Modernus Numina

The annoying sound of his alarm clock on his phone woke him, "Damnit, what is today?" he sighed "Monday" he sighed again and headed to his bathroom to take a shower. He hopped out of the shower and put conditioner in his hair and plopped on his bonnet after that he got dressed and went downstairs. "Morning mom" he greeted her "Morning Butthead" she greeted him back "Have you done your morning exercises?" She asked "You know I was just going to, but what if and only what if..." he bolted for the door mid sentence but he was too slow. Her lightning fast reaction speed allowed her to use her powers to sit him right in his chair at the dining room table. "Nice try, i'm guessing that means it's Monday" she chuckled as she handed him breakfast "eat up and go work out Handsome, you gotta stay on your toes'' she said softly yet firmly sat down in her chair to eat with him, "Yes ma'am" he said disappointed at his failed escape... Again, he had tried to leave the house early for Fuuglap every morning on Monday specifically because Mondays are where he wakes up at four o'clock in the morning and trains his physical ability until seven thirty to get ready for school. He hates Mondays. 

"Last rep and then I'm done" he thinks to himself as he struggles to curl the weight one last time. He drops the olympic bar after his last biceps curls and heads upstairs to take another shower. After he gets dressed he heads downstairs for Fuuglap. "See ya later ma" he waves to her "bye kid don't do anything I would do" she waves back picking up her gym bag "I'll see you after work Butthead" she added before disappearing. With that he walked out the door and ran to school. On his way he thought about all the cool things he could do once he gets his powers since he was a late bloomer he thought about how he would change his life and the way he lived and how he would repay his mom for all that she had done for him. He liked running, it never really bothered him and he liked being able to go anywhere with his own two legs. It brought a sense of independence. 

He stopped at the gates, took a deep breath, adjusted his hat and walked inside. Beyond that gate was hell: forced mental labor, crappy meals, horrible bathrooms and even worse; teenagers, this is called 9th-12th Fuuglap and sadly it was his first day at a new Fuuglap. He made his way through the main Quad area and searched for somewhere to sit down in the library. He sat alone at a table with his favorite romance manga and started reading, waiting until the first bell rang. 

He was interrupted by a loud slam on his table "Hey buddy welcome to Reldon High'' exclaimed a tall jock like kid, "My name is John Reldon The Third named after my great grandpa; founder of the school what's your name I don't think I've ever seen you before" he said with a sly smile. He looked up at John and then looked back at his manga "my name is Xin and nice to meet you" he replied simply with un-interest. "Hey!" one of John's friends yelled "I don't know who you think you are but John is a-" Xin interrupted the kid "An Episkopos, and quite frankly I don't really care" He then put his book away and stood up to leave "Look I can tell you know that i'm new here and I'm sick of hazings every school does this too man, but honestly its real annoying and i'm done so.. Bye" Xin said casually, still waiting for the bell to ring. John's smile turned into a low smirk and stood in Xin's way "I wasn't gonna do this at first but some people really need to learn their place" John raised his hand and tried to put it on Xin's shoulder but he missed, he tried again but he missed again. "What?!" he said out loud to himself, he then decided he'd just take a swing at Xin and he missed now he had to think. 

Now John's not just some regular school bully with powers he had been trained by the best his parents could afford. He worked all his life to unlock his powers abilities to the fullest as well as train his brain but he lacked compassion and general common sense but by no means was he stupid. It took him nearly 10 seconds to realize he wasn't missing, Xin was dodging. So expertly it looked as if John's actions just didn't connect. John looked at Xin and opened his mouth but before he could say anything the bell rang and Xin was gone. "What the hell" said one kid, "where did he go" asked another but John didn't answer. He was still in shock, he had been embarrassed. He sat in class all throughout the day marinating in his own anger like a piece of rancid steak left in the fridge way too long.

The day went on for Xin as he sat in his classes, took notes, ate lunch, and went home. He talked with his mom for the night about a good web-comic that they both liked and he went to bed. As he layed in his new bed which he had grown comfortable with now, he thought about why people kept picking fights with him. Was it his face? No that can't be it, he has a proper health routine and his body is in great shape. Ah of course, it's his abrasive personality. He thought about it and then took 10 seconds to decide that he didn't really care and went to bed. "Feel me boy" Xin erupted out of his bed, he was warm in his bed yet, he felt cold. He scrambled looking for his phone, He found it. He vigorously opened his phone and checked the time it was 6 in the morning. He got up like regular, did his morning routine, then did his exercises. After he was done he was met with oatmeal, a banana, some spam and rice. "Thanks ma" he said abruptly in the midst of stuffing his face. He finished his plate and looked at his mom "hey mom am I a asshole?" he asked "No you're what's called a smartass and It's 'An asshole not 'a asshole" His mom said quickly with lack of any hesitation. He smiled then looked up at her. His mom was a determined and hard working woman nearing her forties. She was a tan with curly long hair she would tie back when she was working. She was in fact healthy and was very beautiful, of course with that comes the occasional "suitors" that would come for the boy's mom, the men never stayed and with that some of them 'were never to be seen again' on account of Xin. "You still goin down to the training grounds?" he asked his mom "'Are you'! And yeah new rookies just came in yesterday" she replied grinning. He winced imagining the kind of pain they're going through "ma you gotta stop torturing those people" he said as he drank his tea "its not 'torture' you could handle it when you were 7, these are grown men, they'll live." she said almost coldly. He shivered.

It's a warm day at Fuuglap, it was 7:15 when he got there. He sat down, opened his book and ate his Cinnabon he got from the cafe across the road. "Get it Marosa! Get it" he thought as the book was reaching its climax, he sat in the chair comfortably but truthfully he was on the edge of it. 

Sadly, as the universe does all the time, he was interrupted just as the ark was getting good. "Hi You must be the new kid, everyones talking about you, Zin right?" He turned to the voice of a slightly older girl. She was pretty tall, fair complexion with short, wolfed, black hair. "Hey, yeah it's Xin and everyone's talking about me?" he replied with a little concern, "yeah everyone's talking about how you stood up to 'The Mighty Welding Reldon' and how-" Xin bursted out laughing interrupting her, he asked laughing hysterically " WELDING RELDON!?" he continued on "BAHAHA! Ahhhh, mom's gonna love this one" he looked at her and cleared his throat. "I'm so sorry I found that shit pretty funny, what were you saying? Please continue" she smirked, trying not to smile "Nothing really but keep an eye out. He gets pretty upset when he finds someone better than him" she said in his ear before walking away "Damn that was smooth" he thought to himself watching her walk away.

He continued on with his classes but throughout the day that girl was still on his mind and with that; the warning she gave him. He sat at lunch by himself (he preferred it that way) while listening to his favorite noon podcast. He didn't know what it was; maybe it was the funky smooth tone of the lady who talked or the groove she played in the background but her lovely voice reached his soul. He closed his eyes, listening in while munching on a sandwich, "what I would do to meet this lady and get her autograph" he thought to himself relaxing on the lunch bench. "Oh you like her podcast?" he opened his eyes and turned off his phone "maybe..." he replied he turned to meet face to face with the girl from earlier except this time she was closer than before. "You don't find the music slow?" she asked "nah its snazzy'' he said scooting back a little, she scooted even closer "how about the girl you don't find her topics uninteresting? or boring?" she asked him intently " no I uh... I love classic literature and she reviews them really well..." he replied uncomfortably. She leaned back and let him have some breathing room. She turned away for a sec mumbling to herself and turned back "you're cultured for that" she said smiling, "god what a gorgeous smil-" he was shocked by his own thoughts and stopped it before he looked like an idiot. She stood up on the bench, looked down at him, chuckled and jumped down "i'll see you soon, Xin'' she twirled her hand and glided away, leaving a trail of violet flames beneath her. "Wow" he said out loud and proceeded to leave for his next period of class. His day, beyond the run-ins with the flame girl, had been pretty average, he was walking down to the gate leading to the front property of the school when John and his 'crew' were at the gate looking at him. He acknowledged them and then walked right past them before John could even say a word. John stopped in front of him to obstruct his path but Xin was too fast it almost looked as if he passed right through John. "Hey!" John yelled after him 

"I challenge you to A Battle Of Wills!" he exclaimed in front of the courtyard. "Yeah lets see how you respond, Xin" he laughed to himself as he looked on to the shocked and excited faces of his peers, Xin stopped, put on foot behind the other and turned around in military like fashion. "Oh? And why would the Mighty Welding Reldon challenge some small fry like me who hasn't even broken through yet?" he mocked John "It's a Battle Of Wills our powers will be restricted don't you know?" John mocked back smiling. "What time?" Xin reluctantly said "Friday 6 o'clock at the PvP Pits" he looked at the gathering of students "invite anyone who wants to see the newbie get properly!... introduced to the school..." The crowd dispersed with excitement as John looked back to face Xin he was gone.

Later that night Xin was lying awake thinking about the challenge and why he accepted it. He didn't know why but for the first time in a while he had felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: excitement. He was asleep, he had been asleep for not even four hours when he heard a voice "Boy... hear me boy... wake up and accept my first gift..." it was a deep and powerful surge of force, it rushed all through Xin's body and it did in fact hurt like hell. He fell out of his bed crawling around and twitching in pain, he screamed as he could feel his bones breaking apart and reconstructing. His head screamed as He had undergone this process for 3 hours.

He woke up, sore and exhausted. He grabbed his bottle next to his bed and chugged the entire thing down. Steam came off his body as he sat on his bed to catch his breath. After a few minutes he felt better, better than he had ever felt before. He had noticed when he fully stood up he had gotten taller and his body was in even better shape than it already was, "weird" he whispered to himself. His mom got home from work not too long ago and was making breakfast, "good morning mom" he gave his mom a hug "holy crap!" she exclaimed "talk about a growth spurt! What happened to my baby?!" she questioned him while poking his chest. "So funny thing..." he told her what he had gone through last night but left out a few details so she wouldn't worry too much. She sat in silence for a couple minutes then looked up at him "congrats stinkface, you've broken through!" He then bore an ear-to-ear-happy-slappy smile. "Soooo what did you get?" she asked him "I uh... don't know..." he replied as his smile faded "well what did you feel?" "PAIN" Is what he wanted to say but he didn't feel anything, no energy, no wave of power or satisfaction, just pain. She put her arm around his shoulder "look kid you were a late bloomer from the get go so it's probably gonna take a couple days before you really feel it" Xin sighed and thanked his mom.

It's been two days since his breakthrough, it's now Friday and his final class bell just rang. During these two days a couple things happened; his physical strength had multiplied 3 fold, he was faster and his teeth got a bit sharper. During this time he had not seen or encountered the flame girl or John, as a matter of fact no one talked to him. The school day ended and with that he went home, when he got home his mom was at the dining room table waiting for him. "So this school too?" his mom asked, he nodded "this time don't hold back" she said abruptly. He pulled back surprised that his mom was the one to say it, but he complied and went upstairs to get dressed, yes... dressed.

The kids sat in the rows that lined up with the walls of the pits, there were hundreds of spectators; kids of all kinds were gathered there to see another kid get crushed by John once again. Then someone appeared in the middle of the pit arena. He wore a blue and pink suit with a black tie with purple shades that were pointed on the ends. "HEEELLOOOOO EVERYBODY!" he announced to the crowd, his voice was fun and exciting it was male but but higher pitched. The roaring crowd yelled back "We are here today to witness A Battle Of Wills!" The crowd responded in kind with a beautiful explosion in the night sky composed of hundreds of energies clashing together. "And with that wonderful display of our connection as a community I would like to introduce our CHALLENGEEEEERRS!". The crowd stopped and sat in their seats that happen to be molded into the walls, synchronizing a unified hum while drumming their chests. The Announcer had Elegantly float to one side of the pit arena "INTRODUUUCIIING THE INFAMOUS WELDING RELDOOOOON" the crowd cheered some with great excitement most half heartedly. "With 45 wins total including mock battles, since 7th year all the to now with NOOOO LOSSES!" The crowd cheered and some made ape sounds. They started to hum and drum again " AAAAAAAND HEAR WE Have.... Wait-a-second... you guys won't believe this! His dark smile is glamouring a pit once again!" The crowd looked to the middle of the arena instinctively. John looked quickly with shock in his eyes "it can't be... he can't be..." He thought to himself with concern and excitement. They all starred in the middle of the arena, silence, for 10 minutes complete silence. 

John let out a sigh of relief more so; disappointment, the crowd sat down and relaxed but grew anxious because of the big upset. " OH SHIT!" someone with a deep voice yelled, everyone looked up and saw someone nose diving from the top of the pit coming down, he twirled and then switched his positions mid air and dove closer to the wall. He kicked the wall; tossing him to the other side, his legs met with the opposite wall and with no hesitation he ran down. Right as he ran just above the audience he buried his boot into the wall and jumped, it was as if time had slowed down for you could see him jump right to the middle of the arena and the evening sky would reflect on his pale white mask. He landed, his hands open with his broad shoulders, muscular traps could be seen from his dark gray button up shirt. His sleeves were folded halfway revealing his chiseled and bulked forearms. His proportions looked as if they were handcrafted with precision and patience; his muscled chest pressed against the shirt not overwhelmingly so, more like a snug fit. His abdomen was also well kept, his lats were impressive and it gave his body an appealing shape while his shirt was tucked in. His pants were a faded deep red, a comfortable yet classy texture. The pants weren't tight but they weren't loose either, they were also snug. His thighs were bulky in size but toned, his waist and calves were a sight to behold. The top of his hair sat in a messy curly bun whereas the rest was laid free and exposed, but it did not cover his clean white mask; it had two black dashes for eyes and a huge black arch representing a smile.