Wild

Creak! Creak! Creak! Ethan stepped on the old, wooden stairs, carefully placing his feet as he tried to make as little noise as possible. He glanced at his watch. [04:49] He was 11 minutes early. It was pitch dark right now. Ethan could see a couple of lights glowing in the distance. But this part of KGS was shrouded in darkness. Walking up to this creaky old building was especially unnerving at 5 in the morning. It drove all traces of sleepiness out of him. Maybe that was why the Combat Club was built in a place like this.

Slide! He slid the shoji open, uncovering the musty old room inside. Beep....beep...beep. A soft, electronic voice came from his left. He snapped his head around. It was Nathan. Or, more accurately, his phone. Nathan was slouched on the creaky desk, his arms outstretched as his mouth lay half-open. He was fast asleep.

Beep...beep...beep. His phone kept on playing some kind of song as its blue screen lit up periodically. Creak...creak...creak. Ethan inched his way towards the desk. Should he wake him up? On one hand, he didn't want to annoy a second year student or the manager of the club he was in. And Nathan was both of them. But he didn't know the way inside.

"Nathan," he whispered. "Nathan! Are you awake?" Snooze...snooze...snooze. His nose let out tiny tufts of air as his white hair shook slightly with of the wind. "Nathan!" He shook his shoulder vigorously.

"Wha...What do you mean I failed level 3?" He looked around wildly. "Misss Nora. Is that you?" He stared at Ethan, mouth drooling slightly. "Uh...." Misss Nora? Who was that? She sounded familiar. But Ethan couldn't quite remember who she was.

Suddenly, Nathan's expression dropped. "It's you. That dragon dude or whatever. What are you doing here?" His enthusiasm was sucked away, disappearing until he made the same boring, sleepy expression that he'd held yesterday. "Uh....Edward, no, Sensei asked me to come here at 5:00 a.m. today."

Nathan yawned, covering his mouth with an arm as he stretched backwards. "Sensei? What the hell is that old geezer doing, making me wake up so early," he muttered. Screech! He pushed his chair backwards as he stood up.

"Are you a Leeder?" Creak...creak...creak. Nathan walked towards the open door as his silver eyes lit up slightly. "A leader?" "No, a Leeder. With two E's. Fans of Nora Lee." Slide. He shut the door close. "Nora Lee? Who's that?"

"Nora Lee. Famous pop idol. S rank awakener who's a part of the Star Lee band! Haven't you heard of her?" "Uh...No?" Ethan had spent the last three years of his life drowning himself in books and video games. He was the modern equivalent of an otaku in many ways. But, in his entire life, he'd never stooped as low as becoming simp. Even in the last one.

The worst thing that he'd done was watching that tentacle....No, never mind. He didn't want to recall up his worst memories. "You don't know Nora Lee?" "Nope." "I see." Suddenly, all traces of enthusiasm were sucked away from Nathan's face, leaving the same bored, sleepy expression once again.

He yawned loudly. "Rule number 27 of the Combat Club. Leaving the front door open is prohibited. I will now be issuing you a black mark. 5 marks and you will be put on probation." Creak...creak...creak. He dragged his feet towards the hidden entrance. Creak! Shudder!

"That's the way in. Don't wake me up if you can't find Sensei." Screech! He plopped back on the creaky chair as he placed his head on the table in front of him. "I'm going to sleep now. Good night!" Snooze...snooze...snooze. Nathan fell asleep faster than he'd woken up.

Beep! Ethan's watched beeped loudly. He glanced downwards.

.

.

[You have received: 1 Black Mark(s)]

[You have: 1 Black Mark(s)]

.

.

Did he just get a black mark because he didn't know who some random pop-star was? Well, maybe Nathan was a part of a fan cult or something. Snooze...snooze...snooze. He glanced at him warily. Perhaps mentioning Nora Lee in front of him wouldn't be a good idea.

What game was he playing, though? Ethan was curious. He leaned his head forward slightly. He could see a woman waving her arms in a cute way underneath some large pink letters. He squinted his eyes slightly. "Miss Nora's Magical Space adventure"

Yep. This guy definitely was a Miss Nora stan. It was better not to mention her in front of him. Snooze...snooze...snooze. He tiptoed away, heading into the Combat Club. Shhhh. The door closed behind, hiding this place from the rest of KGS once again.

Knock! Knock! "Hello! Edward Sensei? Are you there?" "You may enter." A cold, hard voice emerged from behind the door. Slide! Ethan stepped inside slowly. Sensei was sitting in a dogeza position, just like yesterday, with his arms folded. He looked exactly like he had yesterday, except for the fact that his eyes were closed.

"Straighten your back. Thrust your chest out more. Your posture is atrocious." He didn't open his eyes. "Uh..." Freeze! Suddenly, a thin layer of ice started coating his spine. "Ulp!" He shot up, pushing his shoulders backwards from the intense cold.

Sensei slowly opened his ice- blue eyes, staring at Ethan intently. He was still frowning. Ethan wondered if he frowned when he was sleeping. It seemed like he was frowning every single time Ethan had seen him. "Here's your uniform. Put it on quickly." Sensei glanced at a neatly folded robe placed on the padded floor in front of him.

"You have 60 seconds. 1...2...3..." Ethan rushed forwards, grabbing the uniform quickly. What was this strange sense of urgency? Strip...strip. He pulled off his clothes, stripping down to his bare chest. He did feel a bit of shame while changing his clothes in front of somebody else, but Sensei wasn't giving him a lot of time. So there was no point in wasting what little he had rushing out of the room for 'privacy'.

"55...56..." Done! He was done 4 seconds early. That was pretty good! "Veterans of this club can put on their uniform in 30 seconds. You did pretty bad, considering this was your first time." What? Ethan was dumbfounded. How was he supposed to put on that complicated piece of clothing in 30 seconds?

"I hope that you aren't lacking in other aspects as well." He unfolded his arms, placing them on his thighs. "Sit!" Ethan sat down, mirroring Sensei's dogeza position. "You aren't wearing your mask." Sensei's ice blue eyes glinted slightly. "I have it here, Sensei."

"Then why haven't you put it on?" Sensei's frown deepened. Beep!

.

.

[You have received: 1 Black Mark(s)]

[You have: 2 Black Mark(s)]

.

.

Sensei didn't like repeating himself. He'd mentioned this earlier. He'd already told Ethan to put on his mask before coming here yesterday. And now, he didn't warn Ethan a second time. He simply gave him a black mark. "Take your watch off." Beeep! Ethan took of his watch, switching it off as he placed it to his side. "Good."

Squawk! A blue bird materialised, perched on Sensei's right shoulder. It was light blue in colour, just like Sensei's icy blue eyes. Its two eyes were completely devoid of pupils, making it look like an ice-sculpture. A small crown rested on its feathered head, with tiny icicles emerging from its top, giving it a regal yet barbaric look.

"Wow! What kind of a bird is that?" Ethan had never heard of any monster like this one. If he had to guess, it would be a beast type monster, just like the rat he'd fought in the SMEPT. But its rank would be higher than the rat.

"You are not allowed to speak unless I allow you to." Ethan shut his mouth quickly. He'd better not speak again. Or Sensei would give him another black mark. Squawk! The bird glared at Ethan angrily, as if it what he'd just said had annoyed it.

"Alright. Let us begin. Mana can be broadly classified into two types. Physical type mana and Mage type mana. Most people can use only one of these types." A cold gust if wind blew past, crashing into Ethan's mask. The wind seeped through the holes in the mask, making him close his eyes because of the cold.

Sensei raised an arm, petting the bird's back lightly as he calmed it down. He continued. "Burning Dragon. You are an augmented type awakener. Somebody who can use both types of mana. However, your control over your mage type mana is atrocious."

Squawk! The bird raised its wings in anger, irked by something. Freeze! Another gust of wind blew, this time freezing Ethan's mask slightly. "There, there, Angel." Sensei petted the bird slightly, trying to calm it down. Squawk! Apparently, it didn't like Ethan's presence.

"Place both of your arms on your thighs." He turned towards Ethan. "Close your eyes. Try to recall how you felt every single time you used the mage type mana." Ethan shut his eyes. How did he feel when he first used this different type of mana?

He took a deep breath. Huuuff...huuuff...huuuff. "Concentrate on your memories." Huuuff...huuuff...huuuff. The first time he'd used mage type mana. What had he felt? Anger, desperation, an instinct to survive. He tried imagining himself in those situations. He recalled the emotions he'd felt.

Huuufff...huuuff...huuuff. "Recall the sensation. Don't focus on your emotions. Focus on what you felt when you used that mana. How the mana felt. How it flowed through your body. How it was different from the physical type mana."

Huuuff...huuuff...huuuff. Yes. Sensei was right. Those emotions weren't the source of his powers. No, they were simply the trigger. Something that let a switch be flipped inside his body. Whirrr! He circulated his physical type mana, driving it towards his heart.

The physical type mana felt comfortable in his body. It felt like it belonged here, right where his muscles, bones, organs and blood was. But the mage type mana didn't feel like that. No, it felt different. It was freer. Wilder. It wanted to go outside. And Ethan was going to recreate that sense of freedom from his stable, comfortable physical type mana.

Ba-dump! Suddenly, a wisp of mage type mana condensed in his body. Yes! He'd done it! He'd created on this mana on command. Bzzzzzt! He pushed the mana throughout his body, making it larger and larger as it travelled inside him.

Bzzzzzt! Suddenly, he felt an intense rejection from his body. The mage type mana wanted to escape. It had grown too concentrated to stay inside him. Spark....spark....spark. Tiny sparks ignited on his palm, snapping and popping as they served as outlets for the rampant mana.

"Guide the mana to your hand." Spark...spark...spark. The mana grew larger and more rampant inside his body. "Feel its tendency to escape." Spark.....spark.....spark. Slowly the pressure built up in his palm. It felt like tiny pins and needles were piercing his skin, trying to escape as they assaulted his body.

"Take control of the mana." Spark....spark...spark. "And..." Ethan's eyes shot open, glowing blue. "Release it!" Spark...spark...Snap! He thrust his palm forward, letting the mana escape to the outside, right where it wanted to be. But he didn't let go of the mana. No, it was still under his control. Free, yet restrained. Lethal, yet controlled. Deadly, yet enlightening. Fire.

"Ignite." Rooooar!