"Mason! Mason! Mason!" My teammates and the other students chanted as they threw me up in the air and caught me back before throwing me back up and catching me again and repeating the move all over. I had led the school soccer team to victory by scoring a crucial winning goal, so I was currently a hero in the face of these students. As they threw me up in the air, I looked on the sidelines and saw Jane flinging her hands up in the air, chanting along with the happy crowd. She was very happy. I was happy too. Happy that she was happy. It's been five years now since that night at Crute, where we went to rescue Jane, where Dad was shot, lost a lot of blood, where Cara could not save him, and where he died. It's been five years since that night I bawled my eyes out, that night where we all sat crying like a bunch of kids abandoned by their parents. It's been five years and now I am in Class two in high school. After that night in Crute, everyone found out that my Dad was de
It was late in the night, birdsqq chirping on the palm trees around the school, the insects singing, making merry as their chirping reached a crescendo. The shadows covered the whole area since lights out has passed in the hostels. The martial arts hall is always open to students to practice. Though the school does not encourage or permit students to use the facility at night, there are still a few dogged ones among us who flaunt the rules and use the hall at night. Since I left Old Town for borden school, I no longer see Geo, Nate and Cara like before so the training I receive from them stopped and I had to find ways to personally improve my skills. I still have a lot of things to achieve so I couldn't stop improving at that point. Though I still meet Geo and others whenever I go home for breaks and we still train and spar but I can't wait till the end of every term to improve myself. I was on my way to the martial arts hall that night after the football match where I won i
When I defeated Rio to climb up to 2nd, it wasn't a close fight at all. Emphatically, it was not a match for positions between two martial arts students, but a match for pride between high school boys trying to keep hold of or reclaim face. Rio has always been a cute little boy, tall, huge with good muscles, and a very handsome face. He has impressive body features so even without his athletic and martial arts prowess, he was already a popular figure around the school. Just as every popular person would not welcome anyone that poses a threat to them being in the limelight, Rio tried to make sure he shows everyone who attempts to join him on the center stage their place in the audience. There are three ways by which you can pose a threat to Rio's prestige; firstly if you join the football team and began to do so well that you are receiving praises from everyone, if you try to challenge him to a duel in martial arts thinking you'd defeat him and lastly if you lik
When Rio said he had an offer to make, I knew straight away what his offer would be and the fact that he wants me out of Jane's and Katie's way wasn't so unexpected either. But Rio offering to be my boy, servant, lackey, call it anything, is what amuses me. Rio being Rio wouldn't let himself be controlled by any student so him making that offer means he is very certain of his win but I wasn't going to back out either. I would also love to see him become my boy, order him around, and I would love to see him humiliated once more. "He won't fight you," Jane said stepping forward, standing in front of me "and he won't accept your offers either" she continued "I will report to the school that he is sick and won't be able to accept your position fight. The fight will be called off, so don't bother" Jane said looking at me. I pulled Jane back to my side, though she's skilled at fighting and surprisingly among the top 10 martial arts students in the school, I don't trust Rio
Everyone loves attention, everyone loves to be under the limelight, on center stage, the world screaming your name, your name mentioned at every nook and cranny, everyone loves that. But with attention comes responsibility, the responsibility to live up to the attention which you have been given, the responsibility to give back to those who had given you attention. There is negative and positive attention and I've received both over the past few days. While some students keep coming to me and asking me questions like 'are you truly going to fight Rio? Some would come and threaten the hell out of me and be like, 'punk, if you're going to fight Rio, then know you're going to lose.' It was all a roller coaster of emotions for me; I am confident in my skills but it is a fight and there'll always be that 'person' in your mind asking you that unacceptable question. 'What if you lose?'. It is one question that I can't answer. The fight was scheduled for the end of the day after th
I have received hits in the past, maybe from Nate or Geo while sparring or from students when they get some hits during a position fight. I have never received a hit as strong as this. The kick was devastating and it sent me flying. I was on the floor on the other side of the arena before I knew it. More seriously, my eyes were closing. I was trying my best to stay conscious but the arena was rotating in my eyes, people becoming double as I look at them. Katie began the countdown as I remained on the floor. I could make out Rio who was already celebrating his victory. The crowd was cheering and buzzing. I remembered the terms associated with the fight. Everything that is at stake. The martial arts, football team, Katie and most importantly Jane. "7...6...5" Katie was about to count the last number and Rio would win the fight. Just as she was about to finish the countdown and my senses grew subconscious about the environment, I felt an insane amount of energy surge insi
When the circle expanded into the size of a football, it felt like my cells were expanding with it. As if they were going to burst. It was passing energy to my legs, my brain, my arm, and everywhere. I was trying to reduce the growth of the energy when Rio stood up then. The reason I had to finish the fight very fast. The energy had moved to every part of my body by the time the fight ended. I endured the pain and let Katie finish the countdown and I just fell.***I was lying on a small mattress covered with white bedsheets. It was a small room, not a room per se. It was covered on every side with white curtains that stretch down to the floor. There was a table just beside me and a tray filled with drugs on it.I tried to stand up from the bed but every joint on my body ached. It was as if I had been lifting weights for days non-stop. After a few attempts, I raised my upper body and sat, my back resting on the end of the bed.I remained like that for a while before I tried to stand
Master Leao is always at the martial arts hall. That is his office and he rarely leaves there, except at nights. Most times, when you enter the martial arts hall, you either meet Master Leao punching thin air while doing back flips and sending kicks mid-air or sitting with his legs crossed inside and his hands stretched out making a V shape.That's Master Leao in summary. Train, train, and train. He would spar with everyone in class standing on one spot and anyone who manages to make him move a leg would be given something. We would put our all into the spar with him, and fight like our lives depend on it. For sure, we know Master Leao was a man of his word and his gift would not be little either so we fight for the reward.Only one student has managed to make Master Leao move his legs. Notwithstanding that it was through sly means. That student was me.I had offered to spar with the master that day. I was bent on making him move a leg and a good idea popped up in my head. 'As long