"Shit…" Murmured a steady, deep voice.
Ruff.
Moving around, the young man sat up on his bed, elbows on his tights and head held by his hands as the boy weakly ruffled his hair. "I guess I can't fall asleep." John said, exhaling sharply.
By the edge of the bed, John looked over his shoulder, looking at the space between the open curtains of his room, peeking in the partial darkness of the night outside. The moon hanging in the sky attempted to not let the world be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Turning his head to the right, the young man looked at the digital clock on the nightstand by his head.
Not even 1 hour of sleep, hm? John grunted internally, straightening his back. I guess I'm not tired. The boy exhaled sharply, staring into the space ahead of him. "I wonder if it's because of the energy I'm absorbing." He muttered, rising to his feet. "Whatever, better do something, then."
With slow steps, the young man crossed his room, heading to the bathroom as he started to undress himself half-way through. Despite the short sleep and the fact he actually didn't dirt himself in any way, the boy preferred to take a bath to start the 'day'.
Not much time was spent by the boy in the shower, just a few good minutes to let the hot water wash away any lingering coldness in his skin and feel its freshness. In a few short moments, the young man was already by the side of his bed again, wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday: A sweater and sweater pants.
Satisfied and barefeet, the boy closed his mostly empty wardrobe, and calmly he walked out in the direction of his room's balcony.
"What a beautiful view." Said the young man, hands over the stone fence.
Through the clouds hovering in the sky, the moon attempted to make its light pass through them, allowing a weak light to illuminate this part of the world. And under these feeble lights, the lake resting by the school's garden – partially surrounded by the forest – faintly glowed, reflecting off the moonlight.
And under the boy's sight, this view was even more magnificent for what he was capable of seeing.
"I guess that's a good way to start the day." John said, taking a deep breath before climbing up the stone fence, standing up on it. "Up we go." And then, he flew away.
Up in the air, feeling the winds of winter, John obviously relaxed. For a few good moments, he didn't do much but wander in the air.
But at a certain moment, the young man found himself looking at the ground beneath him, at least a dozen meters between them.
"It would make some noise." John muttered, dismissing the idea that was surging in his mind.
Looking upwards, the boy flew up, only stopping when he got to a certain height. Or, more exactly, when a thin veil of energy stood before him.
So this is supposed to act as an illusion barrier. John reached out his hand, his finger 'touching' the magic which made the dome that encompassed the entirety of the school's field. Certainly seems something like a school of magic should have in modern days. He thought, retreating his hand from the dome as he also descended in his flight.
Now, the young man found himself just a few meters atop the field of green laying behind the school with his hands resting by his side.
"Okay…" John deeply breathed. "Let's start working out these abilities of mine." He declared, raising his right hand in front of him and placing his focus in it.
For a few moments, nothing of significance happened around the young man as he felt the cold winds sweeping by between his fingers.
Winds slowly felt colder and slower as the seconds went by, followed by the visible breathing from the young man and mist forming around. However, these changes in the close environment weren't noticed by the boy. Now, his focus was solely in hand.
Ts…
Under the boy's hand, a reddish hue emanated, a heat which immediately brought along steam as the coldness surrounding it heated up immediately.
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." John muttered, a huge smile forming on his lips. And as he guided and absorbed the heat from the surroundings, the changes suffered by the environment continued, though shortly.
"Shit." John muttered, letting the heat in his hand naturally disperse when he noticed the appearance of a dense fog around.
To disperse it, the young man waved his hand rapidly, creating a strong pressure in the air and making it flow outwards from his position, easily scattering the accumulated fog. But as his hand continued to emit heat, the fog slowly continued to build up again.
However, that didn't last long, for in a blink, the heat accumulated under the boy's skin disappeared, returning to a normal state.
"Better now." The boy muttered, putting down his arm. "I must remember to be careful around absorbing and manipulating energy, lest I want to cause some disruption in the environment as time passes." Raising his eyes, John looked to his left, gazing at the windows of the school facing his direction. "I guess it's better if I go into the forest to practice with it, less chance of disturbing someone this way."
Casually, the young man walked over the wind, putting some distance between him and the buildings behind him as he approached the woods, his figure slowly consumed by the darkness which enveloped the forest.
[Scene Break]
Briing…! Briing…!Bri-
The alarm echoing through the room ceased, a delicate, small hand rested over the cellphone which the sound came from, pressing over the screen to turn off the alarm.
On the screen, what time of the day was was revealed briefly before the screen darkened.
04:45.
"Urgh…" A groggish groan escaped the one laid on the bed, attempting to wake their consciousness through sheer will.
Slowly, the figure sat on the bed, the blankets covering her legs. Her hair was slightly messy and her loose shirt had wrinkles all over.
I want to sleep… Hope thought, sluggishly casting her blanket aside, uncovering her legs which moved to the side of her bed, her feet sliding into the slippers.
Standing on, Hope slowly walked away from her bed, approaching the dresser which she brought from her home in New Orleans.
She pulled on a few drawers, retrieving pieces of clothes from them before closing them and walking away. Crossing her room, Hope opened the door to her bathroom and entered before closing it despite her sole presence in the room.
Setting her clothes, folded, over a small platform in her bathroom, Hope started to undress herself. "Hm." She weakly murmured when lifting her shirt and pulling it over her head, freeing her breasts.
In slow and calm movements, Hope tied her hair in a ponytail. Then, she took the freshly taken off clothes and put them inside a basket by the side.
Opening the glass door to her shower stall, Hope's delicate feet stepped upon the cold tiles of ceramic. Closing the door, she twisted the handle, feeling the result of her actions when warm water started to fall over her, using her curves and unblemished skin to descend over her body.
"Ah…" Hope let out a gasp of pleasure, feeling the little stiffness and coldness in her body dispersing as she avoided the water from wetting her hair.
Hidden behind steam, Hope's hands wandered around her figure, scrubbing her body in soap. As her fingers traced against her skin, it drew curves in the air, allowing whoever could have the opportunity to watch the scene to imagine how every centimeter of her body was. Certainly, the dream of some people.
The forming fog started to disperse when the young woman closed off the shower, letting the last drops of water from it hit the floor as she opened the glass door, reaching her hand out to grab a towel nearby.
After drying herself, leaving no drop of water on her, Hope stepped out of the shower, approaching where she left her prepared clothes before dressing on.
Few minutes later, the girl walked out of her bathroom, different from how she entered it. A moisture-wicking T-shirt she wore, with a sports bra hidden beneath. Black running shorts clad her tights, revealing most of her legs.
Walking to her bed, Hope sat on it before putting on the socks and running shoes she already had set nearby.
Done. Hope stated internally. Reaching her hand out, she grabbed her phone which was still on the bed. Then, she opened a drawer from her nightstand, getting an airpods case before closing it and standing up.
She approached her door, twisted the knob and opened it, heading out to start her day.
…
"Huf… Huf…" Hope breathed rhythmically, far from showing any sign of tiredness despite how fast her legs moved.
Her movements were steady as she ran along a dirt path leading towards the forest, a result of many individuals using this same path repeatedly.
Dirt and dust ascended shortly at every step of her, a result of the strength put behind every movement of her. If any normal human was present nearby, her figure would almost be a blur in their eyes.
As her steps accumulated, Hope looked forward into the approaching woods, originally unscared of the darkness that consumed her path ahead. However, at this moment, certain memories flashed in her mind due to the upcoming scenery.
The young man frowned slightly, and in result her movements were pushed into a faster rhythm.
Whoosh.
As she trespassed the border of the forest, with the crowns of the woods covering her figure and woods surrounding her, the noise surrounding the girl decently decreased, the trees doing wonders to disperse sounds.
Despite the unsavoring past this scenery of darkness makes her reminiscence, Hope also enjoyed the quietness of it. The crickets in the distance and occasional howl of winds reminded her of places she actually had fond memories at.
Briefly, a small smile bloomed on her lips.
I miss the bayou. I should have visited it during- As Hope sailed through her memories, she found herself forced to halt her thoughts when she noticed something from the corner of her eyes.
In the depths of the forest, Hope could barely glimpse a red light glowing despite its contrast to the darkness. And followed by the light, a distorted noise came along.
"-it!"
Skrrt…!
Hope's shoes screeched when she abruptly slowed her run, raising a small cloud of dust when the soles scraped against the dirt on the path.
Not running anymore, Hope turned in the light's direction. "Is there someone here?" She muttered, recognizing the noise seemed to be a person's voice. That was everything she needed to start moving out of curiosity alone, leaving her path and heading towards the light that flicked in the dark morning.
Between the trees and bushes, Hope didn't rush her movements as the light was still within her sigh. And as she approached it, she sensed something else, a lingering smell reaching up her nostrils.
Did something around burn? She thought when sensing the smell of something charred, continuing forward in more rushed steps.
Hope had moved more than a few steps into the forest, and if she looked back, she would notice the path she was following previously would be mostly hidden behind the leaves around. But even then, the girl could say the source of the light was relatively far.
Almost there. Hope thought, thinking she was near whatever she was seeking.
However, as the girl pushed a branch away that momentarily blocked her vision, her eyes widened in surprise when the light abruptly ceased.
"What?" Hope blurted, quickening her steps. She started to sprint, leaving a gust of wind wherever she passed.
The nearby woods blurred in Hope's eyes, quickly leaving her sight as she crossed the distance she had previously walked in mere seconds.
And also in mere seconds, Hope noticed she seemed to be approaching her destination, for the forests started to open up a little. She could see between the leaves the moonlight reflecting over the clear water of the lake.
When leaving the confines of the forest and stepping over the shores of the lake, the girl's eyes instinctively were attracted to the place where the smell she sensed was coming from.
However…
"Hey, Hope."
Once again, the girl found herself coming to an abrupt halt in her steps.
Listening to her name being called and by a familiar voice yet, the girl looked around in search of the person. "John?"
"Up here."
Swiftly, Hope lifted her head, glancing up to meet those golden eyes which captured her attention.
"Yo." John greeted the girl, waving at her way.
"John?!" Hope widened her eyes seeing the young man, or more specifically, at his situation. "Are you fucking flying?!"
The young man casually nodded, descending. "Right, I didn't mention this to you." John said, smiling at the girl's expression.
"No." Hope blurted back, following with her eyes as the young man landed on the ground near to her. Slowly, she returned her bearings. "I think I would know if you had the ability to defy gravity."
"It doesn't work that way, you know." John said, taking a step closer to her. "I still feel the pull from the planet's gravity while up there."
"Still doesn't change how you go against it."
"… Fair enough." John nodded. "Normally, people would ask 'what are you doing here', but I guess I already know. Did you perhaps see a red light?"
"Yes." Hope affirmed. "I saw it through the woods. And also smelled something burning…" She cast her eyes around, finding what she was searching for. "Was that it?" She pointed at what her eyes landed on.
Although knowing what she pointed at, John still turned to look at it. "I guess you can call it my practice dummy." He replied. "I have been trying some of my abilities."
"Can I know what abilities of yours can melt stone?" Hope asked, turning to look at him.
"I assume you remember my capability to see energies – many of them – right?" John casually asked, receiving a nod of affirmation from Hope. "Then you also probably remember that I told you that this is an effect of one of my abilities. That is, I have the ability to manipulate energies."
"Okay…" Hope muttered, following through the boy's line of thought. Meanwhile, she took slow steps towards the disfigured molten stone.
"So, what I was doing was practicing this ability of mine. To be more specific, I absorbed part of the heat of the surrounding area and redirected it through my hand to the stone." John explained while he walked behind Hope.
Approaching the molten rock, Hope took a glance over it, feeling a lingering heat still around it. "I guess that's why there is a handprint in it." She commented, raising one eyebrow while looking at the large shape of a hand deep in the melted mess.
"Yeah."
"This is… impressive." Hope muttered, bending on her knees. Grabbing hold of a wooden stick nearby, she poked the thing, revealing a weak reddish color beneath the gray surface. "You basically created lava."
"You talk like a witch couldn't do that." John said, knowing full well his words gave the idea he thought every witch could achieve what he did.
And as expected, Hope's mind laced around that fact.
"You overestimate witches in a general way." She said, straightening her legs. "Comprehensible considering you didn't delve much into the supernatural world yet." Hope paused in her words, turning around to face the young man. "Certainly, there are witches with the power to achieve what you did, but they are not the norm. You just melted what, a half a ton piece of rock?"
"Around that." John said. "So witches aren't as powerful as I imagined? Even though I knew not everyone could be as powerful as the one who created the Werewolf Curse and your grandmother, they still could do something like that."
At the boy's words, Hope took a contemplative expression. "It's not that witches aren't powerful. Yeah, most lack the raw power to do things like these." She pointed at the molten rock. "But it's for these reasons that they – we have spells. To compensate for the lack of strength with ways to properly utilize it."
A look of realization passed over John's eyes, though most of it was forced. "I see…"
"For example… one of the spells witches mostly use against vampires, who have obvious physical advantages against them, is a spell to actually fry their brains, making them suffer from a constant aneurysm." Hope said. "Though not enough to kill a vampire, it incapacitates them for enough time to attempt something or run away."
"Sounds devious." John said, crossing his arms.
Hope smiled at the comment. "Everyone must fight with what they have available."
Though weakly, the young man nodded at those words. "Well, I told you of my reasons for being here. So, what about you?" John had his eyes trailing down Hope's figure, momentarily stopping over her bare legs before resuming their path upwards. "Were you exercising?" He intuitively guessed.
"Ah, yes… I was running a little." Hope replied, tucking some loose threads of hair – not tied in her ponytail – behind her ear. "It helps me clear my mind."
"I see…" John said. "Not wishing to sound judgemental, but didn't you have a better time to do it other than before the sun even rose from the horizon?"
"Like you are any better." Hope said, holding off a laugh and nudging the boy slightly on his arm. "I prefer this way for a bunch of reasons. I don't have to deal with people around at this hour. Not to mention that after this, I can wash my hair by the end of the day and not worry about it the following days."
"So, antisocial and womanly reasons…" John's lips curled up slightly. "Fair enough, I guess."
"Hmph." Hope weakly shook her head at the boy's response, glancing down briefly. "Why are you barefoot?" She asked when taking a quick look at the boy's feet.
"Before leaving my room, I had decided I would go out flying, so I didn't see the need to use my flipflops." John replied, curling his fingers against the gravelly and muddy shore, drawing some of the dirt along his fingers.
Hope retreated her gaze to the boy's expression. "Aren't your feet cold?" She said, but right after, the young woman shook her head. "What am I saying? You just melted a rock, of course you don't feel cold."
The young man softly chuckled. "Now that you said that… I noticed that it has been some time that I have felt anything like a change in temperature." John thoughtfully said, expression changing slightly. "I think I haven't felt cold or hot ever since I have changed."
Silence followed the young man's words, but only briefly.
Hope slowly parted her lips, a wisp of mist coming along her words. "Is that… a bad thing?" She asked, slowly. Her words subtly carried a certain intent, one the girl herself didn't notice lacing her words with.
"No." John gently shook his head. "It's just me commenting, not complaining or anything."
"Ah." Hope weakly breathed out. "I see…" She added, her thoughts retreating to the back of her mind.
"I think it's just a natural response of my body. Since I can manipulate energy now, it probably just naturally regulates the temperature in my body so I feel constantly comfortable." John said, trying to guess how his body works now. "Maybe it works connected to an idea I have in the back of my mind that I prefer my body to be at a certain temperature? So, it pumps the energy in my reservoirs through my body to heat it up." A hand covered the boy's mouth, with his thumb under his chin as he thoughtfully considered this idea.
Meanwhile, the girl near the boy had an even face despite the slight interest in her eyes due to the words muttered by the boy.
"I understood your words," Hope said. "but I must say, it is strange to hear them out." She added, staring into the space.
The boy didn't say any word regarding that, but the small smile and nod of his head expressed he understood her. "So… what are you going to do now?" John asked, letting his hands fall to his side. "Will you continue on your run?"
"Yeah, I still have a few kilometers to do." Hope replied, moving her legs a little, the cold was already starting to take over now that she has been standing still for some time.
"My time to ask, don't you feel cold?" John asked, giving one more look at Hope's toned, exposed legs. Damn, aren't they captivating? "I mean, I guess it's what, 2°C? More or less 35°F." He remembered to add the temperature units used in America.
Hope made a so-so gesture with her left hand. "Werewolf blood, remember? Normally, it has to reach the point it starts to snow for me to feel really cold. Until there, everything is bearable." She said, freeing her hair from a black colored hair elastic. "Put it up with the fact I'm exercising, my blood heats up enough for me to feel comfortable." Her hands moved with practice, holding together her hair to the back of her head before Hope tied it all again in a ponytail.
Her hair swung briefly in the air, brushing against the fabric of her clothes for a moment as Hope. "And you, what are you gonna do now? Still going to practice your abilities?"
"It is the idea." John said, nodding. "I still have things to figure out a little. Not to mention, I want to get a gist of my physical prowess." Slowly, the boy opened and closed his fist. "I know I am stronger, much stronger than before. I just don't know yet how much exactly. There are also other physical aspects I want to test. The only problem is considering what to do first." He said, looking at the girl.
Meanwhile, as Hope listened to the boy's words quietly, she navigated through an idea surging in her mind. She kept her eyes on the young man, mulling over the idea for a short silent moment.
And John, despite not saying anything, noticed the weak intention behind the girl's eyes. So, also immersed in his own quietness, the young man waited for the girl to finish her thoughts.
And after only a few couple seconds of silence between the two teengares, with the sound of bugs in the background and the heavy wind colliding against them to remind them of time, Hope parted her lips. "Would you like to accompany me?" She asked, softly.
"In running?" John said.
"Yes." Hope replied, gently nodding her head. "But also not only that. Besides running, I also do a little sparring practice with Dr. Saltzman." She added. "It's good, you know? It helps in breaking some sweat and coping with things."
"Sounds cool."
"It is." Hope agreed. Then, she remembered something as her eyelashes fluttered weakly. "Right, Mr. Gilbert will probably join us as well since he is around."
The young man raised a questioning brow. "And normally he isn't?" John asked, a small genuine curiosity in his words. I always wondered why Jeremy was not around. By the end, I just considered it was because writers didn't plan for him to be part of the new plot, and thus maybe took into consideration the fact he owns a Hunter's Mark and thus can't stay around school for long with the Mark constantly disturbing him. Thought the boy, waiting for the response of his question.
"I guess Dr. Saltzman didn't share this with you." Hope said, her words followed by a small cloud of white air.. "Mr. Gilbert isn't a professor of the school, his work is focused on scouting students. So, under normal circumstances, he is not stationed in the school."
John frowned slightly. "And we aren't under normal circumstances?"
"Can't say we are." Hope replied, pursing her lips. "You just need to look at the sky to see."
Listening to the girl's words, John didn't even need to do as she said to know what she meant, for he immediately guessed. Still, he lifted his head, his eyes darting at the celestial body hanging over in the sky, bathing the world in its borrowed light. "The full moon is approaching, right?"
"Tomorrow night." Hope said, also taking a quick look above. "Nights of full moon have always been an unfavorable time at the school."
The young man dryly chuckled. "I can imagine. Though Dr. Saltzman has forgotten to remind me of how close the full moon was, he did tell me how the school operates under it." John said, his mind going over yesterday's talk he had with the headmaster. Subtly, worriness veiled his expression. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked the girl in a casual voice, but it was obvious the concern dipped in his words.
She hasn't mentioned anything regarding her werewolf bloodline yet. He thought. Hopefully, the Crescent wolves still have their ability to control their transformations during full moons.
"Thanks for worrying about me." Hope said, a gentle smile blooming in her lips. "But you don't need to. Contrary to other werewolves, I don't suffer the same fate of being forced to transform under the full moon. A perk of my mother's side."
"Good, good…" A sigh of relief escaped the boy's lips, the small worry of his going away.
Witnessing this sight, Hope's smile widened more. "So, do you want to come up with me or not?" She asked, her head tilting to the side as an idea came up to her mind. "Or are you too afraid that you can't accompany me?" A little bit of playful mockery was carried in her words.
The words of the girl caught him slightly by surprise, but John quickly followed with a smile. "Bold words of yours, missy. Even more so considering how slow you were when getting here."
"That was nothing. Just a little bit of what I can do." Hope said, turning in the direction of where she came from. "What do you say, up to trying?"
"Hm, I guess I can humor you." John said, walking to her side.
"Good." Hope replied. "Then, really try to keep up." Whoosh! Before her words could fully scatter in the wind, the girl was already running ahead, her figure disappearing through the woods.
This side of her is cute. John thought.
Whoosh!
The earth under his feet was pushed deeper into the sole as the young man dashed after the girl, his figure disappearing into the shadows of the forest as well.
Under the darkness formed by the trees' crowns, John kept his gaze focused forward, easily spotting the small figure ahead of him despite the bushes and leaves attempting to cover his sight.
Hope was the first to leave the forests, crossing the hundreds of meters needed in just a dozen seconds. Right after her, the figure of the young man followed up, going onto the same dirt road the girl ran over, leaving a few small clouds of dust at every step of her.
Seeing the distance separating the two of them, John slowly started to speed up his movements, every step taking him closer to Hope.
A couple dozen seconds passed before the young man found himself running by the girl's side, with both of them having run almost a kilometer – 0,6 miles – during this time.
"Hello." John said, waving at the girl through their run.
"Ah…" Hope took a quick glimpse towards him, weakly gasping for air. "Well, ah, that's surprising." She said, retreating her gaze ahead.
These words brought a small smile to John's face.
"How, ah, are you not, huff, sweating?" Hope asked between ragged breaths.
"I feel like I'm far from getting to some speed where I'll begin to tire myself out." John casually answered, taking a look at Hope's current state.
Beads of sweat ran down over her forehead, sometimes getting stuck in her eyebrows or descending over the bridge of her nose, bothering her slightly when it escaped to the inner corner of her eyes.
By now, Hope's cheeks also took a shade of red. The blood in her veins were running faster, an indication that she was really putting some effort into this exercise if her constant grasp for air was not noticed.
"Hope, do you want us to slow down?" John asked, keeping up with her speed.
Taking a look at the young man through the corner of her side, Hope weakly nodded. "Just, huff, a little…" Hope muttered, her words slightly sluggish and muttered with pauses between them for her to grasp for air.
Slowly, the young woman slowed down her movements, with her companion following her actions. They slowed down their speed to the point from going superhumans to olympic sprinters, still fast for normal humans, but completely bearable to maintain for them.
"Huff, I guess you will need to know your limit some other moment." Hope kept her eyes forward, seeing the approaching end point of this run.
"I'll try again later." John commented, sweeping his hand over his forehead. Nothing came from it. "When your classes are over by the end of the day, do you want to help me with testing my abilities? It would be great to have someone else there."
"Can be." Hope shortly answered. "But what will you do the rest of the day?" She asked, knowing full well the boy would still not have classes today. As he said yesterday during dinner, Alaric was still sorting things out for the young man, documents and such.
"Magic." Saying this word, a sparkle of excitement and anticipation ignited in John's eyes. "I will finally take a look at those books in the library!" He said, his lips curling upwards. "And also test out some other thing, but nothing physical."
"Your mental abilities, then?" Hope asked.
"Sure, but not what you think. More like my brain capacity." John replied, slowing his movements even more as their destination was drawing closer. "I want to see if my learning ability suffered any impact."
"I guess you are saying it because you did, correct?" Hope asked.
"Yes." The boy nodded. "But I don't think it suffered any detriment."
"That's good…" Hope said, her movements slowing down even more as the ground she stepped upon changed from a dirt road to a cemented space. Looking ahead, eyeing the school building, she pointed at a door facing the backyard of the school. "There, that door leads us to the gymnasium." She said, walking in the pointed direction.
"Before we head into the battlefield," John said, ignoring the girl's stare due to his choice of words. "what exactly do you practice during this sparring? Any specific martial arts or just free-style?"
"Kali Arnis –" Hope instantly responded. "– and Karate."
"Cool."
"Have you practiced anything before, any martial arts?"
"MMA and Choy Lay Fut." John answered. "The last one is a style of Kung Fu." He added when seeing the girl's look of confusion.
"I see." Hope blurted out, retreating her gaze forward. "It seems you were actually someone active." She said, pushing open the door leading to the gymnasium building.
"I sense a little bit of skepticism from your words."
"Sorry." Hope said, a little apologetic smile making way to her lips. "But I took you as the kind of person who does not prefer to go out a lot."
"I don't blame you for that opinion." John said. "It's not that I don't like to go out. I just prefer quieter places instead of crowded ones. But well, some things I can't go around." The boy said, rolling up his long sleeves which had fallen during his run. "I think it's more of a thing of my attention being occupied. Like, I won't pay attention to the fact I'm surrounded by hundreds of people if I'm watching a movie in a theater."
"I understand." Hope said, opening another door. This time, one leading directly to the gymnasium.
And there, standing in the center of the court were two men with arms crossed, their figures illuminated by the lights ahead as the sun still hadn't risen to illuminate the building through its upper windows. They were talking between themselves until the youngest one of the two turned his eyes towards the approaching teenagers.
Following the direction of Jeremy's eyes, Alaric also took notice of one of his oldest students and his newest one.
"Well, that's surprising." Alaric murmured, keeping his position.
"I agree." Jemery added, smirking.
Closing the distance between them, John waved his hand at both men. "Good morning, Dr. Saltzman, Mr. Gilbert."
"Good morning."
"Just Jeremy is fine." Said the Hunter. "I didn't know you would take part in it as well. Not complaining, just… surprised."
"Neither did I know until a few minutes ago." John said, standing before the two men who had hunted vampires for longer than he had lived. "I was training my abilities by myself when Hope appeared. She told me about the sparring and I admit I got a little curious to see the sparring of supernatural beings." The boy paused. "Though if they are at the same level of Hope's run, then I will be disappointed."
Bang!
Hope hit the boy's arm with a casual punch, slowly retreating her right fist after the impact.
Slowly, John took a look at her. "Did it hurt?"
"Fuck you." Hope grunted, caressing her hand. "Are you made of fucking steel?" Her hand was visibly getting red from the impact.
"Hmph." John huffed in amusement at her reaction. "I hope my presence won't be a problem." He turned to the two men again.
"None of that." Alaric said, dismissing any worry the boy might've had. "We will be more than happy for you to join us." Dropping his arms to his side, the headmaster turned around. "I will fetch the things we need for the spar. Jeremy, care to guide John today?"
"No problem for me." The hunter readily replied.
Taking a step closer to John, Jeremy looked him up and down. "I am not normally one to make assumptions, but I assume you practiced something before, right?"
"A little." John nodded.
"Come on, then." Jeremy gestured for the boy to follow him, walking away from the center of the court.
"Didn't Dr. Saltzman said he was going to get the things for the spar?" John said. "Shouldn't we be waiting for him?" He asked, though the young man still followed the vampire hunter.
"We will use those batons and other things later." Jeremy said, tracing the zipper from his jacket from up to bottom in one movement. "First, we will be using our fists. It's been some time since I fought normally, and I think you will be up for a good match." With his jacket in hands, Jeremy threw it away, the piece of cloth falling over a bench by the edge of court. "Want to start right away or you need to stretch?"
John smiled at the man's words. "As far as I know, you are the old man here." He said, standing opposite to Jeremy in the center of one of the sides of the court.
Seeing the man guard up with his fists, John did the same, taking a deep breath as he observed the hunter. He wouldn't lie to himself, he was excited to trade a few blows with a human enhanced through magic so he could kill those who predated on humanity.
The young man's lips parted shortly, the air from his lungs escaping through the small space. Yeah, this is going to be interesting. John thought, his pupils constricting while the rings of gold in his eyes glowed in a faint light.
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