Beast Soul

"What the actual f*ck is going on, b*tch?!" Joey couldn't help but yell out loudly with anger in his voice as almost all of his followers were lying on the ground, defeated by a group of nerds.

"What does it look like to you, you dumb b*tch?!" Max said as he swung his fist at an incoming opponent, sending him flying backwards into the air right before landing under Joey's feet. And with that, every single one of Joey's henchmen were on the ground. "Can't you see? We're beating your a**!" 

Joey looked around and saw that the fight had gathered an adequate amount of viewers, and for a second, he felt as though he could hear their thoughts. 'Joey Adkins doesn't seem like a King!' The thought had sprouted in Joey's mind, and he yelled out loudly, "I'll beat your a**, you b*tch!" He rushed forward as soon as he finished speaking, heading straight for Max, who raised both his arms with a serious expression on his face.

"Come at me…" Max said as he too leapt forward. This time, he wouldn't just wait for the enemy to lose his balance before attacking him. He would strike first.

"You little sh*t! You think you can beat me, Joey Adkins, just because you took down those worms who follow me around?" Joey felt humiliated by the lack of fear in Max's eyes. Nerds like him were supposed to be afraid of Joey. And yet, this son of a b*tch was trying to land a punch on Joey's body without even flinching! Joey wouldn't accept that. He couldn't!

"I'm Joey Adkins, b*tch! The king of Arlingrad High! You'll never be able to defeat me!" Joey screamed with fury as he leapt up into the air and did a roundhouse kick as soon as he got close to Max. 

Max stared at the kick that was heading his way, aiming for his head, and he couldn't help but smile. He knew that with his weak and frail body, he would never be able to react quickly enough to dodge that attack.

But even though his human body had limits, his newfound supernatural abilities were different. 

Controlling and manipulating the path of nature was similar to how a normal person would think. At least, that's what it felt like to Max. Sure, the whole process drains a lot of energy, but it can easily be replenished after a while simply by resting. 

But the main takeaway, at least according to Max, was the difference between how he controlled the path of nature and how a human being moves his body. Unlike a normal human being, who not only needs to think but also train their body in order to accurt move as they wish, Max only needed to use his mind in order to manipulate the path of nature. There was no need for nature to catch up with his thoughts. The whole process was instantaneous. The mind and nature worked in sync, and the only limit to the whole process was energy. 

Which was why Max had decided to try and take on Joey Adkins, who had made their school lives incredibly difficult. 

'Even though my body might be too weak to take him down, my superpowers aren't!' Max's eyes narrowed down as he stared at the fast approaching roundhouse kick, and right before the kick could connect with Max's face, something similar to that of a tentacle quitely popped out from under the ground and entered Max's pants through the opening below, and all of a sudden, his body bent backwards!

Whoosh!

Joey's shoes only hit the air and Max immediately whipped back to his original position as the kick passed by him. 

"What in the-" Joey, who was certain that his kick would've struck Max, was caught off guard by the lack of contact on his shoes, and he turned around after landing only to find an unhurt Max standing at the same spot as before. "How the f*ck did you dodge that?!"

Max didn't bother replying to Joey, and instead stared at both his hands, surprised at the move that he did just now. "I can't believe that actually worked!" He whispered softly to himself.

Max was actually controlling the roots of the large trees right next to the school compound wall through the ground. He had manipulated the roots and made it slide through his pants and up his body without anyone noticing and had struck itself onto him, sort of like an exoskeleton. And now, Max's body was being controlled by the roots, which were directly controlled by Max's mind. This meant that there was no need to worry about his body being slower than his thoughts. His body and his mind were now completely in sync.

Of course, the biggest problem was mobility. He couldn't move properly as the roots were still attached to the trees, and removing their connection with the trees would sever the connection Max has with the roots as well, so this was a problem that he had no way of avoiding. The roots were slender and smooth, which made it harder to notice, but it definitely was not enough.

'Well, at least the dust and dirt are making it harder for anyone to see the roots..' Max was relieved that the other roots that were still underground were making the earth shake slightly, causing a lot of dust and dirt to pop up into the air and surround Max and Joey, making it hard for anyone to properly see Max's legs.

"Take this!" Joey, who didn't know what Max was thinking, rushed forward while pulling his left hand back. His palm was rolled into a fist, and he swung right at Max's head.

Whoosh!

Max, who saw the fast approaching fist, simply tilted his head sideways, avoiding the punch with ease before responding with a mean right hook that struck Joey's lower jaw with a loud bang!

BAM!

The punch was so powerful that Joey's eyes rolled back and he fell down onto his knees, his head still tilted upwards because of the strength with which Max struck him. 

"This is the end, Joey.." Max mumbled under his breath right before swinging his left leg sideways, striking Joey by his right shoulder, making him slam down onto the ground head first. "No more working under you!"

BAM!

Joey fell down, completely unconscious, and Max let out a long and heavy sigh. The roots had already returned back into the ground, and Max turned his gaze to his friends, who looked at him with smiles on their faces.

Gerald gave a thumbs up to Max, who smiled and nodded his head in return. The students who had been watching the fight were left stunned, completely shocked at the outcome of the match. 

"Holy crap… Did that seriously just happen?" One of the students murmured under their breath, and soon, every single student was whispering to themselves and to each other. 

"What the f*ck.. did we just lose?" Some of Joey's followers who hadn't fainted were glancing back and forth at each other, unsure of what they were going to do now. 

"I guess you did it, huh?" Gerald said as he walked up to Max and placed his hand on his shoulder, and Max nodded his head. "I think it's supposed to be 'we', Gerald…"

"Nonsense! You did all the work. We were just following you!" Harold shook his head as he and Alphonso approached Max. 

Max tilted his head and pointed at Joey's fallen henchmen as he spoke. "I don't remember beating up every last one of them, though.."

"Ugh, fine.. It's 'we did it'. Happy now?" Harold shrugged his shoulders, and Gerald let out a chuckle, which caused everyone to erupt into laughter. 

-----------------

"F*ck this! Who does that brat think he is?" Dax, who was sitting inside a building that was under construction, gritted his teeth as he stared at his phone before raising his fist up into the air and throwing it down onto the ground with anger.

WHAM!

The phone broke into pieces, and the two teenagers who were standing beside him looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"What's the matter, Dax?" A voice came from the room next to his, and Dax turned his annoyed face towards the direction it came from. 

Tap! Tap! Tap!

A young man wearing a white shirt that was tucked in and gray pants appeared. He was wearing an expensive watch on his left hand, and was holding his sunglasses in his other hand. The young man had a muscular body as well as a handsome face.

"Do you have a problem?" He asked with a snarky expression on his face, which made Dax click his tongue in response. "Nothing that concerns you, Nelson."

"Are you sure about that?" Nelson replied as he put on his sunglasses and began walking towards Dax, who raised his eyebrows. "Because I can offer you help.. Of course, only if you want it."