“Uhh, I think I put too much into it? It’s not stopping. What should I do?” I asked Cadeyrn, suddenly terrified at the force I’d just unleashed.

“No data,” Cadeyrn returned.

“Well… That’s just great. I went and screwed it all up again,” I said, angrily. “Well I have to do something,” I said, as I flew down towards the sword as it pulsed with energy.

Landing beside it, I placed my hand on the massive blade, trying to stop the flow of energy. I could feel the wrongness in the energy and how closely it resembled a feeling I was becoming all too familiar with. It was then that I came to a terrifying realization.

--

As soon as the attack struck Alden recognized this power as something else—this wasn’t Cian’s power, this was something else entirely. The attack surged against his barrier, it cracked but held firm for now. Alden channeled his own aura into the barrier and as he did he could feel the weight of each strike of purple lightning as if someone’s soul was pressing against his aura—there’s a soul inside the lightning?

Suddenly there were hundreds of swords made of light piercing the ground, Alden hadn’t even seen them fall but he could see where they had pierced his barrier. A ribbon of light spread between the swords linking them together like chains and as the attack hit the barrier of swords it began to dissipate.

“Quite the attack he’s got there,” Commander Kite said, appearing beside Alden.

“Indeed,” Alden said as he dismissed his blades to hide the shock at his complete inability to detect the man’s arrival.

“This will stop the waves but not the source. Hopefully he can get his attack back under control,” Commander Kite said, a prideful smirk plastered on his face.

---

“Yeah, this isn’t quite mine…or is it? Whatever, I do not have time for this,” I said, as I began channeling my quanum into it as a last ditch attempt at thwarting my own attack.

It was obvious to me that I had tapped into powers I should not have, power that clearly did not belong to me. Regardless, I refocused and gathered my quanum into my hands forming the strongest attack I had, Sakujo. Its thick green aura enveloped my hands as I grasped the edges of the massive sword and forced Sakujo onto the blade. The constant pulses of lightning and flames were starting to eat through my barrier.

“Yeah, I don’t have any plans of suffering at the hands of my own attack…Cadeyrn, any help?” I asked, meekly.

“Sorry master, it is all I can do to maintain your barrier,” Cadeyrn responded, an odd amount of concern in its voice.

“Well, guess the only thing left is to buckle down and hope for the best,” I said, as I focused even harder, straining every fiber of my being against the power.

The blade resisted my efforts at first but then as if someone had given me a hard push from behind I could feel a sudden swelling of power. I was surprised to see the aura around my hands begin to glow grey instead of green. The grey aura easily spread across the flaming sword, quickly returning it to nothingness, and with it, the waves of flames and lightning vanished.

As the lingering effects disappeared and the air became clear enough to see through, it became obvious that they may need to repair their testing grounds. The ground had been transformed into an ashen desert but amazingly no one seemed to be harmed.

“Well done Cian, that was quite the attack. Perhaps however, you should work on your control a bit more,” Kite said, appearing next to me.

It was startling to see him appear out of nowhere and all I could do was smile awkwardly in return. Suddenly a large muscular man floated down beside me as well, a literal mass of muscle. His sleeveless uniform seemed tailored specifically for him as I doubt you could reasonably design sleeves to fit his arms. He placed a hand on my shoulder and winked at me, the weight of his hand alone felt like it could crush me in an instant.

“That my friends is what we call an attack!” The man’s voice boomed and I immediately recognized it as the voice that had been announcing the test.

“Let us hear it for the lad!” He continued, his overbearing and boisterous voice booming even louder.

The spectators were silent for a moment before cheering in excitement and my heart grew lighter. I thought for sure they would be angry but instead they cheered me on.

“I would say that is a unanimous passing grade. Not only did Cian show outstanding power, but his team mates Alden and Nicole recognized the amount of power he held and immediately moved to reinforce our barrier. Imagine what would have happened had they not acted so quickly,” the voice continued but in a more serious tone. “This is what they’re capable of providing us, these diamonds in the rough. What monsters will they become once polished?”

“Now, for the second test. Who dares come forward to challenge one of them?” He continued but was met with silence.

The test, I’m told, usually consists of three challenges. First, how well you can handle an overwhelming number of enemies. Second, how well you can handle individual challenges and third was a mock battle with an admiral.

The silence continued for an awkward amount of time before Kite finally stepped in.

“I think we can do something more exciting. Instead of our usual mock battle with an admiral operating at a handicap, our Vice Admiral Murrock will face Alden with no restrictions. I think Cian has proven his power already and I think it would be unwise to challenge that any further. Nicole is an operator and I think it would be unfair to challenge her after her amazing effort in reinforcing the GDF barrier in a way I’ve never seen done before. What do you say, Murrock?” Kite asked with a goading smile.

“Hahaha,” Murrock laughed, a deep mirthy rumble. “I suppose that would be a suitable challenge,” he agreed.

“I guess I don’t get a say in this?” Alden asked with an annoyed smile as he walked over to join us.

“Did you need one?” Kite asked, his tone serious.

“No, not really, but I figured I’d check. Let’s get started,” Alden replied simply, I could tell he was annoyed but excited at the opportunity.

“Just a sec,” I said, interrupting them and pulled Alden over away from the two Vice Admirals.

“What? Do we need a strategy meeting?” Alden asked, confused and even more annoyed than before.

“You seemed unsettled so I figured you could use the brief intermission,” I said, smiling and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I guess,” he said with a shrug.

“It’s about my attack isn’t it…we can figure that out later. Right now you need to go out there and be Alden, without my interference,” I said grinning.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“And what does it mean to be Alden?” he asked incredulously.

“You know, a sarcastic, egotistical showboat who makes the impossible possible?” I joked.

“Hey! After what you just pulled? I feel like you’re projecting a little bit,” he laughed.

“Am I though? Am I really?” I joked some more.

“Alright, alright, I get it. I’m going, strategy meeting over,” he grinned confidently as he walked back over to Murrock and Kite.

“Alright, let’s get started I guess?” Alden said questioningly.

“Of course. Let us commence our bout,” Murrock said, his tone and body language continuing to portray his overbearing demeanor. “Just to confirm…” Murrock said, glancing over at Kite, ”you’re sure about having no handicap?”

“I’m sure he can handle it,” Kite said, with a flat expression before vanishing from our view.

It wasn’t a teleportation skill, or any fancy dash, he was simply so fast that he appeared to have vanished.

“Well, you heard the man,” Murrock said, as he tossed a small stone into the air that began to float in place, pulsing with energy. “Once that stone explodes, our match will begin, any questions?”

“No, I think I get the gist,” Alden said, resummoning his swords.

“Excellent,” Murrock said as two flaming gauntlets appeared encasing his hands.

Even being several meters away I could feel the heat coming off of them, although Alden seemed mostly unphased. Then, with a pop, the stone exploded into shards of shrapnel signaling the start of the third exam—wait, if he loses do all three of us fail?

Alden quickly flew upwards to create some distance while Murrock’s engagement was expectedly direct as he soared upwards in an uppercut. Alden managed to sidestep by kicking off the air, twirling around the attack and bringing his swords up for a counter. Murrock twisted as well, turning his uppercut into a hook, catching Alden in the shoulder and sending him flying.

“He’s fast,” Nicole said from beside me, I was so focused that I had completely missed when she had arrived.

“Yeah…this might be much tougher than I thought,” I said, with some anxiety.

To Alden’s credit he recovered quickly, flying upwards to gain some distance. Murrock was relentless as he rocketed upwards into the sky after him, his flaming fists locked onto its target. Alden was very clearly stuck in a defensive battle and given the circumstances it wasn’t going to last long. Alden tried to parry Murrock’s fist but his sword was easily deflected, bouncing off the flaming boulder of a hand. Murrock came in for a grab but was surprised to find his hand explode the moment he gripped Alden’s form.

“A water clone? Brilliantly done!” Murrock said as he looked upwards into the sky.

The rest of us spectating followed his gaze upwards to see a massive sphere of water above us. Alden dropped the massive sphere towards Murrock, leaving him no choice but to punch through it. If Murrock continued using flames, the attack would explode in his face, so he’d have to go through without flames which would make it easy to freeze him inside the attack. Unfortunately, nothing was ever that simple.

Murrock held his arm to the side as it began to blaze in a brilliant red and white glow that continued to grow. As if harnessing the power of the sun itself, Murrock tossed a fist sized ball of energy at Alden’s sphere of water causing a massive explosion of steam obscuring our vision. I couldn’t see what happened next, but I could feel it through Alden’s aura. Murrock managed to fly through the explosion entirely unabated, continuing his rocket propelled ascent into the sky. I felt a sudden spike of aura and quanum and then suddenly something slammed into the ground concealed by a plume of dust.

“W-well done,” Murrock’s voice came from the plume as Alden floated downwards from the sky, his sword readied at his sides.

“What the hell?” I asked aloud.

“What happened?” Nicole asked, shocked at the display.

“I’m not sure…” I said, honestly.

From what I could see, there was an odd aura surrounding Alden’s swords which gave them a slightly blue tinge. I found it hard to believe that something like that was enough to bring down a Vice Admiral and yet that seemed to be exactly what was happening.

“I’m not sure what you did, but I’m very impressed,” Murrock said, and then suddenly his aura exploded igniting the air around him. “I’ve had few opportunities to use this, perhaps you can take it?” he asked, glowing red hot as if he had just been pulled from a forge.

Murrock blazed into the sky, causing explosions as he ascended, once again grabbing at Alden. Alden responded almost robotically, his movements supernaturally precise as he floated backwards just enough to avoid the grab. In an immediate counter attack, Alden’s swords came up with such speed that I couldn’t even see them move as he deflected a series of blows from Murrock, each one exploding in flames. The spectators were going wild at the display. Where my display had inspired fear, Alden’s inspired awe. As my vision adjusted I could see Alden leading each of Murrock’s blows away with just the tips of his swords.

“How the hell?” I blurted out.

“What’s going on up there?!” Nicole asked, annoyed.

“He’s using a mixture of his quanum and aura to change the trajectory of Murrock’s punches…” I said, unsure of what I was saying myself.

“Is that even possible? “ Nicole asked astounded.

“At our level? I would imagine not…” I said.

Suddenly Murrock gave up on the exchange floating backwards to gain some distance but that was a mistake. Alden quickly followed up with his own attacks causing Murrock to have to counter in return.

“There it is again…” I said, as Alden’s swords began to glow in a tinge of blue aura again.

Each strike began forcing Murrock backwards towards the ground. In a surprising display of events, Alden stopped his attack, it was so instant that Murrock couldn’t react fast enough. Too used to Alden’s last pattern of attack Murrock sent his fist flying outwards in the air to deflect an attack that never came. Instead, at unimaginable speeds, Alden dismissed one sword and sheathed another one into a scabbard made of air. In an instant Alden redrew his blade, connecting with Murrocks abdomen which sent him crashing into the ground once more.

“I think we can call the match now,” Kite said, appearing next to Murrock on the ground.

“Ahahaha! I suppose that would be wise,” Murrock said as his body, which had now started glowing white, returned to normal.

I was so distracted by Alden that I didn’t realize that Murrock’s body temperature had continued to increase until he was glowing white. Even now that he had returned to his normal state, there was steam rising off him.

Alden landed beside Nicole and I, clearly exhausted but his eyes were still focused on something. At first I thought it was Murrock but he seemed almost as though he were staring into another world.

“You alright?” I asked, concerned.

“Oh, yeah, I’m good,” he responded after a couple of blinks, smiling excitedly.

“If you say so,” I said, shrugging.

With the end of their battle the results were clear. We all passed with amazing results, Alden and I even making it into the top fifty of the regular officer’s combat ranking. It was an unexpected result for us as we had no frame of reference for the rankings. Nicole, being an operator, had a few other tests to do inside the simulation room so Alden and I decided to wait outside for her. We had been waiting for two hours when the door finally slid open.

“Finally, done. That was nerve racking,” Nicole said, stepping out of the room.

“So, how did it go?” I asked, excitedly.

“Take a look for yourself,” she said, displaying an ornate blue badge with ‘ii’ on it.

“Wait…what does that mean?” I asked, surprised and confused.

“It means she’s a level two operator, and essentially our superior in most situations,” Alden said, smiling contentedly.

“That’s amazing!” I shouted which caused Nicole to blush furiously.

“You’re too loud!” She yelled at me.

“Come on, let's go get some food and celebrate back at my house now that we’re all officially GDF Officers,” Alden said, chuckling.

“Sounds like a plan,” Nicole said, her smile stretching from ear to ear.

“Hey! Wait up!” They heard from down the hall as Zypher came running up.

“Oh hey Zyph, done with your mission?” Alden asked.

“Yep. I saw your results, absolutely astounding. Great job guys!” He said, sincerely.

“We’re going to my place to celebrate, you coming?” Alden offered.

“Of course, let’s go!” Zypher said excitedly.

After some lavish celebrations we decided it was time to study for our school exams as well. Our potential careers in the GDF were important but so was our education, or at least that’s what I kept telling myself. Life was already pretty busy for us but it was about to get even busier—from the boring monotony of school life to this, who would have thought?