Frank's plan and Jonathan's silence
The next day, the ranking battles continued in the Colosseum as usual and Damien was with Austin and the gang.
"Is Hank okay?" Mindy asked.
The others turned to look at Damien, obviously interested in what Damien had to say.
Damien sighed and shook his head. "It doesn't look too good. Hank will be out for at least a month," Damien replied.
They looked at him in astonishment.
"A month?! That is awful!" Brianna covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes widened.
"That's bad," Austin shook his head.
"Bad? This is mad bad! By the time he wakes up doesn't it mean that his mates would be well ahead of him?
It wouldn't be surprising if when he woke up most of the second years would be at the Advanced realm, just like him.
He would lose his edge and his ranking will drop!" Zane analyzed.
"Jonathan did him dirty," Damien sighed once more.
"What caused him to bleed out like that? People have been discussing it online and according to them it's poison. A poison which prevents blood from clotting," Brianna said, looking at Damien.
Damien pondered if he could tell them about the Medusa's Tears but he decided against it.
It would lead to a whole lot of questions which would reveal information that could potentially harm Austin, Mindy, Zane and Brianna.
They were better off not knowing anything.
"Something like that. The school medics refused to tell us the name of the poison and its effects. They only told us that it was very bad. I don't think it's a common poison," Damien replied.
Technically it wasn't a lie.
The medical personnel truly hadn't told them the name of the poison nor its effects.
Poison was something which couldn't be joked with.
Inwardly he shuddered when he recalled the musings of the previous night.
Hank's situation had alerted him of a weakness which he had.
Even though he was a powerful awakened with five powers; two elemental, one soul related and two body related powers, there were certain aspects which his numerous powers couldn't cover and that was poison.
Yes, poison!
Currently, to Damien, poison was his greatest bane. Perhaps his regeneration, soul rune and body physique could limit its effects but it was certain that if the poison was of a high grade like Medusa's Tears and Damien came into contact with it, he would be screwed.
Already, Damien had made up his mind to get information on any form of poison he could, with its accompanying remedy.
Those he couldn't find on DAUN due to restrictions, he would ask the knowledgeable Lyon.
He didn't want to end up in Hank's state.
When the first year ranking battles started the next week, he was going to make sure that he ended his fights swiftly and dominantly.
He couldn't underestimate anyone.
Who knows?
A student could gain inspiration from Jonathan and bring in poison during the ranking battle.
Those too with poison related powers were not to be ignored.
In short, Damien had made up his mind to avoid coming into contact with poison if he could.
"What of his brother? He was ready to kill Jonathan yesterday. Would he challenge him today?" Brianna asked.
"That's not possible. Those ranked above cannot issue challenges to those below. That's why Liu Shandian can only defend his spot but not attack directly.
He is ranked above every other student on the list," Zane replied.
"How would he get his revenge then?" Brianna asked curiously.
That was when they heard the voice of a challenger in the arena. "I challenge Frank!" he called out boldly.
"Huh?" Damien was stunned and he turned to look at who it was.
To his surprise, it was Lyon!
Austin and the others also recognized him too.
"Hey, isn't that Frank's friend? Why is he challenging him?" Mindy asked in surprise.
"Hmpf! He probably wants to take advantage of his friend's unstable mental state to climb higher on the rankings. Despicable!" Brianna's eyes glowed with fury.
In the Colosseum, others shared similar sentiments or even surprise.
Loud boos resounded in the Colosseum as those who thought Lyon wanted to take advantage of his friend began to curse him.
"Shameless coward!"
"Frank whoop his ass!"
"You're despicable!"
Damien though tried to reason rationally.
Lyon must be doing this for a reason.
There was no way he was truly taking advantage of Frank… right?
Interested, Damien decided to pay attention to the fight closely. There was an underlying plot going on.
"I can't believe he could do something like this. I had so much respect for the top ten but after Jonathan and this Lyon, I can say they are truly scum!" Brianna shook her fists with fury.
"Calm down Bri. I don't think it's as bad as you think. Right Damien?" Mindy said, turning to look at Damien.
"Let's hope so," Damien nodded.
After the talk about the Underworld, Damien had retreated to his room to research on poisons and so he didn't know what had happened between Frank and Lyon.
In the Colosseum, Lyon didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He had expected backlash but certainly not this big!
With just a few words, he had become public enemy number 1!
Lyon shook his head wryly and watched on as Frank called out, "I accept!"
The cheers and boos reached an alarming crescendo in the Colosseum. Everyone loved drama, especially when it involved two friends coming to fight!
Frank walked into the arena with a composed but cold look on his face.
His red hair billowed wildly on his head and he wore a red and gold armor with the emblem of a sun on it.
He held nothing in his hands but it was clear that he was fully dressed for battle as compared to Lyon who was in a casual jeans and T-shirt.
They both nodded at each other before widening the distance between them, facing each other in the arena.
Frank vs Lyon!
People were heavily placing bets on Frank based on their animosity towards Lyon and their knowledge of Frank's power.
"Are you ready?" the instructor asked after checking them both to make sure they were clean.
Both of them nodded, not taking their gaze off each other.
"Fight!" the instructor called.
"I forfeit!" Frank yelled right after.
"What the fuck is going on?" Silas rose from his seat in stupor.
He wasn't the only one as the Colosseum temporarily became silent as people wondered if they heard correctly.
Did he just say he had forfeited?
The murmurs began and immediately grew louder when the Instructor called out, "This fight is over! Frank, ranked sixth, forfeits to Lyon ranked tenth!"
The verdict reflected on the ranking list above as Frank was now beside the number ten and Lyon the number six.
"This is bullshit!" Silas roared in fury as his lackeys immediately restrained their boss from charging out to kill Frank that instant!
He had staked a bet of 500 CP.
500 CP!
That was more than enough to buy a 3-star technique!
What aggravated Silas even more was that Frank didn't even put up a fight!
His eyes turned bloodshot as he masterfully cursed and swore at Frank.
He wasn't alone.
All around the Colosseum, those who had staked bets on Frank instantly became livid as they began to hurl insults at Frank.
"You motherfucker!"
"My CP! Fuck!"
"Is this a fucking setup?!"
"Give us back our CP!"
Damien and the others became speechless.
Brianna turned to Damien. "Don't tell me Frank is a con man in cahoots with Lyon? What is the reason behind this?" she asked.
"Let's wait and see what happens," Damien replied.
They nodded and focused their attention on the arena.
'That's not like Frank to throw away a fight… he must have some plan,' Damien thought.
It would all be revealed soon enough so the only thing he could do was to keep watching.
Back in the ring, Lyon shrugged at Frank and Frank turned to the instructor. In an even louder voice he declared, "I challenge Jonathan Vargas, ranked eighth!'
The shouts of fury died down as it finally dawned on the students that things weren't really as it seemed.
"That's ingenious!" Ronnie exclaimed as he clapped his hands.
Frank knew that because he was ranked above Jonathan, he couldn't challenge him so he decided to temporarily switch places with someone ranked lower than Jonathan and then challenge Jonathan.
It was a brilliant idea!
Too bad Jonathan was long gone.
'He should be in the South Western sector by now,' Ronnie thought.
Damien had also caught on to Frank's plan.
It was extremely smart and that way Frank could have his revenge!
That was on the condition that Jonathan showed up.
Everyone looked around eagerly, waiting for Jonathan's response but there was no answer.
"Jonathan, come out you coward!" Frank roared in fury.
No one came out, much less answered.
Murmurs filled the Colosseum again as people craned their necks, looking around to spot Jonathan but to no avail.
"Where is he?" Brianna asked as she narrowed her eyes and began to sweep around her gaze.
"Jonathan, if you don't reply, your silence will be taken as a refusal to participate in this battle!" the Instructor called out, looking around.
There was no response!
Ronnie struggled to control his laughter.
'You won't find him anytime soon for revenge, Frank. He's long gone!'