The next morning, Gavin awoke to the annoying sound of his alarm going off. He heard Erza groan beside him as she sleepily reached out to turn it off. "Too early," she mumbled as she nuzzled back against his neck.
Gavin smiled as he wrapped his arms around his sleepy girlfriend. When she was like this, it always warmed his heart. He could stay like this for the rest of time, and never want to leave. He squeezed her tightly and chuckled against her ear as he kissed her forehead. "Time to get up baby, we have got a battle to win today," Gavin said. He hadn't slept much that night. He was looking forward to the battle against Professor Okeeba in a few hours.
"Fine. I didn't want to sleep five more minutes anyway," she retorted in her complaint. She leaned back, the blanket sliding down as she arched her back, much like a cat, and stretched her body out. She yawned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes and glanced at Gavin.
Gavin's mouth went dry as he caught a teasing glimpse of the smooth, soft skin he loved to kiss from her shirt, riding up slightly as she stretched. He noticed her teasing grin on her face as he cleared his throat. She had a slight blush on her face as she leaned down over him, her red hair forming a curtain around them both as she smiled bashfully at him. "See something you like wolf boy?" she asked as she leaned down and kissed him softly.
"You know I do," Gavin said, a smile on his lips as he kissed her back. "But you are trying to distract me from the fact we have a fight in the arena. We got to kick some major butt," he said enthusiastically as he held her hips close to his body. He loved the feeling of Erza in his arms. Her soft, supple curves pressing against him, felt like heaven on earth.
"Fine," she grumbled as she rolled off him and searched for clean clothes. It was still taking some getting used to. Her wolf boy had an almost insatiable appetite now that they finally had their time together. Her body was sore, but in a good way as she climbed out of the bed and pulled out a change of clothes for them both while he stretched on the bed. But it was something that felt so right when she was with him, the kind of love and pleasure that she couldn't imagine her life without him. She smiled to herself as she changed and tossed Gavin his shirt and told him to hurry up and get dressed.
Gavin laughed as he held his shirt and joined her in getting dressed. He wanted nothing more than to pull her back in bed, but that would have to wait until another time. "You think we have an actual chance of beating him?" Gavin asked her as she finished getting dressed and pulling her hair back into a low ponytail.
Erza considered it for a moment. "What do we know about him? He is one of your grandfather's trusted staff members. He fought beside him during the attack on the academy. But we don't actually know any of his magic and abilities," she said as she listed off what little she actually knew about him. While her wolf boy was very skilled and powerful, he lacked one crucial element. Experience. That would prove the deciding factor of this fight, she thought to herself.
"He used a type of fire magic during the opening ceremony to create a display of fireworks in demonstration," Gavin said as he thought it over for a moment. "Other than that, I have no clue about how this might go," Gavin said as they left the room and saw Helena and Jackson sitting on the couch.
Jackson looked over and grinned at the two of them. "Ready to get your butts handed to you?" he asked, laughing. He respected and, if he was honest with himself, feared Gavin's strength and abilities, but he had no doubt that he was most likely going to lose against Professor Okeeba.
"Maybe, but I'm going to make sure it's one heck of a show to watch," Gavin said confidently. He wasn't sure that he would win. He was confident of his own skills and abilities, but something about the professor set him on edge and made him weary.
"Well, we should get going so we aren't late to our own funeral," Erza said, laughing as she looked at the time and noticed it was almost eight.
They all left the room and walked over to the arena. The other students from their class were already there waiting as the group walked up. At eight, the doors opened and Professor Okeeba walked out with a stern frown on his face. "Are you ready, young Gavin, young Erza?" Professor Okeeba said in his deep voice.
Gavin and Erza stepped forward, confident in their body posture as they refused to back down. "Yes sir, I think we are," Gavin said as they followed the professor inside the arena. They went down the hallway, through the primary arena that still showed signs of damage from the attack. They headed towards the back where the secondary arena was. The rest of the class filled the pews along the sides as Professor Okeeba walked out towards the center of the arena.
"Now, this will be a two-on-one battle. The rules are simple. No lethal attacks, the first to draw blood wins." Professor Okeeba announced as he glanced at the two of them in front of him.
"Sounds good to me," Gavin said as he stretched his arms and loosened his body. His eyes were already glowing a faint red in anticipation. "Anything else other than no lethality?" Gavin asked, his voice dropping slightly in octave as he began to focus on his manaflow. His wolf was lurking close to the surface, ready to do battle.
Professor Okeeba let out a small, uncharacteristic smile as he saw the changes in Gavin's form. "Correct, you may feel free to shape-shift and use everything you have. This is a demonstration to showcase the difference in skill versus pure experience," Professor OKeeba said. He kept a close eye on the pair in front of them. He had a feeling this would not be such an easy fight.
Erza stepped forward, her eyes glowing bright yellow as she shifted instantly into her brilliant snow-white fur-covered werecat form. Her mana was incredible as she glanced between herself and Professor Okeeba.
Gavin let out a soft growl as he shifted as well to join his mate. Standing in front of Professor Okeeba were two powerful and deadly shifters. Professor Okeeba raised an eyebrow in surprise. He knew that Gavin was a werewolf shifter, and he was powerful. The way he defended the students from the attack was more than enough proof. The female, being a were-cat shifter, did take him by surprise. He crouched low as he focused on his manaflow and kept it ready for use at a moment's notice.
Gavin threw his head back, and thought about trying out one of his favorite skills. He let loose a powerful howl in the air. Hunters howl activated. Gavin didn't expect this to work against a professor as skilled as Okeeba was. But he felt it was worth a try. Some of the other students in the pews screamed and shouted in fear as the effect of the hunters howl hit them. The downside to the howl was that it affected anyone who heard it. He couldn't directly choose who the howl targeted, or didn't.
Professor Okeeba didn't react other than to ignite his manflow into two streams of fire that engulfed his arms. This battle was about to be even more exciting than professor Okeeba expected.
"I'll go in first, you provide backup support," Gavin instructed Erza as he kept his eyes on the professor. His hackles raised in a snarl as he started running forward. He ignited his manaflow and summoned two large pools of water in his hands. He swirled them around violently in his palms as kept his eyes on the fire around professor Okeeba's arms.
Erza nodded as she summoned her manaflow and ignited balls of fire in her palms. She snarled as she each orb of fireball at Professor Okeeba. She watched Gavin close the distance as her fireballs flew overhead. Professor Okeeba responded with several streams of high intense heat that impacted the fire balls in mid air. The resulting explosion sent out several shockwaves that rustled everyone's hair. Several of the students let out excited gasps at the sight.
Gavin grinned, his canines flashing as he dashed in and threw his pools off swirling water at the fire along Okeeba's arms. Professor Okeeba dashed to the side and avoided the water magic as he sent out a powerful steady stream of fire magic at Gavin's back.
Erza was there and threw up a wall of fire from the ground, gritting her teeth at the cost of mana. The flames impacted and dispersed.
"Well done. You two work in sync well together," professor Okeeba noted as he tried to run around the wall, a fire sword held in his hands, produced by his sheer will power and manaflow.
Gavin looked stunned as he took note of the fire sword the professor held. He never imagined being able to use the elements to conjure physical manifestations of weapons. He grinned in delight at the implications for the advance magic use. So this was what professor Okeeba meant by experience trumps power, Gavin thought as he decided to switch gears.
He focused his mana and attempted to form a solid mass in his hands. It was alot more difficult than he imagined, keeping a solid form of magic. His fur bristled as he concentrated. Professor Okeeba took note of what Gavin was attempting to do and held back for a moment, dodging fire blast the female werecat sent his direction while her partner focused.
Sweat beaded Gavin's brow as he finally managed to form a single object in his hands. It was a staff made of crystal clear water. The water moved up and down as if alive as Gavin exclaimed in delight. "Ha! I can do that trick too!" He said in excitement as he grinned at the professor.
Gavin felt proud as he accomplished the feat. He knew this was an advanced style of magic, no doubt it was no where near as strong as professor Okeeba's fire blade. But it was improvement, and that made Gavin grin.
"Well come on then!" Professor Okeeba shouted as he charged in, by-passing Erza as he swung his fire blade down vertically. Gavin grabbed the water staff in both hands as he moved to lift it and block the strike. The two magical weapons connected in the air. A massive steam explosion went off as the fire blade effortlessly cut through the water pole and the tip of the blade sliced down Gavin's cheek.
Gavin swore as he felt the heat burn his skin and the first trickle of blood leaked out. "And that is the match," professor Okeeba declared as he pulled back. He wouldn't admit it to the kid, but he was impressed. To be able to manifest a magical weapon for the first time during combat was no easy feat.
Gavin panted as his werewolf form shifted back, revealing his human body. Erza rushed over, already shifted back to examine the cut in his cheek. "Damn, I didn't think it would end so quick," Gavin said disgruntled as he faced the professor.
Cheers erupted from the classmates that watched the battle. They were struck in awe by the powers there were on full display.
Professor Okeeba walked over and stood in front of Gavin and Erza. "I hope you learned the valuable lesson today. Just because you have raw power and the potential for power. Never go into a fight cocky. Especially against someone with more knowledge and experience than you."