Once all recruits had fought off their share of the counselor's wolves, they gathered before him.
"Nice work, everyone." All the recruits applauded their own efforts in unison before he raised his hand, halting their celebrations.
The counselor's arm stretched out toward the crowd and his finger pointed toward Michael. "You there. Come up here this instant."
Following the instruction given to him, Michael walked out of the crowd and stood in front of the counselor.
The counselor began taking off his jacket; he glared at Michael with a huge sadistic grin escaping his mouth.
"Once my jacket hits the ground, I'm gonna attack you. Its your job to fight back and try by all means to stay alive."
Michael couldn't wrap his head around the situation that was unfolding before him. Upon hearing the counselor's words, the recruits around him spread out and gave him room.
It was a custom for counselors to hold a sparring match with a random recruit on the first day of camp. Unfortunately for Michael, who had no idea what was going on, he was the "lucky" recruit who got a chance to be a testament to the strength of the counselors present at the camp.
Michael took to steps back as he prepared himself for whatever came next.
The counselor threw his jacket up into the air and stretched his body forward, waiting for the moment it came into contact with the ground.
"Grit your teeth..."
Michael raised his fists and got into a fighting stance he had learned from his brother.His weak leg was in front and his dominant leg trailed a little behind. His knees weren't straight, but they weren't fully loose; they were in the middle. He covered his face with his right arm and positioned his weak arm slightly further from his face.
The jacket came down slowly, swaying side to side as it hit the ground.
Psst!
A wave of red mana whipped foward, aimed at Michael's ankles. Michael instinctively leaped into the air due to the killing intent behind the attack.
The mana whip lashed up toward Michael, wrapping around his torso and yanking him down to the ground. In that moment he felt vertigo set in as he went crashing down.
Boom!
The counselor raised his hand in the air and mana began accumulating inside his palm—schwing—forming a scarlet red spear.
He suddenly leapt up into the air, pulling his arm backwards and—swish—launched the glowing red spear at Michael, forcing him to roll aside.
The explosive energy blast open a massive crack! As the spear made contact with the ground.
Michael felt the sand explode inches from his side. The wind forced him away as his face got scraped by flying debris.
Michael hopped back up and closed the distance between them. Flames spewed out of his fist as he drove a flaming gut punch at the counselor.
His knuckles connected with the counselor's abs, the flames burning through the uniform in a blast of heat. Woosh
"Not bad... Now move." The counselor sneered as he grabbed Michael's extended arm, wrapping it in a scorching red mana. It burnt like acid eating at his skin. The counselor twisted his body, hurling Michael across the arena, Slamming into a stone wall.
Saliva exploded from his mouth as he gasped for air. The recruits stood in silence watching him get beat down.
Michael pushed off the wall, debris falling off his body. I can't take anymore of this... I can't even feel my arm, he thought
"Get up. I'm not done with you yet."
Scarlet mana began coalescing at the tip of the counselor's fingers, forming a small red burst of mana. As Michael began charging in, he fired the mana burst at point-blank range.
Michael felt a crimson explosion slamming into his chest like a hammer, causing him to fly backward, skidding through the sand on his back. His shirt was smoking; he had burns and blisters around his torso.
The counselor walked away with a face full of distaste as Michael passed out.
"Pathetic."
He picked up his jacket from the dirt and gave the recruits a quick glance as he added:
"I hope we're all on the same page. Arrive late to any of our lessons and you'll end up like him. You're excused. Now leave."
Moments after, all the recruits left and went forward with their day. Luke took it upon himself to take Michael to the infirmary to be healed of his wounds and bruises. Once he got there, they looked over his injuries and took him inside. Luke stayed right beside him, waiting for him to regain consciousness.
◇◇◇◇
After staying unconscious for several hours Michael finally awoke from deep slumber.
All he could see was a bright white light.
And then, within the light, a familiar face hovered over him along with a familiar voice.
"Are you dead?"
Everything became clearer and Luke's stupid face just happened to be to close for comfort.
"...what the hell are you doing?"
Luke moved back a little, his face lighting up with a huge smile of relief. "I was asking if you were dead."
Sharp sensations went through Michael's body every time he moved. Several places on his body were covered in bandages. His back was the main source of pain—badly bruised and burnt.
"What happened?"
He looked around, turning his head side to side, coming to a stop when he remembered the events that landed him on the very bed he was lying on. Better yet, he remembered who was responsible for all the pain his body was going through, and he lost all his composure.
"Son of a bitch! I get that we were a little bit late, but there was no need to attack me like that!"
Michael quietly stared at the ceiling, questioning himself. Maybe he had wronged the counselor without knowing. Yeah, maybe that was why he got mercilessly abused.
Luke stood up and chuckled while looking away from Michael.
"Man you got your ass handed to you,"
Several seconds later he added:
"Like honestly, I wouldn't have allowed myself to get man handled like that in front of the entire camp."
Luke looked at Michael with pitty.
"Yeah we'll see about that."
Due to his injuries, Michael wasn't in the mood to do some pointless arguing. He just wanted to sleep and rest his exhausted body.