"Master Kingston!"
"Master Kingston! Over here!"
"Master Kingston wait up!"
"CHASE RUN FASTER!" Iris yelled as she, Jane and I ran down the street towards Baset's tower. We were being chased down the street by a small mob of students who'd been waiting for us up the street from our dorm when we left.
The moment they saw me they started screaming my name and trying to get my attention. At first I was able to ignore them but when a few started grabbing for me and trying to pull me away from the girls and I had to pull away and run before the mob overtook me.
"CHASE DO SOMETHING!" Jane yelled as she dashed ahead of me. Her and Iris were surprisingly good at running for their lives.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!" I snapped.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE MANA CHANNELING! ELECTRCUTE THEM!" Iris barked.
"THAT'S EXCESSIVE DON'T YOU THINK?!" I barked at her.
"WE'RE BEING CHASED BY RABID STUDENTS WANTING A PIECE OF YOU! OF COURSE ITS NOT EXCESSIVE!" Iris barked.
I channeled darkness attribute mana into my hand and stretched it out behind me. A cloud of black smoke flew from my hands and enveloped out pursuers. They starter tripping and falling all over themselves letting all of us break away and make it into Baset's tower. I was the last one in and I slammed the door behind myself.
"That works too…" Jane panted as she leaned against the security desk. The guardsmen that was stationed at the deal looked amused as he looked at the three of us.
"You three really can't go one class without some type of drama going on, can you?" He asked with a amused chuckle.
"It's his fault! Every time someone comes after us before class its always because of him!" Iris growled.
"Hey I can't control what a bunch of idiots do!" I snapped at her.
"Yeah but you could stop antagonizing the idiots all the time!" Iris snapped back.
"That's just my personality Tri-clops!"
"Well you need to get a new one Star Child!" Iris barked as she walked over and smacked me on the back of my head.
"Ow!" I screamed and grabbed my head. "Why do you keep slapping my head!"
"Because the only way you learn is to shove the lesson through your thick skull!" She snapped.
"Can you two stop fighting so we can get to class!" Jane grumbled as she started towards the lecture hall. The guardsmen cleared his throat and caught everyone's attention.
"Lady Baset has moved class up to the training room up on the sixth floor." The guardsmen said. I arched my eyebrows and looked at Jane and Iris.
"Why would she move class up there?" I asked.
"You'll see when you get up there. Now hurry, you three are the last ones here…again." The guardsmen said. I groaned then walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.
The girls inside walked inside the elevator and rode it up to the sixth floor. When the doors opened we were let out onto a vast singular room. There wasn't a single piece of furniture inside the room. Red marks outlined a massive arena on the floor with two sides clearly marked on the floor.
Baaet, Bo, Astrid and Damon were all standing in the center of this small arena seeming to wait for something. Or someone. The sound of the elevator door opening alerted them all to the girls and mine's presence.
"Ah! Finally!" Baset said then clapped her hands. "About time you three made it here! Why are you always showing up to my class late?"
"Chase." Jane and Iris said wearily as they walked out of the elevator.
"Hey I didn't invite all those idiots and they tried to grab me." I said, following them out of the room and over to Baset and the others.
"We got ambushed by a bunch of people who wanted enchanted items made by Chase." Iris said. Astrid sighed and shook her head.
"I figured something like that would happen eventually." Astrid said.
"Well if that's the case It might be time for the three of you to start flying to class or at least having one of your evos escort you all here." Baset said.
"That might be a good idea. I can always have Jingles fly us here. He's big enough to fit all three of us but small enough to nor draw too much attention." Jane said.
"As apposed to any of Chase's evos." Damon said with a haughty chuckle. I rolled my eyes and ignored him for once and looked at Basst.
"That can all be dealt with later. Why are you making us come here for class?" I asked. Baset smiled then pointed to Jane and Me.
"For your duel of course." She said in a devilish tone.
"Our duel?!" Jane and I exclaimed.
"Yes. I decided that you two will have your fight here instead of waiting for after class. Don't worry about the room, it's reinforced with both magic and sturdier materials." Baset explained. Kane sighed then turned and looked to me.
"I suppose it is better to get this out of the way and show you once and for all that no matter how hard you try Traditional splicing will always beat whatever new-age, half-cocked imitation you call a new splicing technique." Jane said. I smiled deviously at her then pointed to the field.
"Talk with your evo LPP, until you prove it all your doing is bragging." I said then walked over to the other side of the battlefield. Jane huffed and walked to the opposite end of me.
"Hold on a second before you start duking it out. There is one more spectator that hasn't made an appearance yet. Also the rest of us are still in the middle of the field." Baset said then shooed everyone else to the side by the elevator.
"Wait! Who's the other spectator?" Bo asked. I groaned and looked towards Baset and narrowed my eyes.
"It's the dean isn't it?" I asked. No sooner had the question left my lips had the elevator dinged and the doors opened. Dean Baxter walked put of the elevator with a satisfied expression on his face. "Of course it's the dean…"
"Well hello students!" Dean Baxter greeted everyone as he walked out of the elevator.
"Uncle Baxter!" Bo exclaimed then rushed over and smiled up at the dean.
"Uncle?!" Jane, Iris, Damon, Astrid, and I all muttered in unison.
"Bo!" Dean Baxter exclaimed then smiled broadly as he ruffled Bo's hair. "How are you settling into class?"
"Great! The lessons are Fun and Auntie Baset explains everything clearly." Bo replied with a goofy smile.
"That's good! That's good!" Dean Baxter replied then turned to look at Baset. "I understand that Young Kingston and Lady Yearwood are planning to fight a duel today."
"Yes, they are dueling over a difference in opinion…" Baset started only to be interrupted by Jane.
"I am dueling for the honor of splicing, real, traditional splicing! Not this abomination that the Americans have come up with!" Jane said proudly.
"Ah-ha. A lofty and noble goal indeed." Dean Baxter said.
"Enough grandstanding, lets just get this over with." I said. Baset laughed and stepped forward.
"Then let me officiate. I Baset Paragon will act as judge for the duel between Jane Yearwood and Chase Kingston. Each combatant will fight with one evo of their creation." Baset said then pointed to Jane.
"Jane Yearwood present your evo!"
"Come on out, Jericho!" Jane exclaimed as a crystalline structure formed around her farm crystal and shot out and landed in front of her.
A large evo about nine feet tall emerged out of the structure. It looked like a massive black lion with horns. It had a flowing blonde mane that had black highlights. The massive evo was roped in muscle that looked odd and alien on the feline frame, enlarged as it is. The evo threw its head back and roared.
"This is Jericho, a noblesse. A evo created using lion, panther, and bull DNA. It was made using traditional splicing techniques!" Jane explained.
"Techniques that you know I can't use!" I yelled across the room at her. Jane frowned then pointed at me.
"Stop talking and bring out your evo!" Jane snapped.
"Ummm…you were the one doing all the talking though…." Bo said. I smirked and held my right hand up.
"Jiggles!" I exclaimed as his crystalline structure formed over my farm crystal and then shot out and landed in front of me.
Jiggles emerged from his structure, now clad in leather armor that I had made in the style of a ancient Roman soldier's armor and let out a loud roar.
"Jiggles?" Damon, Astrid, and Iris all muttered and shared a amused look.
"This is Jiggles, one of the new evos that I designed using my new splicing technique called shaping. Jiggles is an Ogrest. I'm not going to say what animals are used to make it since I plan to start mass producing ogrest…with some small changes." I said.
"MASS-PRODUCE!" Baset shouted then grabbed her mouth when everyone looked at her. She looked sheepish then cleared her throat. "You actually plan to make more of…those…"
"Yes…a lot more…" I said with a devious smile.
"Oh gods help us all…" Baset muttered.
Jane suddenly burst into laughter and doubled over. Everyone turned and looked at her. She'd fallen to the ground and was rolling along the ground laughing.
"That's the evo! That! It looks…S-s-so FAT!" She cackled.
"Oh shit…" I muttered then looked over to Jiggles. He glared at Jane and roared.
"I'M NOT FAT! I'M CHUNKY!" He bellowed. I jumped in front of Jiggles and held my hands up.
"Whoa! Hold on big guy! Save the anger for the evo. Do not hurt the splicer!" I exclaimed. Jiggles huffed and took a step back and crossed his arms.
"Alright Star Shaper." He grumbled. I reached up and patted him on the head earning a loud trumpeting sound from him.
"If both splicers are ready, let us begin the fight." Baset said. I walked back to my original position and Jane stood up, still chuckling.
"Ready! Begin!"
"Jericho go!" Jane yelled.
The noblesse rushed forward with surprising speed and slashed at Jiggles with its razor sharp claws. With speed that surprised even me Jiggles ducked down and dodged the claws then twisted his upper body and planting a hand underneath himself to steady his body, nailed the noblesse with a kick so hard I heard something crack and the noblesse's body flew several feet up into the air.
The noblesse landed several feet back and coughed and wheezed for several moments as it struggled to catch its breath. Jiggles cracked his knuckles and jerked his head to the side cracking it.
"Star Shaper said to save my anger for you! So I'm going to pummel you into the ground!" Jiggles exclaimed. He channeled mana into his feet and flames erupted under his soles.
He propelled himself forward with explosive speed and socked the noblesse square in the jaw. When his fist made contact with the other evos face flames exploded from it and engulfed the noblesse's mane in fire.
"JERICHO!" Jane exclaimed as her evo roared and rolled across the ground in pain and trying to extinguish the flames.
[Jiggles back off and let the evo recover.] I told him over our mental link.
[But my rage!] Jiggles exclaimed.
[We'll sate your rage, but do you really want to win so easily and quickly?] I asked. After a few seconds Jiggles huffed and took several steps back.
Jane's noblesse managed to extinguish the flames but not before they completely destroyed its mane. It looked like a fluffy cat that had a really bad haircut. It was bleeding from it's snout which was slightly burned in several places. It narrowed its eyes at Jiggles and crouched down low.
"You're cheating!" Jane exclaimed and pointed to Me.
"How am I cheating?!" I exclaimed indignantly.
"You cast a spell on your evo to be able to create flames like that! Admit it!" She shouted.
"I did nothing of the sort! However let's just say when I designed Jiggles I drew heavy inspiration from Alpa'nagia." I said with a smirk.
"Inspiration?" Jane muttered.
The noblesse charged at Jiggles, sticking low to the ground it feigned like it was going to pounce and attack. Jiggles took the bait and threw a punch at its head. The noblesse dodged the strike at the last minute then dashed around Jiggles and pounced on his back, digging his fangs into Jiggles shoulder. Jiggles roared in pain as he tried to reach back and pull the noblesse off its back but it took all its strength to keep the larger from pushing him to his knees with his body weight. The noblesse tore into Jiggles' shoulder.
"Jiggles! Full body channel!" I yelled. Jiggles roared as his body erupted into flames that blasted off the noblesse.
"JERICHO!" Jane screamed.
"Jiggles you okay?" I asked as I looked at the deep wound on his shoulder. The noblesse's fangs tore through the muscle and fat of Jiggles shoulder like a hot knife through butter. He was bleeding heavily but seemed less worried about it and more pissed.
"It'll heal…" Jiggles spat through gritted teeth. No sooner had he said it did the bleeding stopped, the wound started to close and flesh knitted shut in a matter of seconds. "…this bastard won't!"
He stuck his hand out and channeled mana into the bangle he wore on his arm. The bangle glowed as a axiom spell sigil formed in front of his palm. Two gashes formed on both of Jiggles arms and blood poured out of them like juice through a straw and collected in both of his hands. The twin pools of blood then turned into two blood war axes. Jiggles let out a fierce roar and clanged the two axes together making a loud ringing noise.
"IT CAN CAST SPELLS!" Everyone in the room screamed.
"No, he can't cast spells just use enchanted items." I said with a shit-eating grin.
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE! THERE IS NO WAY THAT A EVO CAN USE A ENCHANTED ITEM!" Jane screamed and stomped her feet.
"Anyone can use an enchanted item as long as they have mana." I said with a smirk then pointed at the noblesse. "End this Jiggles!"
Jiggles charged forward twin axes raised. The noblesse went on the defensive having noticed the difference in Jiggles. Jiggles swung one of the axes at the noblesse, aiming for its head. The noblesse timed the attack right and just barely dodged Jiggles axe strike then countered with a lightning fast claw swipe.
Jiggles saw this coming though and blocked the claw with its other axe then channeled mana into its legs and with a burst of flames spun on its heel and slammed the butt of the axe into the noblesse face.
The noblesse skidded across the floor tjen shook it head and growled at Jiggles. Jiggles twin axes became engulfed in flames. He swung one arm back and and slashed upwards letting the blade of the axe just barely strike the ground. A wave of flames surged forth from the point of impact and quickly approached the noblesse. The noblesse jumped over the wave of flames out of instinct, which was a fatal mistake.
"IT'S A WRAAAAAAAP!" Jiggles bellowed as he threw his second axe at the noblesse while it was still in the air.
The axe struck the noblesse dead center in the chest. Jiggles raised his free hand and snapped his fingers. The blood axe suddenly glowed a bright red before it exploded in a massive inferno that engulfed the noblesse entirely. When the flames subsided there wasn't even any ash left from the noblesse's corpse.
"I'M NOT FAT! IM CHUNKY! STAR SHAPER SAYS SO! SO IT IS!" Jiggles trumped proudly.