The disciples all looked at each other in a slight stunned silence.
They honestly were struggling to believe the result of the exchange.
"…Yes?" One of them responded in hesitation.
"Okay, perfect then, let me go and fetch my friend so we can fulfill our bet." Andrew said with a smile, as he quickly made his way out of the dojo.
Once he was out of sight, the disciples began discussing amongst themselves.
"…That really happened, right?" One of them remarked.
"I mean, we were all watching the fight go down. He clearly had an advantage in terms of flexibility and mobility."
"Yea, and his movements were so pristine and precise; his control over his body was remarkable to say the least!"
They all began to look at each other, and with a nod of their heads, they came to an unspoken agreement.
One of them jumped into the ring, directing other disciples to get a bucket of water.
Upon doing so, the one in the ring quickly dumped it over the head of the still unconscious disciple.
He awoke startled and began frantically looking around.
"Wha-what the hell happened?!" He spoke with bewilderment, his voice stuttering.
"You lost the fight bruh, that's what happened." The disciple who woke him said, shaking his head.
"Regardless of the result, call the elders… we need to recruit this monster!" He continued on.
"Huh? Uh, okay I guess…" the burly man spoke, fumbling in his pockets for a moment before pulling out his phone and dialing a number.
….
On Andrew's side of things, he made his way out of the building, spotting the young genius sitting on a nearby curb.
The young genius was muttering to himself, his leg quickly moving up and down.
"Its been quite a bit of time… What the hell's happening inside right now? This anticipation is killing me." He muttered, glancing at the time on his phone every few seconds.
"Yo! Christian!" Andrew yelled over from the doorway.
Christian quickly whipped his head around, and upon spotting Andrew's slightly disheveled appearance, he began to assume the worst.
"Well… did you lose? You lost didn't you… it's all my fault, I shouldn't have let you go in there!" Christian spoke with a self-blaming tone.
"Shut the hell up," Andrew spoke, cutting him off.
"I won dumbass, get over here I have a gift for you waiting inside."
Andrew waving him over with a smile completely broke Christian's expectations.
His eyes went wide before he muttered simply "…okay…" before getting up and walking towards the entrance.
Inside the building, Christian was shocked by the fancy interior.
He had never actually even made it past the front reception, so this was a pleasant surprise.
He looked around like a kid in a candy store, as Andrew led him deeper into the complex, through the training grounds under the watch of many hesitant disciples.
They arrived before a door, Christian immediately realizing where he had been brought.
"Is this… what I think it is?" He asked, with slight reluctance as it almost seemed too good to be true.
"Yea bro, don't hesitate. Walk in and awaken that talent, if you wanna have a shot at changing your fate that is…" Andrew replied with a smile.
Christian swallowed hard, and then he opened the door and stepped inside.
What greeted him was a sight that he couldn't imagine.
A massive talent awakening crystal!
"This thing has to be at least 3-4 times bigger than the one at school!" He thought to himself as he marveled at the rough cut stone in front of him.
It even had a slightly different color compared to the one he had originally tested on earlier in the year.
This was a deep shade of purple with luminescent white specks hovering inside of it.
He never saw anything quite like it before, although he was slightly familiar with there being different grades of awakening stones.
"Well, here goes nothing…" he muttered, before placing his hand on the side of the stone.
Immediately, he felt a force surge into the depths of his body, seemingly tugging at something indescribable.
As if to bring a great power to the surface, he began to grunt.
….
Outside of the room, Andrew stood by the door with expectancy.
He wasn't sure what kind of effect this kid would produce from awakening his ability.
He was very certain that it would be even more powerful than Zachary's awakening though.
After all, it was a high-grade talent right from the get go.
Andrew stood in anticipation, before he began to hear a slight commotion coming from behind him.
He turned around, and what greeted him was 3 figures in black robes with black belts walking towards him.
They were all middle-aged men, with a pretty substantial presence.
Behind them, following in suit, was a man in golden robes, with the depiction of a dragon in it, followed by a black belt.
Andrew immediately could guess who these figures were, and became slightly annoyed.
"Of course… why wouldn't they call the higher ups of the dojo…" he thought, shaking his head in annoyance.
It only took a few seconds for them to get beside him, and they immediately began to talk.
"Hello youngster. We are the elders of this dojo, and it has been brought to our attention that you had an altercation with one of our disciples…"
Another one followed up, "We understand things happen, however you should also understand you have intruded upon our sacred area of training… you understand what this means correct?"
Andrew, standing there, sighed. He couldn't believe the audacity of these individuals.
"So, what you really want to say is that I must join you, or else you'll cause me trouble?" Andrew responded plainly with little expression.
"Well, we won't necessarily cause you trouble… however anything can happen in this world, as you should know."
"Unavoidable accidents happen all the time to talented individuals after all."
Andrew took a glance at the leader still standing behind these 3 elders, who had a smug expression all over his face.
He had yet to say anything, but Andrew knew these henchmen of his would probably be the only ones speaking for him.
"Typical cliche…" he thought with slight grievance.
Just then, before anyone else had the opportunity to say anything, the entire building began to inexplicably shake.
At first it was subtle, however it slowly began to build in intensity.
"What the—" one disciple yelled.
"Earthquake!!" Another yelled.
"Shit! Everyone, calm down, the building is specially reinforced for these exact situations." The leader finally spoke with an authoritative tone.
However, as he was saying this, by the second, the building began to shake more and more.
At one point, it felt as if the entire building wouldn't be able to hold out anymore.
The shaking became so powerful even Andrew felt himself circulating his innate energy art to maintain stability.
Outside the dojo, it was becoming even more chaotic.
In a full one kilometer radius, it was becoming apparent not everyone was prepared for this kind of development.
Street shops began to shake violently, screams began to ring out, civilians scrambled for cover.
Just then, when it felt like it reached its peak, a powerful pressure began to build, sucking the air out of everyone's chest.
In the dojo, this effect was even more pronounced, the pressure was so powerful even the elders began to sweat profusely.
Andrew was no exception of course, he was almost brought down to his knees because of this.
Then, the feeling of impending doom began to propagate.
It was as if the world was ending, nobody understood what was happening.
"Shit!! This kid's talent is way more terrifying than I imagined!" Andrew thought as he began to back away from the room.
However, deep within him, even through this inexplicable aura, he felt profound happiness.
"I really cashed out the right connection this time around!"
Just then, as things reached their limit, the loud sounds of numerous beasts began to reverberate through the area.
Andrew couldn't help but smile this time around.
Nobody else noticed him doing this because they were all scrambling to figure out what was happening.
"Leader! This seems like a powerful beast has appeared somewhere in the town!"
"What should we do?!" The elders yelled frantically.
Just as everyone was beginning to literally fear for their lives…
It suddenly went completely quiet.
Everything settled in an instant, as if it had never happened in the first place.
People began trying to collect their bearings, however it was obvious how shook the higher ups and disciples were.
Then, there was the sound of a door opening.
Everyone quickly turned their heads towards the talent awakening room.
The door slowly creaked open, a figure appearing in the opening.
Everyone stood in shock as Christian slowly walked out.
His eyes were closed, however even without them being open, everyone could tell something had changed.
Andrew could intrinsically feel a sense of danger from him using his senses.
Christian slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pattern of a multitude of colors, a fierceness hidden within.
He turned to Andrew and began to laugh.
"I succeeded!"
______