Busted

"I noticed you seemed quite distracted ever since my class started. I assume you've already mastered everything I taught, yes?" She asked sternly

Whispers swirled across the hall.

Jayden hesitated. "I.. uh…"

Mrs. Valerie narrowed her eyes, but then something flickered across her face. Recognition.

"Wait a second... isn't that the boy? The one that recently became an Evolved?"

She raised an eyebrow, suddenly intrigued. "Oh. You're the one who was struck by lightning after saving one of your colleagues. Jayden, was it?"

Jayden winced. "Yes."

Mrs. Valerie exhaled, she had heard about how he had become an evolved but hadn't discovered his ability yet. She was about to dismiss him, but something about his calm, collected aura made her curious.

He stood with a quiet confidence... even though his mind was in chaos and his senses were in turmoil.

"Well then," she said, smiling slyly. "Let's test how much attention you were paying. Show me a simple strike using what I taught. Since you don't have an ability yet, you may use a weapon."

Jayden took a breath, and stepped forward slowly. His breathing was still controlled, and he was holding back his rage.

He walked past the weapons rack without glancing at it. Then stopped in front of one of the titanium dummies. Hands still in his pockets.

The class burst into a chaos of murmurs

-"Why isn't he picking a weapon? Even I can't strike those dummies with my bare hands,"

-"What a cocky bastard. He's just gonna end up with broken bones,"

-"Woah, he's really gonna do it. I'm so excited to see what happens,"

Jessica raised a brow. "What is he thinking? Those things are made from reinforced titanium," she thought. Then stole a glance at Tasha, who also seemed worried.

Even Mrs. Valerie was stunned, she didn't know if Jayden was actually being overconfident or just trying to farm aura. And as much as she wanted to stop him, she held herself back and let him do whatever he pleased.

But Jayden didn't pay attention to any of the murmurs, he was still lost in thought. Even the dummy in front of him wasn't his main concern. He was too busy fighting himself.

Then, with casual ease, he lifted one leg and kicked the dummy in the chest.

CLANG.

The metallic impact echoed like a gong through the hall. But the dummy didn't move. It just stood there, motionless.

The class blinked. Nothing happened.

Jayden lowered his leg and turned around, shrugging.

Mrs. Valerie opened her mouth to speak.. then

Crack.

A thin fracture appeared in the dummy's chest. But that wasn't all

Crack-crack-crack.

Like glass under pressure, the fracture spidered outward. Vertical. Horizontal. Crisscrossing.

And then...

BOOM.

The dummy split in two with a final groan of metal, both halves slamming to the floor in perfect sync.

The hall fell silent.

Then...

-"WHAT?! No way!"

-"He didn't even use his hands!"

-"He broke titanium with one hit. That's freakin' awesome!"

-"Is that his Ability?! Super strength?!"

The whole class were shocked at Jayden's display of strength. If only they knew he had broken something even stronger than titanium a few days ago.

Jayden stood there like a statue, unmoved. Calm on the outside. Storming on the inside.

He turned to the Mrs. Valerie. "Can I go now?"

She stared at him, blinking. "Y-Yes. You can,"

Jayden nodded once and walked back to Jessica and Tasha, who were staring at him like he'd just descended from Olympus.

Tasha's eyes were widened. "How did you do that? Have you discovered your ability?"

Jessica furrowed her brows, she was also surprised. But she didn't say anything. She just waited for Jayden's response

But Jayden's reply was... cryptic to say the least.

"Not completely," he muttered and stood between them.

Tasha and Jessica were confused, but Jayden didn't look like he wanted to say more. So they let him off the hook, with a silent promise to interrogate him when they got home.

Jayden took a deep breath to calm himself. He was barely holding it together. And his palms were bleeding again... he had grown claws a few minutes ago.

After a few more hesitant demonstrations from the other students... none of which came close to Jayden's, Mrs. Valerie clapped her hands.

"All right. Class dismissed... but don't leave yet. There's an announcement."

Murmurs again.

Then... heels clicking.

A hush fell over the room.

Miss Kate stepped into the hall like royalty in motion, her presence instantly commanding every gaze. Black heels, tight clothing, long brown coat flowing behind her like a cape.

She stepped onto the stage, her eyes cool, her smile... calculated.

"Good afternoon, students," she said, voice velvet and steel. "Let's talk about the upcoming tournaments,"

The whole class remained silent, they wanted to comment, but they dared not.

Miss kate smirked. "Good,"

"As you already know, the Intra-School Tournament will commence in three weeks," she continued. And as final year students, you are all welcome to participate."

The murmurs returned... excitement, anxiety, speculation. The intra-school tournament wasn't that of a big deal, but the prize was. The school always rewarded the winner with multiple perks and gifts. Some even end up becoming local celebrities and have higher chance of getting admitted into the universities on other planets.

Miss Kate cleared her throat and glared at the students, causing them to cease their murmurs immediately. Then she continued speaking.

"As for the global tournament," she stated. "This would take place 3 months from now, and only students that are at least level 15 would be allowed to enroll,"

The hall erupted again, even louder than before

-"Level 15? Fuck! I'm still at level 10,"

-"What! That's unfair. Last year's tournament requirements was level 10,"

-"I'm level 13. I can still train harder and get stronger within 3 months,"

Almost everyone in the hall made comments, all except those that were already above level 15. And this included Tasha and Jessica who were level 21 and 18 respectively.

But they were both worried for Jayden, who hadn't even discovered his ability yet. But Jayden didn't even seem fazed. Infact, he wasn't paying attention to anything Kate or anyone else was saying. He was lost in a battle. A battle of will.

His senses and bloodlust seemed to be increasing with every passing second, and it took him a lot of will, control and bleeding to keep himself at bay. His fingernails... claws were buried in his palms and he was sweating profusely.

Tasha and Jessica saw that he was in discomfort, they wanted to say something and help him. But Miss Kate cleared her throat again

"That's quite enough!" she said calmly, but sharply. Enough to shut everyone up to the point that the sound of breeze could be heard.

Miss Kate frowned, causing the students to immediately panic. But she wasn't annoyed by their murmuring, her gaze was rather fixed on Jayden.

"Tsk! He's barely holding it together," she thought. "I have to do something,"

Then she crossed her arms and turned to face the students. "You have three good months to reach level 15, or else, forget about participating in the tournament,"

"More information about the tournament would be passed across to you over time," she added. "You're dismissed,"

The students all began to pour out of the hall, murmuring and expressing remarks about the announcements.

Jayden also didn't waste any time, he moved and quickly walked out of the hall.

Tasha and Jessica could only watch as he walked away, they knew something was up with him. But they didn't know what to do, or how to help.

"Do you think he'll be fine?" Tasha asked, as she walked out the hall with Jessica

Jessica sighed. "I don't know but... hopefully," she muttered, thinking back to Jayden's behaviour since the beginning of the day. She was determined to find out more.

Jayden had managed to walk far away from the crowd, he was now standing in the most secluded place in the school. The bathroom.

He locked the door behind him and collapsed against the sink, pulling his bloody hands from his blazer. They were trembling. Faint claw-marks lined his palms.

He needed some time away from people, to calm down and think. He had also received a notification from the system, just before Miss Kate finished making the announcements.

[Total stat gained:

+50 Strength

+35 Speed

+35 Agility

+33 Stamina

+22 Perception

+22 Defence

+18 Charm]

The system seemed to have notified him of the total increase in stats he had gotten so far. And the constant notification also seemed to stop, which meant that was all the increase in stats he would be receiving.

But Jayden wasn't a bit fazed by the increase in his stats. Even though most of the stats especially strength had almost doubled, he didn't seem excited.

He was rather groaning. His claws were out. His eyes were glowing.

"Tenebris Luna… Tenebris Luna… Tenebris..." he muttered constantly, but nothing happened.

"Argh!" he yelled. "Why isn't it working?"

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the beastboy himself," a voice come from behind him

Jayden frowned and turned slowly

Standing there was Brandon, one of Carl's lackeys who Jayden had defeated flawlessly during the spar. And two other boys seemed to be with him as they approached Jayden. But surprisingly, Carl was not with them.

Jayden put his hands back in his pockets and turned away, dismissing their presence completely.

Brandon frowned. "Arrogant bastard," he thought

"You think you're some big shot now? Just because you broke a stupid dummy?" he voiced out. But still, Jayden didn't reply.

This made Brandon furious, he clenched his fist and stepped closer. "You might have defeated me in a martial art fight, but you're nothing without abilities,"

But unexpectedly, Jayden chuckled, causing a chill to run down the spine of Brandon and his goons. Then he turned his gaze them, his eyes staring fiercely into their very being.

Brandon took a step back, his instinct screaming. But he stood his ground.

"Who said I don't have an ability?" Jayden said, his voice low and feral.

The two lackeys paled, Jayden's voice was even more deadly. Every instinct they had screamed at them to get out while they still could.

But Brandon clenched his fist even harder, he was slightly intimidated, but he didn't think Jayden could defeat him this time. He had abilities and Jayden only had martial art skills.

"You can't scare me, Beastboy," he said. "We all know you haven't discovered your ability yet. Which makes you inferior to us, no matter how many dummies you break,"

Jayden frowned, he didn't like Brandon's tone one bit. He hated bullies and people with superiority complex more than anything. But he managed to calm himself, resorting to use only words.

"Shouldn't you be off kissing Carl's feet?" he muttered with a smirk. "Or did your master forget to put a leash on you today?"

Brandon gritted his teeth, he was filled with rage. "I don't know what you did to Carl, but ever since that day after the spar. He had become cautious... almost as if he's afraid of you," he stated, as his hands began to glow with a faint green light

"But not me," he continued. "I refuse to be ridiculed and frightened of a mere weakling who can't even discover his ability. You're just a barbarian who's no different from those beastmen variants... And just like them, you should be treated like a Beast and hunted down,"

Jayden's eyes widened, upon hearing Brandon's words. He had managed to calm himself down so as not to lose control of himself, and stuck to mere teasing. But Brandon's last statement clicked something inside Jayden, a line had just been crossed. And there was no coming back from that.

Brandon noticed the shift in Jayden's demeanour. It was his main objective all along, to make Jayden angry. If only he knew that he had picked a wrong day to piss Jayden off.

Jayden raised his head slowly, locking eyes with Brandon, who was already prepared to fight. The two lackeys behind Brandon saw that a fight was about to break out, and Immediately stepped back. They didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

But Jayden wasn't moving. He just kept staring at Brandon with an unreadable expression. There was no sign of anger or fury in his eyes, just... indifference.

Brandon was a bit surprised by this, but he didn't care. He charged in and raised his right fist, which was coated with the mysterious green energy, and threw a punch.

But as Brandon struck, he felt his fist hit nothing but air. Jayden had vanished from the spot.

Brandon frowned, but before he could fully process what was happening, he felt a presence suddenly appear behind him. His eyes widened and a chill went down his spine.

He quickly composed himself and tried to attack, but before he could turn.

Bang!

His head suddenly slammed into the sink, cracking it in the process. But he quickly stood up and regained his stance, trying to fight back. But before he could think

Bam!

His face was slammed into the wall, causing him to go dizzy for a few seconds. He was panicking, he couldn't see or hit Jayden. The energy coating his arms intensified as he got more angry.

"Show yourself!" he yelled in frustration and fear

Then he heard a low, chilling voice.

"If you say so,"

And before he could even blink

Crack!

His face smashed into the mirror, cracking both the glass and his nose in the process. His eyes widened in shock, as he saw a reflection of Jayden through the cracked mirror.

Jayden's eyes were glowing faintly and a dark smirk was drawn across his face. The look on his face resembled that of a lunatic. A battle lunatic.

Brandon immediately knew that he was fucked. He now understood why Carl was wary of Jayden. He wanted to say something, but before he could speak

Smash!

Jayden slammed Brandon's head into the mirror again, shattering it completely. But he didn't stop, he continued bashing Brandon's head into the wall. Again and again.

The other two lackeys were frozen in place, they were too terrified to move, to run or to even speak. They could only watch as Brandon suffered at the hands of Jayden.

Brandon's head had been bashed into the wall like 15 times already, blood gushed out of his nose, ears and mouth. He wanted to react, to fight or even scream. But he couldn't. Jayden didn't stop.

And when it seemed as though Brandon would die by the hands of Jayden... in a toilet.

WHAM!

A force slammed into Jayden, sending him flying into the bathroom wall.

"Enough!" A commanding, feminine voice echoed through the bathroom. It was Miss Kate.

She strode in, aura like a storm cloud, eyes burning with fury.

Jayden blinked, still dazed by the hit, then turned his eyes to Brandon's limp body.

Blood. Cracks. Silence.

Miss Kate turned to the two frozen boys. "What do you think you're doing?"

"M-Miss Kate… we… we were just—"

"I don't want to hear it." Her voice was ice. "Get him to the clinic. And you three will report to me after school. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" they stammered, dragging Brandon's unconscious body out.

She turned to Jayden now.

"You. Come with me."

Jayden exhaled, still stunned. His claws had retracted, his eyes had dimmed and his rage had subsided a little. Miss Kate's attack had managed to snap him out of... everything.

He stood up and followed her out of the bathroom as they both walked to her office.

.....

The silence was so thick, Jayden could hear the second-hand ticking from the old analog clock on the wall.

He stood still, hands in his pockets, blood still drying in his palms. The scent of antiseptic and leather lingered in the air. Miss Kate sat behind a sleek obsidian desk, legs crossed, one brow slightly arched.

She hadn't said a word since they entered.

Just stared.

Unblinking. Sharp. Cold.

Jayden met her gaze, unflinching.

He didn't know if he was in trouble… or if she was waiting for him to apologize.

He wasn't planning to.

After what felt like a full minute, Miss Kate finally leaned back in her chair.

Then she spoke calmly, but with that commanding tone that silenced stadiums.

"How did you defeat the other boy so easily?"

Jayden raised a brow. That was… not what he expected.

"I…" he began, but paused. "What do you mean?"

Miss Kate frowned. Her nails tapped rhythmically on the polished desk, sharp and deliberate. "That boy was at least level 15," she said. "And yet he couldn't even lay a finger on you. You took him out with impressive speed, strength… precision. Which should only be possible if your level is above his."

She narrowed her eyes. "But... you haven't been accessed yet. You don't even know your ability. So tell me, Jayden Starrk." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "How did you do it?"

Jayden's expression stayed unreadable. But on the inside, he was panicking.

Before he could even think of a reply, Miss Kate pressed further.

"Have you perhaps… discovered your ability?" she asked, coolly.

Jayden shook his head. "No. I haven't," he replied, casually as he could manage.

If he said he had discovered an ability, that would prompt him to say what it was. And he didn't want people to know his ability as telekinesis or super strength. He wanted it to be something in relation to part of the system's abilities.

Miss Kate raised a brow. "So how did you do it?"

Jayden held firm, already settling on a lie. But before he could speak...

"Don't even think about lying to me," she cut in, her tone now like ice. "I was there the whole time. Even before the fight started."

Miss Kate had indeed seen... or at least heard everything that went down in the bathroom right from the beginning. She had been monitoring Jayden's every move after he left the hall. She saw how he entered the bathroom and how Brandon and the other two boys walked in right after with malicious intent. And she knew something was definitely going to happen, so she stayed close and waited. Listening and waiting until she finally decided to step in.

Jayden frowned. "You were stalking me?" he asked

Miss Kate tilted her head, eyes narrowing like twin blades. "You didn't answer the question, Jayden. How did you manage to defeat the boy?" she retorted

Jayden clenched his fist, but remained silent. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't himself when he was bashing Brandon's head into the wall. He had lost control. And he only managed to snap out of it after he was hit by the force which sent him flying into the wall.

Jayden stared at Miss Kate for a moment, he knew he couldn't lie about the story anymore. She was obviously not joking about being at the scene the whole time, which meant she would know if he lied.

Jayden exhaled and thought about the best answer to her question.

"I don't know," he said, voice low. "It just happened, like an instinct. I didn't mean to hurt him... that much,"

Miss Kate frowned. "You didn't mean to? Jayden, you were bashing his head into the wall like it was a speed bag. And... you seemed to be enjoying it,"

Jayden's voice remained even. "Am I in trouble?"

She inhaled deeply. "Because Brandon struck first, and I know he went in there looking for a fight? No, you're not."

Jayden relaxed slightly.

"But," she continued. "Because I also saw how you handled the situation aggressively and... how you did it. Yes, you are in trouble,"

Jayden frowned, not because she said he was also at fault. But rather because of her last statement "How you did it". This meant she already knew how Jayden was able to defeat Brandon all along.

And this surprised and amused Jayden because how could she possibly know? It was impossible. At least that's what he thought, not until...

"I saw your eyes, Jayden," she said, dropping the bombshell. "They were glowing. And I saw your fingers too, you had claws. Am I correct? Or are you going to cook up a lie to explain that too?"

Jayden's breath caught. He hadn't even thought about his claws. He didn't know about the glowing eyes.

But somehow, she had seen it all.

The other two lackeys didn't notice any of these features, and even Brandon that saw the glowing eyes was too terrified to process it. So he dismissed it as a mere after-effect from hitting his head on the sink.

But how did Miss Kate see it all? This question was bugging Jayden's mind. But more importantly, how was he going to explain it all? If this got out, he would be so screwed.

Jayden was panicking, he was really panicking. He was trying to access the situation and come up with something. Fast.

He looked at Miss Kate who kept staring at him, in amusement. She seemed happy to know that Jayden was helpless. But her next words were even more shocking

"Don't worry," she said softly. "I won't tell anyone..."

Jayden stiffened.

He wasn't relieved. He was suspicious.

Why wouldn't she report him? Why would she protect him?

There had to be a catch.

"I won't tell anyone," she said again, leaning forward now. "But only if you show me."

Jayden frowned. "Show you…?"

She smirked. "The eyes. The claws. I want to see them right now."