Riley Bastard

After making a few turns, I thought I was back on track to make it to the school. As I was walking, I noticed that the same car had driven past me three times, but it thought nothing of it. After what felt like an hour of walking, I noticed I was not going the right way.

"Excuse me," I told a man with a walking stick. "Do you happen to know how to get to Etheral Academy?" 

When I said that, the man took a second to think

"You are pretty far from the school. I'm afraid it would take you quite some time to get there," he said

"That's ok. I've already broken curfew so that the walk will be fine. Just don't know the way." I said

"Well, if you say so, but I would be careful. Even though we are close to the school, the gangs around here run everything, so be careful," the man said before giving me directions. 

After making a few turns, it felt like I was going even further away from the school, but I thought nothing of it.

"Hey kid, you lost or something?" A guy said with a scar over his right eye,

I just ignored him and kept going 

"Hey, don't you hear me talking to you?" He said again

I still just kept walking, not wanting any trouble. When a fireball landed right in front of me, I turned to look to see a new person with a wide grin, long blond hair, and a lighting bolt tattoo on his arm.

"Don't you have any manners, boy? My colleague over there wants to talk to you." He said

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were talking to me," I said as it started to rain.

"Do you see anyone else around?" The man said 

I looked around and saw no one other than us.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" He asked

"Well, kinda," I said

"You idiot, don't you know who you are talking to? This is Jim Son, also known as the fired merchant," the man with the scar said

So he's a magic user, and I'm assuming he uses fire for the most part with that stupid name, but the lighting bolt makes no sense.

"What with the lightning bolt?" I asked 

The man with the scar looked dumbfounded at my question as if the name meant nothing.

"I'm a member of the shocker gang; in fact, I'm one of the top members," Jim said

"I see, so can I get going now?" I asked

"Look, I don't know, nor do I care where you are going, but this is shocker gang territory, so turn around now," Jim said

"Look, it's raining, and the only directions I have to tell me to go this way. Can't I keep going and not bother anyone?" I asked 

Jim was starting to get angry. I could sense the mana flowing through him, but before he could make a move, three cars came flying by and circled me. The middle car's door opened, and out came a man with a bandage around his eye.

"That's him, the one who got me in the eye," Barney said

The other door opened, and a bigger guy came out. He was wearing a wife beater and long pants. He was bald and covered in tattoos.

"So you're the one who hurt one of my men." The big guy said 

When he said 10 people got out of the three cars, I could tell three were magic users, including the big guy.

"Hey, this is shocker territory. What the hell do you think you're doing." The guy with the scar said

I watched as his head fell to the ground, and a person in a shinobi outfit was behind him. Jim had thrown a fireball at the shinobi, but the shinobi brushed it aside like an unwanted fly.

"How dare you, Chang gang shocker, won't, take this insult lying down," Jim said

"Yeah, yeah, let Shocker be mad. All he wants won't change the fact that this kid is going to die today." The big guy said

"Damn you!" Jim said as he launched himself towards the big guy

All the other men turned to watch the big guy care for Jim, so I took off using the wind to make me go quicker. All I heard behind me was Jim screaming in pain.

After running for a while, I saw the shinobi chasing after me.

"Look, all I did was lightly hit his eye. Any competent life mana user could restore it, so please stop chasing me," I yelled while running away.

The shinobi kept quiet and stayed relatively close behind me. I could sense the mana forming as a water droplet pierced my right arm. I stopped to pull it out and felt my vision blurry. It had poison on it. I forced mana to the spot of the wound and used wing magic to spew the blood out of my arm very fast to try and get the poison out, but before I could tell if it worked, I felt a brutal force hit the back of my head. 

When I woke up, I was in a room tied to a chair with one guy watching me, and a loud noise that sounded like it was coming from upstairs

"Hey boss, the kids awake." Some guy with a dragon tattoo on his arm said

The big guy from before came down the stairs with the shinobi following from behind 

"Thanks, Ricko." Said the big guy

"He sure is a quick one, huh Dom." Said the shinobi

"Yeah, if you hadn't noticed him start to run off, he would gotten away," said DomDom

I just sat there trying to think of a way out, but when I tried to conjure mana in my hands, nothing happened. I must have had a shocked look on my face because Dom began to laugh

"I hate to tell you, but those chains are specifically designed to prevent mana from being used." 

He walked closer, cited his hand, and held it against my leg. I let out a scream in pain.

"You hurt my boy, but that's not all. You made our gang look weak. So I think you owe me, and to pay me back, I want you to fight in our death arena." Dom said

He still had his hand on my leg. Through clenched teeth, I said, "Go to hell."

He took his hand off and then hit me with a closed fist in the face.

"You got some nerve. Everyone else just wants me to kill you, but I figured it would be more fun to watch you fight in the arena. If anything, I'm doing you a favor," Dom said

He reignited his hand, but before he touched me, I said, "Wait, so I just have to win a few fights, and I'll get to leave."

"Not just leave, but I'll even take you back to your school. You have to win three fights, and you'll even be able to make a name for yourself here." Dom said

"Alright, I'll do it," I said

"Perfect, I just need a name for you," Dom said

"Just call me The Bastard," I said

After that, the shinobi healed my wounds, and I got new, slim, tight black clothes. Dom had just sat back and watched the whole thing. After I changed, we started to hear a commotion at the top of the stairs, and one of the guards was being pushed down them. A short, fat man was walking down the, barely behind him.

"What is the meaning of this, Dom? That kid is supposed to be dead." The man said

"I decided not to kill him. He will probably just die in the arena anyway," Dom said 

"You don't get to make that choice, though." The man said

Dom stood up and looked at the man. "Are you going to stop me?" he said

The other man faltered for a second before saying. "Do what you want, but when this mess blows up in your face, don't come looking for me for help." He said before leaving 

"We should just kill that man." The shinobi said

"I wish, but the boss likes him, so I can't hurt him," Dom said

"So annoying." The shinobi said

"Well, it's almost time for the fight now. I will warn you, it's three fights in a row without a break. If you win the first one, you'll be right in the second one," Dom said

I understood what he was saying, but I was starting to feel droopy as it was already getting pretty late. I nodded at him and then followed him upstairs to a big open area and a pit far off in the middle with a fight taking place.

"This is the Death arena. Two fighters enter. Only one leaves, so I hope killing won't be an issue for you," Dom said

"What if I refuse?" I asked

"Than well, kill you now. No reason to keep a brat like you if you can entertain us," he said

"Right, sounds good," I said

The fight was still going on. He was a non-mana user and a fire user; he used green flames. He was also missing an arm and down on one knee. 

"Kill him." A watcher said

"Take his head clean off." Another said

The non-mana user used a water sword to slash the head clean off. 

"WHAT A FIGHT THAT WAS! THAT NINE WINS FOR THE BUTCHER. HE MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO WIELD MANA, BUT HIS SWORD CAN BREAK PAST ANY DEFENSE. WILL HE KEEP FIGHTING OR WILL HE LEAVE." The announcer said

The arena spectators started banging their feet on the ground, waiting for the butcher to respond.

"I'M NOT LEAVING YET." The butcher said

The crowd cheered and asked for the next opponent, and then Dom pushed me in.

The drop was about 12 feet, and I used wind mana to slow down.

"AND THE NEXT OPPNET IS THE SLAYER." The announcer said

The butcher rushed me right away. He was using some kind of mana-infused armor, which increased his speed. He tried to swing at my right arm, but I managed to dodge out of the way and draw my sword. Before I could fully get my balance, he attacked again and cut my side. I fully backed off and took a fighting stance. The butcher charged at me again, but this time, I was able to counter him and strike his back. The cut wasn't deep enough.

"Not half bad, kid. Normally, they can't dodge my first attack. Maybe I should show you what a real fighter can do." the butcher said

"Stop talking a fight me, old man," I said as I charged at him

I brought my sword up and swung down, throwing a blast of wind at him. He went to block, and I launched myself at him, swinging hard at his chest. He dodged my attack, and then everything went black. 

When I awoke, I was in a car.

"What happened?" I asked

"After the butcher dodged your attack, he used the blunt edge of his blade to knock you out. He was going to swing again, but the fight was stopped because you were incapacitated. In other words, you got lucky." Dom said

"So are you letting me go?" I asked

"Yeah, well, not that the others want me to, but your potential is so high that I don't want to waste you now, so I'm taking you to your school," Dom said

"Thanks, I guess," I said

"Look, when you get stronger, you should come back to fight, or hell, even come here to get stronger. But for now, I would stay away from this area of town. I'll make sure no one messes with the old lady, but a civil war is upon our gang, so I can't guarantee your safety here. The arena is a green zone for all gangs." Dom said and then handed me a card. Here, if you want to come fight again, let me know, and get stronger first."

The drive after that was dead silent until I was about a block away from the school where he dropped me off.

"Any closer, and I'll have to deal with the school protectors, so this is the closest you'll get; remember, we have ears everywhere," Dom said

I started the walk back. When I reached the gates, Arthur argued with the guards about leaving.

"Why is no one going to look for him? He is a student of this school. Shouldn't that mean something?"

"As I said, the school is on lockdown, so until I get notice otherwise, you can't leave." the guard said

I approached the gate, and a guard told me to halt.

"This school is currently on lockdown. Turn around and come back later."

"I, Riley, the student who is missing," I said

The gate opened, and five guards came out, all with their hands ready to draw their swords if needed.

"Where have you been." The guard in the middle asked

"I got taken by a gang after trying to help an old lady from some thugs," I said

"I see we will be asking you more questions, but for now, we will escort you to the medical wing, considering your condition." The guard said

I followed them past Arthur, who looked pissed more than anything, and Rose, who was crying. When we reached the nurse's office, the guards told me they would return in the morning to discuss what happened.

"Well, you've seen better days." the nurse said

"Yeah, I've felt better, too. My side has a cut in it, and the back of my head hurts like hell," I said

She undid the bandage on my side and started using magic to heal it. After an hour or so, my side was no longer in throbbing pain.

"There's not much I can do about your head. Some rest should help with the pain." She said

I lay down and closed my eyes when there was a knock at the door.