(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 1

Due to unforeseen circumstances, class today has been canceled. We will do the duels this Friday at the beginning of class. Be sure to train with your partner until then. After all, this is why I assigned you one.

"What a pain!" one of the students surrounding Mrs. Gladestone's door said. The student made his way to the elevator, yelling "All that training for nothing!"

"He does know that we're supposed to have the duel on Friday, right?" Dre asked.

"And that our training is going towards our career?" Jerek added. "Something that we might be doing for, oh I don't know, the rest of our lives? Idiot."

The group of Apprentices made their way to the exit, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. "So, Katherine," Dre began as he caught up to her, "where are we going to train?"

"We?" She turned towards him with a look of pure disgust. "I'm going to train with someone who's a more competent fighter than you could ever hope to become. You are horrible. Hopeless and horrible." She turned back to the stairs.

Ouch. My pride.

"Wait, what about the duel?" he asked, ignoring the snickering and snide comments from the rest of his class.

"I'll fight at your level to save what little dignity you have left," she said without turning back to Dre. She disappeared behind the corner of the staircase.

"Dude."

Defeated, he made his way back down the stairs. He didn't know why, but he knew that Katherine was wrong about him. Maybe it was the dream with Hiro he had last night, but he felt as if he actually stood a chance against her. If only he could prove it...

"So Dre," a hand clapped on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. He was already walking through the courtyard, with Jerek at his side. "Is it true? That your father is Raheem Wolf?"

"You know my dad?"

"Know him? Who doesn't nowadays? He's only one of the most popular fighters in the Emblem of Valor, next to Headmaster Toney. My mom said that if it wasn't for the fight that they did all those years ago, the Emblem of Valor franchise wouldn't have been as successful as it is now."

"Wow," Dre whispered. "He's really that famous?" He couldn't picture his father being famous, considering he's always been easy going. He also couldn't picture his mother and father fighting the way they did in the tournament, either.

"Completely. I'm surprised people haven't been pestering you to give them your autograph." I can think of another reason why people would want my autograph, if it wasn't for it being secret. "Then again, I can kind of see why, considering my mom said that it was way back when they fought."

"Yeah, I suppose so. I wish that he'd at least tell me that much." They had stopped at the entrance to the main building. "So, what have you got planned for the rest of the day? Do you plan on training with Laisha?"

"So she could attempt to do that voodoo mind control stuff on me again? No thanks. I don't feel like getting mentally violated again. I'd much rather goof off," his voice trailed off as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. After reading the message in silence, he said, "Change of plans. Looks like I'm going to the chip store."

"Chip store?" Dre imagined a store devoted to sell only packages of potato chips.

"Yeah, it's where we go to get our weapons for the tournament. See, since the tournament is virtual, our weapons are in the form of data stored in computer chips. As much as I don't want to see that no style having brother of mine, I'll like that more than going to the tournament unarmed." He sighed as he made his way to the door. "Later."