Chapter 13
The boys arrived at the facility where Atlantic was waiting for them. He along with Aquas escorted them to the battle arena where the tests would be conducted. They were led down to an observation area overlooking a room with black walls and markings all over similar to the one where the team ceremony occurred. But this one was different because the markings were much more uniform.
Venom was waiting for them with Monroe, Kyle, Jacob and Chivez there already waiting. “Good now that everyone is here I will explain everything in Alphaten’s place while he is dealing with a recent emergency.”
“Wait is that why Marlon was…” Alex tried to say but was interrupted by Aquas again.
“I told you to focus on this and worry about that later. You’re going to need to focus.” Aquas said while intimidating Alex.
Venom cleared his throat. “Below us is a combat arena where you will be doing a full scale battle. Do not worry about hurting each other as there is a reset magic in place, so as you enter is how you will leave. This is important because you guys will be squaring off against each other. You must go at your opponent with the intent to kill and with all your might for us to fully assess your combat ability. This is how a Squad is assessed and a squad leader chosen. The four guardians will fighting for Preliminary rankings. Depending on where you end up in the rankings here, your missions will be restricted until you reach a rank where we are comfortable with.”
Venom paused and showed a screen that showed the Ranking status of the four guardians their names were on the screen but next to them were just two dashes each where their ranking would be determined. “You will also have an individual ranking in your respective class in which you will be the twenty first to be ranked in. Ranking is not too important but as you can imagine it comes with a lot of bragging rights.”
Venom then turn to the dark bloods who were also being tested. “For you dark bloods though this will be a test of your proficiency with your powers. It will also give us a base of what to expect when the light aspect of your powers start to develop. The light pills you took last night should start working in two or three more days so now is the best time to get a firm grip of your power.”
Kyle nodded in agreement. “So here is how we are going to do this. Each of you will have one match and I have the matchup’s right here. First up Monroe will take on Kyle. Followed by Antonio taking on Jacob. Chivez and River will go next. Patrick will face Shadow and Benjamin will face Crimson. Finally Rin and Alex will face each other.”
Alex and Rin turned to each both looking nervous at having to face each other. While most of the others were just sizing each other up looking ready to show off their skills. Venom then lead the first two down the arena as different guardians gathered around the observation deck and began to make bets on who would win. Jerome was also looking on but kept himself hidden from Antonio’s sight.
Monroe and Kyle were both facing each other in the middle of the room. Venom was there as well being the judge of the battle. Monroe was already in his Guardian form with a white sash wrapped around his waist and white head band wrapped around his forehead. He was naked besides those pieces of cloth. Kyle was dressed weirdly in a Black robe with a white head hand wrapped around his head and sword to his side.
“Okay first battle between Kyle and Monroe will begin. I’ll be the referee for this match. Begin!” Venom said giving the signal for them to start.
The two prepared to confront each other. Monroe touched his sash on his waist and materialized a sniper rifle. Kyle just pulled out his cellphone and started playing with it. Monroe was taken a bit by this and hesitated.
Kyle took a picture of Monroe using his cell phone. “Hey! You should take this seriously!” Monroe yelled out in response to the flash that came off Kyle’s camera.
“Why? You’ve already lost!” Kyle responded dismissively. Monroe did not take kindly to his words and took aim at Kyle. He fired his first shot but instead of a bullet his sniper rifle shot a laser towards Kyle. Kyle just smirked and side stepped letting the laser pass him by.
Monroe grunted a bit and materialized another sniper rifle and began a rapid fire assault on Kyle who was just stepping out of the way and not even exerting any effort.
“Haha told ya that’s what he gets for using those pussy pistols of his!”
“Yea some warrior he is!”
Monroe heard the voices of his brothers and cousins taunting him from up above. He tensed up a bit and started shooting at Kyle again who was just dodging all the bullets.
“Hey what’s up with that?” Rin had to ask. He saw the other lions there taunting and laughing at the failure of Monroe.
“Don’t mind them. The Warriors are a very competitive group who enjoy close range battle. Monroe seems to like long range combat which is considered a ‘weak way of fighting’ by warrior standards. Poor guy didn’t even bring his best weapons with him.” Aquas commented.
Rin and Alex both looked over at the taunting Lion and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Monroe. Monroe was getting frustrated at the lack of hitting Kyle with his shots so he withdrew his sniper rifles and pulled out ten throwing knives which he levitated in the air.
“Ah still a wuss!” Another taunting voice came.
“Grr!” Monroe grunted before hurling his knives at Kyle who blocked them all.
“You should really get serious! I mean you’re looking pathetic at the moment.” Kyle commented.
“Are you serious? I ain’t going to lose to some Dark blood like you!” Monroe yelled out this time materializing a sword.
“Ah! Finally going to act like a real warrior?” Another taunt came from the crowd.
Monroe charged quickly at Kyle and swung his sword aiming for Kyles Neck. Kyle just ducked and let the sword go past. Monroe quickly recovered and swung his sword at Kyle again who dodged it again. Monroe was getting desperate he started swinging his sword wildly at Kyle who was just dodging him every time.
“It’s over. He was never a match for Kyle.” River commented.
“Huh? Are you sure? I mean Monroe has been training for some time I doubt a simple dark blood could be a match for a well-trained Warrior like Monroe.” Chivez retorted.
“He is right. Out of all of us Kyle is has the most dangerous powers. His cell phone is his conduit and his power is digital data. Once Kyle links his cell phone to your brain he can predict the enemy. Allowing him to dodge attacks with great ease. None of us can beat Kyle one on one especially when one can’t focus enough to realize that you are under his spell.” Patrick added in.
“And He still has yet to draw his sword.” Benjamin also added.
Monroe was breathing heavy at all the missed sword swings he had done against Kyle. “How the Fuck are you doing this!” Monroe screamed again as he swung and missed again.
“Because you are weak. Heck I haven’t had to even use much of my power here and you already half defeated yourself. Let me tell you something, we aren’t just regular Dark bloods who you think the guardians encounter. We have spent years in battle against the dark immortals. We have more battle experience than you do. And you better believe that that puts us leagues ahead of you.” Kyle said while still just watching his phone.
“Stop screwing with me! You dark bloods can’t hold a candle to us. I am going to win this.” Monroe yelled at Kyle and charged again. Kyle just let out a sigh and put his phone down. He clenched his fist and gathered electricity around it.
When Monroe swung this time Kyle dodged and punched him with his electric fist sending Monroe flying across the room. He was soon knocked out by the blow and fell to the ground.
“And the winner is Kyle!” Venom declared while giving Kyle an evil eye. The room reset and the damage done to Monroe was undone. Monroe stood up and looked at the screen which would show his rank. He was given the twenty first rank which was to be expected but still stung. He would have to see if the rest of his squad faired any better. With warriors mostly being the leaders of their squad Monroe would not be able to live down the insult of being the weakest either.
“Ahahah. Can we just give him to the shamans! He is clearly not a warrior!”
“What a pussy!”
“Shame to all warriors!”
More taunts were hurled Monroe’s way as he walked away. Kyle just shrugged and returned to where his friends were watching. Monroe however was stopped by his father who was waiting for him.
“You ain’t fit to be one of us, Monroe. You got a long road ahead of you.” His father said to him
“Dad! I did my best!” Monroe pleaded knowing that his father was becoming very frustrated with him.
“Just go to ya room! You got a lot to reflect on from this boy.” His father just walked off Leaving Monroe to roar out in frustration and punch the wall nearby before sulking away to his room.
The next battle was about to begin, Jacob and Antonio were primed for battle. Jacob was in his guardian form where he had a red sash around his waist and a red head band. Antonio was just wearing his plain clothes but around his waist was a belt holding a dozen or so paint containers.
“Good luck to you. But I should warn you I’m not making the same mistake Monroe just did and underestimate you!” Jacob said as he readied himself. 
“Wouldn’t have it any… other….” Antonio was distracted by the sight of his father watching from the observation deck. The otter was dressed in the same outfit as Kyle and was looking at Antonio sternly. The poor green husky had his mouth gaping and was staring as unable to move.
“You alight there?” Jacob said as he turned to see what the poor husky was staring at.
“WHAT! What is Jerome doing here?” River asked first as he and his friends finally noticed the otter standing on the other side.
“Is he wearing the same thing as Kyle? Man Antonio must be terrified! Can even still fight?” Benjamin added.
“Who is that?” Alex asked unaware of what had his friends so worked up.
“Antonio’s adoptive Father. A very over protective Adoptive father.” Benjamin responded.
“Overprotective is putting it mildly. He hates Antonio putting himself in danger and is always checking in on him. Heck Antonio has tell him if he tries to do anything that he can get hurt doing. Can you imagine what he would say to find out Antonio has been battling dark immortals! But what is he doing here? Is he a dark blood? Or something else?” River added.
“He is your distant relative so it wouldn’t be surprising but I thought no one else has contacted your ancestor?” Patrick asked.
“No one else has and that is the only way for one of us to get dark powers.” River answered.
Antonio was just too scared to move as he watched his father but Venom brought his attention back to his impending battle. 
“Pay attention! The battle between Antonio and Jacob Starts now!” Venom gave the starting signal and Antonio tried to focus but still managed glance at his father’s direction noticing he had disappeared.
“Hey watch the battle!” Jacob said as he gathered his fire magic and threw four fireballs at Antonio. Antonio was a bit late noticing them and was caught in the blast and staggered back. Jacob used this moment to launch another barrage of fire balls towards Antonio. Antonio final recovered and pulled the top off one of his paint containers. He then pulled out a large amount of Blue paint and used it to shield himself.
“That’s more like it! I want to defeat you at your best!” Jacob said this time releasing a stream of fire towards Antonio. Antonio just used his blue paint to block by making it swirl in a vortex around him. Jacob smiled and then changed from shooting fire and shot a bolt of lighting at Antonio which caused his swirling shield to explode.
“Got ya!” Jacob said triumphantly but was surprised to see that Antonio was standing there un-phased while being covered in brown paint.
“Not quite! Time for me to go on the offensive!” Antonio removed another one of his covers and started summoning Red paint this time he split the blob of red paint into dozens of smaller balls. He sent those balls after Jacob who started jumping to avoid them as the crashed into the floor missing their target. Antonio then pulled out his purple paint and repeated the same process. Jacob smirked as he dodged the paint and the sent another lightning bolt at Antonio who blocked it with his brown paint.
“Not bad for a dark blood!” Jacob taunted.

“Don’t underestimate me!” Antonio this time pulled out black paint and formed them into spears and threw them at Jacob who dodged them but jumped straight into Antonio’s trap. Antonio managed to get some purple paint on Jacob’s fur. But he knew he should show a little bit more off.
Antonio then released all his paint and gathered it up into one liquid ball above his head. The swirling mix of colors had started to glow.  Antonio was just getting started, he formed a few dozen paint men from the blob and had them attack Jacob. The paint men were mostly yellow and were moving quickly towards Jacob.
Jacob smiled and shot a fire ball at each blob man but they all managed to dodge them. They kept charging at Jacob who became a bit worried and fell back a bit. He placed his hand on the ground and summoned two feral tigers. The two tigers charged at the blob men ripping a few of them apart. Two of the paint men made it through to Jacob who just raised a wall of lighting around him that destroyed them on contact.
‘He is pretty good! No wonder Monroe lost, he underestimated these guys way too much. I better think of a way to destroy that paint! The different colors seem to have different effects.’ Jacob thought to himself observing the battle state. He needed a way to get in close to Antonio to hit him hard.
Jacob placed his hand on the ground again and summoned three feral wolves this time but their fur was made of fire. He sent the three charging at Antonio from three different directions while his tigers still kept the paint men at bay.
‘He is trying to get to close to me. I would’ve taken him as a long range fighter but it appears he enjoys fighting close range.’ Antonio thought as he was ready to finally bring the battle to a close. He brought out five pieces of paper and a paint brush. He marked a symbol on the first piece of paper in yellow paint.
The symbol meant ‘Explode’ and once Antonio held the paper in the air his blob men exploded and destroyed Jacobs’s tigers. Antonio wrote Burn on the second piece of paper in red paint and this time the red paint all over the ground burst into large flames absorbing the three wolves that Jacob had sent after Antonio. Jacob was taken back by the intense flames that Antonio had just summoned.
Antonio smirked while writing on the third piece of paper he had in purple paint. Jacob however also had his ace in the hole ready. Antonio saw Jacob clap his hands together and realized that he had fell for a trap. Behind Antonio was a small black bird, the bird had managed to blend into the surroundings and flew right behind Antonio.
Jacob quickly used his magic to switch places with his bird and appeared within range of Antonio. He gather up some electricity and was about to strike at Antonio but Antonio had finally sprung his trap he had written on the final piece of paper poison in the purple paint.
Jacob felt a sharp pain coarse through his body and he lost control of the electricity he had gathered. Antonio finally caused a hand to form out of the paint gathered above his head and smacked down Jacob who was now reeling from the poison. After being beaten back Jacob tried to get up but the poison in his system made it impossible.
“The match is over! The winner is Antonio!” Venom called the match and as the same as before the reset occurred.
The screen showed Jacob ahead of Monroe in the team ranking but also showed him as the seventeenth ranked magician. That was quite the feet to have shown such skill. Jacob was pretty confident that he showed his skills. He went up to Antonio and shook his hand.
“That was a great play. I should have been wearier of your paints that was quite the surprise. Hope we can spar again sometime. “Jacob said as he shook Antonio’s hand.
“Likewise!”
The two were interrupted by venom who cleared his throat. “Why were you holding back so much?”
“I wasn’t holding back, I went full out!” Jacob protested.
“Not you! Antonio! Why did you hold back so much of your power?” Venom asked.
Jacob was stunned. Antonio was holding back against him but still managed to fight him so evenly and win?
“I did not want to use everything I had yet. I’m still developing my powers.” Antonio said a bit hesitantly.
“Hmmm. A dark blood who is so strong and still developing his powers? You guys are getting quite interesting” venom said and then pointed behind the two to the door where Jerome was standing.
Antonio once again became filled with fear at the sight of his father who motioned for him to come. Antonio swallowed and then went over to his father who led him down a hallway for some privacy.
“Dad I….” Antonio struggled to find the words also unable to even meet his father eyes.
“You are just like your parents. Can’t help but go where someone needs you.” Jerome just turned to face his son. “They died during that rebellion even after I pleaded with them not to go. They left you in my care and I have taken care of you as my own flesh and blood. Antonio why? Why couldn’t you have told me about this?” Jerome asked.
“What about you dad! What are you? And what do you know about my parents!” Antonio asked.
 “Kyle has never told you? I am a gate Keeper. I serve the ones who govern the realms. I acquired this power in my search for you parents. I got it to protect you! I knew you would be hunted and I kept checking for the time your powers would develop but amazingly your powers manifested in the one thing I never checked. Your painting, I never thought you would develop your dark blood powers using your artistic skills.” Jerome shook his head.
“Dad!? You knew my real parents? I thought you just pulled me out of that orphanage?!” Antonio yelled out trying to get an answer.
“You were too young to remember anyway. But you only stayed there until the paper work was finished. Both you and Benjamin were going to be taken in by us the minute we knew your parents never came back.”
“You knew about the rebellion?” Antonio asked solemnly. 
“I tried my best to stop them! I could see, I could see into rifts although I never could interact with them. I knew of their powers and I knew of their struggles. I choose to protect you from this world but I see now you have jumped right in. Following them down the path that lead them to their death! I refuse to let that happen to you! I am taking your powers right here right now!” Jerome said as he pulled out his sword.
“NO! DAD STOP!”