Chereads / New Era Arcana / Chapter 1 - Odd Encounter

New Era Arcana

I_AM_V
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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - Odd Encounter

Valentine stood tired across his main bully and his gang right after school ended. They were in the back side of the yard where teachers never passed by due to it being disheveled and out of the way, the large wall connecting it to the school covered in graffiti, the pavement being worn down concrete.

Valentine did not look like the usual target of bullying, he had an average build, plain brown hair and honey coloured eyes. By all means he was nothing special, excluding the fact that he fought back when being bullied, something that would usually discourage bullying but in his case proved to be what made him so fun to break, touching the violent nature of his main bully Denis.

"Come on, do your thing before I get bored." Dennis said with an impatient look on his face.

Dennis was no average high schooler, he towered over almost anyone he was around, he had height befitting that of a professional basketball player yet the build of a seasoned linebacker, short blonde hair and blue eyes. And along with his immense build he also happened to be the son of a local tycoon, making him untouchable in near every conceivable way.

"Don't make me say it again Valentine." he said

Valentine had a look of both fear and anger etched on his face as he pathetically run at Dennis, winding his fist back and swinging it with all his might, being stopped in his tracks and blown off his feet by a simple swing of Dennis' fist. Much to the enjoyment of the crowd.

Valentine was knocked down to the pavement, the mid-day sun making the small scraps of concrete that dug into his arm scorching hot. A wave of cheers followed by chuckles filled the schoolyard as valentine could only struggle to breathe while holding his stomach with both arms.

"Oh come on. Learn to not wind back jackass. You're making it too easy. Stand back up and do it properly this time." Dennis barked.

Valentine was still on the ground and before he could even begin to struggle his way to his feet a member of the soccer team in full gear that happened to be walking past them walked by. He had a slender build, light brown hair, amber eyes and a persistent smile.

"You're not looking good dude, let me give you a hand." he said, singlehandedly pulling Valentine up and knocking off some of the dust that got on his clothes.

"Ey Sean, what the fuck are you doing?" Dennis said, his glare piercing the soccer player.

"Oh, Denis. I didn't see you all the way back there. Your friend seems to have fallen down and I was just helping him up. Don't mind me." Sean replied, very obviously playing dumb and reverting his attention back to Valentine.

"Dude, don't let them do that to you. Go and show them how it's done." he whispered, touching valentine on the shoulder, seeming to mumble something before leaving the group to themselves, condescendingly winking at Dennis.

"That fucking bastard, now I'm pissed. Valentine if you don't start now I'll pull out your fucking teeth " Dennis said as soon as Sean went out of sight.

Valentine straightened his body as much as he could, maintaining a slight hunch out of necessity. He ran up to Dennis as he had done before, winding his fist back and throwing a punch with all his might, bracing for impact for the moment he gets punched again. Yet that moment never came.

Valentine's fist connected with Dennis' jaw, rattling his head and causing him to fall on the ground face first, unconscious. Valentine looked at his aching fist in disbelief but he didn't have enough time to revel in his achievement before being jumped by Dennis' friends, and so he run. He knew he couldn't outrun them but he had to at least make his way to somewhere that wouldn't allow them to freely do as they please.

Running with all his might, Valentine run to the front yard and made a break for the school gate but he started getting disoriented, his legs felt much lighter than before and moved faster than he knew they could. Taking proper steps was difficult as he would subconsciously miscalculate the proper distancing between steps, which culminated with him tripping over himself and slamming into the school gate, full force.

Valentine closed his eyes in defeat, preparing for the beating of his lifetime, feeling a stream blood trickle from his nose. Yet the time for his beating didn't come. He reluctantly opened his eyes but couldn't see Dennis' friends as he just looked around his perimeter with a lost look on his face. Though his confusion did not last long, the future consequences of his actions slowly started creeping up to him.

"I..it was a… If I can't do that again then I'm…" Valentine started mumbling, a familiar figure walking towards him.

"Well, looks like you took care of that one huh? Good job. " Sean said with a smile, extending his hand towards Valentine.

"I… I might actually get killed." Valentine replied, his speech seemingly slurring.

"Oh come on. You showed him who's boss didn't you? You beat him up. I doubt he'll try anything again. Let's get you up and running again." Sean continued, lowering his hand even further to make it easier for Valentine to grab onto it.

"Y… you don't und-" Valentines said but his sentence was cut short as he let out a visceral scream of pain.

Valentine's body was being overcome by a newfound sense of pain, it felt as if both hot oil and ice shards were flowing through his veins simultaneously. He instinctively tried to stand up but he crumbled to the ground head first, starting to seize. Sean looked stunned for a moment but seemed to calm down very fast, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

"Heal" he said in a powerful tone, his hand gently touching Valentine's forehead and lighting up for a single moment.

Valentine's seizing seemed to suddenly get more violent, his entire body convulsing aggressively.

"Heal, heal, heal." Sean started saying again and again, his hand lighting up numerous times as the seizing only grew worse by the second.

"Why doesn't it work God dammit?" Sean wheezed. His calm demeanor had crumbled and his breathing became wildly irregular.

"Higher heal" Sean said, flinching in a grin of pain and coughing out a large amount of blood.

Sean grabbed his chest, his legs trembling from fatigue. He tried to take a few deep breaths to regain his focus but he didn't get the chance to as a dart shaped bolt of what seemed to be concentrated light hit him on the shoulder, piercing his shirt and causing a gold ball sized wound which started to bleed. Sean grunted loudly and grabbed onto his wound.

"Heal" he said, the wound closing up in mere seconds, the only proof it was ever there being the blood that seeped into his shirt.

Sean quickly turned his entire body to the direction of the shot and without taking any time to scout the area he extended his arm vaguely where he thought the shooter should be.

"Lightning bolt" he shouted and a loud sound akin to that of a taser roared right after as a bolt of lightning similar to that of a tesla coil shot out of his palm aimed at where his palm was pointed.

The lightning bolt went past the head of a young man that was standing 10 meters away and struck the metal fencing of the school, the attack dissipating yet leaving a hole on the fencing.

"Wowa there, overreacting much?" the young man said. He had slightly overgrown black hair, brown eyes, sharp facial features and had an athletic build.

"It's a shame Jake isn't here. I guess I'll just try to cripple you a bit. FIREBALL" he said, a ball of fire appearing in his half open palm.

The young man pitched the fireball with force, releasing it from his grasp and launching it towards Sean, exploding on impact, the flames spreading in a large radius for a mew moments before dissipating with a plume of smoke.

The smoke lingered in the air way longer than normal but as it disappeared Sean's form could be made out again. A large spectral shield covered both him and the seizing Valentine. The attacker had an annoying look on his face, seeing Sean unscathed by his attack.

"Oh come on. I thought I'd be able to at least do some damage since you are hurt and all. So the rumors were true. You are terrifyingly near the 5th circle. Well. I guess I'll have to settle for an eye." He said disappointed.

"You know you're messing with the wrong person right? Lightning armor." Sean replied, a long, continuous stream of lightning coiling around his body, leaving scorch marks on the ground.

The young man seemed to immediately charge at Sean, his movements were fast and clearly enhanced magically. He closed the distance in moments and threw a punch which was easily blocked by Sean's lightning armor, which also momentarily paralyzed the attacker's entire arm.

"You messed up." Sean said with confidence, readying himself to retaliate.

"You can try that if you want him to die." The young man said, pointing at Valentine's body which was being scorched by the electricity coming out of Sean's body.

Sean recoiled at the realization, ending his spell and gathering up his focus to launch a spell at his attacker but it was too late.

"FIREBALL YOU BASTARD!" the young man screamed as he shoved the spell into Sean's face, point blank.

The spell fired but with a smaller explosion this time. Sean seemed to have reacted in time, blocking the fireball with his arm which was burned thoroughly. Sean let out a loud grunt but managed to withstand the pain, waiting for the smoke to clear out before fighting back. Yet once that happened both him and Valentine were gone.