The Fat God System

After the chaos that ensued in the club, Aric returned home from the central area. He had no intention of hunting down Hugh because he already knew that Hugh had a hidden power.

He did not care if people found out about Hugh's secret; he only cared about his loss to Hugh's transformation. This angered him deeply as he suffered the humiliation.

It gave him the motivation to improve further than before and try to surpass Hugh. He would not sleep well at night, knowing Hugh could beat him if Hugh used his transformation.

Aric had a frown plastered on his face as he stepped onto his house. It was dim, devoid of any artificial light. He did not like having the lights on, even if it was nighttime. Only the moon's reflection of the sun served as his source of light.

He entered the living room, but it was more of a gym than a living room. Weights and barbells replaced the sofas and the televisions.

There was a treadmill right next to a window lit up by the moonlight, and he activated it. With a few adjustments, Aric started to run as fast as he could.

*STEP* *STEP* *STEP*

The sounds of his footsteps echoing in the room filled the silent night. He was exerting every energy he could in running, and beads of sweat fell on the floor.

The treadmill displayed his heartbeat, and he had a low heartbeat even though he was running at a fast pace. After ten minutes of running, he was exhausted. He panted as the treadmill slowed down to a halt.

He looked at the display and found that he had only improved his time by one second. This infuriated him as he bit his lip. He had been working hard every day, yet he had only gotten one second faster.

Sweat poured down his clothes as he sat alone in his gym room. His head was down as he recovered his strength, and his breaths became slower and slower.

All he could think about was how Hugh could trounce him without breaking a sweat. He could not even land a hit on Hugh's body before he got utterly beat up.

It made his blood boil, and his heart rate sped up. It was going even faster than when he was running at full speed. This is an indication of his fury at losing to someone he considered weaker than him.

He could not let that happen ever again. He stood up and went to a punching bag in the corner of the room. The area was dark until Aric lit up his fists with his fiery red flame.

The red light bounced off Aric's frowning face and made him look sinister. Aric started to punch the bag with all of his might and practiced his punching skills.

He used jabs, hooks, and even uppercuts that were boosted by his Desire. The sounds of the collision echoed in the room and filled Aric's ears.

Aric saw Hugh's transformation in the punching bag. It made him furious as he imagined shadow boxing with him. He remembered the aura that Hugh was emitting and the way it gave him chills.

He had never felt fear from someone his age before. He was supposed to be the one emitting it. He remembered Hugh's fast movements that were impossible to track. All he could see was a blurry motion, and then he would be hit in the face.

His imagination proved to be too effective as he felt Hugh's punch in his face. His cheek itched as he remembered Hugh's punch towards him.

Even in his imagination, Hugh would win. That free-loading, lazy, obese son of a gun suddenly gained power that was beyond him. That lucky bastard got a free pass in life while Aric was stuck fighting tooth and nail to improve.

He could not understand why Hugh was the one who got the boost in power. He was working day and night to improve his Desire while Hugh would just eat throughout the day. It was unfair.

He changed his imagination, and Hugh's obese self replaced his transformation. This Hugh was weak, and he could easily win against.

Aric put all of his frustration into beating Hugh up. If he could not beat Hugh's transformed version, he would beat Hugh's regular version first until he got stronger.

His punches got more intensive, and his flame burned hotter, but it was just not giving him the joy he wanted. He could not feel as if he was just taking the easy route by beating the normal Hugh.

This frustrated him even more as he stopped punching the bag. He panted, exhausted and angry at Hugh. He needed to beat Hugh's transformed version if he wanted to feel good about himself.

He looked at the myriad of gym pieces of equipment in his room and found that nothing in here could make him improve at a faster rate. These were not challenging enough; he needed to find something with more risk.

There was only one solution left, but he hesitated to do it. A picture of his father, Maverick, flashed in his mind. Maverick had an oppressive aura that pressed down on him, making him get chills in his skin.

His father would be his road to improvement, but he knew it would be a harsh road full of suffering. His hand trembled as he thought about his father, but he steeled himself. He needed to do this.

Students were not usually allowed to go outside of the school, but with special permission, they could. Aric's father was a powerful man, and he could get approval for Aric to go out.

Aric took a bath and went into his room. He kneeled on his floor and reached for something under his bed. After scouring it, he touched a black box that had a seal on the opening.

Aric looked at the black box and heaved a big sigh. He hesitated for a moment, but when he thought about Hugh's transformation winning over him, he suddenly got the resolve to open it.

He put his thumb on the lock, and a blue light shined on his fingerprint. Once his identity was confirmed, the box opened to reveal a phone that laid rest on a black velvet casing.

This phone was only for emergencies and communication, so Aric called his father's secretary.

The phone displayed a holographic sign that said, 'ESME." That was the name of his father's secretary. He pushed the button and called her.

Within a second of Aric calling, the phone picked up. Aric put his phone near his ear and spoke.

"Esme? I'd like to meet Maverick."

—————————

Aric entered his shifting room, and it teleported outside of school and into Maverick's house. He opened the door, and the wooden walls and ceilings greeted him.

It was all made of dark oak wood, a favorite of Maverick. Aric remembered that when he was a child, he spilled some of his drink on the wood, and Maverick gave him corporal punishment.

He was just a kid then, but Maverick was unwilling to forgive the slight disrespect from his own son. One can only imagine what happened once he got older.

Aric shook his head as he tried to toss away those memories. He had already grown up, and he had outgrown those days.

After walking in the hallways, he came across the dark door that led his Maverick's office. He took a deep breath and opened the door with trembling hands.

"What do you want, Aric?"

Maverick had not changed a bit. The years did not do a thing to his demeanor and appearance, as if he was immortal. Aric frowned as he met his father again after a long time.

"Train me."

His voice cracked under pressure. His father was just as overbearing as he was before, and the hit of nostalgia made him remember the torture he had to endure as a kid.

Maverick still had his elbows on the table as he was in deep thought. He raised one of his eyebrows to his son's request. If one looked closely, there was even a slight smile forming on his face.

"Hoh? As I remember, you declined my teachings when I offered it."

Maverick slowly stood up from his seat as Aric saw his father's full figure. Cold sweat poured down Aric's back as he felt like he had awoken a monster.

Maverick walked forward towards Aric without a sense of urgency. His face was expressionless, hiding his thoughts behind his deadpan face.

Aric could not bear to look up at his father's eyes. He balled up his fists until it trembled and waited for his father's response.

*SLAP*