August Intruder [SOL Progression Fantasy]

The instructor raised a curious brow.

"A name I'll never forget," he mused, repeating Ark's response to his question. He gave it a moment's thought before turning his attention to Melmarc. "And you're the younger brother?"

Melmarc nodded. The action seemed to surprise the instructor.

"Interesting," the man mused, his voice deep. "Normally, the younger ones are more quirky, not the other way around. I take it your brother is a late bloomer."

Rather than reply, Melmarc looked at Ark. Ark shrugged. So, Melmarc returned his attention to the instructor and gave him an answer.

He shrugged.

The man pressed his lips into a thin line. It seemed he wasn't used to a conversation like this, at least not from new intakes, perhaps.

"You kids are quite composed for people who just finished the test you just went through," the instructor said.

Melmarc wasn't sure if it was an impressed tone he heard in the man's voice. Ark's hand shot up. Off behind the instructor one of the girls smiled. It was that smile Ark tended to solicit when a girl thought that he was being cute.

Melmarc really hoped that she was only a class above him, that would put her in Ark's class. He didn't want any trouble of seniors having a problem with Ark because he was hitting on their girls or because their class girls liked him.

It had happened before.

The instructor looked at Ark and sighed. "Yes, Mr. Lockwood."

"What was the last test supposed to teach, exactly?" Ark asked.

The man gave him a curious look. Again, he sighed. "I think you are going to be a handful."

Ark's response was an innocent smile. It was the smile he liked to give when he knew that he was being successfully annoying.

"Alright," the man said in the end. "I'm not supposed to ask you what you saw—school rules—but nothing says that I can't tell you what it's about."

"Oh, that one's easy," Ark said. "We didn't see much."

The man paused. It was a very short pause, but it was enough to confirm what Ark and Melmarc already suspected. They were supposed to see a lot more.

"It was meant to test your grit and IQ," he said.

"Sounds boring," Ark said. "Don't they normally use written tests to check IQ?"

"This one is better." The man looked back at the other students. The only boy of the three looked more annoyed than the instructor. He said nothing to them before turning his attention back on Melmarc and Ark. "Normally, all of you are supposed to come in around the same time, then we'll wait for the next batch of students, but you two are very early."

"Thank you," Ark said.

"I hope I don't end up in charge of you," the instructor muttered under his breath. "For now, the two of you can sit down and wait for the others."

With that said, he gestured them to the seats with a shooing motion. Melmarc was more than happy to turn around. Ark was not.

"This is the combat test, right?" he asked.

The instructor looked at Melmarc instead of answering him immediately. "Is he always this talkative?"

Melmarc looked at Ark. Ark gave him a bright smile. Melmarc turned and looked at the instructor and gave his answer.

He gave the man a bright smile.

The man scratched his head, unsure of what exactly was happening. Melmarc understood that he could possibly be getting on the man's bad side, but he wasn't a fan of what the man was doing. Ark was right there. If the man had questions regarding Ark's personality, he could easily ask him. Melmarc didn't like how he ignored Ark to ask him.

"I must apologize for my brother," Ark said, smiling. "He's usually nicer but the last test put him in quite the mood for some reason."

That got a scowl out of Melmarc.

"So," Ark continued. "This is supposed to be the combat test, right?"

"Yes, it is," the man answered, finally ignoring Melmarc. "The students behind me will be testing all of you."

"And may I ask what the pass requirement will be?"

Behind the instructor, the large boy smiled. It seemed he liked Ark's spirit.

"There's no real pass criteria," the instructor said. "You just have a spar until I decide that I've judged enough. Rae is an S-rank [Healer] so she'll be sure to keep any significant damage to a minimum or simple nonexistence."

Ark took a moment to wave at the students. A girl waved back and Melmarc assumed that she was Rae.

"So we just clash heads and you decide who wins?" Ark asked.

Melmarc watched the large boy step forward, approach them. Something about the way the boy approached them told him that he would be a problem.

Following his eyes, the instructor turned his head before answering Ark. His eyes landed on the approaching boy.

"Yes, Devin?" he said in a casual tone. "Can I help you?"

Devin didn't say anything until he was standing next to the instructor.

"I heard the new student's question," Devin said, his voice matching his size. "I just wanted to confirm if he was under the impression that he could win against one of us."

"And if he was?"

"I wanted to make sure that he was disillusioned of it."

"And how do you intend on doing that?" Ark asked, more than happy to rise to the challenge.

Melmarc watched the larger boy. He watched the way the boy looked down on Ark and really wanted to blind him.

This might be a problem.

He couldn't go losing his composure every time some student looked down on Ark. After all, Ark was as good as making enemies as he was at making friends.

"Well…" Devin stepped forward, into Ark's personal space. "I wanted you to take note of the height difference."

He actively looked down on Ark, tilted his head to emphasize the height difference. It wasn't necessarily that much, but between two boys as tall as they were, it was worthy of note.

The instructor rolled his eyes as if he was not impressed even though the three boys currently standing with him were taller than him.

Ark was more than happy to tilt his head to look up at the boy. He gave a thoughtful expression for a moment before making a nonchalant noise and shrugging.

"I've faced bigger."

One of the girls in the back snorted.

Melmarc thought of the [Damned] in the portal he had been stuck in. He thought of Caldath.

I've killed bigger.

"Are you kids done posturing?" the instructor asked. "Or do you want to take your clothes off and see who's bigger, too?"

Ark looked down at the boy's pants. "I'd wager I'm bigger. He doesn't look uncomfortable enough." He paused, looked back up at the boy. "Or maybe he's a grower not a shower."

The boy pushed Ark back aggressively. Ark moved back. Melmarc stopped him with a single hand to his back. Judging by how much of Ark's weight he had to stop, he guessed Ark had everything under control. He probably wouldn't have gone further than a step back.

As for Devin, the frown on his face proved that he had expected Ark to travel a farther distance than he did.

The instructor looked between the two of them and sighed.

"Devin?" he said.

"Instructor Oboz?" Devin answered.

"If we qualify for the inter-school tournament this year, understand that you will certainly not be vice captain of the team."

"But—"

"No buts," Instructor Oboz said, unbothered. "What you have just done is not how to put a new student in their place. It was an arrogant and unnecessary show of force—certainly not an act to emulate."

Ark failed to hold back a snicker at the boy's haunted expression.

"And you, Mr. Lockwood."

"Yes, sir," Ark said, as if he would salute next but didn't.

"You are new, so I will give you a piece of advice," Instructor Oboz said. "You strike me as a young man that would like to join the combat team. Behavior like this is more likely to have you disqualified from the team. We don't take kindly to bravado and taunts. We are composed and fight with honor. Is that understood?"

Ark stood at attention, which almost seemed mocking.

"Yes, sir."

Oboz turned his attention to Melmarc. "I guess it's safe to say that you're the reasonable brother. I will not, however, burden you with the task of keeping your brother in check. You are your own person as he is his own person."

Melmarc nodded. "Thank you."

The sound of a door opening drew Melmarc's attention. He could not help but turn his head in its direction. There, at the top of the amphitheater, students began trooping in through the door he and Ark had come in through.

Melmarc wondered what their answers to the question on the parchment asking them why they couldn't escape was. Did any lie after seeing his and Ark's answer?

"Can I be the first for the test?" Ark asked, and Melmarc realized that the instructor was already turning away from them.

Oboz looked at him. His answer was simple.

"No," he said. "Now take your seats and wait your turn like everyone else."

Ark shrugged as if it didn't matter, which it really shouldn't, before turning away. Together, he and Melmarc headed over to one of the seats. They didn't pick any in the front row, opting for something higher.

"There are escalators to your sides," Oboz announced, attention being given to the new entrants. "Use them to pick your seats. Once that is done, we will then wait for the rest of your group."

Melmarc pulled out his phone and sent Pelumi a quick message.

How far have you gone?

Pelumi was always with her phone, much unlike himself, so she would most likely check on it in between tests.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He waited for a moment, got no response.

She must be in one of the tests.

He wondered which one.

The others took their different seats, a girl coming to sit beside Ark. One glance at her and Melmarc remembered her. She was the girl who'd kept on looking back at them in the bus on the way here.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt," she said to Ark who turned to give her his attention.

He gave her a smile. "No interruptions here."

She blushed for a moment before regaining her composure. When she did, she reached into her pocket and took out her phone.

"My friend and I were wondering something," she continued, unlocking her phone.

Melmarc couldn't help but notice that there was currently no friend present. If it bothered Ark or he even took notice of it, he didn't show it.

After a while of scrolling through her phone while the amphitheater settled into low murmurs as the intakes talked with each other, she held her phone out to Ark.

"This is you," she said. It was not a question.

Melmarc turned his head and paused at the sight. It was Ark standing in front of a door with people behind him. There were flashes of light like pictures being taken. In the picture, he was captured with a bright and enthusiastic smile while raising both hands up and holding up peace signs with his fingers.

Melmarc peered at the picture, remembering it as the one taken of them when they were about to leave the airport, and could barely make out pieces of himself behind his brother, but nothing that really pointed him out. To the inexperienced eyes, Ark was nothing more than a boy who was in love with the limelight and was basking in it.

To Melmarc's experienced eyes, Ark had thrown as much of himself out there so that he completely blotted Melmarc out of it.

So that's why he said he was going to be famous in the car, he thought.

As for Ark's reaction to the picture, he leaned into the girl in a flirtatious manner, gave her his boyish grin, the one he saved only for the ladies.

"Would you believe me if I told you that that's my sexier twin brother?" he asked in a sultry voice.

Melmarc rolled his eyes and looked away while the girl blushed. Down below, Instructor Oboz stood as still as a military man, watching all the students as they conversed with each other. The noise didn't seem to bother him. He didn't seem to care.

Behind Oboz, the three students were talking with each other as well. To Melmarc, it looked as if they were making plans, creating arrangements. He wondered if the large boy was convincing his mates to leave Ark's test to him and him alone.

Melmarc wasn't sure how to feel about it. On one hand, he wasn't worried for Ark. He'd see Ark in enough fights and they'd been through enough training with Uncle Dorthna. Still, Ark could possibly hurt the boy more than what was necessary.

He took a moment to remind Ark that shadow fire was not to be used and paused. Ark had the girl he was with blushing so bright she was completely red.

I'll tell him when he's done.

Chances were he would be done when it was either his turn to fight or the girl's turn to fight.

"No use of skills in the amphitheater unless you are permitted," Oboz declared suddenly.

The declaration caused some heads to turn, looking for who was using their skill. Melmarc found the culprit just as they were deactivating their skill.

It was a boy who had been juggling fireballs casually. The balls turned to smoke before his very eyes.

Ark tapped Melmarc on the arm. "Hey."

Melmarc turned to his brother. "What's up?"

"What do you think our quarterback has in store for me?"

Melmarc looked at the large boy and found him staring daggers at Ark.

"A romantic dinner?" he said.

Ark chuckled a little. As for Melmarc, he spared the girl Ark had been flirting with a glance and found her looking at her phone. Now she was watching a video.

"Think you can take him?" Ark asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Ark said. "In hindsight, I may have made you an enemy by association. I've faced bigger but I don't know if you—"

Melmarc waved his brother's worry aside. "I've killed bigger."

The words were out of his mouth before he even had the chance to filter them. And, just as he'd expected, they got a reaction.

The girl beside Ark stiffened slightly after hearing them and tried her best not to look in his direction. Gifted as they were, it was certainly going to be terrifying to hear a sixteen-year-old boy talking about how he'd killed something bigger than a human being.

If she could move over to the next seat without being conspicuous, Melmarc was certain that she would've done it.

Ark, however, looked thoughtful.

"That was badass," he said after a while. "'I've killed bigger' is definitely cooler than 'I've faced bigger.' Why didn't I think of that."

Melmarc almost sighed. He could always trust Ark to be unfazed by the things he said, no matter how ludicrous.

"But if you end up facing him," he continued, "try not to kill him, alright? It's not his fault that he's a big log. Besides, I think he's actually stronger than you might think."

Melmarc couldn't be sure. Like all the Gifted he had come across, the mana particles in the atmosphere touched and bounced off of him in normal measures.

It would've been fun if he could gauge a person's rank by how much mana particles were attracted to them.

But he couldn't.

As time strolled on by, the entire amphitheater rotated between heavy chatter, light chatter, and subtle moments of silence.

Ark flirted with the girl beside him and every once in a while, someone new came over just to say high to Ark. The picture of him, it seemed, had gone viral enough that there was no one in the room among the new students who had not seen it.

The wait extended a little longer. Long enough that the students had eventually run out of things to talk about and the amphitheater had fallen into a calm silence. Instructor Oboz stood at attention through the entire process, waiting.

Boredom was beginning to take the students by the throat. Phones came out and people contented themselves in the amazement of the online world. Ark and Melmarc remained seated, bored as their mates.

Ark leaned in. "I want to bring out my phone. What do you think?"

"I think," Melmarc answered, watching Instructor Oboz, "that the test started the moment we stepped into the building without any preamble. I also think that this guy has some important affiliation to the school's combat team and hasn't moved since he took that spot. My guess is that he's currently picking out those with the right behavior for the combat team."

"Me, too," Ark muttered. "I just wanted to be sure I was possibly right."

"Then why ask me?"

"I'm the people person, but you're the analyzer." Ark offered him a teasing smile. "Of what use is your analytical skills if I don't make use of them every now and again."

Melmarc shook his head, smiling.

Just then, the door above opened once more. Along with all the other students, Melmarc looked back and up at it. A new batch of students strolled into the amphitheater. They looked, unhappy, like the batch before them.

Returning his attention to his front, Melmarc pulled out his phone, looking for a message from Pelumi. He found none.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're easy to sneak up on," a voice whispered in his ear.

Melmarc almost jumped at the sensation of the warm breath on his skin. Turning his head, he stared into brown eyes. Pelumi gave him a smile.

"Miss me?"

Ark was already getting up from his seat.

"Oh, God, please sit down," he groaned. "He's been insufferably boring without you. It's like watching paint dry."

Chuckling, Pelumi occupied Ark's seat while the girl next to Ark had moved so that he now occupied her seat and she occupied a new one.

"So you did miss me," Pelumi smirked.

"You should learn not to take all of my brother's words at face value, Lu," Melmarc told her, but he was smiling a little too wide, slightly embarrassed. "He has a habit of combining truths to forge lies."

"I don't think he's lying about this one, though," she argued.

"You can never be so sure with him."

"Hurry up and take your seats," Instructor Oboz declared, disrupting their conversation. "Put your asses to your cushions and zip your lips. Any unwarranted sound will lead to the immediate termination of your admission. Here at Fallen High, we pride ourselves in control and reasonable obedience."

Pelumi shared a look with Melmarc. While he was sure she was trying to communicate something short and interesting with her eyes, Melmarc was more interested in the pull he felt to her.

It wasn't necessarily one of attraction, but more of a presence. Whenever he and Ark or Ninra went out, he was always consciously aware of where they were. If they were in a group and one of them stepped away from the group, he knew it. If he didn't know where they were in a room or building, he always found himself seeking them out with his eyes.

He felt the same way about Pelumi. He was very consciously aware of her presence right now. She was there, right there.

Almost as if I'm waiting for her to call out for me, he thought.

There was no way it was because he was missing her.

I'll have to pay more attention to it, he thought.

The moment the thought ended, a new thought popped up in his head. It was teasing and in Ark's voice.

Are we making excuses to spend more time with her?

Melmarc did his best to ignore it as Instructor Oboz continued speaking.

"Now, this portion of the test is for combat experience," he said. "We don't all have to pass it in any way, but I will advise that if you have any dreams of becoming a Delver or joining our school's combat team, you will do well to give it your all." He paused, looking in the direction of one of the seats. "Yes, Ms. Leticia?"

Melmarc looked back in time to see a girl drop her hand.

"Is taking the test compulsory?" she asked in a voice to belonged in a choir. "Like, can we skip it if we have no interest in combat at all. For example, I don't have a combat class or combat skills."

"Here at Fallen High, we believe that all Gifted should know how they carry themselves in any combat situation. We also believe that we should also know how every student handles themselves in a combat situation."

Oboz paused, looked in another direction. His jaw ticked as he said, "Yes, Mr. Smith?"

"Why do we have to go through combat?"

"I have already given you the answer of why you all must go through the combat test. As for the physical education you will be experiencing upon successful completion of your admission, it is for safety purposes. Portals are known to mostly appear in nonresidential areas—places with next to no human occupancy. However, it is not unheard of for them to appear in densely populated areas. In the event that anything bad happens on school grounds, it is our duty to ensure that you possess the ability to survive until the necessary help arrives."

That gave a lot of students pause. Still, no one broke the commanded silence. They had come this far, shock and surprise were not enough to make the mistake of losing their admission.

"As I was saying," Oboz continued. "Behind me are three students currently in their final year…"

Melmarc was surprised to have missed that. He had assumed that they would use the class above them to test them, not the final year students.

"… They will all, in their own ways, be in charge of testing your combat abilities to their discretion," Oboz continued. "Now, understand that they have been instructed to hurt you to the best of their abilities without causing irrevocable damage. Upon conclusion of your test, our S-rank [Healer] will see to your injuries."

Rae waved to the entire crowd cheerfully. Oboz must've pointed out her rank to instill confidence in her ability to everyone else.

"Before anyone asks how far they can go," Oboz continued. "I want you all to understand that pain is part of a combat experience. We are interested in knowing how you take pain as much as how you handle yourselves when faced with a less than acceptable situation."

Ark looked at Melmarc from where he was sitting. Melmarc understood exactly what his brother was trying to communicate. Devin, the large student, had a very mischievous smile on his face. Judging by how Oboz had handled him earlier, he seemed to be something of a problem student. He also seemed to have been selected for this test specifically, handpicked by whatever powers that be.

"The command of silence no longer holds. You are allowed to cheer and roar and motivate whichever combatant of your choice for the duration of the test. That said," Oboz looked in a random direction of the amphitheater, "Mr. Elta, you're going first."

Heads turned, and Mr. Elta seemed to pale under the sun-colored light of the orbs hovering above them.

He got up from his seat slowly, pointing at himself and looking around as if he expected someone else to bear the same name and get up.

Instructor Oboz simply nodded, waiting patiently for him to come down.

Elta made his way to the large circle at the heart of the amphitheater, clear for all to see. He was a scrawny kid, a little smaller than the student Melmarc had carried during the mana poisoning phase of the test.

He had bed head and wore large glasses. Melmarc wondered if becoming Gifted had not cleared his eye sight. Freckles peppered his cheeks and he stood as if he had never known anything besides a chair in front of a computer.

With a striped button up shirt and simple pants—like someone going for a job interview—he stood with a slight hunch to his back.

Instructor Oboz walked up to him and held his hand out.

"Glasses," he instructed, "phones, and anything else on you that is breakable."

Elta handed them over to him very timidly and uncertainly. Melmarc watched the boy's hands shake as he passed them along.

Anyone around could see that the boy had no business in a combat situation. It was cruelty of some degree to call him out as the first combatant.

They're going to crush him.

Melmarc found himself hoping, for the boy's sake, that they would call one of the girls for him.

Hope laughed in his face.

"Devin," Oboz commanded. "Front and center."

Smiling as if he'd just won an award, Devin walked up to a spot next to Oboz. He stood there like a soldier in a military parade.

Melmarc saw Ark wince.

Pelumi really really wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. She left her worry on her face… in her eyes.

Oboz walked over to the side and raised his hand up. "Ready?"

The boy's head moved from side to side. He perked up as if taken by surprise. After a moment, he took what Melmarc could only describe as a poor offensive stance. He had openings all over and balled his fists with his thumb hidden beneath his other fingers.

Melmarc found it difficult to believe that there was a boy his age who did not know how to make a proper fist.

Oboz looked at him, studied his stance like a man fighting the urge to correct it, then turned his attention to Devin.

Devin's stance was nowhere near similar to Elta's. Devin bent low at the hip, leaning forward. His knees were bent, so that he looked as if he was taking a sumo wrestling stance, which he in fact was.

His position gave him a very low, stable, and powerful stance. Bending his knee deeply, he kept his body relatively tucked in. It shifted his center of gravity as he placed both hands dangerously close to the floor without touching it.

"That's a funny stance," Pelumi said, while the group of students started calling out cheers to Elta. Most of the sounds were incomprehensible drivel, but some called out in motivation, telling him how he could do it, how he needed to keep his chin up.

All Melmarc was truly hearing was a repetition of a single word with every cheer and call.

Dissonant.

Note to self, he thought. Stay away from cheering crowds.

"Sumo stance," Ark said, responding to Pelumi. "In sumo, it's called the spider stance." He looked a little worried for the boy. "He's definitely going to need the [Healer]."

Pelumi looked at him. "Why?"

Ark's response was a simple nod towards the arena.

Oboz brought his hand down, cutting sharply through the air. "Fight!"

Devin burst into motion.

The explosive force of his legs sent him blurring through the distance. A booming sound filled the amphitheater, silencing the crowd, shattering the cheers.

Anyone who blinked would've missed it.

Now, he stood where Elta had once stood. As for Elta… well, anyone with eyes could see.

The timid boy was sprawled out on the ground more than fifteen feet away, thrown clear across the distance, chest struggling to heave from ruined ribs as he gasped for air amidst a face contorted in pain with tears running from his eyes.

Rae moved very quickly before Oboz could even turn to her.

Green light emanated from her hands as she used a skill on the boy, frowning in displeasure. She clearly didn't like what had happened.

If Oboz had anything to say on the matter, he did not. In fact, he did not even look as if he cared.

Devin, however, smiled victoriously as he turned his attention to the crowd. The smirk on his face said it all. He reveled in the silence he had created, he basked in the method with which he had created it.

But while he faced the crowd, his eyes were on Ark.

Melmarc's grip on his armrest tightened, and as he took in Devin's expression, interpreted it, he realized a few things.

Devin had plans.

Devin had intentions…

… And so did he.

Oboz turned his attention to the intakes and spoke.

"Ms. Ensineta."