Chapter 3

 

Geno was back at his room, his entire body felt like one big bruise, but he was planning on taking a long, hot bath, and that should cure his ailing body. He rolled over with a groan, and glared at the ten feet of space between the bed and his bathroom, hoping if he glared hard enough, he could make the space contract, and then he would not have to cross as much. After a few minutes of glaring, the space had not lessened, and he rolled to his feet with a groan. He had passed his unarmed combat with flying colors, but he had had to work hard for it.

 

He limped into the bathroom, and stripped down, tossing his clothing into the dirty clothes hamper, and got the wrist computer off, placing it on the counter. He knew it was rated for nearly 100ft of water, but he needed to get all his sweat off, then he could check his grades on it. And his blood gifts as well, he remembered with a start. He got the warm water started, and stepped in, enjoying the feel of water running over his abused muscles, and spent nearly an hour enjoying the heat, before stepping out of the shower, and putting the plug into the drain, so he could soak. He grabbed his wrist computer, and put it on the side of the tub, and lay back, enjoying the heat.

 

After a few moments of soaking, he grabbed the wrist comp, and flicked it open and on, before setting it back down, and waiting for it to finish booting up. It beeped at him, and he snagged it, navigating through the menus to get to his personal information. He glanced over it, and noticed a new option, listing his blood gifts and curses. He selected the new option, and watched it load up a pair of lists.

 

Name: Geno Rathin

 

Blood Gifts:

·         Affinity (dragon)

·         Endurance

·         Recovery

·         Hyper Speed (2.5x normal)

·         Pokéboy gene (type 2)

 

Blood Curses:

·         Cold Vulnerability

·         Rage

·         Longevity

 

Geno read the list twice, and said, “I have all that? That is freaking ridiculous. There must be some kind of mistake, hell, most tamers don’t have more than three blood gifts, let alone… Uh, five? I have five blood gifts? And three  blood curses? This is freaking great. I am surprised I am not being called for further examination with this many improvements on the base strain. I mean, I am a freak of nature. Pokéboy is right. That is exactly what I am.”

 

He looked back over the list, and muttered disgustedly, “Well, one small blessing, I don’t have tamer’s disease blood curse. That would really take the cake. Of course, I would have suffered through an attack already.”

 

He looked up the rarity of all the blood curses and blood gifts, putting the numbers into the built in calculator, and was shocked when, after the first five on the list put him in the one in several billions. He put it away at that point, and said, “The odds are so long that it is not even funny. I don’t even want to know what the odds are now.”

 

Geno suddenly shuddered, and picked up his wrist computer again, flicking away from the screen listing his gifts and curses, and navigated back to the main menu, and began to look for the screen that listed his grades. A bit of searching, he finally found the correct screens, and noted his grades, which were much more modest than his blood gifts and curses. History had not been the bombing that he had expected, passing with a C-. He had a B+ in English, which surprised him, his essays and research papers had been barely acceptable, or so he had thought. His unarmed combat, math and science classes had all been A+, but he enjoyed those classes, and wanted to excel in them. His GPA was a 3.69, but it was still acceptable, and he was fifth in the school for his grade.

 

He snorted at his thought of still acceptable. He did not know why he pushed so hard, trying to be one of the best, but he flatly refused to be the best. Too easy to end up as an example that way. And examples always were alone, not that he was not alone, but at least he was alone by choice now, instead of because he had become some teacher’s pet.

 

He pushed his troublesome thoughts away, and stood up, his water starting to get cool, and pulled the plug from the drain. He stepped out at the sound of the water draining, and froze, suddenly wondering why he was so introspective all of a sudden, and noticing things that he usually barely did. Shaking his head, he stepped out of the bath, and dried off, quickly stripping the water from his body, and hanging it up on the rack to air dry. He stepped back into his room, and lay down, first getting dressed in shorts that had a hole for his tail.

 

Rolling onto his stomach, he dozed off, wondering how well he would do on the survival training.

 

The next day, he woke up to the pinging of his wrist computer, and read the message on it while getting dress. Masagi wanted him to come to the dojo, so they could finish his training, and test his control over his rage blood curse. He sighed, and sent a message back saying he would arrive in about an hour, after he had eaten something, and then digested it enough that he could fight. Most of his bruises had been treated with the cream he had used in the bath, and he looked slightly green in spots, but other than that, he was fine for the moment. But he knew once they started his control training, he would be purple all over, again.

 

An hour later, he had eaten a light breakfast, and was standing outside the dojo, and sighed, before entering. He looked around, and noted that Tiria was here, as well as several other students, all of them he recognized as being in the top thirty students. Wondering what was going on, he took a seat a short distance from the others, and watched one student limp out of the dojo room that no students were allowed in, except for an evaluation to test their expertise and proficiency with martial arts.

 

Tiria stopped the student, and used heal on him, and then read off the name of another student, who stood up and entered the dojo the first student had left. Geno swore softly, wondering what was going on, before Tiria interrupted his thoughts. “Geno Rathin, report to the locker room, and select a gi to use during your evaluation. Your proficiency and abilities will be observed by five judges and several others that are behind a privacy wall. You will be called in the order you arrive.”

 

She was strangely formal, and Geno found that the most off putting thing so far today. He did not give into his usual antics, instead nodding and heading toward the locker room, where he opened his locker, and felt his jaw drop, noting almost absently that his locker now had three different gis in it, one jet black, another a whitish silver color, and the third was brown. He selected the black gi and dressed, noting with a grin that it was perfectly tailored to his body. His wings and tail fit snuggly through the holes for them, and he smiled, before carefully folding his clothing and putting it into the locker, and noticed a single, black mask, that left only his eyes uncovered. He picked it up, and noted with both amusement and glee that it was a stylized dragon mask, and put it on. He did a few test maneuvers, impressed that the gi and mask did not interfere with his sight, hearing, or movements.

 

He took the mask back off, and after a moment of arguing with himself, he carried it back outside, realizing that the outfit was making him feel… important, noticeable, and powerful. He felt less like a student, and more like a master now. He carried himself back outside, and sat in a chair, and also spotted that the gis that the other students wore were of equal quality, and most had a mask as well. He waited for nearly an hour, some students only getting a small amount of time in the dojo, while one student lasted for nearly a half hour, before striding out of the door.

 

Tiria called his name, and he stood, giving his friend a nod, before walking toward the door, wondering what the other room looked like. He was calm, collected, and was ready for anything, or so he thought. Then he opened the door, stepped inside, shutting the door behind him, and turned back to the room.

 

It was slightly larger than the other rooms had been, with a mat that was half again the size of the ones in the training room. He saw his teacher Kaito, with several other people seated on the edge of the mat, which had a large white circle drawn on it. His heart jumped when he saw his opponent was Masagi, and the Amachamp was looking at him like something that was mildly annoying and in her way. A large mirror was on one wall, behind the judges, and he covered his apprehension by putting his dragon mask on. He stepped up toward the mat, trying to remember his lessons, and stopped at the edge, bowing to the mat, and recited the small chant of thanks for easing his falls. Stepping onto the mat, he stepped forward until he was in the box opposite of Masagi, and bowed again to the judges, reciting another short chant, thanking them for their time, and asking for them to judge him fairly, so he might prove to be a boon to their art.

 

He bowed to the mirror, but could not remember if there was a chant of thanks for unseen watchers, so instead recited the chant for thanking an audience for their sacrificing time to come and watch the bout. Turning again, he spotted a Nursejoy">Nursejoy behind Masagi, and recited a fourth chant, thanking her for her presence, and for ensuring that no deaths would occur. Taking a final bow, to Masagi, he thanked her, for allowing him to spar against her, and to test himself. She gave him a quick grin and a slow wink of her eye to the door, where no one but him could see it, and allowed himself to relax, slightly. He turned to the judges, and waited for them to dictate the terms of engagement for this sparring match.

 

One of the judges, the middle judge, an elderly but spry looking man, with white hair, a wizened body, but his movements were sure and slow, marking him as an expert in the art of unarmed combat. He nodded to Geno and Masagi, before announcing, “This fight will be an endurance match, determined by the first to fall. You will continue until your opponent is unable to continue. No killing blows are allowed, from either participant, and you have three breaks that you may take, signaled by stepping outside of the ring. If ejected from the ring, it will count toward a break. If you have no further breaks, you are disqualified. If you are injured severely, Nursejoy">Nursejoy Candace will see to it.”

 

He looked at both participants, who bowed as one, and turned back to each other. The center judge said, “Assume your stances. Geno are you ready? Masagi are you ready?”

 

Both fighters assumed their stances, Geno assuming a stance with spread legs, and both hands open, and in front of his chest, turned to minimize his target profile, a defensive posture, while Masagi put her left leg in front of her right, her lower arms spread wide, like she wanted to hug him, and her upper arms in a traditional guard position, one arm in front of the other, with her hands half curled into fists. Both indicated that they were ready, and the elderly judge sat back down, and called, “Begin!”

 

Geno circled left, moving around to keep moving, and not present the stronger and more dangerous Amachamp a stationary target. She responded by slowly moving forward, stalking the human tamer in training, and from her careful movements, Geno knows he is about to be in a lot of pain.

 

He darts forward, his wings flaring up, trying to get a feel for the Amachamp, for he had never truly fought her before. He was thankful for the no killing blows rule, because one pokégirl technique from her would turn him into a stain, and that was not part of his plans for any time soon. She settled back, watching him close, not lashing out yet. Geno stopped well out of her reach, his wings coming around to cloak the center part of his body in shadows, blocking his stance from Masagi’s view.

 

They slowly circled each other for a moment, Geno keeping himself hidden in the shadows of his wings, while Masagi stared at her student. Finally tiring of his game, she rushed forward several steps, and launched a three-punch combo, top left, bottom left, bottom right fists hurtling through the air. Geno ducked under the first punch, rolled away from the second, and jumped up so that her bottom right foot hit his right foot on the bottom, at an angle, so that he spun around in the air, as he went up, and channeled his chi into his heel, right before it cracked against the top of Masagi’s head. He flipped backwards and away as her top right fist tried to snatch him from the air, but a quick back flap of his wings, and her fist missed grabbing his foot.

 

He landed a good ten feet from the Amachamp, who nodded in professional appreciation at his stunt, but in such a way that he figured he would not get it in again. Masagi resumed her original stance, and edged forward, stalking him, while he crab walked to her right, his hand and feet holding him up, moving like a large cat. He suddenly lunged forward, using his superior speed to break her guard and slammed one, then two fists into her abdomen, and then rolled down and through her legs, as she tried to grab him. He came up out of his roll immediately behind the Amachamp, and quickly reversed his course, hitting the back of her left knee with his elbow, and caught a low kick with his back, barely tumbling to keep from slamming face first into the mat.

 

He slid a few feet after landing, and whirled, his anger at allowing such a predictable move showing in the quickness of his movements, and at ignoring the slight pain in his lower back where Masagi’s heel had connected. He stood up, glad the mask hid his face, and stalked forward, hands to his sides, half curled like he wanted to rake Masagi with claws he did not have, and his eyes had tiny pinpricks of red light in the pupils. He fought back a desire to hiss at her, and stalked around the Amachamp, watching her carefully.

 

A gentle murmur from the judges was ignored by both fighters, who were to busy focusing on each other. Geno darted forward and tumbled into a front flip, and then flipped forward in a tight ball, before coming out of the flip in a powerful but telegraphed whirlwind kick, which the stronger Amachamp braced to block with one arm, and snag his leg with another. Geno slammed his wings up, and dropped, his kick coming down beneath the Amachamp’s guards to connect solidly with her side. She grunted slightly, as Geno landed in front of her again, his speed letting him land another two punches into her abdomen, before flipping backwards, and landing on his hands. He then forced himself up, performing a mule kick, which was blocked by the Amachamp’s lower arms, and Masagi grabbed the half dragon with her upper arms, before performing an overhand throw, towards the edge of the wing.

 

Geno brought his wings slamming to the front again, arresting his forward movement and landing him just on this side of the ring. He turned faster than before, trying to control his urge to hiss his fury at his opponent. How dare she block his attack! He would show her. He darted forward, moving at full speed as he approached, and watch Masagi shake her head at her student, and once he stepped into her reach, throw a powerful double punch with both her right arms at him.

 

Geno waited until the last second, before sliding left, leaving her unbalanced, not expecting the human to dodge the powerful attack. He felt the breeze from her attack pull at his gi and then grabbed one of her arms, using it as leverage to pull himself up, and slam his knee into her face as hard as he could. As her head rocked backwards, he reversed his spin, and slammed his tail into the back of Masagi’s head, before shoving off with both feet against her head, upsetting her already disrupted balance. He landed in a roll, and whirled, to watch Masagi land on one knee, and catching herself with her two left arms, one of her right arms on her knee, the other holding her head.

 

Masagi looked at him, and gave him a glare that let him know playtime was over, as she pushed herself to her feet. She shook her head, and brought her arms into the traditional guard stance left arm in front of the right, before bringing her lower arms into the same position. Geno grinned behind his mask, and felt his mind widening, which meant he was falling further into the rage, and did not give a damn. He spread his arms wider, and ducked down low, before circling closer. Time, the judges, the possible pokégirls up for grabs, everything but the opponent in front of him had lost all meaning. All that existed was the need to triumph, and destroy her, though any means necessary. He repressed the urge to hiss at her, not knowing that his pupils had turned completely and totally blood red. He rushed forward, moving toward the Amachamp, who smirked, and channeled her chi into her fists.

 

The smirk lasted until he suddenly blurred to the left, then the right, his hyper speed and rage blood gifts magnifying each other, so that Masagi could only see him when he stopped moving to the side. She quickly used her ability of foresight, and noted that he would be attacking from above again, when Geno leapt into the air, going for the same spot where the Amachamps foresight ability had placed him. She lashed out with her right fist, putting enough chi into it to knock the human cold with one hit.

 

The fist connected with his gut, as his attack landed, his wings slamming into the sides of Masagi’s head, dazing her. Geno flew backwards, and slammed outside the ring, bouncing off the mat, and lay unmoving, while the judges watched, shocked at the display from the Amachamp. The Nursejoy">Nursejoy rushed around, and was just kneeling beside Geno when he suddenly pushed himself up, and pulled his mask up to spit some blood from his mouth. Wiping the small stain from his mouth, he stalked back into the ring, replacing his mask, and stared at the Amachamp, who noted with growing fear that most of his eyes were blood red, and that he seemed to be trembling. The judge stood, and said, “Geno Rathin, are you able to continue?”

 

Geno snorted, and said, “Of course.”

 

The judges looked at the young human, before the elder shrugged and said, “Geno has used one of his breaks. You may rest for five minutes if you wish.”

 

Geno turned and looked at the judge over his shoulder, with a blank, not quite hostile but definitely unfriendly glance, before turning his attention to the Amachamp, and stepping back into the ring. The elder judge watched Geno warily, not liking what he had seen, before he said, “Ready, continue!”

 

Geno was already charging toward Masagi, who noted he was using the exact same pattern as before and set herself, grimacing at the thought that he might be so far in the rage that he could not think any further. She watched him leap into the air, and responded with both right fists, intent on knocking him cold this time for sure. Geno’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and his wings snapped forward, causing him to drop down, underneath Masagi’s attack, and responded to throwing himself into a flip kick, launching himself back up, and his heels caught the unbalanced Amachamp completely by surprise. She staggered backwards, and fell down, before rolling backwards, with her head coming up, straight into Geno’s flying shoulder. He hit her face with his full weight behind the tackle, and slammed her into the ground. She responded with a throw that sent Geno flying away.

 

Geno rolled as he landed, and slid a few feet before he got his feet placed well enough to charge back in, and closed the distance rapidly, throwing a punch that had all his momentum and weight behind it and the Amachamp desperately blocked, barely deflecting the blow away, which she then turned into a throw. But instead of releasing him at the apex, as was normal, she continued it all the way, holding his arm, until he had smashed into the mat, hitting it with the back of his neck first, and then falling over.

 

He lay on the mat for a minute, as Masagi carefully backed away, breathing heavily, and feeling like she had just fought an Amachoke, instead of a human. And even as the Nursejoy">Nursejoy stepped into the ring to see if Geno was still alive, he sat up, his eyes completely red, indicating that he had fallen into a total rage. He stood up, and took two steps toward the Amachamp, before he froze. After a moment, his eyes closed, and he collapsed, falling forward, to lie on the mat, as the Nursejoy">Nursejoy checked him, and used healing on him. Other than some serious bruising to the back of his neck, he was fine.

 

She reported this to the judges who were arguing over the unconscious student, until Kaito finally turned to Masagi, and checked her, his hands rubbing her neck, and moving down her sides.

 

Geno woke up, about fifteen minutes later, and said, “So, I guess I lost?”

Looking around, he noticed everyone was staring at him, and he wondered what had happened this time. He said, “What, is there something on my face? Other than my mask?”

 

Behind the mirror, one of the pokegirls was snickering at the young human’s comment, and said, “Oh, I have already selected my choice.”

 

Another shadow looked at the first, and said, “Really? How do you know he is the best for you?”

 

The first one smiled and stretched her wings out, while the third one watched the first two with amusement. The third shadow said, “Perhaps you have chosen him, but will he pick you?”

 

The first one finished stretching and said, “Of course he will. After all, we both have the blood of dragons in our veins. And his mind was the one I sensed that one night, remember?”

 

The second shadow shrugged and was copied by the third, who then leaned back, saying, “Perhaps he will do for you dragon, but not for this elf. I have yet to find one I like.”

 

The dragon shifted and rolled her eyes at the comment of the elf, before turning back to watch the next human, a female, walk in, wondering if there was any need to even watch further.