CHAPTER 52: MORE SURPRISE

"Jelo? Hey, Jelo!"

Ken’s voice cut through his thoughts. Jelo blinked and looked up to find both Ken and Atlas staring at him with questioning expressions.

"What?" Jelo asked.

"I asked for your opinion," Ken said, a slight note of exasperation in his voice. "What do you think this Class 2 surprise is going to be?"

"Oh." Jelo scrambled for something to say, not wanting to admit he hadn’t been paying attention. "I don’t know. Could be anything, I guess. We’ll find out when it happens."

It was a non-answer, deliberately vague, and both Ken and Atlas seemed to recognize it as such. They exchanged a quick glance that clearly communicated *What’s up with him?* but neither pushed the issue further.

The break ended shortly after, and they all returned to their respective classes for the afternoon session.

-----

Later, just after classes ended for the day, Jelo was walking back toward the dormitory section alone. Ken had stayed behind to talk to one of the instructors about something, and Atlas had mentioned wanting to grab food from the cafeteria first, so Jelo had simply headed out by himself.

His mind was already focused on the Arena Nexus, mentally preparing for his training session, when a loud buzzing sound suddenly filled the academy.

It wasn’t an alarm exactly, but it was definitely some kind of announcement system, a deep, resonant tone that carried through the corridors and made everyone stop what they were doing to listen.

Students around Jelo began looking around in confusion, murmuring to each other, trying to figure out what was happening.

"What’s going on?" Jelo asked a nearby student—a girl he vaguely recognized from one of his classes.

"The Class 2 boys," she said, her eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. "They just announced it. They said there’s a show for us Class 1 students. Something special they’ve prepared." The girl bolted off.

Before Jelo could ask for clarification or process what that meant, he noticed movement in his peripheral vision.

Three boys were approaching him from different angles, moving with clear purpose and coordination. They were all wearing Class 2 badges, and their expressions were anything but friendly.

Jelo’s instincts immediately went on high alert. This wasn’t a friendly encounter. This was a setup.

He didn’t wait for them to make the first move. His hand shot up, energy gathering quickly as he prepared to launch a Dragon Claw projection at the nearest boy.

But before the attack could fully form, one of the other boys made a casual gesture with his hand, a simple flick of his wrist.

Telekinesis.

An invisible force struck Jelo’s partially-formed Dragon Claw and swatted it aside like it was nothing more than an annoying insect. The energy construct dissipated harmlessly against the corridor wall, achieving nothing.

Jelo immediately tried to form another Dragon Claw, his hands coming up in a defensive position, energy beginning to gather again...

But he never got the chance to complete the attack.

A pair of strong hands suddenly clamped onto his arms from behind, gripping with vice-like strength. The second boy had closed the distance while Jelo was focused on the telekinetic user, and now he held Jelo’s arms pinned, completely immobilizing them.

Jelo struggled, trying to break free, trying to activate his Scaled Guard or use Wingburst to escape, but the grip was too strong and too sudden. He couldn’t get the concentration needed to activate his abilities properly.

The third boy stepped forward, his fist already drawn back.

Jelo saw the punch coming but couldn’t do anything to stop it or defend against it. The fist connected with his face with brutal force, snapping his head to the side.

Pain exploded through his skull. His vision went white, then black, consciousness fleeing as his body went limp in the restraining hands.

The last thing Jelo registered before everything went dark was the feeling of being lowered to the ground and the distant sound of laughter echoing through the corridor.

-----

Meanwhile, in another wing of the academy, Atlas was walking back from the cafeteria with a sandwich in hand, taking occasional bites as he navigated the quieter corridors of the older section of the building.

He’d chosen a less-traveled route specifically to avoid the crowds of students that would be clogging the main hallways. He preferred the peace and quiet, the ability to eat and walk and think without being jostled or having to navigate around groups of chattering classmates.

That preference for isolation was about to work against him.

Two boys emerged from a side corridor ahead of Atlas, blocking his path. They were both wearing Class 2 badges, both significantly larger and more muscular than Atlas, and both wearing expressions that made their intentions perfectly clear.

Atlas stopped walking, his sandwich halfway to his mouth, his body tensing as he assessed the threat.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his tone carefully neutral despite the adrenaline starting to flow through his system.

The boys didn’t answer. They just started advancing, spreading out slightly to make it harder for Atlas to slip past them or escape.

Atlas dropped his sandwich and immediately crouched, placing both hands on the floor. His earth ability activated, and the ground beneath him responded to his will.

Stone and dirt rose up, forming a barrier between himself and the advancing boys. It wasn’t perfect, the academy’s reinforced construction limited how much earth he could manipulate, but it bought him a few seconds.

He tried to run, tried to use the barrier as cover to escape down a side corridor.

But the boys were faster than he’d anticipated. They vaulted over the barrier with athletic ease, their enhanced physical stats making the obstacle trivial.

One of them caught Atlas before he’d made it ten feet, grabbing him by the back of his uniform and yanking him backward with tremendous strength.

Atlas stumbled, off-balance, and tried to form another earth defense.

A fist caught him in the stomach, driving the air from his lungs. He doubled over, gasping, and before he could recover, another blow struck the back of his head.

The world tilted. Atlas’s legs gave out beneath him, and he collapsed to the floor, consciousness slipping away as the two Class 2 boys stood over his fallen form.

Just like Jelo, Atlas was knocked unconscious, left lying in an empty corridor while the "surprise" the Class 2 students had planned continued to unfold throughout the academy.