Battle for respect

Kage and Unknown leave the classroom in a rush so they can get to the battlegrounds as fast as possible. When both of them arrive at the batllegrounds, they quickly get started.

"Are you ready, Unknown? As usual, I won't go easy on you."

"Of course not; I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

"Ok, let's do it!"

Kage walks over to a control panel and starts setting up the terrain for their battle.

"Unknown, what type of terrain should I pick for our sparring match?"

"The rocky terrain is fine."

"Ok, let's do it!"

The Grava Academy battleground is something special that is only found at places like Grava Academy since it has some of the most advanced technology in the world. It can completely change the terrain of the battlefield, giving students the ability to practice in many different situations.

Kage turns the battlefield into a rocky terrain that has very tall rocky pillars, rocky minerals flowing through the air, and giant rocks scattered around the field. Kage and Unknown both jump onto rocky pillars and get into fighting stances.

"You should know my powers by now," Kage remarks.

"Of course! If I'm going to beat you one day, I have to know. Your power is energy manipulation; it gives you the ability to send out different types of energy attacks and to control all forms of energy, and I can't forget about that little x-factor of yours."

"Ha, you know me so well, but you still haven't reached level two yet, so you're at a disadvantage."

"That might be right, but I can still keep up with you despite my so-called disadvantage, so am I really at a disadvantage?"

"Don't worry, we will answer that right now!"

Both Kage and Unknown start to glow, signaling the activation of Level One. Both Kage and Unknown rush at each other and start going blow for blow, neither letting up.

Kage goes for an ambitious strike on Unknown's head, but Unknown gracefully dodges Kage's attack and pays him back with multiple left jabs to the face. Kage backs away from Unknown and jumps on top of one of the rocky mountains.

"Damn, you're as strong as I remember, but let me remind you why, in class, I'm ranked fourth and your rank is fifth!"

"They only ranked you higher because you've already unlocked level two."

"Exactly, which makes me stronger!"

Kage's body starts to glow intensely, signaling the activation of level two. Kage puts his palm up, and a ball of energy forms in front of it.

"Energy manipulation:multi-attack!

Multiple beams of energy shoot from the ball of energy in front of Kages' hand. The beams of energy fly at great speed towards Unknown.

"So this is the new attack you were talking about!"

Unknown easily dodges every energy beam with great speed and grace.

"You know screaming your attacks out loud doesn't make them stronger, and there's no point in an attack if they can't hit me!"

"But screaming out your attacks is cool!"

"Who the hell told you that?"

"Instead of worrying about me yelling out attacks, you should be more worried about the energy beams you thought I missed."

Unknown starts looking around him in confusion after hearing what Kage says.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Unknown looks behind him and sees the multiple energy beams he dodged, turning around. The energy beams start to chase him once again. He starts to run from the beams of energy, using rocks as places to hide. Even with his best effort, he can't seem to get away from the beams of energy.

"Sorry to break it to you, Unknown, but this new attack of mine is impossible to dodge!"

"Fine, if I can't escape these energy beams, I'll just bring the battle to you."

Unknown starts jumping from rocky pillar to rocky pillar to get closer to Kage, who's standing on a rocky pillar on the other side of the battlefield.

"Ha, you're so predictable; I knew you would try to cut the distance.

Unknown jumps up to get up to the rocky pillar Kage is standing on.

Unknown looks behind him and sees the multiple energy beams fuse and become one big energy beam. Unknown, seeing the huge energy beam behind him, screams, "It doesn't matter how big the energy beams are; they will never catch up to me!"

Unknown looks back to his front and sees Kage jumping off the rocky pillar, preparing to punch him. Now with Unknown in the air, unable to dodge, he says, "Oh shit," with a bummed-out tone.

Kage punches Unknown and sends him straight into the big beam of energy behind him. After getting hit with the energy beam, he falls to the ground with many bruises on his body.

"Is that all you got?" I thought you weren't at a disadvantage!" Kage screams with a cocky smile.

"Shut the hell up! I'm not done yet!"

Unknown gets up with a face of intense determination.

"A battle isn't over till it's over!"

"That's what I like to hear!"

Both Kage and Unknown once again get into fighting stances, but before Kage and Unknown could continue their battle, the battlefield went back to its original state.

"What the hell happened to the artificial battlefield?" Kage screams.

Kage and Unknown look over to the control panel and are unhappy to see a very familiar face.

"Oh shit, it's him," Kage says with a displeased expression.

"Yeah, but why is he here, and what does he want?" Unknown asks.

A very smug guy with white skin dressed in expensive clothing coming in at the height of 6'3 is none other than the number one of class six, Seth. Seth is known around the academy as some dumb, rich kid who got into the academy because his dad funds the school.

"Seth, what the hell do you want? Can't you see that me and unknown are using this battlefield?"

"Yeah, I can see you two are having fun using my battlefield."

"What the hell are you talking about? We were here first; if you want to use a battlefield, use a different one!"

"No, I want this one. Now chop-chop, pack it up, and leave."

"This guy gets on my nerves."

"Kage, just ignore him; he just wants to get a rise out of you," Unknown says while turning away from Seth.

"Yeah, I know he's probably still mad about being put in the lowest-ranked class out of the top six classes at Grava Academy."

"Do you two dumbasses hear me? I said to leave now! You might think just because you're in class one and I'm in class six, you're better than me, but everyone knows those people who made the entrance exams are a bunch of dumbasses."

"They're not dumbasses! They just knew how to find where you belonged."

"If you think so, then how about a battle? If I win, I'll take your rank as number four in class one."

"Sorry to inform you, but that's not how it works, but I'll take you on; I'll even let you pick the terrain."

"Fine, icy terrain it is!"

"Ok, Unknown, go ahead and watch me mop the floor with Seth from the spectating room."

"Oh man, I knew it was going to lead to this."

Unknown leaves the battlefield and heads to the room next to it. When Unknown walks into the spectating room, he is met by Selena eating popcorn and enjoying the show on the spectating screen.

"Selena? How long have you been in the spectator room?"

"Oh, I overheard you and an Unknown talking about sparring, and every sparring match I've seen between you two has always been a spectacle, so I decided to come to watch. So I've been here since you two started."

"Wow, really, are our battles that good?"

"Yeah, but you both need some work.

"Yeah, you're right, especially me. I wish I could just hit level two already."

"You'll get there one day, but let's focus on this battle first; it should be an interesting one. Seth has ice manipulation, and he picked an ice terrain; it's obvious he purposely picked that field to get an advantage."

"I'm sure Kage will win, even if that is the case."

On the battlefield, Seth programs the panel, and the battlefield turns into an icy terrain. "

"Ok, Seth, I'll end this quickly so you won't get embarrassed too badly."

"Enough talk! Time for me to prove why I deserve class one!"

"You don't, and I'll show you why!"

Both Kage and Seth's bodies start to glow intensely, signaling the activation of level two.

"Energy manipulation!"

"ice manipulation!"

Kage charges headfirst and instantly attempts to attack Seth. Seth puts up an ice wall to surround him, and at the same time, Kage shoots a ball of energy, which destroys the ice wall. 

"How do you like that energy bomb, huh?"

"Just shut your mouth!"

Seth forms a sharp ice crystal around his hands and arms and then rushes at Kage. He tries to stab him with ice, but Kage screams out, "Energy manipulation: energy barrier"

"a barrier?"

"Did I catch you off guard? You didn't know I had my own defense, did you?"

A barrier forms around Kage, blocking Seth's attack. Seth quickly backs away from him, and Kage drops his barrier. Then Kage goes on a hot pursuit with a smile. The ice around Kage starts to bombard him with attacks as he runs.

"Damn, I see why you picked the ice terrain, but you can't beat me with something like this!

Kage's body releases a burst of energy in every direction, destroying all the ice around him. Kage, with no hesitation, sends out an energy beam at Seth, sending him into a block of ice. Seth comes out of the rubble, bleeding from the head.

"You stupid bastard, I'm going to kill you," Seth remarks with an aggressive tone.

"You know you're pretty out of shape; the battle just started, and you're already huffing and puffing like we just ran a marathon. Quiet while you're ahead!"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Suddenly, the battlefield goes back to normal, leaving both boys confused. Kage and Seth look over to the control panel and see Selena and Unknown.

"This battle is over," Selena says with a stern tone.

"No fuck you, this battle isn't over till I say so," Seth says with a furious tone.

"Seth, you need to use your brain; it's clear that Kage outclasses you. You're bleeding from the head and have bruises all over. You need to go to the doctor and get checked out for your own safety."

"Shit the hell up, you damn women; what the hell do you know?"

"What the hell did you just say to me?" Selena asks with an angry tone.

"I'm sorry, ma'am; I'll just take my leave now," Seth whispers with a scared tone.

Seth leaves the battlefield in a rush while holding his head in pain.

"That battle was too easy," Kage screams with a smile.

Selena giggles at Kage's statement, and at the same time, Kage looks at her.

"Is something funny?"

"Nothing; you still have a lot to learn."

"I know I do, but that's what's so fun about this world we live in—there's still so much to learn and see. With that said, level three will be mine!"

"Well said, Kage; never change that mindset," Selena says with a warm smile.

"Thanks, Selena; I will."

"But I suggest you go get that assignment done; you don't want to feel Mr. Minks's wrath, do you?"

"Oh shit yeah, you're right! Unknown, hurry up, let's get to Grava Forest now."

"Right, let's go!"

Chapter 4 end