Orion's Rise: From Zero to Hero in Two Worlds

Chapter 4

"Didn't I tell you.. not to look at me, Sergio?"

Even though Jared's voice was hardly more than a growl,

It sounded to me like a siren.

I kept my eyes down;

My head down;

And my back against the cold brick wall.

All other sounds were muffled by the laughter,

The footsteps of his friends coming closer,

And the distant voice of a teacher behind the doors.

That one voice was all I could hear.

Jared's.

I opened my mouth;

My tongue was starting to form words.

*Say something.

But I choked on the words.

I felt like my body was frozen.

As though my limbs were fixed.

I had lost all sense of my purpose for being here.

Why I kept coming back,

Day after day. To this dumb school.

"I asked you question." Jared said.

Abruptly, his hand grabbed my shirt collar.

Yanking me forward.

"Did I not?"

"Yeah," I croaked.

“You did.”

"And?"

He smiled and leaned close enough for me to smell the slight tang of cheap cologne and sweat. 

“What’s your excuse this time, huh?"

"Gonna cry about it?"

"Or maybe you’ll run off like you always do.”

Behind him, his friends laughed.

The sound the was low; cruel, and made my stomach turn.

I tried to pull away;

But Jared tightened his grip.

His fingertips dug into my skin.

"Let him go, man,"

One of his friends said. His voice betraying no genuine concern.

It's more like boredom.

As if this were just another day. Another round of torment.

Another game.

Jared ignored him.

"Look at me, Sergio."

"C'mon. For once in your life, ACT like a man."

I forced myself to raise my head. My eyes met his.

He continued to smile.

His expression had changed in some way. A darker one.

I couldn't identify it. Or perhaps I did.

But, I didn't want to let it take over my thoughts.

"Yeah." He said with a low voice.

"That's more like it."

I did not move. I did not speak.

I just waited.

I waited for the unavoidable.

He let go of my shirt and stepped back.

He raised his fist.

"Let's see that tough guy act again." 

"You are good at that, right?"

I prepared myself.

My chest felt like my heart was beating uncontrollably.

I had been hit before. Many times.

But this time, something felt different.

It was not the typical fear.

It wasn't even the pain I had expected.

It was something else entirely.

***

The fist hit my jaw.

Or at least, it was supposed to.

But it did not.

Not really.

Time slowed.

I mean *slowed*.

I felt something shift the moment Jared's fist should have smashed into my face.

There's something inside me.

As if a switch had been flipped.

And all of a sudden, the world around me stopped moving at normal speed.

Everything was off.

Like a slow-motion film.

I squeezed my eyes closed.

Then reopened them.

Trying to figure out what was going on.

But even that seemed to take forever.

Jared's fist was still up in the air.

Only inches from my face.

Frozen in the middle of a swing.

His friends were standing behind him, their expressions varying between amusement and impatience.

***

"What... the hell?"

I whispered. My voice sounded strange in my own ears.

Then I noticed it.

A light.

Faint at first, but gets stronger by the second.

It was coming from behind Jared; but when I tried to move.

Turn around, and look;

I realized I didn't have to.

The light was not behind him.

It was in front of me.

I tilted my head slightly.

My eyes widened when a small, transparent screen appeared in front of my face.

Like a hologram, but more real.

More solid.

*System Activated*

The words flashed across the screen in glowing white letters.

I blinked. Trying to make sense of it.

But, it did not disappear.

It simply hovered there, waiting.

What for? I had no idea. 

*System?* I wondered, as a strange electric pulse rushed through my body.

What exactly did that mean?

Was I hallucinating?

Was this some sort of dream?

Or had Jared finally hit me so hard that I became insane?

But no.

This was real.

At the very least, it felt real.

I reached up.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I moved my hand across the screen.

To my surprise, the hologram reacted by shifting to reveal additional text.

*Welcome, Orion Sergio.

*The system has been activated.

The letters blurred before my eyes as thoughts raced through my mind.

My throat felt dry.

"Activated?" I thought.

"Which system?" 

"What the hell is going on?"

The screen then flashed again;

As if it was reacting to my confusion.

It displayed a list of options.

Each one glowed faintly.

*Benefits include increased strength, speed, and perception.

I blinked again, my fingers hovering over the available options.

"What is this?" 

A game? A simulation?

None of it made sense.

On the other hand, something felt right.

It seemed like I had been waiting for this all along without even recognizing it.

I paused just a moment before tapping.

*Perception Boost*.

It seemed like the safest option, whatever that meant.

The moment my finger touched the hologram;

I felt it.

The rush.

My body felt energized.

Each nerve felt alive.

It was as if lightning had passed through me.

I could feel it in my veins.

My vision became sharper.

The world around me is becoming clearer.

I could see every detail now.

Every crack in the bricks behind me;

Every bead of sweat on Jared's brow;

Every tiny shift in the air as his fist moved closer... and closer.

Was this real?

Was any of this real?

I did not have time to think about it.

Jared's fist was still approaching.

But now, I could see it.

Every move.

Every movement of his muscles.

Each twitch of his fingers.

It was like; viewing a slow-motion replay of a punch.

But in real time.

And something within me told me, exactly what to do next.

I moved.

It was not a big movement.

Just a slight tilt of my head;

Enough to miss Jared's fist by a fraction of an inch.

But it was sufficient.

His punch flew past me,

His knuckles grazed the wall behind me with a gentle thud.

"What the—?"

Jared stumbled forward, his fist missing its target entirely.

His mind reeling, he blinked in confusion.

Unable to accept the reality of what he had just witnessed.

His friends shifted uncomfortably behind him.

They held back their laughter.

I retreated one step,

My body continued to buzz from an odd electrical energy source;

And my heart is pounding.

I wasn't sure what I did.

I wasn't sure how it happened.

It did not make sense to me.

But I knew I did it.

And now, Jared stood in front of me.

His fist hung limply by his side.

His eyes widened in shock.

"What... was that?"

I didn't respond.

I couldn't.

I did not know what to say.

***

Jared blinked.

To clear it, he shook his head.

He then lunged at me once more.

He swung his fist wildly.

But this time, I was prepared.

Before he could process it, I shifted.

I step around him and ducked to the side.

It was like he wasn't even there.

My movements seemed to be... effortless.

Fluid.

As if I had been doing this all my life.

Even though I was certain I hadn't.

***

Jared stumbled again.

His face turned red from frustration.

"What the hell, Sergio?"

"Stop dodging and fight!"

But I did not want to fight.

I did not *need* to fight.

Not anymore.

I straightened up.

My eyes remained fixed on Jared's.

My body is humming with this strange new energy.

I felt a surge of energy inside me.

It permeated my entire being.

The force was too much.

However, I had no idea how to use it.

Not yet.

Jared swung again.

This time, he used both fists.

But I took a step back with ease.

Avoiding his punches as if they were slow-motion replays.

His friends were now watching.

They widened their eyes in shock.

I had never moved like this before.

"Come on, Jared," one of them called. His voice was shaky.

"Just hit him already!"

But Jared couldn't strike me.

Regardless of how hard he tried.

No matter how quickly he swung.

I was always a step ahead.

I could see every move he was about to make.

Every movement of his body signaled his next attack.

Finally, Jared paused; panting heavily.

His face was flushed with anger and exhaustion.

"What... what the hell is going on?" 

I didn't respond.

I just stood there.

My heart is still racing.

My mind is spinning with a thousand questions.

And then; as if in response to Jared's uncertainty.

The hologram flashed again.

*Level 1: Complete.

The sight of the words made my breath catch in my throat.

"Level 1?" 

"What exactly did that mean?"

Before I could figure it out, the hologram vanished.

It disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

My body's electric energy began to fade, and I felt... normal again.

Human.

Jared still stood in front of me.

He remained still, his fists clenched.

All he did was look at me, his confused eyes wide.

And something else.

Fear, perhaps?

***

I did not know.

I didn't care.

I only knew that something had changed.

Something inside me had awakened.

And I wasn't the same kid as before.

"Sergio..."

Jared's voice sounded low.

Uncertain.

"What the hell are you?"

I looked at him.

"I don't know,"

"But I'm gonna find out."