From Fat to Untouchable: The System's Billion-Dollar Payback

A Piece Of Your Medicine

Chapter 5

~ A Piece Of Your Medicine ~

"Get your fat body out onto the ice, Reed, or hand in your skates right now!" Head Coach Jaxon Salvador barked, slamming his board against the locker room door.

Asher Reed did not look up immediately, he swiftly tightening the laces of his worn skates until it was tight enough and straight around his ankles.

Under his hoodie, he wasn't the fat boy anymore, he had burned away his fat into muscle that filled out his broad shoulders.

He stood up, his frame now talking, as he pulled his dark practice jersey down over his chest.

He stepped out of the locker room tunnel and onto the slick surface of the arena ice, his blades cutting clean grooves into the frozen floor.

Across the rink, Caelum Thorne was laughing loudly with Vincent White, Rowan Knightford, Bradley Logan, Caleb Joe, Mason Lucas, and Oscar Olive, his six maniacs.

Caelum spun his hockey stick between his hands, his eyes widening in sudden annoyance when he spotted Asher gliding smoothly toward the defensive zone.

"Look who came back for more beating," Vincent White chuckled, leaning over the glass barrier with a cold smirk on his face. "I thought you dropped out of school to sweep streets,” he asked in a condensed tone.

Asher ignored the comment completely, taking his place in front of the practice net and setting his feet firmly into the ice.

Coach Jaxon Salvador blew his whistle, its shrill sound echoing off the rafters of the empty arena.

"Line drill! Power forward rush! Caelum, take the puck and drive the net!" the coach yelled, pointing his stick toward the center circle.

Caelum collected the rubber puck, his face twisting into a malicious grin as he stared down the ice at Asher standing alone near the crease.

"Watch this, boys," Caelum muttered to his line mates, digging his skates into the ice and building maximum speed down.

He lowered his head and dropped his shoulder, intending to slam his full body weight directly into Asher's chest to send him crashing into the end boards.

Asher widened his stance and lowered himself like a rooted into the rink.

The collared echoed through the arena like a slamming shut.

Caelum hit Asher's chest at full speed, but instead of Asher falling, Caelum bounced off him like a toy hitting a wall.

The force of his own impact sent him flying to the ground on his back, his stick clashing aggressively across the ice as he slid six feet out toward the blue line.

The entire arena fell into total silence; Vincent and Rowan froze in shock while Coach Jaxon lowered his whistle in utter disbelief.

They couldn't believe their eyes. They were outta disarray.

Asher stood calm over the puck, his breathing was low and gentle, his eyes looking down at the captain lying on the ice, trying to gasp for his breath.

Caelum scrambled to his feet, his face red with humiliation as he reached for his stick with shaking hands.

"You… you…. you fat piece of garbage! How dare you push me?" Caelum screamed, his voice tinged with fury, as he chugged his step forward at Asher.

"You tried slamming into me, you just got a piece of your medicine," Asher blurted in a cold tone. "If I were you, I would just run out of the rink with your humiliated face."

"What did you say to me?" Caelum snarled, gritting his teeth furiously, clenching his hand tightly on his stick.

Before Caelum could launch himself forward again, and hit Asher with his stick, Coach Jaxon’s voice raged through the rink in a commanding freighting tone.

"Enough!" the coach shouted, marching onto the ice with a stern look on his face. "Thorne, get back in line! Reed, you're running the starting defense for the second unit tomorrow night."

“Is that understood!” Coach Jason questioned in a furious tone, navigating his gaze from Caleum to Asher, who nodded their heads, glaring at each other.

"This isn't over, Reed," Caelum hissed in a low voice as he brushed past Asher toward the bench.

Asher pulled his visor down, his voice smooth as he glided back into position. "Check again, Caelum. The game hasn't even started."

He turned back toward the net, feeling the hum of his system interface warming the base of his spine in his brain.

The practice session continued for another hour, but the energy inside the game was suffocating and intimidating for the players.

Every time the first unit attempted to crash the net during drills, Asher met them at the blue line with strong positioning and composure.

Bradley Logan and Caleb Joe tried to double-team him during a board battle in the corner, but Asher simply set his broad hips, absorbed their combined weight without swaying, and flicked the puck out of danger.

Coach Salvador watched from the center red line, writing rapid notes on his clipboard while shaking his head in silent astonishment, his eyes fixed on Asher.

"Where has this guy been hiding all season?" the coach muttered to himself, watching Asher pin Mason against the glass with a clean move.

When the practice finally over, Caelum slammed his stick against the lockers, before storming out toward the showers.

Asher sat down on the bench, unlaced his skates, gently pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced down at the screen under the lights.

A new golden notification scrolled across his screen, signaling the start of the next phase.

(Threshold Exceeded: Defensive mechanism mastered.)

(System Alert: Your Party Invitation Verified.

Thorne Global Assets Has Been Fully Leveraged.)

Asher closed the screen, and packed up his worn sports bag and stepped out.

As he walked toward the parking lot, he noticed a sleek red Mercedes near the gates with its headlights turned off.

A driver stepped out from the driver seat, rushed towards the other door, holding it open for a man in a brown fur coat who watched Asher with dreadful eyes.

Asher stopped in his tracks, he quickly recognized the emblem on the Mercedes's front grille, it was the private symbol of the regional athletic compliance committee.

The man in the brown fur coat took a slow drag from his cigarette, blowing his smoke into the air before looking straight at Asher.

"So you're the Reed kid who's about to ruin Caelum Thorne's season," the man said, his voice quiet and dry as he reached into his jacket.