“Are you ready?”

“I am!”

“And are you ready?”

“Yes ma’am!”

After confirming if both the participants were ready, Karma dramatically raised her hand before dropping it, signaling the start of the duel.

-Boom!

-Fwoosh!

Several explosions and breaking sounds filled the training field as soon as the duel started.

“What if they get injured? Like really really bad?” Robin asked, her brows stuck together in worry.

“There are medics on standby, some of them can even bring a person back from the brink of death,” Drake replied.

“Woah Drake didn’t see you there, when did you come?” Acting startled, Anthony asked in a clearly teasing tone.

“Wow man wow! I’ve been here since the start, I even said hi when I came,” Drake narrowed his eyes in an ‘Are you serious’ way.

While the duel was going on in the middle of the field, the group was talking among themselves.

Sam however was standing a few steps back from everyone.

Alone and quiet.

He was neither observing the duel nor was he interacting with the others.

Seeing that Anthony couldn’t help but speak in a concerned tone.

“Is he okay?”

He asked Kiara who was standing beside her.

He expected a reply from the silver-haired girl but she just kept standing there, lost in her thoughts.

“Oh god, Kiara too!” Drake commented, which earned him a pinch on the cheek from Robin.

“Don’t joke around,” she said.

“Umm, Kiara?”_.

Seeing that the silver-haired girl wasn’t replying, Anthony placed a hand on her shoulder to shake her out of her thoughts.

“Yes?!” Startled, Kiara looked at Anthony.

“I was asking if you know what’s going on with Sam?” Anthony replied. “But it seems like you’re not okay yourself.”

“Ahh… no no, I’m fine” Kiara replied after a moment. “I don’t know what’s going on, I’ll talk to him though.”

Seeing all that happening from the side, Rebekah couldn’t help but sigh.

She could already see her plan of a happy life with her brother going down the drain.

While all that was going on, Kiara went back to her thoughts again.

‘What is wrong with him?!’ She thought in her mind.

‘Till recently he was like a puppy begging for my attention! These days he isn’t even talking to me!’

In her heart, Kiara never liked Sam.

When they were little, things were different.

She really liked hanging out with him back then.

She still remembers the day she first met him.

It was when they were 8.

Sam was running from his home. He was running from his father.

While on the run, he got in trouble with a mafia gang. It was because he stole something from them.

However, when the gang went after him, they were all annihilated.

Two of the men in that gang were ability users.

32 men in total, killed by an 8-year-old.

Absurd was the only word that came to mind when the leader of the organization heard that news.

Needless to say, the leader was Kiara’s father.

Hearing that intriguing news, he couldn’t help but give in to his curiosity and went to see Sam himself.

After finding him, he brought him home.

That was a very ‘out of character’ thing to do for a man who is known as ‘The Reaper’ in the underworld.

Marcel Nickleson, the user of an SSS-Rank ability [Shadow Manipulation]. He made his way to the top of the underworld.

From an orphan to a king.

From being spit on to being worshipped.

That is the story of Marcel.

However, he didn’t make it to the top with just his ability. No, he had something much more.

Cruelness. The man was cruel enough to use any and every means necessary to reach the top.

Be it using children as hostages to gain an advantage or committing mass murder to just send a message.

That was the type of man Marcel was.

However, for him to adopt a boy from the streets?! Absurd!

The most shocked were his family members.

Kiara remembers people from her branch family coming to visit him just to confirm the rumors.

She was still little so she didn’t understand what was going on for the most part, but she was happy to finally get a friend.

Her brothers and sisters were years older than her so she always felt alone.

The fact that she was born to a prostitute mother didn’t help either.

For most of her life, she was ignored. Ignored by her brothers, sisters, and even her father.

She craved recognition. She wanted to be seen. She wanted a friend.

So when someone appeared in her life who saw her as a person, who didn’t ignore her, she felt happy.

That happiness didn’t last for too long though.

As she grew up she started seeing things for what they were.

She noticed that her father favors him more than her.

‘Why? Even though I have a Calamity-Rank ability and he just has an A-Rank?!’

She used to question herself that every day.

However, she soon found out the reason. The reason why Sam was favored more than her.

When they were just 10, Sam was sent on a mission by Marcel.

The mission was to recover an artifact from a gang that had betrayed Marcel.

Although Kiara was a little jealous of Sam, she still was concerned about her. So she asked her father to let her accompany him.

She was the stronger of the two after all.

She could protect him.

“No, you will just drag him down.”

That was the reply she got from her father…

‘How will I drag him down?!’ She thought. ‘He is the weak one!’

Her misconception was soon cleared when Sam recovered the artifact and demolished the group that had betrayed Marcel.

A group that had 10 A-Rank and 1 S-Rank user.

He did all that single-handedly.

A 10-year-old boy with a mere A-Rank ability.

Although Kiara was starting to find Sam’s presence irritating, even she had to admit that was an inhumane task.

Even she couldn’t achieve what he did with her Calamity-Rank ability.

Only then did she realize, she will never get the recognition she seeks until Sam is around her.

-Boom!

A loud decisive explosion sound resonated throughout the field, shaking Kiara out of her thoughts.

She took a short side glance at the black-haired boy standing behind her before returning her eyes to the middle of the field where the duel had just come to an end.

A boy with murky brown hair was laying on the ground. Around him, the ground was smashed.

In front of his unconscious body stood a boy of the same age with a lean figure and light orange hair.

“I win!” He announced with his hand raised high into a fist.

“Kain Xander has won the duel!” Karma announced, confirming the victory for the orange-haired boy.

Soon a group of medics rushed down the field and checked on the unconscious boy laying in the middle of the crater.

They took him out on a stretcher to treat him as the boy could only lightly groan in pain now and then.

Those who weren’t afraid of the duel before were sweating like crazy now.

“This is barbaric!” One of the guys spoke up.

“I won’t participate! You can make me!”

Another guy shouted in fear.

Upon hearing the unreasonable cries and wailings, Karma lost her composure and yelled out.

“Do you expect Villains to go easy on you all?!” She said before raising her voice to continue. “And you all will participate! Understand?!”

As soon as she raised her voice, a ringing sound penetrated everyone’s ears who were present there.

Most of them lost their balance and collapsed to their knees.

“See, I can make you.”

She said with a smug look.

“This is going a little overboard,” Drake commented.

“Shhh! Shush before she hears you!” Robin whispered.

“I can already hear you,” replied Karma while rolling her eyes.

A pale expression washed over Robin and Drake’s faces as she said that.

Not minding all that, Karma continued with a dry cough.

“Ahem, anyway, next up…” She said and took a short pause to check the register in her hand for the list of names before continuing.

“Lucas Redwing and Anthony Willburn!”

Everyone present there gasped after hearing those names.

Lucas, the boy who aced the Academy’s test.

And Anthony, the son of the strongest superhero to ever exist.

Even those who were complaining about the idea of the duels before fixated their eyes on the two boys.

It was a pay-to-watch match! And they all get to watch it for free?!

How can someone complain about that?!

Hearing their names called, Anthony just heaved a sigh.

He had a feeling Lucas didn’t like him much when he interacted with him in the classes.

Even when they were practicing their finishing moves, Lucas was competing with him.

And now he has to face him?

On the other hand, Lucas’ eyes were glimmering. As if he was a child who got permission to play with a new toy!

As the boys made their way to the middle of the field, even Sam couldn’t help but get excited.

“You ready?”

Karma looked at Anthony to confirm.

“Yes!”

He replied with a nod.

“You ready?”

Karma then looked at Lucas and asked for confirmation. However, the latter only just activated his ability to reply.

A light glow of reddish-pink surrounded Lucas as his feet began leaving the ground.

Slowly the boy started floating in the air, in reply to that, Anthony himself activated his ability.

His eyes began glowing red as they looked like they were on fire.

Seeing all that, Karma abruptly announced the start of the duel.

“Begin!”