Adam : From a man to a God

“Alex, the guy I fought with at the academy,” said Adam.

“I... I know him. He is Alex Dwayne. He is a troublemaker,” said Tilda.

Adam steps out of the car, and Alex spots him. Tilda follows suit.

Alex gets out, and Adam just looks at him. Alex walks past as if he didn’t notice him.

“Hey!!” Adam called out.

Alex stops, slightly turning his head to look at Adam.

“I’m sorry for... for what happened back there. That wasn’t me, that was—” Adam began.

“Shut your trap!! You think I need an apology from you? This isn’t over,” Alex snapped.

Alex turns to face Adam.

“I’m challenging you. Sign up for the tournaments. I want to truly face you there,” Alex declared.

“Wait, but Adam wasn’t—” Tilda started.

“Or are you just a coward? You’re gonna let little miss pathetic speak for you?” Alex taunted.

Adam looked at Alex with a serious face. Tilda looked angry.

“Yeah, I heard about you. You’re a third-year but still an upper-grade mortal. A disappointment,” Alex sneered.

“Shut up!! I’ll sign up for the tournaments. Don’t trash-talk her. If you insult her, I’ll...” Adam warned.

“Adam...” Tilda said softly.

“ I’ll see you in the tournaments,” Alex said with a smirk.

Alex goes into an elevator, which takes him up.

“I can’t believe this guy....” Adam muttered.

Tilda just passes Adam and goes to the other elevator on the left. Adam follows her and gets in, looking at Tilda while trying not to get noticed. He immediately looks down.

The elevator opens.

Adam and Tilda step out, and Adam looks left and right, seeing hallways that seem endless, curving to form a round shape around the stadium. Right in front of them is a French door made of see-through glass. Adam hears the noise from the other side—people screaming and shouting with excitement. He opens the door, and the noise gets louder. He sees a lot of people sitting on their stools, cheering.

“Hey, Adam, this way. Let’s sit over there,” Tilda directed.

Adam sits down near Tilda.

Down inside the stadium is an arena. The arena floor is gravel, and the size of it is huge. A blue, see-through barrier covers the arena. Adam barely notices it at first.

“Whoa, this... This is amazing,” Adam said in awe.

“I know, right? This is where different power holders come to compete in the tournaments,” Tilda explained.

“Yeah, but what for?” Adam asked.

“Oh, you know...” Tilda began, but she was interrupted by the announcer.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the next match is about to begin,” announced the announcer.

Adam looks down at the arena, but nobody’s there. He looks forward and sees a rectangular room made entirely of glass at the top of the first row of seats. Two men are inside, sitting behind a table with microphones before them. Beside that room is another one, bigger, with five people sitting in chairs. He still can’t see the announcer, though.

Suddenly, the announcer appears. Adam is surprised because it’s like she appeared out of nowhere. She stands in the middle of the arena.

“Whoa, was she invisible just now?” Adam asked.

“Yeah... She is a power holder who also possesses the power of Lilith, the goddess of Deception. Invisibility is one of her abilities,” Tilda replied.

“Oh, Goddess of Deception,” Adam said, staring at her.

“The next match will be a one-on-one fight with students from different dorms. First introducing a second-year from the Arthro Dorm. He is a superior power holder. Derren!!” announced the announcer.

The crowd starts cheering for Derren as a path opens from the wall of the arena, and Derren comes out. He is wearing blue trousers and a white shirt.

“Arthro Dorm?” Adam asked.

“Yes. Dorms here are like, um... How shall I put this? People with the same abilities are put in one group, and it’s called a dorm.... I know it sounds silly, but for example, you are from the Flame Dorm. That’s why you’re in a class with people who have the same ability as yours, which is fire,” Tilda explained.

“So, like, special abilities apart from super speed, strength, or flight?” Adam asked.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you more about it. Let’s just watch for now,” Tilda suggested.

*(Arthro... I wonder what abilities they have,)* Adam thought.

“His opponent, a third-year from the Metal Dorm. He is a superior power holder. Sam!!” announced the announcer.

Sam comes from the opposite direction where Derren was facing. He comes out with a katana and is wearing a blue vest and black trousers.

“Are our fighters ready? Let the match begin!!” the announcer declared, then disappears again.

Adam is surprised and looks up to see her in the room behind the two men, talking to them.

The match begins. Derren raises his arms, which suddenly turn into praying mantis limbs, spiky at the ends. Sam’s katana transforms into a double-edged sword.

“Whoa, are they gonna use those on each other? Well, I shouldn’t be surprised; we were literally wearing explosive bracelets yesterday,” Adam said to himself.

Sam starts running towards Derren at incredible speed. Derren stands his ground. Sam swings his sword to slash Derren in the chest, but Derren jumps back just in time. His chest is slightly cut.

“Wow, what incredible speed. Just what you’d expect from a third-year,” commented one of the announcers.

“Yeah, Derren barely evaded that,” agreed the second commentator.

Sam puts his katana on his shoulder and grins. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you bugs supposed to be fast or something?” he taunted.

Derren rushes over to Sam, quickly rotating and stretching his limbs as he passes Sam, ending up 20 feet behind him in a flash.

“Whoa, did you see that?” exclaimed the first commentator.

“I sure did! Derren’s speed might be on par with Sam’s,” the second commentator replied.

Sam looks surprised as his cheek starts bleeding. He smiles to himself as his eyes glow a faint gray.

Derren’s left limb suddenly comes off, and he screams in pain as blood gushes out. Sam turns to look at Derren.

“Our speed is so not equal,” Sam said coldly.

“What the hell? Is this even allowed?” Adam asked, bewildered.

“It’s brutal, but you’ll see,” Tilda replied.

“What do you mean?” Adam questioned.

Derren turns to face Sam and grows another hand from the one that was cut off.

“What the...” Adam muttered.

“Whoa, that was brutal,” the first commentator noted.

“Yeah, he did it knowing that Arthro Dorm students can regrow their limbs. Must be a way of showing their difference in power through combat,” the second commentator explained.

“What he just said is right. Give up before you piss me off, second-year,” Sam said, pointing his sword at Derren.

“No, I’ll show you what I’m made of,” Derren declared.

Derren covers his whole body with the shell of a beetle, forming beautiful dark brown armor. He clenches his fists, staring at Sam.

“Impressive. But not enough,” Sam said with a smirk.

Sam runs towards Derren at 2075 km an hour, causing dust to rise from every step. He reaches Derren and punches him in the chest using his left hand. A big boom sound comes from the impact, and dust fills the arena, obscuring the view.

“Whoa, this guy is...” Adam starts, but the dust suddenly begins to clear as the audience hears the rapid flapping of wings.

“Wow, that’s incredible. Derren is still just standing in place,” the first commentator said in awe.

Derren did receive the punch from Sam. His beetle wings were flapping , clearing the dust. Sam is surprised, seeing he just put a crack in Derren’s armor.

“Would I have survived that? I did survive the punch from Instructor Gabriel, so probably. Or maybe I was just lucky...” Adam pondered.

“Wow, that second-year is tough,” Tilda remarked.

Derren suddenly clenches his fist and punches Sam in the face, but Sam blocks it with his sword, which breaks. The punch hits Sam, causing him to fall far away from Derren, hitting the ground multiple times.

Sam lies on his stomach, facing Derren. Derren loses his balance and falls to one knee but stands up again. Sam gets up and wipes blood from his lower lip.

“They don’t lie about the Arthro Dorm’s armor. It’s super strong. Makes me want to cut it,” Sam said, a glint of excitement in his eyes.

Suddenly, two daggers appear in Sam’s hands. He runs towards Derren, rotating and throwing a dagger towards him. Derren jumps into the air, flying as if he’s floating. The dagger misses him and hits the wall, causing it to crack.

“Hey, not fair. I can’t fly yet,” Sam complained.

Derren’s right hand turns into a bee sting, and he launches it towards Sam. Sam rolls out of the way.

Derren starts launching multiple stings, each one barely missing Sam and hitting the ground with tremendous force.

“I can’t keep evading these forever. He’s predicting my movements,” Sam thought. “Ah, an idea.”

Sam runs towards the wall.

“What is he doing?” Adam wondered aloud. “If it were anyone from the Flame Dorm, they could have used flame balls to take out Derren.”

Sam reaches the wall, steps on it a few times, and flips backward while conjuring a bazooka mid-air, firing it before he lands.

“Wait, that weapon isn’t allowed,” the first commentator noted.

The round hits Derren, but surprisingly, it’s not a bazooka but fireworks. This causes Derren to fall to the ground. Immediately, Sam conjures a crossbow and fires multiple arrows at him. Derren gets hit, but the arrows barely penetrate his armor since they are made of metal.

Derren uses his wings to shield himself. His wings are covered by a thick, hard shell. Sam stops firing.

“I can’t believe I’m gonna use this on a second-year. Sigh... Partial armor of strength,” Sam muttered.

Sam’s hands start turning silver, and his eyes glow a faint gray, this time staying lit.

He runs towards Derren at 2067 km an hour, punching through his wings and striking his chest, sending Derren flying and hitting the wall with tremendous force.

Sam’s hands turn back to normal. Derren falls to his knees, then his chest hits the ground.

“Sam is the winner!!!” the announcer declared.

The crowd goes wild.

“Wow, that was one hell of a match,” Adam said, impressed.

“It was the last one,” Tilda noted.

“Please remember those who want to sign up for the tournament have only one week left,If you want to register, go to the last floor and enter the door marked ‘Registration.’ Thank you. That was the last match of today,” the announcer said.

Sam walked towards Derren and helped him get up.

“You’re not bad. Keep training, and you’ll reach my level,” Sam said.

“You haven’t used your full power, have you?” Derren asked.

“Haha... No,” Sam admitted.

A man and woman wearing white hurried out to take Derren and Sam with them.

“Thank you for being with us today. Have a good evening,” the announcer continued.

People started to depart. Adam got up, and they headed to the parking lot. They got in the car and drove to Adam's home.

Along the way, Adam said, “That fight was awesome. So the Arthro Dorm students have the abilities to have the characteristics of an insect... Cool.”

“And creepy,” Tilda added.

Adam smiled. “And creepy...”

Tilda sighed.

“I’m sorry about what Alex said back then, I—” Adam began.

“It’s fine,” Tilda interrupted. *(He’s not wrong...)*

They arrived.

Adam got out and closed the door. He turned to talk to Tilda.

“I really had a great time with you. Thanks again,” Adam said.

Tilda blushed before she spoke. “No, it’s—it's fine. I... I had a great time with you too. Have a good night.”

She reversed the car and took off.

“B-bye,” Adam said, waving.

He turned to look at the house.

“Okay, what now? Why am I still full of energy? Must be because of the powers,” Adam mused.

He looked at his hand and caused it to ignite in flames.

“Huh. Still fascinating. Time to get some rest,” Adam said.

He opened the door of the house, entered, and closed the door. His phone started ringing, and it displayed "Unknown Caller."