My name is Kasen, I’m what you would call a prodigy. I’ve been practicing magic since I was 6 years old.
Humans normally awaken at 10 years old.
I’ve got a 4 year head start on my peers and that gap is made evidently clear when I spar or train with people my age. I started off loving the magic arts and training and learning but eventually that passion just fizzled up into flames. My drive disappeared the more I excelled.
What’s the point of winning if I’m not having fun? So what’d I do? Well, I did what any normal person would do and stopped training altogether.
Maybe if I gave them time to catch up then they wouldn’t be so weak.
It didn’t really matter because I was still easily able to beat them. They didn’t lack magical potency or magical affinity. It was a skill issue. Nobody was able to put up a challenge and I couldn’t get excited anymore.
My parents are rich so I’ve also gotten everything I’ve ever wanted and honestly, I’m still not happy. I want someone to push me to my limits. I want to have experiences like every other kid.
I’m a prodigy but I don’t want to be.
I yawned as I woke up from my nap at my desk. Today was my first day as a transfer student. I’ve heard rumors about the boy that Sanai is sitting next to. What’s his name?
Hold on, I just had it.
Doug… no… Donald? No… Oh, I got it. Dominick.
I’ve heard he’s got this weird ability to nullify any magic within its range. I wish I could fight him right now but there's classes and I’m so tired. I laid my head back down and fell to sleep once more.
The bell rang, waking me up from the deep sleep I was in. Groggily, I watched Sanai walk out after Dominick. Curious, I grabbed my bag and followed them out. I exited through the door to find Sanai leaning towards Dominick’s ear, it looks like she’s whispering something to him. His eyes were wide as he backed away from her. His little groupies walked up behind him and defended his honor. That’s all of the noteworthy things I did that day. I trudged back to my dorm and fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed.
The next day was what they called a “Y” day. I hated switching classes every other day, this was actually the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.
“Yo, Kassen!” A boy with long blonde hair walked up to me. He wore a bright, radiant smile as he put his arm around me.
“Get off me,” I grabbed his wrist and tossed his hand off my shoulder. I grabbed the small can of disinfectant and sprayed my shirt.
“I’m not dirty, I just washed my hands,” he said, smiling and laughing.
I pointed the can at him.
“Germs disgust me and guess what? You have germs.” I replied.
“I don’t have germs,” he lifted his hands up and flipped them back and forth.
I sighed and walked away. Explaining things to idiots like him just makes me wanna
sleep even more. I can’t be bothered to exert more effort than I need to with weirdos like that.
The art classroom was exorbitant as the colors reflected off the ground which was entirely white. The canvas that was the ground was covered in art from doodles to the most beautiful pieces I have ever laid eyes on.
“Hello, I’m Mr. Fogel, I’m your art teacher. As you can see, there are no chairs here. Let me tell you how my class works,” he cleared his throat, “I don’t teach you art per se, I teach you the method to finding your style. Your art. Each soul and each heart all have different wants, needs, preferences. So what do I do? I give you a brush and I tell you, “paint whatever you’re feeling right now.”
I looked at him.
“So you’re lazy?”
He looked back at me and stared for a second before blinking.
“No, listen. I get why you’re skeptical but look. That’s Rose,” he pointed to the girl floating above the canvas with long scarlet hair and beautiful blue eyes. Her outfit of choice was that of a black tank top with a black hoodie and skinny jeans. Wait, I saw her with Dominick yesterday. Man, that dude is LUCKY as hell.
“She’s my most brilliant student. You just give her a brush and tell her to paint what she’s feeling. She tells me that her sense of inspiration is her friend, Dominick Blackburn. I understand why, he’s a brave kid. I’m assuming you’ve heard the stories about how he was the only student to stay and fight with Aaron Newsmith against those people who invaded Enchantopia?” He turned to face me.
“Yeah, I’ve heard,” honestly I’ve gotten tired of how much I’ve heard about it.
“Would he spar with me?” I blurted out.
“Oh, I don’t know. You’d have to ask Rose.”
I thanked him and walked over to Rose.
“Excuse me? Rose?” I waved her down.
“Yes, Kasen, how can I help you?” She replied, her voice like that of an angel. I think I died and went to heaven.
“I heard you’re close with Dominick Blackburn?” I asked her, clearing away all distractions.
“I don’t know about him but he is one of my best friends so I’d say so,” she spoke as she lightly painted the brush along the canvas.
“Would he spar with me?”
“Are you weak?” The expression became blank across her face as she looked into my eyes.
“No,” I proclaimed, confidently.
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“Then he probably would spar with you. I’ll let him know that you wanted to spar. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow. He’ll tell you his answer,” she turned and walked over to Mr. Fogel.
My body started shaking with excitement. I can’t wait! I hope he’s as strong as everyone keeps making him out to be.
The day passed by rapidly as I was ready to hear his response. I laid down on my bed but tonight was the first night in a while that I couldn’t fall asleep.
Don’t disappoint me, Dominick.
The bell dinged, marking the beginning of our first class. I sat down before anyone else, eagerly awaiting Dominick to walk in. Surprisingly, he walked in right after me. He walked past my desk and sat a piece of paper on it before walking away and reading a book about Ancient Civilizations.
“Meet me at the training rooms after classes,” the note read.
I looked over and nodded at him to which he ignored as he was nose deep in his book, oblivious to the outside world.
The final bell rang, putting an end to the misery that came in the form of a battle with an anomaly. I grabbed my bag and rushed to my dorm room and changed into proper attire, one that isn’t as tight as my clothes for school. I locked the door and headed to the training room.
BOOM
One of the rooms rocked as the guard let me through.
“Yo, is that normal?” I turned back and asked the guard.
“Well, there are people training here. With magic. So…” he said, looking back down at his newspaper with a donut in hand.
I walked into the back. A large empty room waited behind the doors at the end of the state of the art facility for students and faculty alike. The room was a grayish color with a large setting panel along the wall to the right of the door. It allowed for you to change the scenery and the Annihilation Class Spell nullifier but that was about it, there were just a lot of different places to choose from which is why it was so massive.
“Nice of you to finally show up, new guy,” Dominick said, punching and kicking the punching bag that swung back and forth in front of him.
“I had to get changed,” I responded.
“You here to run your mouth or you here to fight?” He cracked his neck and then his knuckles.
“I like you. Don’t disappoint me,” I said, cracking my neck and knuckles in response, as well.
Dominick walked over to the large panel on the wall and tapped the screen. All of the scenery options appeared before him.
“DO YOU CARE WHERE WE GO?” He shouted.
“NO!” I yelled.
“You have selected: Ancient Citadel. Is that correct?” The PA announced.
He clicked yes on the screen as the bland walls shifted into a castle around us. The throne room was where it had decided to spawn us. The mosaic art clung onto the walls as the walls barely stood up. We walked over to look at the windows to see a sprawling city below. I strutted over to the door and began to walk out. An invisible wall stopped me. So I guess we can only fight here? That’s super cool.
“LET’S DO THIS, NEW GUY!” Dominick’s voice grew louder as he dashed over to me. He hopped in the air and swung his foot towards my head.
“Geez, give me a chance to take this all in,” I said, ducking under his kick.
He’s fast for someone emitting no magical energy at all. So this is the anomaly known as Dominick.
“COSMIC MAGIC: METEOR!”
A giant boulder came crashing through the ceiling as it loomed upon Dominick with frightening speed. He ran as fast as he could before somersaulting away from the meteor, narrowly dodging it.
“You dodged that?” I said to him, curious.
“Of course I did. You’ll never defeat me with weak shit like that,” he responded.
“ASTRAL BIND!”
Loops of light wrapped around Dominick, restraining his legs and arms behind him. He was caught by surprise and couldn’t properly defend nor counter.
“SUPERNOVA!”
I spread my arms out to each side before bringing them back in. A glowing orb of radiant light forms between my hands, pulsating with energy. The orb grew larger and large as the air crackled with energy, the low hum from the hub building to a crescendo. I released the spell with the target being Dominick who was about 20 meters away. He struggled against his restraints as the orb began to emit a blinding flash.
“Colosseum Of The Damned."
The light vanished. The air around us grew heavy, creating a sense of immense pressure. A dome starts to rise. The walls of the colosseum materialize around us as the moonlight washed over us from the top. The thunderous boom echoed as the colosseum had concluded it's long and amazing construction.
This was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. It was obviously a marvelous ability but the one thing missing was mana. How do you conjure something like this without magic? Even if you don't consider this magic because there's no mana, there's something seriously magical about it.
“So this is the famous colosseum?” I questioned, looking around.
“The cameras were out at Enchantopia during Dugal’s invasion. How did you know about this?”
“You think that they didn’t record it? You were trending online for a while.”
He sighed and charged at me. His speed was incredible, I’ll never not be in awe when facing him. He was face to face with me now. With a quick shuffle, he pressed me with a flurry of quick jabs and heavy hooks. I threw quick jabs and hooks in response, attempting to create an opening so I could beat him at his own game. Usually, fighters are good in one aspect, whether that be strength, speed, technique, accuracy, but Dominick seemed to have it all. He was small and lean but his strength was the real deal. He was lightning quick with his assault, his technique were almost flawless, and he never missed a strike, I just deflected what I could. We exchanged blows, our fists flying and our smiles plastered onto our faces. Our fists connected with sickening thuds but at this point, it was way too late to care. I whiffed a deflection as he landed a right cross to my jaw. I was staggered for a moment and that was when he found his opening. He barraged me with a flurry of punches and kicks, inflicting severe damage on my body.
I jumped back, away from his assault.
I have the advantage in magical combat. He’s got me right where he wants me, hand to hand. Nobody in this day and age fights bare handed except for freaks. Then again, this guy is the one who Dugal showed the most interest in. The one who had the will to stand up and fight when no one else will. And even so, I’m getting destroyed.
But…
But this is what I needed. For my evolution.
I stood tall, holding my hands out towards Dominick. The air crackles with energy as I call upon everything that I have. Every ounce of mana, every ounce of strength, everything.
“THIS IS MY ALL, DOMINICK! BEAR WITNESS TO THE MONSTER YOU’VE CREATED. TO THE ONE WHO HAS EVOLVED BEYOND HUMAN LIMITATIONS!” I was hysterical, my mind wasn’t as blank as usual. This battle woke something inside of me that was lumbering since I was little. The thrill, the joy, everything about fighting.
“VOID SINGULARITY!”
A dark miniature orb with a galactic color swirled around above my palm. I threw it up into the air. The orb began to radiate an intense gravitational pull, distorting the light and air around it.
The entire point of this spell was designed to take out the nullification of his spell. The funny thing was that I just thought of this spell now.
I’m a fucking genius.
The walls of the colosseum were ripped apart as they began to swirl around the orb before being absorbed. I could feel the mana in the air once again, the mana inside was empty as I used everything I had for that final attack. The colosseum crumbled away as the air was distorted where the black hole once was.
We were both exhausted, breathing heavily as we saw the unbelievable unfold before our eyes.
I clenched my jaw and tightened my fist as I gathered everything, what little bit of mana I had left to hit him with this final attack. I charged at him. My chest twinged as I fell to the ground, clenching my shirt. Mana Zero.
"How'd you do that?" He asked me.
"Do what?" I sat up, facing him.
"Break the colosseum. Not even Dugal or that man could. I don't get it. How did you do it?" He seemed anxious.
"Honestly, I just felt it. I can't explain to you besides that. I felt in that moment that I was more powerful than you."
He clenched his fists as he hit the ground. The floor cracked around his fist. He sighed and composed himself.
"Thanks, Kasen. I needed this," his voice was shaky but sincere.
"I didn't do this for you. I was told you were powerful but you disappointed me." I walked out past Rose and a girl with ocean blue hair, it shimmered underneath the gym light as the curls cascaded down, like waves, to her shoulders. Her glasses were circular and large with gold lining as she walked past me without saying a word. Rose stopped right behind me.
"You are strong after all," she gave me a smile.
"But don't take this loss as certainty. Dominick will come back stronger and defeat you next time."
Her shoes clacked against the hardwood floor as she walked towards Dominick.
"Hey, Dominick!" I turned around and shouted.
"What?" He responded, annoyed.
"Become stronger. I won't lose to you ever but it'd be nice to have a challenge," I turned back around and made my way to my dorm.
Rose looked at me with anger, envy, jealousy. Aura looked at me with emotionless eyes. Dominick looked at me with anger, envy, jealousy, sadness, but most of all, excitement. He may have lost today but I have a feeling this is just the beginning of both of our journeys.