The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 39

John POV

Not a week after John had confronted Sera, he was forced to come back to her on account of what he'd promised. He could've kept it to himself again. However, he had promised to tell Sera everything, and he was defintely gaining a lot of stress from this sudden change. His uncle, who'd been gone for so long, had come back. He was finally ready to start training John.

It turned out that he'd wanted to speak with John and plan a training session for awhile now. He'd called John's phone a few times. John had discarded the number as spam, ignoring the voicemail that had been left. He'd been too distracted trying to figure out what was happening with Sera to care about random messages. Now, though, he had no excuse anymore.

Headmaster Vaughn had called John to his office right as school was ending. John, a little annoyed because Sera had finally agreed to tell both him and, unfortunately, Arlo about her most recent assignments after school, had made his way quickly to the office. He'd hoped that if the Headmaster was fast, he'd still have time to talk to Sera. Much to his displeasure, it wasn't only Headmaster Vaughn in the office; John's uncle, Alban, was there too.

Alban had wasted no time in telling John that their first training session would be that day, right after school. John had no excuses to give. He'd simply asked that he put his stuff away in his dorm first, and, as soon as he was behind the closed door, he called Sera.

She didn't pick up the first time, but after John called twice more, the ringing stopped and he heard Sera's voice on the other end of the phone. "Hello? John, why are you calling? I thought we were meeting on the roof right when school ended."

"Well... I can't really do that anymore," He told her, biting his lip. "There's been a change of plans."

He could practically hear Sera's eyebrow raise over the phone as she waited for an explanation. He sighed. "My uncle is finally going to train me."

"When? Today?"

"Right now."

There was a short pause before Sera spoke again. "I'll tell Arlo not to come. Where are you, your dorm? I'll be there in five minutes."

John let out a sigh of relief when she hung up, his worry fading. Sera knew what he needed. He hadn't even explained to her that he wanted her to be there, too, in case anything went wrong, but she knew. She would be here soon enough to help him deal with everything.

A short time later, Sera showed up. After giving a few words of comfort, she led him back to the office where Alban waited. He stared down at Sera with a small frown when he saw that John hadn't come alone, but made no comment to tell her to leave. Instead, he turned and began to walk out of the office.

"We'll be working on the turf war fields. There's more space," He told them. John exchanged a glance with Sera before following, taking a deep breath. It'll be fine. He couldn't fight the feeling of worry, though. He wants us to meet on the turf war fields for more space? What's he having me do? Sera put a hand on his arm, though it did little to comfort him. It took all of his strength to keep walking forwards. A part of him felt as if he were walking to his death... or his destruction. He could so easily become a monster once again.

The short train ride felt much longer than normal. John, Sera, and Alban spent it in silence. Finally, they'd arrived, and the three of them made their way out to the large field where turf wars were played. The familiar location made John shiver. It hadn't been long ago when Arlo had taken him here only to betray him. That was when his life had started to fall apart once again. That's when I became a monster. He took a deep breath. I won't do that today. I can't. He glanced over at Sera. There was no way he could let her see him so dangerous again.

"John." Alban's voice distracted John from his thoughts. He could see Alban crossing his arms, his amber eyes narrowed. "Your records told me that your ability level was at 7.0 when you entered Wellston. How strong is your abillity now?"

John bit his lip. "I don't think it's changed..."

Alban frowned. "Still not even close to as powerful as your mother, I see," He told John, shaking his head. Why is he bringing her up again? She's gone. I don't care how powerful she was before.

Next to him, he could see that Sera's eyes were narrowed. She stared at Alban, appearing confused as if trying to figure something out. Come on, Sera... help me out here!

"What do you want John to do?" She asked him finally. John let out a breath, relieved that he hadn't had to speak. Alban turned his attention to Sera.

"Well, I want to see what he can do at the current moment." Alban glanced over at John. "I want him to fight me."

"No, that's a bad idea!" John instantly exclaimed, backing away from his uncle. No, no, no! If I fight him, someone could get hurt... I don't want to fight anyone! His breath was coming out much faster now. He could see Sera staring at him in concern, but he couldn't seem to calm himself down. Fighting was the last thing he wanted to do.

"You won't have to fight long. I need to gauge your ability to see what you can learn," Alban told him, unfazed by John's reaction. He glanced over at Sera. "You need to copy an ability, correct? Well, you brought her here. That makes things easier."

"I can't use her ability. She's stronger than me," John told Alban slowly. He didn't like the way his uncle was eyeing Sera. She wasn't here to be used, she was here for moral support.

"Hm. I can change that," Alban answered. His amber eyes lit up as he activated his ability. John took a step forwards. There was no way he was letting Alban hurt Sera. Unfortunately, he didn't react fast enough. Sera gave a small gasp as Alban reached a hand out towards her, sending some sort of aura her way. Her dark blue eyes had lit up dimly. John could feel that her ability had suddenly weakened with his passive. He frowned. What is Alban doing to her?!

"Hey, stop it!" He exclaimed, rushing over to Sera's side and grabbing her shoulder to steady her. Alban frowned.

"Calm down. She'll be fine... but now, you can copy her ability. Give it a try," He told John. John bit his lip. He didn't want to listen to Alban, not after what he'd just done to Sera, but what other choice was there? He was here to strengthen his ability.

Plus, if he did listen to his uncle and fight him, maybe some of the anger he could feel building inside of him at the way Sera had been affected would disappear.

"Fine," He agreed through gritted teeth. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his eyes were lit up. He felt Sera's weakened aura next to her. It felt like that of an elite tier, maybe a high tier... John frowned. How did he make it drop so much?

He forced himself to mimic her aura instead of asking his uncle more questions. He knew Alban wouldn't answer him, not now. Giving one last glance back at Sera, John stopped time and sprinted forwards, aiming to hit Alban. Just before his fist could make contact, however, Alban's eyes glowed and a strange feeling washed over John. Suddenly, he was losing grip of Sera's weakened ability; he had to fight to keep his powers activated.

It felt a lot like the time when Sera had almost been kidnapped, and their pursuers had used an ability dampener on John and the others. John bit his lip. Alban wasn't a part of Spectre. They were the ones who'd had the dampeners. However, it seemed that his ability had some of the same qualities.

This thought sent chills down John's spine. How strong is he, to be able to do all of that? What is his ability?! He forced himself to take a deep breath. I have to end this, fast.

Using the last of his copied ability, John forced his fist forwards, punching Alban in the chest. All at once, his ability had faded to nothing, and he was left to fall at his uncle's feet, head swimming with the aftereffects of copying a too-powerful ability. Alban frowned down at him, appearing displeased.

"You have a long way to go," He told John. The light of his ability in his amber eyes faded as he stepped around John and left him on the turf war field. As John watched his uncle vanish from sight, he could feel his ability solidifying once again, no longer dampened. He could feel by Sera's growing aura that she was having the same effects.

Even if things had gone back to normal for now, John didn't like the way Alban had dampened them both... There was no doubt about it. His uncle was dangerous.