Chapter 10: Dark Angel

'What? Where...am...I?'

'I think...I was fighting against that guy...and then...'

'All of a sudden, I couldn't feel anything.'

'Am I dead? It...does seem like it.'

'Then?...what is that light I see?'

'Is that...what they call the afterlife?'

'Heaven?'

'Who...what...am...I? Ahh!'

I could feel my eyes open, a slight pain stinging them from the effects of the bright light that shone in front of me. 

Was that the sun? I didn't know.

When my eyes fully opened, I could see a man, or was it a boy? Standing, right in front of me, with a windbreaker draped over his shoulder, and his hair tied into a bun. He had a frighteningly evil look on his face that scared me to the bone. 

My neck hurt from the way he choked me with his hands. I tried to struggle, but I felt so weak I couldn't do anything. 

All of a sudden, I could remember...

It was him!

It was he that put me in this state! How dare he do this to me!

I'll kill him!

I'll fucking kill him!

I tried to channel my energy and use my ability, but I found that I was drained of my energy and was as weak as an ant.

I thought of ways of which I could escape from his clutches, but then his voice rang in my ears.

"Don't even try. You have no more energy to use your ability. You're weak, useless and pathetic. I win. You lose. Checkmate."

"I'll...fucking...kill...you..." I tried to speak, but a weak voice came out of my mouth.

***

Ronaldo's face turned blue from all the choking and he continuously gasped for air.

"Kill me? You'll have to be reincarnated for a thousand years to do that. How about I help you? With a free ticket to the afterlife." Zayn's eyes lit up with a dark glow.

"Damn! Is he about to go full laser eyes on him? Lynn! Do it now!" Kai barked.

Lynn's cold eyes lit up, and Zayn's body jolted mysteriously as his eyes reverted to its black as night color. 

Zayn's hand loosened Ronaldo from its grip. The weakened boy coughed fiercely as he held his neck tightly, gasping for air.

Zayn turned towards the referee in the distance and lightly said, "Call off the fight." 

The referee didn't waste any more time and announced loudly, "The winner! Zayn!"

Loud cheers sounded in the arena.

"Such a big fight! And on the first day of school!"

"I know, right? Damn! That guy is cool!"

"Which are you talking about?". 

"Of course it's the Asura! Though I guess we should call him Angel from now on!"

"Oh yeah! And then we can all look back on this moment a few years into the future..."

"Shut up idiot! We're talking about the now! How about Dark Angel. I think that's a better name."

"Has a nice ring to it. All right guys, let's give our angel his debut!" 

"Dark Angel! Dark Angel! Dark Angel!"

The huge sounds of cheers reverberated in the arena.

Zayn walked weakly towards his friends amidst the ovation of the crowd.

"Who's this?" He glanced at Lea with a tired look in his eye.

"A friend. And a huge fan of yours! She might have a crush on you! She came to cheer you on your big win!" Kai laughed boisterously as Lea turned beet red.

'I'm a friend? Of Team Black? And Zayn? Ahh! This feels like a dream! But I don't have a crush on him! At least, not now...' She thought with slight embarrassment.

"Oh. My...big...win...I guess you could call...it...that." Zayn's eyes closed as he stumbled over unconsciously.

Lynn quickly helped Zayn to rest on his back.

"What's going on?" Lea inquired panickedly.

"It's nothing. We gotta go. He kinda needs his rest right now. See ya later." Kai waved his hand as the three of them departed.

Lea's eyes followed their figures until they left the range of her vision. 

***

"He won. Are you surprised?" The woman looked at Ted with a chuckle.

"Not particularly. But I am surprised about his powers though. What level has he trained his power? Level III, IV or maybe V?" He pointed out.

"Seriously. Level V? A Gamma grade Esper with his ability level at V? No way!" The woman was pretty stunned.

In this new Earth filled with Esper abilities, although Espers could train their energy level continuously and increase the upper limit of their capabilities, their genetic abilities were increased in a different manner.

Their control, skills and mastery of their Esper ability had to be trained extensively in order to unleash its utmost limits. Increasing their energy only made their Esper abilities last longer and perform better.

The mastery of their Esper ability were classified into five levels, level I to V. Level I referred to a basic mastery and usage of their ability and was usually capped at the maximum limits of their superior physiology.

Although not all humans could awaken an Esper ability and use genetic energy, as long as their innate potential of their genes were stimulated, they would never be like normal humans ever again. Years and years of stimulating human potential had turned 100% of the human population into a superior version of themselves with increased physical and mental abilities.

The mastery of Esper abilities increases in control and skill from levels II to V. But there have been rumors of another level higher than V although very few have mastered their ability to such a level.

The female beside Ted had only trained her ability to level III. So she was quite shocked to find out that an academy student had potentially trained his ability to a level higher than hers. If only she knew...

Ted gazed at the three young men inconspicuously leaving the arena and an imperceptible smirk appeared on his face.

'He's still hiding his power? Well then. Things are going to be more interesting than I'd hoped.' His eyes flashed.

At another corner of the arena, a beautiful girl with purple hair gazed at Zayn as his unconscious figure was carried by Kai. Her face had a slight smile on it.

'Hmph. At least he won. He's not a total weakling after all.' She pouted.

***

Zayn's eyes opened wearily to the white ceiling of the med bay in the academy. A few machines could be spotted in the room monitoring his vitals as Kai and Lynn sat on two chairs at a far corner of the room.

"Where...am...I?" Zayn groggily opened his eyes, squinting from the bright light in the room.

"Hey dude. You look pretty beat up. And you didn't even use the full extent of your powers. I think you're losing your edge—Ow! What was that for?" Kai laughed as Lynn jabbed him on his head.

"It's good to see that you're awake." Lynn nodded.

"Yeah. I feel so tired though. Did you really have to use such a powerful negation skill?" Zayn rubbed his eyes.

"Do you really need those stuff? We should use our power! For the good of the world!" Kai smiled heroically.

"Oh please. Like you're one to talk. You go around spreading fake rumors about having 3 genetic Esper abilities when you only have one." Zayn smirked.

"You did not just say that. When have I said something like that?" Kai made a shocked face as he looked left and right.

"Don't worry. No one can hear our conversation. I blocked the feeds." Zayn smiled.

"Whew. You know we got to keep the secrets of our powers secret."

"Says the idiot who told a freshman my secret."

"Was that really a secret? I mean, Darklight didn't accept you because of that."

Zayn glared at him. Kai waved his hands in resignation.

"Guys. I need you to help me do something." Zayn asked abruptly.

"What?" Kai asked. Lynn looked at him curiously. Zayn usually did things alone, execpt when things were out of his control.

"I need you to help me get something."

"What is it?"

Zayn took out his communicator and accessed the data file that he got from his latest assassination mission. 

"Over the years, mankind has advanced both in terms of genetic energy and technological innovation. And as time passed, people forgot about the glory of the past. The strongest figures on the planet long before Von Strauss came into being were —" Zayn was interrupted by Kai.

"What's the point of this history lesson? Get straight to the point." Kai poked his ear nonchalantly.

Zayn sighed.

"The object I want you guys to help me find is this—" Zayn showed them an image of an octahedral amethyst crystal that glittered with faint sparks of lightning.

"The heart of an individual who broke through the limits of the Omega grade— Electrode."

"Wait, what?" Kai asked sharply. Lynn's cold eyes had a sliver of curiosity in them as he peered at Zayn.