POV: Rai Shinsei
I can't make any sense of their actions right now.
The four students who were currently attacking me were none other than Jordan, Jacob, Oscar and April, who are all first-years like myself.
Compared to me without my Aspect, they were weaker as only Jordan and Jacob was somewhat close to me in terms of physical strength, but despite the difference, they were beginning to overwhelm me as they chose to ambush me within a populated area, preventing me from retaliating to my desired liking as if I were to expose my true abilities to a large crowd such as the one watching our scuffle, the outcome would be detrimental to my future.
I need to break free somehow.
Taking advantage of my confusion, the four of them increased the pace of their attacks as they were relentless, forcing me into an uncomfortable position as each of their attacks were laced with enough lethality to cripple me, but regardless of their malicious intention, my experience in combat was vast, allowing me to block and weave through their every attack amidst deceiving the crowd of curious bystanders by purposely scrambling across the ground as if I was struggling with all of my might.
I don't get it.
I assumed that Jordan would prefer an area with less people around as he was already defeated by me once, meaning that if I were to retaliate and ultimately defeat him, his reputation would sink even further and yet, he's fighting me as if he's certain that I won't retaliate.
I'm sure that the other three are clueless about my true abilities as they watched Jacob defeat me, but as for Jordan, he should be fully aware that even with the help of his friends, the four of them don't stand a chance against me and yet, there isn't any fear within his eyes, which is strange as if they allow me to escape into a desirable location, then their defeat is inevitable.
The only logical conclusion that I can come up with is that they are aware of my true abilities and the fact that I'm trying to hide them, but that can't be possible as there are only a handful of students who are aware of my power and I'm certain that none of them would expose me.
With a few minutes passing by, I was slowly losing my edge as their strikes and kicks were beginning to graze me, prompting me to break through their merciless grasp as I freed myself, but as I sprinted away from them, the four of them activated their Aspects and released their Aspectual Force, startling the weaker students among the crowd of bystanders as Jordan and Jacob immediately blocked off my escape route while April and Oscar rushed towards me from behind.
They anticipated my escape?!
Unable to get a grasp on their unusual actions, I decided to focus on the fight before me as within a second, I scoured the area around me and quickly observed the four of them in order to get a rough analysis of their Aspects.
I've already fought against Jordan and Jacob, so I'm well aware of their Aspects as the two of them possess a Normal-Type Aspect that solely enhances your strength.
As for the other two, April must have Water Manipulation as there is a constant flow of water spiraling around her, but as for Oscar, he surprisingly possesses a Unique-Type Aspect as his aura is dark green, although I don't know what the effect of his Aspect is yet.
If I was in a less populated area, then I wouldn't hesitate to defeat the four of them as it would be relativity easy for me, despite them having the advantage of their Aspects, but because they are preventing me from running away and zoning me within the boundaries of a crowd, they are forcing me to choose between two options.
Either I reveal my true abilities or succumb to their wrath.
Preferably, I would rather escape unharmed, but in order for me to do that, I would have to reveal even more of my abilities and with a crowd watching me with such curiosity, I can't really afford to do that, meaning that escaping isn't an option right now—unless…
As April and Oscar arrived first, April created two tangible whips of water within her hands as she tried lashing me with several strikes, but despite the destructiveness laced within her strikes, she lacked the speed necessary in order for her to land a proper hit, allowing me to evade her strikes with ease as amidst my evasion, I began positioning myself in front of the nearby ramen shop while evading towards Oscar, who approached me with a gleeful expression.
This is perfect.
Pretending to be oblivious to his oncoming attack, Oscar found himself thrilled in his success as he pulled his fist back with the sole intention of slugging me, but as he tried to smash his fist into my jaw, I blocked his attack with my guard while barely jumping off the ground as I used the momentum of his attack to direct me towards the ramen shop, causing me to crash into a few students who were enjoying their fresh bowls of ramen as I had startled them with my sudden arrival, falling behind the counter amidst my momentum as upon landing on the floor, I locked eyes with the owner of the shop, who appeared to be a mysterious old man with many battle scars as if he was a seasoned hero.
Amongst the complaints of the students, whose day I may have just ruined as the spoils of their ramen were spilled across their clothing, the owner pointed towards the back exit of his shop with his thumb as I propelled myself forward from off of the ground and with a sharp right turn, I entered the storage room where the exit resided, but upon entering, I felt a hand latch onto my shoulder as I turned to find Oscar, who somehow caught up to me as he tackled me onto the floor.
His Aspect must have something to do with enhancing his speed.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Oscar asked in excitement as he tried to pummel my head into the smooth concrete floor, but despite his Aspect enhancing his overall speed of his attacks, my eyes perceived his every move as I weaved through his strikes and smashed my forehead into his nose, causing him to fall backwards with blood gushing from his nose as amidst his pain, I grabbed two woks from a nearby shelf and began wielding them as if they were weapons.
"You think some frying pans are going to save you from me?!" Oscar questioned irritably, wiping the excess blood from his nose as he picked himself up from the floor and rushed towards me with a scowl.
"First of all, these aren't frying pans—they're woks and to answer your question…"
As Oscar approached me with a flurry of punches, I blocked his every strike with the backside of the woks as when his pent up frustration was released, his reckless emotion led him into a grave mistake as he tried to smash his fist into my face with a heavy swing, but with such an obvious and forceful motion that is solely fueled with rage, anticipating his next move was effortless as I parried his arm downward with one of my woks, causing him to stagger forward as I then smashed the other wok cleanly into his jaw, breaking the wok upon impact as he crashed into the food shelf, losing consciousness in the midst.
"Yes, I believe these "frying pans" will save me." I answered as I heard a group of footsteps rushing towards the storage room, prompting me to toss the damaged woks onto Oscar's body as I then bolted out of the back door of the ramen shop, entering a narrow alleyway as I noticed the shadows of Seth and Andy, who began chasing me from above as April's torrent of water trailed from behind.
I didn't expect the two of them to suddenly appear, but whether it's two more or even four more…
I could defeat all of them without even using my Aspect.
The only problem is their coordination.
They are far too coordinated for their own good as with the exception of Oscar, who fell victim to his own arrogance, the rest of them are avoiding isolation as they are even forcing me into open areas as if they know for certain that I won't retaliate.
Although I'm aware that they must be somewhat smart as they were accepted into one of the four most prestigious hero academies within the entire continent, this ambush of theirs is too calculated for their own good and as far as I know, the five of them doesn't have the intellectual prowess to come up with a plan like this, meaning that the one behind this…
Is none other than Atticus.