Basic Oblivion

Chapter 4

Sam, Lucas, and Kylan all sat on the couch in front of the TV. All three of them were eyeing the remote with quick glances at each other. It was then that Lucas made the first move, Kylan right behind him. Unfortunately, neither of them were able to move faster than Sam, who was the first one to the remote thanks to her years of physical training.

Sam laughed as she turned on the TV. "Sorry, boys, but you're gonna need to be faster than that if you want to beat me," she gloated.

"Well, when you spend your entire life training, of course you're going to be faster than us," Lucas muttered.

Laying on the floor next to Sam was a large wolf, practically the size of a lion and covered in brown fur with several white patches around his mouth, paws, belly, and one of his eyes. Having once belonged to Justin, Alpha had been living with Sam.

"Don't be a sore loser, Lucas," Alpha said. "Accept your defeat like a man."

Lucas was about to respond when he heard the sound of the elevator opening up on their floor. "Who's that?" he asked when he saw the person stepping out and dropping duffel bags on the floor.

The newcomer was a girl their age. She had long and wavy dark brown hair with a black beanie on her head that pointed up on either side like cat ears. She wore a blue jacket that stopped a little over halfway down her stomach over her white shirt. She also wore a skirt and a pair of black boots.

Kylan got up and stood next to the girl. "Guys, this is my new apprentice, Marie Thompson," he said, introducing the girl.

"H-Hello," Marie said nervously as she she gave a small wave.

"Nice to meet you. It'll be great to finally have another girl around here, " Sam said. She tossed the remote into Lucas' lap and grabbed Marie by the hand. "I'll show you around. We can get to know each other!"

"Uh...okay," Marie said as Sam quickly led her out of the room and back into the elevator.

Kylan looked back at Lucas and Alpha as the doors to the elevator closed. "Did Sam just steal my apprentice?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Alpha said. "Didn't even give her a chance to unpack either."

Kylan sighed as he went back to the couch with Lucas, who was now channel surfing. "So, this is the place we're supposed to be living in?" said a familiar voice behind them, making the two jump with surprise.

Kylan and Lucas turned around to see their other friend behind them. "Hey, Porter," Lucas said.

Porter Valume was almost always looking for a fight. He wore a tank top and jeans with black gloves. He had his usual Mohawk and his forked, almost demonic looking, tail was wrapped around his waist. It was the side effect from his magic style, Trait Magic, which allowed the user to take on specific traits of a certain type of animal species. For Porter, that species was reptile, although as for why his tail looked like it belonged to a demon, they could only assume it was because of his personality.

"So, this is the place Sam was talking about," he said as he looked around.

"Yes it is," Lucas said. "What do you think?"

Porter turned his attention to the two on the couch. "I think that it was a waste of time to make it," he said. "We're not a team. There's no reason that we should be. Striker was probably the biggest threat out there, but now he's gone. I'm only here because we are somewhat friends."

"Then take a seat," Kylan said. Porter took a seat on the couch. "What've you been up to all summer?"

"None of your business," he said.

"Always the tough guy," Kylan said. "Anyways, I've gotten a job lined up for me and my new apprentice in a few days, you can join us if you want to. We're working as bodyguards for the mayor. He's throwing a huge party to help his campaign to get re-elected and he thinks that he might be a target for assassins."

"I think I'll pass," Porter said. "There's never any real action around here anymore. Odds are that the assassins are low class, second-rate thugs that don't even know what they're doing. Not even a challenge."

"Suit yourself, but if you keep blowing everything off because it doesn't sound challenging enough to you, you might end up missing something that can actually prove a challenge to you," Kylan said.

Porter rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said. "I just don't see any need to this. We should be training for when school starts up again. Lucas may not have any real reputation, but Kylan, you and I are known as two of the strongest. We shouldn't be wasting time with things like having apprentice's. Their only going to slow us down and make us weaker."

Lucas ignored Porter's remark on his social standing with an annoyed look as he continued to look for a channel to watch.

"Having an apprentice is one of the best ways to become stronger," Kylan said. "It's also a great way to make sure that our skills will live on, even when we have passed. Besides, Marie already has the skill with blades, she just needs improvement with her magic capabilities."

"Kylan's right," Alpha said. "Being able to teach someone how to fight is almost a necessity for many fighters. In fact, some of the best warriors are those who can teach because it not only helps them learn to teach others, but it allows them to become stronger as people."

Porter scoffed. "Yeah, like I'm going to take advice from a talking wolf about becoming more of a person," he said. "Look, just because I don't train someone else doesn't mean I won't become stronger myself. I just think it's pointless. There's no need for an apprentice just like there's no need for us to go out of our way to protect the mayor from some low-life assassins that probably can't even put up a decent fight."