The Fire Evaluation

Chapter 11: The Fire Evaluation

Lucas held his right hand that was way too exhausted to continue the fight. It felt like it has broken bones due to the baseball bat hit earlier.

He panted hard as he started to create fires with his left hand and rushed towards the monsters in front of him. They stopped doubling in number and now, they were almost fifty in total.

Every man stroked him with their bats as he evaded each of them with difficulty, yet he delivered his punch to three of those men. They were backed off for a second, but they relentlessly attacked him with grit and fury.

Lucas and the gargantuan continue their struggles against one another. However, none of those men displayed faintness or exhaustion.

"We liked your passion…" one of the gargantuan men commented, their faces provoking Lucas.

Lucas decided to shield himself with some circular fire on the floor to prevent any of those gargantuan to get near his vicinity. He asked them, "Are what you all showing was all you've given?"

He didn't mean to provoke them, but he can feel that those men were just depending on their strengths on their bats. He saw evident smirks on the gargantuan's faces as they started circling their bats as if readying to assault him. He had to hold his circle of fire shield on him to have himself ready for battle. What had happened already tired him to death and he can't afford to have another battle to win. If he insisted on battling, he would definitely lose face and lose all of it.

He was nervous as he faced all the people in the crowd. He saw multiple reactions. Some were worried, some were enthralled.

The gargantuan men started to disperse as they started cornering Lucas. His fire shield slowly died off as he felt his power weaken all of a sudden. As the spell broke apart, Lucas readied himself to face all of the embarrassment and all of it takes to lose in front of the crowd. He backed up and started punching the floor to create shockwaves of fires to hush all of them to stay away from him.

The floor was set on fire and Lucas gasped in shock. His weakened power cannot stand this feat and he was unaware of how to do this trick. How can he make it?

He looked all over the stage and noticed a quarter of the gargantuan men were knocked out from the fight.

What happened? It was not his doing.

He ignited his hands with fire and started punching the upcoming more men handling their bats tighter, never minding what had really happened.

Before the upcoming man and Lucas made contact with each other, a ball of fire materialized out of nowhere between their faces, and hands came out of it. Both of the hands held Lucas and the man's face to stop themselves from attacking each other, as a familiar man went of out the ball of fire, revealing himself holding both Lucas and the man's face with his hands.

His brown face and his oversized shirt made Lucas gasp in shock, as he yanked both of them towards the floor, bumping the walls on its side.

Zanc happened upon them, smiling at Lucas and facing the crowd. He ordered his fire to withdraw, and the floor turned back normal again. Buzzes from the people became louder as Maru started accompanying Zanc at the stage as well. Lucas' eyes dilated.

Why were those two here?

"If y'all like, I'd love to join you…" Zanc stated as the remaining gargantuan held their bats tighter than ever.

Lucas stood from the corner and ignited his left hand again. After being pushed into the corner, he felt that it was futile to use his right hand again. It would only result in extreme damage that will affect his future fights.

"My blood was boiling as well," Maru added and patted Zanc's right shoulder, creating fire at his right hand's index finger and playing with it.

Seeing the Two Bastions, the gargantuan got nervous but they managed to not show it.

Knowing that his classmates would dare to interrupt his exhibition, Lucas smirked and blatantly addressed Zanc and Maru as, "Fire Losers…"

Zanc and Maru smiled widely at Lucas. Throughout their practice days, he can feel that these two have hidden agendas. But he never expected something like this would happen.

A commotion started from the crowd. Some were asking what was happening, some were confused if it was still part of the show earlier.

All of them stare down at one another. The gargantuan moved their hands and charged their bats, rushing towards the three fire starters, each has a target. Zanc and Maru prepared to attack.

"Do you have the guts to stop it?" Maru insultingly spoke, having his arms before his body. 

After all, they don't want Lucas to be the only cynosure. Two Bastions have to be the best fire starters at White Day High. That was what Lucas thought.

"Can you two block our attacks?" one of the gargantuan started speaking. He gripped his bat and aimed it at Zanc

Zanc smiled to provoke those men.

The two posed defensively as the gargantuan nodded in response, agreeing to them. Zanc and Maru heaved sighs to ready themselves, as they let the gargantuan stop their rampages to start this bet.

Lucas smiled. He noted that the two were preparing a trap. He knew the tactics of these two after witnessing them practice at the Fire Class Room.

"NOW!"

As the gargantuan fired their bats with great speed, Maru dodged sheer numbers of it, and Zanc punched all of them at once, smashing them into the floor. Lucas, the panels, and the entire audience stare in shock at Zanc and Maru's incredible feat. Without using their fires, all of the gargantuan were now knocked out of the battle.

"The monsters were all defeated with one blow!" the emcee announced.

Doll and Moon started to doubt Lucas' ability to show off his potential. If he would be outwitted in this, then his potential won't shine.

However, the crowd remained unworried about the Two Bastions' strength. Zanc and Maru turned to Lucas, who stared at him in frustration. Lucas didn't know what to feel. With one blow, or he just said one defense move, forty to fifty men have been defeated anew.

The haughty man from the judging panel almost stood to interrupt, but Principal Lyns stopped him. The man gave Lyns an angry face.

Mister Vacio smirked at Principal Lyns, which created tension between the judging panels. "Just give up," he told proudly with something in his mind that Lucas will not win.

The haughty man pointed at Mister Vacio and nodded at Principal Lyns. She then stood in the midst of the rumbling crowd. Lights on the stage went and focused on her.

"Students!" she shouted with her microphone lifted. "This fight will be the first selection for our tournament, the Fire Evaluation!" she added. "One must remain standing, thus becoming the winner!"

All of the students went shocked. Even though Mister Vacio's plan was compromised, Zanc and Maru continued it. He was still positive that Lucas won't make it, noting his injured right arm.

As Lucas drops his burnt shirts, he stood amidst the raging crowd. Revealing his toned and proportioned body, he charged forth, enveloped in his fire. He was slightly burnt yet can still fight using his left hand.

Zanc and Maru prepared themselves and subsequently attack Lucas on the head, knocking him to the floor, to the surprise of the audience.

"Did Zanc and Maru have taken out another opponent with only one blow?" the emcee wondered.

The audience started to feel disappointed at what happened. Zanc smiled bitterly at the knocked-out Lucas on the floor of the stage. "In this world, there was always someone stronger than oneself…" Zanc told in a low voice.

However, Maru gasped and patted Zanc as he saw Lucas get back on his feet.

Lyns was relieved and took a sigh.

Lucas was now standing back and readied himself to continue the fight, though he was severely wounded. He began telling the two, "I also liked to look down as the strongest ones may be at my feet." He quickly rushed and delivered a blow at Zanc's head and Maru's chin with his fire-enveloped fists.

The two were knocked backward by the unexpected blow, to the surprise of the panels and the joy of Moon and Doll.

Lucas felt the searing pain within his right arm that punched Maru's chin. Crap! It was helpless if he continued using his right arm. It will only kill him. He witnessed the two quickly regain their composure. How on Earth they can be defeated?

They began their counterattacks by forcefully stopping their movements and attacking Lucas by creating fire talons, which knocked Lucas into the air. He retaliated with his Fire attack, directing it towards Zanc and Maru who blocked the attack by using Talus to splash fires to protect themselves.

The fight was quick and heavy, as the two were on a Tag battling Lucas who was alone. It was even unfair with Lucas only using his left hand to land a hit, barely hurting the Two Bastions.

As the fire vanished, Lucas quickly came forth and threw a punch at Zanc, who blocked him with his right hand. Maru quickly burst another explosion which hit Lucas, who was forced to use his Fire Body to avoid Maru's attacks as he continued to explode them.

It was exhausting. Lucas felt nauseous as he overused all of his power in this one show. As he flew back towards Maru, Zanc managed to score a hit to Lucas' head, but Lucas quickly retaliated with a punch of his own.

The three Mages began fighting with hand-to-hand combat, scoring a number of direct hits on one another as the audience was surprised that Lucas was able to keep up with the Two Bastions while using only his left.

Principal Lyns took note of Lucas' strength display as well, with Mister Vacio displaying his shock, stating in mind that he knew he didn't expect Lucas to be so strong. Lyns coughed insultingly as he leaned towards Mister Vacio. "The youth always grow up," she spoke.

Vacio narrowed his eyes on her.

Lucas can no longer contain his anger at being lower hand. He was so irritated that he can't do anything to at least defeat one of the Two Bastions. It was also a pain that his right hand got injured too bad.

He let his anger out just as he charged and delivered a powerful blast of fire that was freeing his anger to at least have a hit. The blast headed in Maru's direction.

As the dust from the blast cleared away, Maru remarked that "I am astounded by your abilities…" as he panted in exhaustion, still standing. However, his knees started shaking involuntarily.

Zanc then smirked. "I haven't been as excited in many years as I currently was…" He panted slowly.

Lucas stopped and stare at Zanc. His teeth were grinding as if he was freezing in cold and exhaustion. Lucas sighed in relief, witnessing he had caused some damages to the two.

"You were as much of a monster as they said you were…" Lucas started catching his breath again. Leaving a smirk on his face, he spoke, "I am all fired up for battle!" he finished, while Zanc looked at him. 

"We shall fight until one of us remained!" Zanc spoke.

Continuing the fight, Lucas began to use his secret move that made the Aspho canteen roaring in fire: the Fire Roar. He filled his mouth and lungs with air as he sucked it all aggressively.

The two went into their defenses as Lucas started spitting a huge amount of fire from his mouth as if a dragon roaring.

Using this move, Lucas hit Maru and Zanc with a powerful blow and sent them flying backward. The Two Bastions fell to the ground outside the stage with bitter smiles on their faces. Lucas stared at them from above.

"Ack! Am I defeated?" Zanc can't admit it. "Are we defeated?" he continued, without acknowledging Lucas' strength.

Lucas sighed in exhaustion. The two haven't moved after receiving the hit.

"The Two Bastions can't fight. Lucas Martin won!" the emcee inaugurated.

For his victory over the Two Bastions, he was put into the lead for the Fire Class. He opened his eyes and felt his relentless panting like he would be having an asthma attack. His fatigue was over and his heart was beating too fast than usual.

There was silence from the audience for a long time. The light on the stage briefly spotted over Lucas and after some time, he heard someone clapping alone at the crowd. He scanned the audience to notice it was Moon, as he gave him a wide smile and a thumbs up.

Doll waved at him and also clapped along with Moon. After that began a few sporadic that gradually became rapturous applause from all of the audience presents. The crowd rumbled loudly, cheering Lucas over his victory.

The applause became louder and louder as if it were about to blow the auditorium away from the loud sounds. Lucas' panting intensified as he felt nervous about everyone clapping over him.

"That was a great job!"

"Amazing! A real human having the potential of Gods!"

"That's Lucas Martin!"

"How was that even possible? Two Bastions were defeated by a newbie!"

"I'm going crazy, let me bang my head somewhere hard to know if it's true!"

Lucas felt warm when the lights on the stage slowly focused on him again. All of the people he saw in the crowd were enthralled with the result of the Selection. He scanned the audience and saw Sting having his hands cupped in front of his mouth like a loud hailer. He can't hear what he was saying, but he knew he was amazed at what happened.

The light gradually moved towards the crowd and Lucas noticed the judging panel looking enthralled as well, especially the haughty man with a rich mustache. He exchanged views with Principal Lyns in low voice, as they nodded and sat properly in silence.

Someone from the stage gave Lucas a towel and he covered his bare body with it. Still, it wasn't enough, but it was alright for him. The staff also handed him a microphone. He accepted it and checked if it was already amplified.

Principal Lyns stared at him and held her microphone in front of her. "You were strong, Lucas Martin!"

This result wasn't even planned by Lucas. All he has planned was exhibiting his fire-starting skills, and not showing off some serious fights. It took him long to realize that he has to bow and repetitively thanked everyone in the crowd and wait for the judges to say their comments.

Some utility staff at the auditorium started cleaning the mess at the stage behind Lucas as the crowd remained buzzing with loud noises as they talked about what had happened.

"Your agility, your power, the stamina you had to sustain the fight… it was all perfect." Principal Lyns said and gave a smile at him. "Can you tell me how'd you practice it all? You had three days to practice and I bet that span wasn't enough for showing off some Godly Potential."

After Lyns finished her question, she tilted her microphone stand and ordered Lucas to speak.

He calmly replied, "Miss Lyns, I have said that I want to stay here at White Day High. That gave me the drive to turn down every barrier away just to reach the goal I have set for myself." He had to catch his breath to finish his whole reply.

He took immense time to focus and didn't even sleep enough for the span of those three days. It gave him the seriousness that he was longing for some time. He became extremely meticulous about this.

Principal Lyns agreed. "As I thought, it wasn't a day's work."

Lucas nodded happily. He never thought Lyns would praise him.

Principal Lyns later announced: "Lucas Martin, you can stay at White Day High. Also, you were the one selected from the Fire Class. Your strength proved your claim. Thank you for showing your Godly Potential!"

Lucas gave a long sigh of relief as the heavy burden of nervousness in his chest had lifted. He heard claps again as if praising him. He stared at the crowd and they were all happy. This was a flattering scene for Lucas: having someone supporting his achievements.

Everyone was still in amazement at his strength. Yet, out of nowhere, a sinister voice rang out from somewhere in the audience.

"You consider someone like this having Godly Potential? Miss Lyns, White Day High's judgment seemed to be way too lax and careless."