Chapter 22: New Friends

SWOOSH

Flames formed under Damian's feet in the last second.

Fire Burst

The previously kneeling boy, with his friend on his back, suddenly erupted off his feet and made an enormous leap.

"Test Over" announced Ivan as Damian with Milo on his back landed sliding in front of Cole.

While falling, Damian purposefully made it so that Milo would land in front of him and gain the first place.

As Ivan retracted his pressure, without any resistance, Milo and Damian slid across the arena at fast speeds after such a powerful burst towards the centre.

Seemingly effortlessly, Ivan dashed from his position and swooped up the boys onto their feet to reduce their injuries.

Both Damian and Milo had bad scratches and scrapes on their bodies, however, nothing they hadn't suffered anything severe and could be healed quickly.

Letting go of the two boys, Milo stumbled forwards still not fully conscious and was luckily caught by Damian.

"Why is my body hurting" he muttered as he awoke and saw Damian supporting his body with his shoulder.

"Just wait and see" replied Damian gloatingly, giving Milo a cheeky wink.

"Now to announce the results of the will test.

Only 7 qualified for a position that will award them points.

In 7th place Finn Corbett, in 6th place Jaspal Carey, in 5th place Matilda Dale, in 4th place Julia Valentine, in 3rd place Max Cole, in 2nd place Damian and in 1st Place Milo Green" announced Ivan.

"What the hell" screamed Milo in shock, and looking down at Damian's cheeky smile, could guess that Damian got him into that position.

Milo was 4th in the Body Test, but with his Soul Power being hard for his body to handle, he knew he would be at the bottom of the combat round and needed to get high in the will test to get a good ranking at the end of the competition.

Damian knew this and also just wanted to help out his new friend, that he also felt a deeper link with, that he felt had something to do with their similar energy.

"Thanks so much, bro, I really do appreciate it" he thanked gratefully and seemed to be getting emotional over how Damian helped him.

In the beginning, Milo was just being nice to Damian, who he saw as a naive and innocent boy, with his friendly nature and also because he felt that he was very familiar and interesting.

However, their friendship blossomed and both of them felt that they could rely on each other even after only knowing each other for less than a day and both filled the reliable and caring brotherly void they both had.

"Fatty bro, what are friends for," he said with a happy smile, feeling the same brotherly bond that Milo was feeling.

Meanwhile, Cole had a furious expression, but as soon as he withdrew his Soul Spirit, he seemed to calm down and seemed to be slightly embarrassed.

"Ahem" cleared his throat Ivan to get there attention.

"The points are awarded in the same way as the Body Test with the first receiving 10 points and each position lower would receive one less point, this time ending with the 7th place receiving 3 points" declared Ivan.

"The Combat Round will be held in 4 hours and in this time you can get lunch while the newbies recover" announced Ivan.

Hearing Ivan's announcement, the audience began to disperse and leave the arena as rumours of the results were spread throughout the school.

People began to place bets on what they believed would happen in the combat round and the crowd spread around the academy, that formed a small city of its own, and ate lunch.

After everybody left Ivan looked around at his students and had a satisfied smile with the few talents in his class.

"Follow me, you can eat lunch and rest and recover for a few hours before the combat round," said Ivan as he walked off the arena.

Damian and Milo both were very low on energy and were injured, so were struggling to follow after Ivan as they both leaned on each other and attempted to support each other.

"Need some help guys and I am sorry about before," offered Cole with a wry embarrassed smile as he offered his help.

Seeing the large figure before them, that was the same age as them, yet could be compared to an adult, they were shocked by his change in temperament.

He previously crazily wanted to battle them, now wanted to help them.

Milo and Damian were baffled.

"When I activate my Soul Spirit, it has an aggressive and battle crazy affect on my mind that is hard to control" he explained.

Seeing this Milo and Damian just looked at each other and with mutual understanding both began to chuckle.

"Don't worry about it, could you lend us a hand" said Milo who was beginning to understand the situation and remembered how Cole was during the body test.

Cole knelt down slightly and hung one of Damian's and Milo's arms over his large muscled shoulders and supported them as they walked after Ivan and the rest of the students.

However, his body was also tired, low on energy and was obviously struggling to support two people.

"Why don't we go an help" suggested the friendly Matilda to Julia who always seemed to be serious.

They seemed to know each other and were friends, making their rivalry one that wasn't malicious, but was one that would make them both strive to be stronger and compete with each other.

"We should help them to get strong allies" decided Julia, attempting to keep her serious front, but secretly she was touched by their friendship and wanted to get closer to them.

The two girls went and supported Milo and Damian on either side quite awkwardly.

"I really did leave a good impression," said Milo with a cheeky smile as Julia hung his arm over her.

"I am only helping because Matilda dragged me here" she refuted as she elbowed him in the stomach.

While Damian and Matilda had a much friendlier meeting.

"I am here to help" she announced as she supported his body over hers with her wide smile.

"Thanks a lot, we really do appreciate it," said Damian as he had to struggle less with the support.

The five youths all supporting each other and who all were low on energy and in a weak state, staggered after the rest of the class and Ivan.

A friendship group was born, and as they followed Ivan into a large room, that was prepared for them and was filled with food, they all sat together and ate.

While Milo and Cole were stuffing their faces wildly, they all ate and laughed together, and the pressure of competing was relieved and they all felt comfortable around each other.

After an hour or so of relaxing and eating together, which she was enjoying and trying not to show, Julia suddenly stood up.

"You guys should cultivate and recover for the last few hours before the combat round" she advised.

"And although we are friendly towards each other and don't have any problems with each other, when we reach the arena I won't hold back any punches," she said as she walked off and sat cross-legged in a corner as she began to recover her energy.

"Sorry about her guys, she really is a nice girl. But after everything she has been through, she finds it hard to show her feelings, but for her to even talk to you guys means she sees you guys as friends like I do" reassured Matilda.

"She is right though, we should recover and try our hardest in the combat round," she said.

"Agreed," said Damian, Cole and Milo in unison.

Milo knew he wouldn't get a high result but was now fired up to try and do as well as he could.

All were a friendly group of children, and all have had their unique share of struggles, with deep pasts, but one thing they shared was their competitive nature and their drive for strength.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground in different parts of the room, they were all recovering and excited to battle in the combat round.