Chapter 21 : Training with a bunch of assholes

Next morning, I was headed downstairs, dressed in a sexy black tracksuit which did wonders for my figure, all ready to start my training. I walked towards the training grounds I had passed earlier on my way in. I felt a little reassured that even though I may not impress anyone, I probably won’t embarrass myself in front of them as Justin had taught me all the basic stuff. As for my powers, I was under strict instructions from Dominic not to use them. I was really pathetic and weak without them. I sighed.

Okay! Let’s do this. I quickly walked up to the guys who were warming up….Ha! they were twins.
I grinned at them and said politely, “ Hi, I am Jessica”
They looked at each other, then walked past me without acknowledging me at all. I frowned. Did I do something? Did I mess up already? I shook myself then walked to where the big macho guy was practicing his spears.
“Hey…I ..” I stopped abruptly as I saw him take his spears and move past me, then settle on another spot nearby and started practicing again. I frowned. Okay! Something is definitely off here. Ugh! Does everyone in the water sect hate fire sect?

Just then, a sharp whistle was heard, which almost made me go deaf. Stephanno had just entered the training grounds. Upon the whistle, everyone dropped everything, then rushed to the front and stood parallel, facing each other. I stumbled and managed to reach the line before Stephanno made his way to us. I had randomly picked a line. I looked around and so that there weren’t any girls in the ground…..not a single one of them. I frowned at the thought. Turns out all the sect have this one thing in common, no girl guardian. But there was no written or official rule stating that girls can’t be guardians…So why aren’t there any?

I soon noticed a well toned guy with a lean body trailing after Stephanno. He wore a cap on his head. Stephanno wore a blue sweatshirt and black pants and had tied his hair into his usual ponytail. The man with the cap stopped in front of me and smirked as he said, “Oh! Someone is being ambitious”.
Others snickered beside me, while I continued to look at him confused.
“You are a rookie….You think you can just stand in this line with the alpha’s?”
I quickly moved to the second line, avoiding Stephanno’s eyes.
“Oh so now Miss Smarty pants here thinks she is worthy of being a Beta?” he snickered at me.
I was liking the guy with the cap less and less as seconds passed.
I looked him in the eye and asked, “There are only two lines here. Where else am I supposed to stand?”
“ Master” he replied solemnly. He wanted me to call him Master? Ha!
“ It’s okay…You don’t need to call me Master. You can call me by my name……..Jessica” I smiled sweetly at him.

He looked at me for a split second, then threw back his head and roared with laughter. I saw Stephanno hide a smile.
He finally caught his breath and then nodded at me appreciatively as he replied, “ Finally…..Thank god! Finally I get someone who is clear trouble. I was starting to get a little bored with all the Mr obedient here. “
I smirked back at him and replied, “ Well, you don’t have to worry about me being obedient at all. Don’t have that word in my dictionary, Mr Sir- Smirks-A Lot.”
He looked at me with a wild glint in his eyes.

A loud whistle again interrupted in the air, and all the guys started forming into a single line then started jogging around the ground. Ugh! Can’t he move his goddamn mouth to say ‘start jogging?’ And how do all of them know what each of his whistles mean? Ugh! I started running after them, trying desperately to catch up. We were running and running….and I was getting tired and tired. And holy cow! Those guys weren't even breaking a sweat. I caught Stephanno frowning at me and immediately doubled my speed. I caught up with the guys, but I was still the last person in the line. Well, at least I wasn't far behind them, looking like a duck paddling. Why the hell aren’t we stopping? Ugh! I am already beat.

Another sharp whistle pierced the air and all of us made our way back to the front. This time I stood behind the Alpha’s and the Beta’s line, whatever the hell that means. I was the only one out of the line. Ugh!

The guy with the cap smirked at me and said, “ Are you curious why there aren’t any girls in the training field? Would you like to know why? It’s because they don’t last long…..”
I glared at him and he immediately raised his hands in a don’t shoot position and said , “ You won’t last either, baby doll”
I snarled at him and replied, “ We will see, douche bag”

The guy tipped the end of his cap at me, then shouted out loud, “Pair up and start combating. The ones on the left will defend while the ones on the right attacks. And as Miss New, here don’t have a partner…..you will be teaming up with me”

Ugh! That son of a bitch! I started roaming my eyes around the ground looking for Stephanno and found him sitting calmly on the bench watching us intently without any expression on his face. He was back to his favorite cold shoulder approach. His gaze went directly through me as if I didn't exist. I sighed, I can’t afford to make a fool out of myself in front of him. I am not going to loose….and certainly not to this asshole.

“ As you said I am the newbie, shouldn’t you teach me something first before putting me direct into a fight?” I asked him.
His trademark smirk was back as he replied, “This fight is to decide whether you stay or leave. The training starts after that. For the others, its training but for you its initiation. You will be kicked out if you don’t impress us”

Huh? That’s not fair. For one, this guy was coaching them, that means he has way more experience than others. Shouldn’t one of the beta guys be the one to test me? It was like this guy was taking it personally upon himself to ensure that I don’t last and judging by the way others edged back from me , they weren’t overly fond of me being here too.

I sighed and took several steps back, patiently waited for my turn, all the while watching the other trainees attack and defend. After the last fight of the day was over, the guy with the cap….his name was Ronald apparently, got up and went and stood towards the center of the ground and gestured towards me to join him. Everyone started making a circle around us, even Stephanno got up from the bench and joined them. Hhmm…these guys were crowding us like hyenas and looking at me like I was fresh meat.

Before I could even come up with a plan of action, he was already on top of me, chocking me with a head-hold. His arms were wrapped tight around my neck and I struggled to breath. I tried moving my legs in vain, scattering the dirt around us. It was starting to get very difficult to breath and I tried desperately to kick him, but my legs were just flailing around uselessly digging up the dirt.
The guys started booing me and chanted “ Finish her off….finish her off…”

I stretched out my right leg and hooked it with his left leg, surrounding it completely then gave a sharp twist. He immediately let go of me groaning as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. I gasped taking in all the air I could. My chest and throat was burning from the lack of air. The booing all stopped the moment Ronald hit the ground.

Ronald got up back on his feet looking surprised and impish. His eyes had that glint again as he ran towards me and tackled me into the ground. I groaned as I hit the ground hard, hurting my back. He then seated himself n top off me, while pressing my arms into a cross touching my shoulders. I groaned and lifted my right leg and hit him at the back of his head, and he immediately rolled over. He then straight went for my legs, and before I could see what was happening, he had lifted me over his shoulders as if I weighed nothing, then slammed me down on the floor. Ugh! I think I just broke a few ribs….I groaned with pain, and found that my nose was bleeding.
“Are you done now, baby doll or do you still want more?” he asked me sweetly.

I was losing my vision......fast...very fast... I had hit my head while falling, and I could barely see anything. My head was spinning.I blinked rapidly trying to see the face I was looking for in the crowd, and I saw him looking at me, his black eyes filled with pity. Ugh! I really hate it when people treat me with pity.

I groaned then pushed myself up, barely being able to stand still. My legs were shaking, I couldn’t even stand up properly but I was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. So I raised my now bloodied hands up defensively and motioned for him to attack me. He froze for a moment, clearly taken aback by my audacity, then locked eyes with me and smiled admiringly.

“Ha! Finally, I get a real tigress. I have a feeling we are gonna be locking horns a lot from now, Baby doll…..My life is gonna get a whole lot interesting now that you are in it”
I couldn’t make out what he was saying…..my eyes were getting weary. I felt my legs loose balance and collapse, and my head hit the hard ground again… … The last thing I saw was Stephanno shoving the guys out of the way and him kneeling down beside me looking concerned……and then darkness…complete darkness.