My Predator System

I get lectured by the Lees

The nurse cleaned his lip placing a band-aid on his head, he had a nasty purple bruise on his forehead and his arms were sore.

"Some fight."

"Mmmmm."

This was not the first time he had ever entered the clinic. The nurse felt sorry for Maks more than anyone else.

He was bullied a lot.

***

Victor couldn't swallow at the thought of facing his dad to explain the whole scenario. This was how he got the injury.

He stepped out of the clinic with Maks standing by, he wasn't on uniform and he got schooled.

His eyes dwindled.

...

The car stopped by and Marshall did not take him home, with his resources, they went over to the best hospital there was in town, a doctor had to check him for any internal injuries and ordered for new glasses.

Victor laid there in his hospital bed, dressed and treated, watching his dad, his expression was baffling and his voice was icy cold.

"Ow." Victor inched away when the doctor patted his bruised eye.

He nodded after the prognosis and Kirsta on the other hand went over to grip his hand.

Victor had fractured a rib.

"I am...so disappointed."

He sulked with his eyes down but nevertheless, afraid of what Marshall was going to do to him. He feared it would be far worse than he predicted.

***

Maks went home to an angry Doreen. She folded her arms tapping her foot.

"Hey." He said drily and walked over to the chair, settling in.

She stared at him ruefully.

He sat back on the couch replacing his backpack pretending as if he hadn't noticed her cold stare.

"You nearly lost your scholarship!? Maks, what were you thinking!?" She asked dropping her hands.

"I've been a worm for two days" He uttered snidely and she looked confused then she frowned.

"Stop! Just stop it! What would you do this for? A gamble? You worked hard enough to get to that school_"

"It's no big deal!" He roared.

Doreen blinked at his attitude. She stood akimbo. "That's not an excuse, this is the deadline of your semester and you're whiling it away doing_whatever it is you're doing!"

Doreen Fletcher-Anderson had been his stepmom since he was just eight years old.

His dad, Melvin was stationed overseas. There wasn't a day he felt nostalgic about seeing him again. He would have handled this better.

Pfft*

She gasped at his behaviour.

"Maks, what has gotten into you? You're getting into fights, you're slacking off? You're not setting a very good example for your sister, Jessica."

Jessica blinked at him. He wanted to protest. That was when he let the canon loose."She's not my problem, alright!? Jessica's yours." His voice cracked when he saw that he went too far. "I carry my own weight" He poked his chest and hurried into his room and sobbed.

He wiped his eyes throwing himself into his bed in the dark room.

***

Maks met Victor at his house. Victor sat on a cushion with a brace on his arm and torso and he sat back, they looked at each other and looked aside. Maks's teeth bit into his lip, looking aside.

Victor was partly to blame for his mishap. His chest boiled with rage.

"Hey." Victor said.

"Hmmph."

He was still emotional, all his hardwork had almost gone down the drain because he chose to intervene. It was a tad too much compared to anything else that he suffered. He used to be bullied by Dom's friends ever since he arrived at school. He would be riled up into fighting back because they knew he had gotten to Prescott High by "chance."

He was not a rich kid like them. It was not like anything was wrong with being rich but they made his life in that school a living nightmare. Being Victor's best friend was the highlight of it all.

Marshall Lee appeared in the living room in work clothes, he folded his arms.

"The two of you, have some explaining to do"

Maks hardened.

"Perhaps I've been too tolerant with you, sometimes I don't even understand your motives, anymore, are you trying to tell me that I am not a good guardian?" Marshall asked Victor.

"It's not that."

"It's alright, Marshall" Kirsta said.

"It is not alright..." He said some things to her in abrupt Mandarin.

Victor shrunk and Maks whistled when he heard some of the things he said.

"You cannot even stand up to your own adversary over important things! I am so ashamed of you, Victor. A worm??" He laughed bitterly.

Victor winced at those words and his head dropped, blooming like a peach.

"It's the truth sir." Maks said reluctantly rubbing his neck. "I was the worm."

His eyebrows rose in shock and he laughed.

"Maks, you can't chime into this prank. Considering what you have done. You are more than capable enough of fighting your own battles."

Maks felt his chest heave with pride at that statement, he scratched his temple with his middle finger and Victor nudged him getting the message.

"Boys, stop it." Marshall said to the two of them and dragged a chair to face them. Sitting down.

"But! It should not be at your own expense, Maks... Count your losses. Are you happy?" asked Marshall.

Maks cupped his hands in front of him. Avoiding eye contact. "No, mister Lee."

He had a second strike. One more and he would either be expelled from school or forced to compensate for the semester's bills. Maks closed up hating to admit his defeat, the school would be laughing at him for his downfall. His eyes turned glassy. "I'm not."

"You continue to grow bitter, young man. You need to rein in your anger. Let this be a lesson_"

Considering what Marshall had gone through, he was in the best position to scold Maks.

"I took the Zaipe dou." Victor cut in.

Marshall glanced at him. Then he scoffed.

Victor took up the Ziploc bag and read the column. Then opened it to find the Zaipei dou (Xhai-pay doh)

Their family's greatest legacy, it was passed down from the earth's greatest cultivator, a land dragon named Fei Long, she wanted humans to flourish and so she gracefully reaped a harvest from her vineyard and passed those seeds of greatness on to the shakiest families.

The Lees were one of the privileged to be gifted, the first cultivator was named Chao Lee helped their families through hard times including war or else their family would not live to see the next generation, some said he became mad with power at the end, and the family had to carry on with precaution, the Lees were unassailable.

Others said his body was taken possession of, as the days went by and the world's flux became stronger, no one wanted to become a cultivator anymore and said it was too much work, there were too many risks involved.

Marshall's mother Chyou Lee took these beans and became a legendary earth elemental cultivator until her body grew too weak to even continue. It promised her return to the earth.

"I could never wield such power, it was easy to feel unexceptional, I wanted to be just like her but I most preferred to live a simple life and follow my dreams instead." He tapped his knees.

"I don't envy you Maks because that is the power I dreaded the most." He laughed outloud and Maks touched his shirt looking aside when Kirsta joined him.

"Gee, thanks Mister Lee." He mumbled.

"So there's really no way to stop it?" He asked. "The system?"

He winced with a bottle of water halfway to his mouth. "System? Gee, that's new."

"New?"

"To answer your previous, I am...afraid not, for someone to obtain this outside the family_this must be serious...no offense." He said and Kirsta laughed again.

"Ha ha."

Maks groaned.

"And Victor, I am proud of you for taking that risk. My son has foresight, what is a more formidable power?"

Victor's chin rose upbeat and Maks's eyes narrowed beside him.

Whatever. He mumbled.

Marshall's eyes went over to Maks "You need guidance, you cannot live in this environment and expect to be treated seriously, you need an academy."