Zach was in the ring panting as he sparred.
He took a hook to the ribs but finished his sparring partner with an overhand to the temple.
A white towel was thrown in, and a bell rang.
“That gentleman is why you always keep your off hand up,” Henry said as he gave Zach a pat on his back.
Zach picked up his water bottle and gave it a squeeze.
A guy in the crowd shook his head.
“As if, coach, your family is just too damn big.
Not to mention natural fighters.” Henry smiled proudly.
“I don’t wanna hear it, Jorge.
If you worked on your footwork some more, you could slip his punches.” Jorge shrugged and waved him off.
Zach smiled and wiped the sweat off his face.
Three months had passed since he talked about showing up at the gym.
His lean body had become fuller, and his shoulders broader.
He reached the famous height of 6ft and had gotten his ears pierced.
“Zach, catch!” Zach turned and caught the towel.
“Thanks, Fred.” Zach convinced Fred to join him at the gym.
“No problem, man.
Just never go that hard on me in the ring.” Fred said as he watched Zach’s sparring partner get woken up with smelling salts.
Zach smiled and wrapped his arm around his shoulders.
“Of course, Freddie boy, just make sure you never give me a reason to.” They both laughed at the absurdity of it.
“Zach, I just got off the phone with a coach from another gym.
He wants you to fight one of his guys in an official match.
The winner earns a wildcard entry into the summer tournament.
What do you think?”
“If you think I’m ready, then sign me up, but what about grandma?” Henry coughed.
“You ever heard the expression, ‘It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission,’ she will find out afterward.” Zach shrugged his shoulders.
“If you say so, just don’t expect me to back you up when the time comes.”
Henry walked away to confirm the match.
“So are you finally gonna ask you know who out?
Come on, dude, it’s the best chance to get the girl finally.
When else is she gonna see you shirtless fighting another dude?” Fred nudged Zach.
Zach groaned but couldn’t deny what he said.
“Alright, you’ve twisted my arms.
I will ask her to come watch me fight.” “YES!
Finally, the whole grade has been going on for weeks about when you were gonna grow a pair.”
Zach shook his head.
“Come on, dude, we gotta go.” Zach grabbed his bag and changed back into regular clothes.
“Zach, you want a ride?” Fred spun his keys in his hand.
“Not this time, I will walk.” Fred waved and sped away.
‘After months of training in and out of the ring, I should have enough Omni Coins to buy the techniques I want.
Zach opened his system, but stopped when he saw a notification on the mission tab.
He clicked to see the new mission.
[Win the match and the tournament: Gains vary on performance.] Zach grinned and accepted the mission.
It expanded into a silver dome before disappearing.
From the outside, it looked like a regular stand of trees.
Inside, however, the trees all had markings, and some had holes through them.
Zach spent most of his free time here, unless he was training, at school, at home, or hanging out with Fred.
It had become his safe space.
He was teaching himself how to wield weapons by watching YouTube videos.
He hadn’t made any progress in that area, but he learned how to fully harness the talent of Total Control.
He researched the human body and how it worked.
How adrenaline was produced, how to control blood flow, his core temperature, and he even figured out how to slow his heart rate down to where it seemed like his heart had stopped beating.
His rank and his level didn’t change, but his combat ability skyrocketed.
He made a name for himself at school as a genius, which made him gain Omni Coins.
The more he stood out, the more he made an impact, the more coins he netted.
‘Let’s see the coins, baby, papa needs new techniques.’ Zach rubbed his hands together.
[Omni Coin balance: 43,000] Zach cheered.
“Fuck yeah!
Now this is what being rich feels like.”
He opened the shop and filtered for all the techniques he could afford.
Surprisingly, there were a lot of them, so he used the recommended function again.
They were mostly elemental techniques; some dealt with the mind or soul, and some even dealt with formations.
‘Let’s see what we have here, holy crap, they have all the master scrolls for the basic four elements from Avator here!
Definitely capping those.
The bundle only costs 15,000, that’s a steal.’ The scrolls went into his inventory.
‘What else is interesting?
They have the sub-elements from Avatar in here, too.
The scrolls cost 20,000.’ Zach debated buying them or not.
‘Oh, screw it, metal-bending is too essential in this city, plus it’s tough as fuck.’ Zach bought the scrolls and continued to scroll through the techniques.
‘I have 8,000 coins left, so let’s focus on any techniques that help me defend my mind.
I should probably check out the formations, there’s a reason they popped up.’ Zach looked into the techniques and formations.
He settled on a mental technique called Mind Devourer.
It attacks and strengthens its users’ minds using the invading mental energy as fuel.
He then found a formation called Nature’s Domain.
The formation had multiple uses: as a barrier, to identify allies, to gather elemental energy, and to reinforce the surrounding area.
Zach sighed and closed the shop.
“I’m back to being broke again.” He set a timer and began practicing the new bending scrolls, starting with the basic elements.
After two hours, he stopped and closed his eyes.
Green energy seeped into the ground, and the damaged trees came back to life and healed.
Zach looked around.
“You guys deserve some compensation for letting me hurt you for so long.” He then grabbed his bag, willed the metal back into a ring, and left.
He didn’t notice one tree move its branch as if it was saying goodbye.
Zach stopped by an ice cream shop on the way home.
As he was leaving, he saw a little girl with orange-red hair with her parents.
If she is here now, then that means the incident where she showed her powers to her friend must’ve happened.
In another four or five years, she will start being a hero and fight her siblings.’
Zach continued walking before anyone noticed anything.
‘Things are starting to move, and that means I need to, too.’ Zach’s face hardened, and his pace became hurried.
He washed up and had dinner.
His grandpa told him the date of the fight after dinner.
Zach went to his room, opened his laptop, and typed everything he needed to, like class notes, important dates, and the gossip he heard that day.
He never typed anything related to powers, the system, or his real identity.
That information was recorded in a journal that remained in his inventory.
Zach leaned back in his chair with his feet propped up on his table.
Thinking about what his next steps should be.
He was staring at the ceiling when Henry barged in.
He almost fell, but he caught himself.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you, son.” Zach waved it off and sat up in his chair.
“What’s grandpa?” Henry leaned against the door frame.
“Nothing, I was just checking in on ya.
You seemed a little distracted, like something heavy was on your mind.”
Zach smiled softly and leaned back in his chair.
“Grandpa, how would you describe nature?” Henry shifted his weight.
“Depends on the context, are we talking plants and animals or human nature?
Both are part of nature in the grand scheme of things.” Henry sat on the bed.
He looked at Zach softly.
“What made you ask me that deep philosophical question?” Zach looked out the window and saw the stars.
“I guess, I’m just curious.
I wonder how some people can do cruel things and be ok about it.
I wonder about how every time we humans ‘progress’ we destroy life in the process.
How are we supposed to do both and yet still remain ourselves?”
Zach thought about Eve.
She wasn’t born out of love.
She was created in a lab meant to be the weapon of all weapons.
She was never meant to grow up and experience life.
Henry sat in silence, thinking.
“Zach, the nature of man can be changed, influenced, and even tampered with.
Now, the nature of life, on the other hand, is like a river.
You have your ups, downs, twists, and curves throughout, and then you have dams.”
He stopped talking and looked at Zach.
“You following me?” Zach nodded.
“There is one thing I want you to remember: the nature of man can change and even will change, but never the nature of life.” He stood up and stretched.
He patted Zach’s shoulder on the way out.
“You don’t need to tackle the nature of man; show man your true nature, and they will follow.
Hell, even start a club at your school, you could even call it Nature’s Advocates or Wise Owls.” Henry laughed as he closed the door.
Zach leaned in his chair.
‘Huh, I guess it’s true what they say gray hairs mean wisdom.
I have never heard that before.’ Zach wrote his grandpa’s words in his journal and then went to bed.