Agent Atlantis

Chapter 13--The Name's Atlantis

Luke wasn't usually a person who acted with his emotions. But he'd been irritated beyond reason for the past day—first with the disappointing structure of the EAUD, then the hot and arid climate, then Collins' desire to kick him out of his office, then . . . well, you get the idea.

He cracked his knuckles while looking at Jerry menacingly. "I slept on a couch last night and my back still hurts. Let's get this over with."

Jerry looked confused. "Don't you have a room?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Luke snapped. The guys and girls that heard the conversation immediately began whispering to their friends. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out that he was the Couch Man—and he wanted to be anywhere but in the fighting arena when that happened. He looked at Denma. "What are the rules?"

"There are none," Denma said smugly, crossing her arms. "The first person to surrender loses. Maiming and killing is allowed."

Luke glanced at the instructors in shock. Maol just shrugged, while Lamfatur was studying a spider crawling through the sand. Never in his life had he seen a group of instructors this neglectful of agents. Jerry seemed to pick up on his emotions. "What, are you scared?"

The bully was confident with his abilities. Everyone there was on his side. All he needed to do was to show this newbie his place then uphold his reputation for the rest of his years at the EAUD. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

To everyone's surprise, Luke just grinned at him. "On the contrary. I thought I'd have to hold back."

Jerry subconsciously took a step back, studying Luke's face intently. Then he cursed internally. Luke was just using big talk. There was no way he could be stronger than Jerry, one of the more powerful third years.

If he'd seen the results of Luke's previous tests, though, he might've changed his mind.

"Enough," Jerry snarled. "If you're so confident, why don't we up the challenge?"

"Sounds like you're scared," Luke drawled out. "Fine. What're the conditions?"

"I get to use this,"—Jerry unsheathed a small short sword—"and you have to wear this."

Jerry threw something at Luke, and he caught it with two fingers. He studied the black cloth then exclaimed, "There's no way you want me to fight against you blindfolded and weaponless!"

"It won't be as bad as you're thinking. If you're not bluffing, then you should easily be able to beat me. Otherwise, I'll make sure not to hurt you too badly."

Luke didn't even need to look up to know he was lying.

But Denma was grinning ear to ear. "With my position as a lead instructor at the Eastern Artenian Universal Defense, I declare this spar honorable!"

Honorable my ass, Luke thought gloomily as he put on the sleeping mask. Immediately, the light was muted out into shades of black. Luke felt pitifully vulnerable now. The blindfold might've not blocked every ray of light—but it did the trick.

The crowd cheered loudly as the two young men took their positions. Some snickered as Luke almost tripped over the foot of a human-shaped target. Lamfatur quickly steadied him before stepping away while a group of volunteers quickly moved other obstacles out of the way. Soon enough, a fifty-foot-wide sparring arena had been erected.

The preparation had been short, but the crowd knew the fight would be even quicker.

~~~

"How was the trip here?"