Battlelyte

PART 1: RAGE AGAINST HUMANS

Gavin's car arrived at the beach house. He saw Eve's car parked in front of the house. He immediately stopped without bothering to park his car. He got out rapidly and rushed for the door. He was late. He thought Eve was here to apply for being Master Wyngaf's student. He could not let her beat him.

He rapidly knocked the door in rage towards Eve. According to him, she used her father's post to get special treatment. She got in the top 5 at Elemental Academy without using her powers just because she was the President's daughter.

The door opened. Gavin calmed down when he saw Master Wyngaf in his normal wheelchair. The place was silent.

"Hello, Gavin. What brings you by?" asked Master Wyngaf after greeting him. Master Wyngaf rolled his wheelchair backwards. Gavin entered.

"Good morning, Master," Gavin greeted. "I am here to apply for being your student. I mean, both me and Alice."

"That's good to hear," Master Owens said thinking about it.

"I have the papers ready," said Gavin. "The formal application and our details. And you know me and Alice. We were in TOP 5 at the Academy."

"Gavin, you know that paperwork is never necessary," said Master Wyngaf.

"I thought of making it quick," said Gavin. "After all, there's no reason to reject our application. Except in the scenario where you already have students. Do you?

"No, Gavin, I don't have any students yet. Never had," said Master Wyngaf.

Master Wyngaf could read Gavin's mind. His mind was focused on Eve. He thought was here to apply as Master Wyngaf's student and as she was the President's daughter, she might get an advantage.

"She's here for different reasons," Master Wyngaf said.

"Oh, that's a relief," Gavin sighed. "So, are we accepted? When can we start?"

Master Wyngaf waited for a few seconds before saying, "Gavin, this might be hard to hear, but I cannot accept you as my student."

"What? Why? Am I not strong enough? Or Alice?" Gavin reacted.

"No, you are quite powerful," said Master Wyngaf. "But, a Master never looks for strong students. This is the ideology you people made."

"Okay," said Gavin. "Have you changed your mind and accepted Finek and Votilda's application then?"

"No," said Master Wyngaf, "I rejected their application yesterday."

"I don't understand. Why are you not accepting us?" Gavin said. It would not be wrong to say he was really frustrated.

Master Wyngaf calmly said, "In the past years, if you know me, you'll know that I have never accepted a student."

"I know, but why? I thought I was worthy," Gavin said.

"You could be," Master Wyngaf said, "but now, as far as I can tell, you are driven by hatred towards Human Beings, and that was the case with every application I had received in these past years. So I rejected every one of them. And I'm rejecting yours too.

"I wouldn't mind accepting Ms Alice Albie, because her will to get stronger isn't driven by hatred towards innocent beings. But I think you two make a great team together in combat. So I wouldn't steal your partner by accepting her application."

Gavin was speechless. Something this common could not be the reason for his rejection. Everyone hated Human Beings. It was simple enough. Harbouring them brought pain and suffering. Wars were fought because humans were protected on one side and killed on the other. Gavin's mind was set on not seeing humans. What brings war must be left aside. Why should he protect someone living so far away and had no direct relationship with him? Also, protecting them would bring more war as Koyaku will never accept humans.

Master Wyngaf brought back Gavin's attention by saying, "Gavin, you don't know, but you are getting stronger not to win Battlelyte, but to defeat Aarav."

Raymond, Katie, And Eve were sitting and playing some board game. They could hear a muffled sound of an argument downstairs. Raymond and Katie had figured out someone had come. Eve shook her head tiredly and said,

"Trust me, you must not go downstairs, it'll only make things worse. I know who came. I recognise his voice."

When Eve saw the curiosity on Raymond and Katie's face, she spit it out, "It's Gavin Murray, No. 2 student at the Academy."

"Let's hear in detail," said Katie, she got excited, "Maybe they are discussing someone's birthday cake."

"People don't have arguments over a birthday cake," said Eve.

"Then you have never seen me at a party," Katie said.

"Sorry," Eve said, "I meant, normal people don't have arguments over a cake."

"We'll go and look anyway," said Raymond.

Raymond and Katie walked out of the room. Eve did not follow, she continued reading the book by her side. Raymond and Katie stood near the stairs. Master Wyngaf's voice was now clearly audible.

"Hatred towards anyone is bad for your Elemental Powers," said Master Wyngaf, "I won't try to change your mind. You get to keep your ideology without any question. But I would suggest you must get stronger and fight to protect someone, rather than to hurt the other. The hatred in your heart towards Human beings is too deep to be removed in a few days. So come back when you have dealt with it."

"It's not fair!" Gavin said.

"Gavin," Master Wyngaf said calmly. "I prefer no hatred, but you can hate those humans who hurt you, but you must not hate every human you come across. Like, Aarav, he has done nothing wrong to you."

Katie sneezed at the stairs. The conversation was disturbed. Gavin looked near the stairs and saw Raymond and Katie.

"Who are they?" Gavin asked.

"Master Owens's students," introduced Master Wyngaf. Meet Raymond — and Katie. And kids — this is Gavin."

Gavin stood there silent. He was thinking and interpreting. He got all the pieces together and said, "Don't tell me they are humans." There was no answer needed. He knew they were humans. It had been on the news. He said,

"Master Owens rejected Finek's and Votilda's application for these humans?"

"Yes," said Master Wyngaf. "If you want to change, this is a great opportunity. Train with Raymond and Katie. You might be able to teach them a few things."

Gavin bowed down and said, "Master, I can accept rejection but I can't accept humans. I am leaving my application here for you to reject."

Gavin moved back and made a turn towards the door to leave. He passed where Raymond and Katie were standing.

Raymond placed his hand on Gavin's shoulder and said, "The way you are talking to Master Wyngaf is insulting! Just bowing down doesn't allow you to talk rudely."

Gavin pushed Raymond's chest with one hand. Raymond fell on his butt. The sheer force was of a warrior.

"Don't touch me, you measly human," said Gavin.

"That's enough, Gavin," Master Wyngaf said. He was not angry.

Gavin took out papers from his bag and left them on the couch. Then he turned around to leave.

"These worthless human beings are more to bare—"

"You moron!" Katie yelled. She was furious. Maybe for the first time. She was angry how this new guy just came and insulted Master Wyngaf and Raymond.

Katie stepped forward — Lightning sparks came around her fist — Her fist moved closer to Gavin's back of the neck.

"No, Katie!" Master Wyngaf yelled.

Gavin turned quickly and grabbed Katie's wrist. Gavin had a nasty smile on his face. The sparks around Katie's hand reduced and stopped. Katie could sense her Elemental Area — the toroid's sparks died out.

"The quick one, aren't you?" Gavin said. "But there is one thing for you to know; I'm quicker."

Eve came down hearing the noise. She saw Katie's wrist gripped by Gavin. Katie was almost frozen. She did not try to free her arm.

"Gavin, heck with it! Let her go!" Eve yelled at Gavin.

"Who asked you anything?" Gavin said to her. He looked at her in disgust. "You are not different from them, getting recognized without any powers just because your father is the President. So what if you can create stupid plans? You're still useless."

Eve was not hurt by those words. She just went silent as if Gavin's mind's level was low. Raymond was done waiting for Gavin to let Katie go. Raymond stepped quickly towards Gavin and placed his hand on Gavin's chest. Raymond did not get a chance to speak anything.

"Gavin, let her hand go." Master Wyngaf said.

Gavin redirected his attention at Katie. "Katie, isn't it, your name?" he said. "I hope you realise the difference between our strengths. Your Lightning can't do anything to me."

Katie was still frozen. She knew that Gavin's grip was not strong. He was not even forcing her. She could free herself. But she felt hopeless. She could not do anything even with a sneak attack. Did Gavin have the ability to suppress other people's power? Just how much power did this guy have? And, he was just No. 2 at the Elemental Academy, so how much power did Aarav have?

"Let her go or I'll burn you, I dare you to try me!" Raymond warned Gavin.

Gavin let Katie's hand go and stepped back and left the house without looking back. His face had a realization only he knew.

Raymond moved closer to Katie and asked if she was okay. She nodded and sat on the couch. This was intense. Raymond could not figure out why Master Wyngaf did not do anything. Would Gavin have hurt Katie?

"I know Gavin," Master Wyngaf said after reading his mind. "He wouldn't have hurt you, Katie. That's the reason I stayed calm."

Katie informed them that she was overwhelmed and was frozen due to that. Gavin did not hurt her wrist

PART 2: AFTER THE CONFLICT

After things got a little calm. Master Wyngaf explained that Gavin did not suppress Katie's power. It was just that he released his Elemental Energy and Katie was overwhelmed. Her fear stopped her powers. That was normal and could happen to anyone facing people for the first time.

Eve broke her silence and said, "All I will say is, Battlelyte arena will be full of these kinds of people. Here, Gavin obeyed the Honor code taught at the Academy: 'Never Hurt someone weaker than you.' But in Battlelyte arena no one will show mercy. Everyone wants a better career."

"More on it later," Master Wyngaf said. "You must rest for now. And about the lecture, Katie, if you're not up to it, leave it. I'll explain everything personally to you."

"No! I want to go," Katie said. "I know Gavin will be there, if I don't go, it'll prove he was successful in intimidating me. I want to show that I am not scared of such things."

"That's very brave of you, Katie," said Master Wyngaf.

Raymond massaged Katie's shoulders and said,

"I'm proud of you. When someone attempts such a thing next time, we'll team-up. We don't have to be stronger than them, we just have to show that we have some significance."

Katie and Raymond smiled. Master Wyngaf was relaxed. He knew that Gavin's attempt to intimidate Raymond and Katie would not scare them. He could sense their minds, they were not scared, on the contrary, they were all fired up to work hard and catch up to him.

He rolled his wheelchair towards the dining table. He said, "By the way, the pancakes were nice today. Which one of you made them?"

"We both did," said Katie.

"It was Katie's recipe though," Raymond clarified.

"Terrific work." Master Wyngaf complimented and left.

Eve left too. Raymond and Katie looked at her in confusion. She entered her room and closed the door. She took a few books and clothes and placed them in her bag. Her mood was off. There was no way Raymond and Katie would clear Battlelyte like this. Katie was overwhelmed without Gavin using any Elemental moves. Her plan would be ruined like this. She decided to calm down and visit her mother for the holidays.

Gavin was driving towards his home on a highway. He had to stop his car. He got out and walked around his car to calm down. He kicked a rock to the side in rage. His mind was filled with flashbacks of the event that he had seen. Master Wyngaf's words were replaying in his mind,

"You must get stronger and fight to protect someone, rather than for hurting the other."

Gavin just witnessed it. Raymond was not interested in a fight. He just pointed out to Gavin that his anger was making him sound disrespectful to Master Wyngaf. Raymond was trying to protect Master Wyngaf's honour. After that, When Gavin shoved Raymond, Katie got angry and attacked him. Katie tried to protect her friend. And when Katie was caught, Raymond jumped in to save her.

Was this the right way? Gavin had never protected someone. He had left everyone on the ground when they were defeated. He had very few friends, but he never helped them. He did not even lend them a hand to get up. Even when Alice was defeated, at the exam back in Elemental Academy, Gavin showed her no compassion. And she was his best friend. He did not look at how much emotionally hurt she was. He only felt remorse that she could not get in Top 5.

Until now, he thought that if he helped them, how were they supposed to get stronger? But today's incident stirred up some new thoughts.

END OF CHAPTER. TO BE CONTINUED.