Awakened: Evolving to Godhood

The eyes of the second-year students and first-year students opened wide in surprise, and they looked at Theo and Shawn with an expression of disbelief on their faces as they were unable to understand why he had obediently followed Theo's command and suddenly kneeled in front of him. Not just them, but even Lisa and John stood speechless and awed.

Except for Elliot, who knew everything about Theo's special eyes, and a few others that knew a tidbit about his special powers, everyone else was surprised.

"Knock yourself out!" Theo said in a majestical voice, almost as if he was a royalty of some sort, and Shawn followed his command unwillingly,

He raised his hands before wisps of fire swirled around them, setting them on fire, then he repeatedly punched himself in the face and the stomach, burning his skin, disfiguring his face, and badly mutilating himself. Shawn hit himself without holding back, giving it his all in inflicting harm on his body, wincing not even once as the flame burned his flesh and his punches shattered his bones. Then, the broken ribs stabbed into his organs, and he started to bleed internally, yet not once did he moan out in pain, seeming as if he had no sense of self at the moment.

Instructor Leonardo looked at the match impartially, having no intention of butting in the fight to save Shawn, just like many others. It's not because they couldn't help him, but they didn't want to help him. First off, the tournament rules never stated that killing isn't allowed. They only mentioned that killing someone intentionally will earn the offender a permanent strike. Three strikes and they will never be able to participate in officials tournaments in or outside the academy.

Secondly, the magician community followed the simple rules of the strong eat the weak. The weak ones perish, while the strong ones step on their bodies to rise to the peak. Such was how the world was nowadays, and no one had enough strength to change it. Those who try to do so, mysteriously disappear, never to be seen again.

Thirdly, it was an official match, so Theo won't get in trouble with the association for murdering his opponent.

Lastly, even if Shawn dies, they could put the entire blame on Theo's head, causing Shawn's family to direct their anger not towards the Academy but Theo.

"At this rate, that bastard will end up killing him." One of Shawn's best friends said to his friends while gripping his hand and clenching his fist in anger. He wanted to charge up there and save his life but knew he won't be able to succeed if he do that alone.

Toby looked at him, then said, "Brandon, should we do something to stop him?"

Brandon nodded his head eagerly, and said the following words to all his friends, "Guys, let's work together and help him out of this situation!"

"Would we be fine if we step on stage? Won't we be stepping on the instructor's nerves by interfering in an official fight and breaking the rules?" Light said, expressing that he didn't want to help Shawn.

Brandon and Toby were unable to believe that Light was trying to sow internal discord in the group at this point, and they looked at him with betrayed expressions before Brandon said, "Light, are you seriously worried about rules when he is about to die?! Did you forget who helped you escape death and provide a haven for you in this cruel and merciless place?"

"I won't change my mind, no matter what you say!" Light said in a stern voice before he looked away from Brandon, unable to look into his eyes due to guilt.

The rest of the members also took a step away from Brandon and Toby, almost as if they were telling them that they didn't want to become a part of their plan.

"Are you guys for real?" Brandon said while looking at them in disbelief, finding it hard to believe that everyone had turned their back on their leader when he needed them the most.

"Why should I help him? Who told him to pick up a fight against him? It's his fault, and I have no intention of suffering it along with him. Leave me out of it!" Ben said, putting all the blame on Shawn. After all, the current situation occurred because he had made a rash decision and challenged him to a fight.

"You!!" Brandon couldn't believe that Ben was finding fault at this moment.

"What me?? It's not like we told him to follow the order of the strongest second-year students that told half of the school to mess with Theo and his group. He did it of his own free will, to get closer to the second-year Kings and Queens. Why should I or any one of us suffer because of his greed?"

The Kings and Queens were the strongest students in the academy, and all of them were above the energy channel opening stage. Because Elliot and Theo had broken their rules by helping a Hollow, they had turned against them and secretly spread a command amongst the second-year to trouble them until they leave John all alone.

"If you want to sit back and watch your friend die, then I won't force you to come with me, but I am going to do what I can to save Shawn," Brandon said, ready to move alone, even if it means failing to save Shawn and getting in deep trouble himself.

Toby intercepted him by stopping him with his staff, then said, "It will be foolish to go without a plan."

"Huh? Are you coming too?" Brandon's eyebrow raised.

Toby nodded, then said, "I will distract them and buy time for you, so take Shawn out of the arena before they notice what we are up to."

"Alright," Brandon said, ready to drag Shawn out of the arena. As long as he manages to do that, the instructor will declare Theo as the winner, and thus, the fight will end. Killing someone after the legal fight ends means getting in trouble with the association, so Brandon believes that Theo will be forced to spare Shawn's life.

"Let's go!" Toby said.

They both suddenly rushed forward across the crowd as one. One could see two magicians in the channel opening stage leaping towards the arena and releasing their superpower towards Theo. Wind bombs and water waves burst from their hands, shocking most of the onlookers.

Theo looked shocked when he felt two magicians sneak attacking him from behind, but he was too late to do anything about it, so was instructor Leonardo.

"I knew you sneaky bastards were up to something!"

However, before their attacks could even reach a few meters away from them, a calm voice sounded in their ears, then a golden shield enclosed each of them with their attacks.

Bam

Bomb!

Their attacks burst inside the shields, causing water to flood one of them and suffocate Toby, while wind burst in the other, smashing on Brandon and hurling him back, only for him to smash on the inner wall of the shield at a very high speed, causing internal and external damage, enough for him to puke out a mouthful of blood from his mouth.

"Who the hell?" Brandon looked for the culprit after puking out three more mouthfuls of blood, only to see Elliot smiling at him.

"Stay in there like a good boy, hairy monkey." Elliot taunted him with a smile.

Brandon started pounding on the shield, trying to break out of the shield. At the same time, he was shouting out loud, "Let me out! Let me out!"

"Silence!" A loud voice sounded in not only Brandon's ears but also in the ears of the barely conscious Toby, and they found out that they couldn't say a word as a mysterious power has snapped shut their mouths.

"You can let them go. I have sealed their superpowers and their ability to move and talk, so they won't be able to interfere with the match. We will decide what to do with them later," Gerald said while looking at Elliot.

"Whatever you say, Headmaster." Elliot snapped his fingers and the shield bursts like bubbles, setting Toby and Brandon free from their shackles. They dropped to the ground, landing straight on their butts. Toby gasped for breath while Brandon squirmed around, trying to somehow save Shawn.

"Stay still!" Elliot said while looking down at him, and at the same time, Brandon felt the sharpness of a golden blade near his neck.

His back got drenched in sweat as he realized that he was not joking, and would really kill him if he as much as twitched his body, and thus, he remained still.

"Thanks for having my back!" Theo said, thanking Elliot for saving him.

"No problem! Just focus on your match and leave the rest to me," Elliot said in reply while holding Toby and Brandon as his captives.

Theo nodded and then turned towards Shawn, only to see a badly bleeding, bruised, and battered body that was barely holding on to dear life.

"Well, that's more than enough to teach him a lesson," Theo said before snapping his fingers, causing Shawn to break free of his mind control.

"Ugh!!"

The moment Shawn regained his sense of self, an unbearable amount of pain crashed down on his senses, assaulting every fiber of his being, making him scream at the top of his lungs.

"What… did y-you… do to me?" Shawn managed to make out these five words by mustering up all the strength in his strength.

"Nothing much. I just dominated your mind when you were at your best, then trashed your body, so that I can let you feel how it feels like to have someone trample all over pride and crush you from the inside out!"

Shawn realize that since the very start Theo was playing with him, almost as if he was a mere ant that he could at any moment. He looked at him with eyes that said, kill me now, or I will have my revenge.

"No way. I am not getting my record dirty by killing a broken-down fool." Theo shook his head, moving his face away from his deadbeat body and looking towards instructor Leonardo before saying, "Can you announce the result?"

Instructor Leonardo raised one of his hands towards Theo, then said, "The winner of this match is Theo Rose!"

Immediately after, cheers erupted from the crowd, filling the surrounding areas in words of praises sung under Theo's name.