy mutt."

__________

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

I am one chapter closer to reaching 150k words for this novel.

One chapter left to go.

See you all in the next chapter.