As Cody swung the spiked glove towards Dino's face, Dino grit his teeth and suddenly his body began to bulge up dramatically. He began mirroring the effect that Cody had displayed earlier.
"What's going on? How did Dino suddenly begin swelling up?"
Cody saw Dino's transformation in real time and was stunned, however his punch never stopped. Everyone observed Dino's body swelling up, muscles expanding and veins popping, as the glove hit Dino's face. However, Dino's hand instantly rose up and blocked part of the glove, yet there was a terrifying gash on his left cheek.
Enraged by the pain, Dino suddenly swung his leg powerfully and smashed into Cody's chest, causing it to cave in and flinging him away like a rocket, until he collided with the Arena's barrier and slumped to the ground, bleeding from every place imaginable and his bones arranged crookedly.
"Stop! Match Ends, Winner - Dino!" The referee yelled before rushing towards Cody, and immediately letting the emergency services carry him away.
"How did this happen? How did Dino grow so strong?" Someone couldn't help yelling.
However, moments later, Dino's body began tearing apart and he deflated as thousands of small cuts appeared on his body and blood flowed out of them. Dino slumped to the ground as well, and he looked terrifyingly injured as well.
Lear looked at the match thoughtfully. "Interesting. Dino's ability has grown in a peculiar direction." He said after some thought.
Janice yawned. "He can not only nullify a strength type ability, but in urgent situations it seems he can actually temporarily absorb the ability for his own use. Unfortunately, unlike Cody's body which grew up with the strengthening ability, Dino's body can't handle such an increase in strength and burst apart. He was lucky to be able to handle Cody before he himself exploded."
Cran nodded. "It is an interesting ability. If Dino trains his body well, he can probably make good use of the ability, however, it still has its limits." He said as he looked at Wheeler, who was frowning while rubbing his stomach.
The gigantic body turned towards Lear. "I'm hungry, can we go back already."
Lear shook his head and let the group away.
In the distance, Adrian saw the battle between Cody and Dino amd felt even more helpless. Without an ability, Adrian would just be an ordinary pawn that anyone could knock over. He didn't want to be a pawn, but with possibility of himself awakening becoming increasingly thinner, he had to think of a way an ordinary 'cripple' like himself could forge a path forward.
Ordinary people, in this era could not rise to positions of power like before. Running companies, for example, needed a powerful helmsman. Adrian's father was a powerful Ice ability user whose power scale reached 8, a true elite! As a cripple, one's opportunities were really limited.
Adrian left school and headed to the training center to continue his practice and follow his regular routine. As the days passed by, many battles took place in the arena. There were instances where people attempted to sneak attack others outside the arena, but the Student Council rigorously clamped down on those doing so.
In the process, the strength of the student council was once again fortified within the eyes of the students. Lear and Janice commanded respect with the sheer awe of their power, while Trix wasn't one to be messed with for she would put anyone who offended her into a Nightmare that they couldn't get out of, one that would be guaranteed to cause severe post traumatic stress disorder. While Wheeler was renowned as a muscle brain, everyone tip toed around him. If he got angry, only Lear, Janice or Trix could halt his rampage.
Thus, those who were plotting for the Fortification Potion had set their sights on Cran, the one member of the council whose ability wasn't that awe inspiring. With appropriate study and tactics, many felt they had a chance to beat him. Many also felt that Cran was in the student council only because of cronyism and his good relationship with Lear. Usually people wouldn't dare to open their mouth so, but greed for the potion that could increase the grade of their ability caused mouths to loosen.
Meanwhile, Cody was still in the hospital. The first battle had been one of the shortest and also one of the bloodiest. Both had been severely injured, but Dino eventually returned to school. Some looked at him in awe and respect at developing his ability in a unique direction, while others disdained him for showing all his cards in the very first match.
Cody looked at the hospital ceiling and grit his teeth. His eyes were filled with rage. He had broken over fifty bones and reattaching each of them had caused him incredible pain. His parents had to obtain the services of a special healing ability user from the Special Council at an exorbitant cost to heal their son.
While he was busy raging at the humiliation he received, a nurse walked into Cody's room. Cody observed her and was surprised to realize that he hadn't seen her in any of the past days he had been in the hospital.
The nurse looked at him and smiled. "What's wrong Mr. Cody Briggs?"
"You... aren't a nurse... are you?" Cody asked.
"Not bad, at least you can be proud of having a functional mind." The woman casually retorted with a smile. "I looked at your battle and I must say you have quite the talent in the strengthening ability stream."
"What do you want from me?" Cody asked with hesitation and vigilance.
"Hehe, you see, the folks I work with are very interested in strengthening type ability users..." The nurse said. "And I am sure that you too will be quite interested in learning about what we have to offer."