A week had passed after the sparring events. I spent the whole week taking a break, and my neck was fully healed. Amazing thing that mutagen was, even with a slightly embarrassing side effect on my ‘little brother’. Also, the sudden urge of wanting to get wet and swimming in the ocean was weird. Miss Cecilia definitely was using me as a guinea pig. And this test subject was forced to feel like a dolphin in heat for three days. Nobody could imagine how weird that was. A few days after that, the feeling subsided and I’m perfectly normal again. Actually, that was a lucky chance since I could use that excuse to avoid training with Aunt Penny this weekend. What a blessing in disguise.

But after the blessing, there came the curse. I was told to come early in the morning Monday to the headmaster's office, just after breakfast. The door of the room was just like the first time I got there. All I got to do was to knock and enter the room. But somehow I felt reluctant. A few moments later, I took a deep breath, then I knocked on the door. It took a few seconds for the door camera to recognize me. The door slid with a hiss and I saw the man was sitting there. He was not alone. There was the muscular instructor with the crew cut and the dark-skinned young man. Mr. Hector and Rocco? Why are they here? Don’t tell me...

“Armen, please come in.” Said Headmaster Gabe. I nodded as I entered the room. The two other people stared at me. I felt something was wrong. I felt that the only place where I would belong was next to Rocco. He was standing like a soldier the entire time, but I didn’t think I should do that too. A few seconds passed in silence until Headmaster Gabe took a deep breath and prepared something to tell.

“Rocco, Armen. Do you know why you two are here?” Asked him.

“Sir, no. Sir!” Rocco answered.

“No, Sir.” And then I came up with a guess. “Um, maybe… Is this related to the sparring match last week?”

“Perhaps,” he paused and crossed his hands. “There’s more to it though. How am I supposed to break this down…”

I glanced a little to Rocco and he was also glancing at me, raising his eyebrows high.

“The two of you are a few of the best freshmen we have here. I know that there might be some disputes when two great powers meet together. But I’ll have you know that we are at the same team. Do you… understand what I mean?” Headmaster Gabe looked at Rocco and then at me. I had no idea what he was getting about. I didn’t have any problem with this oversized teenager. Maybe he’s the one with the problem. The silence felt heavy on my shoulders, I wished that I could break it, but no. I didn’t know what to say.

“Not really, Sir. Would you care to explain a bit more clearer?” Rocco was surprisingly the one who started the question. Headmaster Gabe then looked at me with his eyes widened a bit. Hey, I don’t know. Please stop looking at me.

“Alright then. I’ll get to the point.” Headmaster Gabe put his hand on the table and leaned back in his chair. “Armen, Rocco. I would ask… no. Order you to stop trying to kill each other.” I felt that came out of nowhere, but then one scene popped up in my head. Rocco was the first one to retort on that.

“What are you talking about, Sir? We’re not like that.”

“Hmm, yeah. We’re good, Sir,” I lied. We’re not good, as far as I know.

“Then explain this.” Headmaster Gabe swiped the screen on his desk and a holographic display appeared. It was the video of our sparring match.

“It was just a friendly sparring match, god dammit!” He thundered. Scary, as expected of the number one person of this academy. “But then the infamous hero of the academy fell head first. Almost got himself killed. I’ll be held responsible if a student got hurt inside my academy, more so if someone was found dead.”

“That’s not true, Sir.” Rocco gave his rebuttal first.

“Well then, you should do better next time. You were chosen as the first to spar so you could show others how it's done. I don’t want you two to take things too far. And you especially, Armen.” Then his eyes were looking at me.

“Headmaster, I…” I lost for words.

“I know what you did.”

I gulped and felt like my heart jumped a little. “What did I do, Sir?”

He swiped the video into another camera angle, the view now came from a higher perspective. We could see the whole arena from there. “Well, it’s easier if you see it by yourself. Mr. Hector and I investigated your match further and found something peculiar.” He then looked into the man beside him and nodded.

“Here you see. when you do this side step, I lose sight of what you did. But from this angle…” Mr Hector then explained how they slowed down the footage and found the anomaly. The way that water flew into Rocco’s eyes and the way he slipped and missed his last strike. A zoomed footage showed a strange way of how the water gathered in Rocco’s feet. In short, I’m busted.

“I have... nothing to say, Sir. It was just as you see.” I thought about it for a few good seconds and there was no way I was getting out of that. It was clear as the summer sky that I use elemental manipulation. Which was stated as forbidden in the physical sparring test in the first place. “I will accept any punishment, I’m…”

“Permission to speak Sir?” Suddenly Rocco interrupted my speech. Headmaster Gabe seemed to not mind that. “ Go ahead, Rocco. You have something to say?”

That was a checkmate for me. Rocco hated me to the core. He probably demanded that I get the worst punishment the academy could allow. Even an expulsion. If I had to go through a second crisis like that, there was no more leeway for me to escape. The situation was dire. That’s it, ‘the hero Armen expelled from the academy found dead from suicide’. That would be the headline next week.

“Sir. I don’t think you should be harsh.”

Huh? what?

“It’s true that he cheated by using his elemental manipulation. I knew what he did. But it also benefits me.” Rocco’s eyes were sharp, he was dead serious.

Headmaster widened his eyes, “Interesting. How?”

“The last match. No, the last fight taught me the real battle situation. You could not expect your opponent to abide by the common rule. I underestimated him and got caught off guard. He taught me an important lesson. In the battlefield honor rarely matters. In the end the living are the one who left to tell the story.”

No way dude. Really? Did you really think of it like that? I might have misjudged you as a muscle head. Sorry!

Headmaster gave a deep look into Rocco’s eyes. He seemed to remember something from the past. “Huh. Just like what Roger used to say. Is that it?”

“One more thing if I may, Sir.”

“Go ahead.”

“I would like a rematch. To show you, and everyone, that I can take anything and still win. Armen can do whatever tricks he got on his sleeve to fight me. And I will prove it. I can win.”

My eyes were opened wide into that ridiculous statement. There was no way I would do that. I take back my words, you really are a muscle head. Why would I fight you again? What’s in it for me?

Headmaster Gabe shook his head. “No way. Sorry, but I can’t agree to that. Not in the near future. In fact I forbid you two to spar or even any kind of petty fighting. At least until the heat cools off.” Headmaster Gabe furrowed, he seemed serious about it. Rocco and I couldn’t say anything to that. I was about to say something but decided to keep it to myself.

“However, we already have plans for Armen later. Expulsion would be bad, we were already considering that. Suspension…” He paused for a few seconds. “I’ve read your file, Armen. I think you would actually end up enjoying your free time instead.” What? What’s written in my file? That I’m a lazy ass student?

“So we will postpone this conversation for now.” The room went into silence for a few seconds. The longer we waited, the more I felt less and less comfortable. This atmosphere is killing me. What about Rocco, though?

Rocco just stood there, struggling not to frown. He probably really wants that rematch, huh?

“Alright, that’s all for now. I hope you understand what I said. No more fights and problems, you two. Dismissed.”

“Thank you, Sir.” A simple word from me.

“Sir, yes Sir.” A loud word from Rocco.

A few steps before we exited the room, the Headmaster called us for the last time. “By the way, keep this conversation a secret.” We nodded and then we saw a grin from him. “Especially to Mr. Ivanov.”

Huh, why did he bring him up all of a sudden?

“Uh, okay. Sir.”

The door slid open, and two of Rocco’s friends were waiting there. He greeted them and they asked what happened inside. “Nothing important. I’ll tell you guys later.”

I felt awkward to be around Rocco’s gang, so I just walked away. “Armen, wait.” He stopped me in my tracks. I can’t just run away, can I?

“Yeah?”

“I’ve heard about your story, the incidents, the contracts. Erran told me.”

Dammit Erran, what kind of tale did you sing to his ears?

“And back there, I meant it. I would like a rematch. Unfortunately, it’s not in anytime soon.” He furrowed, seemed disappointed.

“Why would you go that far? It’s just a sparring match. Oh, and what Erran told you about me? Nothing weird, I hope.” I asked.

“It will take a while if I have to tell you the whole reason. Well, to tell you the truth, at first I was frustrated when you beat me with such a trick. But I remembered my father's words. About the dark truth of the battlefield and it’s fake glory.” He stopped briefly and looked down on the floor. He then looked me in the eyes. “Erran told me what you’ve been through. What motivates you to win at any cost. How you got tangled with the military contract. But that’s unavoidable.”

“Umm, yeah, I guess.” I had no idea what to say.

“Therefore from now on, I will stop underestimating you. Armen, you’re my rival now.”

“Huh?” How is that and this related? I don’t get your conclusion at all!

Then Rocco walked away and glanced through his shoulder. “We’ll see who’s the best from two of us. See you later.”

I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. The tiring conversation finally ended with that cool farewell pose. One of his friends lingered there, looking at me.

“I’m sorry for the trouble that happened between you two.” The guy started. The accent reminds me of the net movie about an Arabian Prince. He had an olive complexion, sharp nose and short black hair.

“Hmm yeah, sure. You’re Utsman, right?”

“Oh, you actually remember my name.” He gave a small grin. “Rocco is actually a nice guy. Just a bit too competitive sometimes.”

“Really? He’s a nice guy?” I actually knew from his Instafame that he was a loving brother to his sisters and family. But to other than his family, it was new to me.

“He’s just a bit shy. But he also has a great sense of justice. That stubborn head of his saved me and Xian a long time ago.” That was the other friend of Rocco from earlier. He had thin slanted eyes with a light skin, probably came from eastern Asia. The three of them were a peculiar bunch. They look quite different in their appearance and accent, even in multicultural places like Prosov.

“He saved you?”

“Yeah. He stood up for an immigrant like me when everyone was looking down on us. He sees people by their potential, not just by where they came from.” He snapped his finger. “He probably sees a potential in you too. That’s how you earned his respect.”

“Respect, huh?”

Utsman was about to say some more, but then Rocco was calling for him. “Hey Utsman. You’re coming? We’ll be having an elemental manipulation test today. I don’t want to be late.”

“Ah, that’s my cue. I’ll see you again then, Armen.”

We bid farewell and left me behind in the hallway. However, as much as I wanted to go from there, I just couldn’t. We were probably heading in the same direction to the changing room for our training clothes. It would be awkward to meet again soon after that epic goodbye.

I guess I’ll let them walk ahead for a minute or two.

***

The students gathered in an outdoor park with a stage in the center. A small pool and sand mounds surrounded the stage. And people used the area as a golf course, a game of ball and stick dated from a thousand years ago.

When I first arrived, my classmates were asking about my condition. We had a few chats, and I asked about things I missed during my absence. It wasn’t much, but I guess I had some lessons to catch up. We still had around 15 minutes before the outdoor class started, so I looked for Erran. One person who I disliked, but I had to meet. I need to ask about the request I gave him a week ago.

“Hey, Armen. Feeling better already?” He gave his usual grin.

“Yeah, never better. What did you tell Rocco about me?”

He avoided eye contact, looking at random things. “Nothing much, only the important truth he needs to know… with a bit of spices here and there.”

I sighed. I didn’t really want to know after listening to that vague answer. “Whatever, then. By the way, do you remember what I asked?”

Erran looked upwards and stroked his chin. “About that, I had to search this Frankie far into the recycling facility.”

“And?” I rushed. I was worried that Frankie’s motherboard might have been already destroyed.

“Well, they said that he’s probably still in the recycling queue. A few days later, we will be far too late. It’s still going to take some time to find him within the junk pile, though.”

“Do you have exact time?”

“No, not really. Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Who knows.”

I slumped. “I guess there are no further leads about Ellie for now. What’s next then?”

“I suppose you will continue on following her very movements like before?” Erran pointed Ellie with his thumb.

“I don’t really feel like doing it anymore. I started to look like a creepy old man preying on young girls.”

Erran gave a chuckle. “True, thankfully you don’t look that old. But not less creepy.” I could only reply with a half assed laugh. Didn’t feel like being a biddy buddy with this guy. But then we still have some time and to be honest I didn’t know what we would do for the test. I missed the class for a week, after all.

“So by the way. What’s this elemental manipulation test?” I asked.

“Ah, of course. You missed the lesson after all. It’s basically just like the physical test last time. But this one is to measure your manipulation capability. Just to make it short, we simply called it EM skill.”

I’ve learned a thing or two about EM from Aunt Penny. She preferred to call it telekinetic, and her explanation was difficult to understand. Unlike the practical combat lesson, I couldn’t comprehend the EM properly from her. The few theories that I had in class were also not a big help. I might be a practical kind of person who learned faster by doing. Erran saw my confused face and smile.

“Alright. I’ll give you a hand.” He took his tabs from his pocket and showed me some graphs. “Let’s take a seat on that bench over there.” We sat on one of the empty benches in the park.

“Here, first, we should learn about three basic scales of EM skill.” There was a triangle, a weight icon, and three circles connected on one line.

“First this triangle will show you affinity. Represented by solid, liquid, and gas. Three states of matter. Some people might be able to manipulate one state better than the others.” In the middle of his explanation, I remembered the other state in elementary school.

“Wait, what about fire? Plasma?” I asked. Erran gave me a smirk.

“Just like many other people out there, you probably got it wrong. Fire is a chemical reaction from the existence of heat, fuel and oxygen. While plasma is…” He rubbed his silver hair and shrugged. “Actually, I have no idea either. Only a handful of people ever mastered the 4th state of matter. That’s why the information is quite limited.”

“I see.” I then pointed to the weight icon. “This one is probably the limit of how much you can lift or manipulate.”

“Exactly. Even though the elements have different states of matter, the weight matters a lot in combat capabilities. 500 grams of weight might seem not much on a solid object, but on a gas… It could be a different matter.” I could hear a percussive sting on his pun in my head.

“And this one?” I pointed out at the last icon.

“Ah this one is multitasking ability. How many individually controlled objects can you manipulate at the same time.”

Ah, my specialty.

“So, those scales are the one that we’re going to be scored with?”

“Yes.” Erran nodded with a light grin. He seemed happy for some reason.

“It seems like you love explaining things to people, huh?” I asked. He grinned even wider.

“Thank you for noticing, and yes. I actually wanted to become a teacher, you see.” He exhaled a heavy breath and looked at the sky above. “Unfortunately, my fathers and brothers couldn’t accept it. Of course, as expected of Ozbrojeny family. They expect great things from me.” Those words and expressions were something I didn’t expect from him. That was probably the first time he ever showed his true emotion.

“You and I are probably not much different, you know?” He said while pointing a gun finger at me.

“How so?”

“We’re both forced to do things that we don’t want to do. Walked away the way of life we actually wanted. For someone else, for something else. Or simply because fate just placed us to be at the wrong time and place.”

“Really? You feel that way?” I asked.

Erran then gave a chuckle on his own words. “Not!”

“Huh?” His response had taken me aback.

“Never mind that! Looks like the test is about to begin. Let’s go.” He stood and jogged his way into the gathering location. He left me with a big question mark on my head.

For one second, I felt a bit of sympathy for him. But that very one was simply wasted on an arsehole!

The students were gathered closer to the center of the park. I could see around three groups of class from A to C were there. I quickly went into the line where my class was standing. In the center of the arena there were two instructors. One was a pink haired woman in black sporty clothes, Miss Macy. The other one was the bald muscular man Mr. Ivanov. Except he wasn’t bald anymore. A bob blond hair was crowning on his head. With a whistle from him, the lesson and the test would start.