I and a few other kids gasped. How could Zhou just kill a kid? Zhou looked at us and then back at where the kid once was ”Oh no I-I didn't kill him, I merely converted him into lightning see?” he revealed his hand which clearly showed a ball of lightning. Seeing the sparks made me feel weird. It was like seeing it made me get a rush. It's hard to explain. I had felt as if I was full of energy upon seeing the lightning. It was as if I had felt alive, doing nothing physical. The pain in my legs instantly healed upon me witnessing the lightning for some reason.

Zhou continued. “Right now I will send this ball of lightning to the healing room whereupon it reached, the ball will explode into the kid that was once here.” zhou then hurled the lightning Ball into the elevator. The elevator rumbled and I heard the sound of a button being pressed. With a cheerful ding. The elevator door closed and went down. Zhou turned to us. “Okay well, today You’ll be doing a review on the article. Originally I was going to teleport you to my bedroom which is almost completely covered in strobe lights to disorient you, blow up the article, and question you at the speed of light. But unfortunately, I can’t do that as that wouldn’t be “fair” in this new set of Lazarus. I tell ya that was different when I first came here and had Leon Makrud as my Lightning Instructor. That guy was many, many things, kind was not one them. Anyway, enough blabber lets Quiz.”

Zhou made finger guns and shot out tiny sparks at everyone’s articles. Within about two seconds, all articles were disintegrated. It was at this point I realized how immensely powerful Zhou was, although he was a sub instructor he still was immensely powerful with him turning a kid into lightning molecules with a single touch and all. Zhou walked over to us, one by one he would ask the kids questions. I was not really good at reading lips but I did notice something. He would talk and stop talking in sets meaning he was asking three questions. He would also whisper to the children and have them whisper to him.

I waited until it was my turn which eventually it was. The test was surprisingly easy, Zhou went up to my ear and whispered: "what would happen if you were about to reveal secrets to which I answered: "Ms hollyhocks would make us brain dead instantly, fear in my voice. I really didn't feel all that reassured with the knowledge that If I were to be beaten for information and revealed information I would be killed literally in the blink of an eye.

"Next Question, What are the four things you will be training in for this month?" " The four things we will be learning would be Shaping, enchanting, summoning, and...." I trailed off. why couldn't I remember what the last one was? It was on the very edge of my tongue. so close yet so far. Finally, I realized what it was and blurted out the word Allying. Zhou grinned and turned to the next kid. I breathed a sigh of relief and waited.

Eventually, Zhou made a full circle of quizzing kids. All the kids got it right on their first go.

When Zhou was finished he clapped his hands and the floor split open. When the floor split open it revealed a wooden table that was as long as a bus and was covered in many, many, many weapons! They had everything. From mere handguns to weapons from the Middle Ages. There were even weapons if you would call them that that appeared to look futuristic in nature

The thing that to me was certainly strange about the weapons was the fact that we were being given access to them. It just seems weird to me ya know. Here we were kids new to middle school and we were being taught to handle weapons that wouldn’t look out of place in a war zone. Then I remembered what plasmeus back on the ship about a war coming and shuddered. Then I shook my head in frustration, angry at myself for getting wrapped up. In this weird situation. I cursed under my breath. I walked over to the table. I saw one weapon in particular that tickled my fancy.

A whip. A bullwhip specifically. I noticed that the end of it was now looking claw. I sighed in delight. I grabbed it and checked to feel it. It felt very sturdy. I noticed that on the hilt of it were the words: “Primary.” I looked around at other people and noticed that their big weapons also read primary. And what is a primary weapon without a secondary one? I looked around for a secondary weapon eventually I rested my eyes on something that looked truly weird and also cool.

It was basically a Unique combination of a knuckleduster, a revolver, and a dagger. I figured if I would ever have to go to war then this weird weapon would certainly be useful. One kid saw me about to grab it and Proceeded to try to slap it away from me. I put my finger in one of the holes of the knuckleduster portion of the weapon and in one quick motion I grabbed the kid’s arm and yanked him into a table leg, did a series of rapid slaps against his face before pushing him away.

All of that happened so quickly. Too quickly. I didn’t even feel like it was me doing it. I felt more like I was a person watching wash just happened instead of a person who was actually performing the action. The new discovery of magic must be affecting me no doubt. I made a mental note to equestrian Zhou on it when all our training was done. Speaking of Zhou he walked over to me admiring the strange weapon and tsked. “This weapon would not really be for you Luke I’m sorry it’s just really difficult to make perform properly.

I opened my mouth and was about to explain to Zhou that I felt a connection with the weapon and had just bashed a kid with it no less than a few seconds ago, but he shushed me before I could say anything. “Maybe you should get a new weapon huh?” He then proceeded to look around for a weapon that in his eyes would fit me perfectly. Eventually, he came across the weapon he wanted me to use. It was a simple combination of a knuckleduster and a dagger much like the other weapon except there was no revolver portion like there was for the other weapon. I looked at the weapon that was handed to me and then back at the weapon I was wielding in my right hand.

I still felt fine with the new weapon. Still, If Zhou wanted me to use it then I probably should use it right? I eventually chose to accept Zhou’s offer and me unwieldy my weapon, handed it to Zhou, and picked it up, and began to feel it. The blade was eerily sharp. Just touching it, I made a small slit on my index finger. The weapon was good but not as good as the other one I had been given. I liked it. I did t really know why. Maybe it was because of its cool and unique look, maybe it was because of its uniqueness, maybe it was because of how easy it was to put in my hand. Or maybe it was because the revolver portion made me think of the time I would go to the range with my dad.

Suddenly I grew teary-eyed. “Is something wrong?” Zhou asked. I shook my head and blinked frivolously to stop anyone else from noticing. Zhou’s face grew glum and he looked at me with eyes of pity and walked from his side of the table to mine quite quickly. I expected him to tell me something or make a joke but instead, he just ruffled my hair and whispered the words: “I know how you feel” before turning around and walking off. That little consolation made me feel pretty good not gonna lie. In fact, it made me feel so good that I weirdest the new knuckleduster dagger weapon with pride! feeling thankful for Zhou for his helpfulness, I grabbed both my weapons and exited form the table and noticed something. Right next to where Zhou was standing was a bed. And on the pillow of said bed was what appeared to be a helmet. The helmet was metallic in nature.

It had wires sticking out the back of it that would be inserted into something beneath the bed. I crawled down and looked underneath the bed. It was blocked by the blanket dropping over the end. I was almost about to pull the blanket up but I was stopped. I can’t really describe how it felt. I tried to pull the blanket up again. It was like this blanket was completely overpowering me. The fact that a mere object was so powerful and completely destroyed any remaining semblance of reality I once had made me completely bewildered, to say the least. I was feeling pretty odd about the strange predicament I was in, but nonetheless, I went back on the bed and put the helmet on.

the helmet felt weird on my head and I began to hear something. something strange. A whirring sound. it was almost as if the helmet was somewhat mechanical in nature and not merely just a helmet. In retrospect, I probably should have taken the simple fact that it had wires sticking out of it as a sign that it was mechanical but what can I say?

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I was and still am, a really stupid and idiotic person. I was feeling rather tired around the moment I heard the Whirring and slowly began to close my eyes I was asleep within mere moments. As I drifted off into unconsciousness the last thing I saw was a grinning Zhou looking at me with those strange glowing blue eyes.

and then there was just darkness. pure darkness. Then I saw something. A ghastly purple figure, wearing a Green robe and making a fighting stance. The figure had bulbous white eyes and no mouth. “Ah....another person who wishes to learn a weapon huh kiddo?” I was confused as to how the strange figure could talk without a mouth but it wasn’t really the strangest thing that had happened to me within the last hour. Suddenly I was in what appeared to be run down home depot. The air was extremely musty and I could see that the cash registers were coated in cobwebs, the ceiling lights in the front were extremely dim, and the rest of the store was pitch black. Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sound of something heavy striking the ground. But the darkness combined with it echoing off the wall made   it impossible to locate the sound. My caught the  aound  in the back behind me in a yellow machine. Before I teach you how to use your weapon I was must fairway must you fare on a deadly environment on your own

The figure said. At least I think he said. He spat into the want what can only be described as a military guard holding a shotgun. I then noticed that behind the guard sat a giant, rectangular vehicle. It was chrome-colored and appeared ten feet high and just as long. I noticed it had a long ridge on top and way at the end of it I could see two curved spikes, Peirce, into the floor“Be warned if you die in this event you will die in the real world as well”  please guard reached out and pressed a button. The metal forks shuddered and dropped down so that they were less like horns, more like the twin swords of some nightmare medieval knight. Which way should I dive? Left or right? I just had time to make up my mind before the truck was on me.

dived to the right, rolling over and over on the concrete. The guard pulled the joystick and the machine spun around again. I twisted and the heavy wheels missed me by barely an inch or two. then crashed into one of the pillars. There was a pause. I got up, his head spinning. For a brief second, he hoped that the collision might have knocked the guard out, but with a sick feeling in his stomach, he saw the man step out of the cabin, brushing a little dust off the arm of his jacket.

He was moving with the slow confidence of a man who knew that he was in total command. And I could already see why. Automatically, the guard had taken the stance of a martial arts expert feet slightly apart, the center of gravity low. His hands were curving in the air, waiting to strike. He was still smiling. All he could see was a defenseless little boy.

I was not defenseless! I had lightning. I raised my hands to the guard and tried my best to shoot him with a blast of lightning. Nothing. I was at the complete shock, what was happening to me.

With a sudden cry, he lashed out, his right hand slicing towards my throat. If the blow had made contact, I surely would have been killed. But at the last second, he brought up both his fists, crossing his arms to form a block. The guard was taken by surprise and I took advantage of the moment to kick out with his right foot, aiming for the groin. But the guard was no longer there, having swiveled to one side, and at that moment I knew I knew I was up against a fighter who was stronger, faster and more experienced than him and that he really did‟t have a chance.

The guard swung round, and this time the back of his hand caught me on the side of his head. I heard the crack. For a moment I was blinded. I reeled backward, crashing into a metal surface. It was the door of one of the fridges. I tried to kick the guard but he grabbed me by the foot and swung me around smashed me to the ground. I put my arms in front of my face right before I made an impact.

Somehow I caught hold of the handle and as he stumbled forward, the door opened. I felt a blast of cold across the back of my neck and perhaps that was what revived me and gave me the strength to throw myself forward, ducking underneath another vicious kick that had been aimed at my throat.

I was in a bad corner and I certainly knew it. My nose was bleeding. I could feel the warm blood trickling down over the corner of my mouth. My head was spinning and the electric light bulbs seemed to be flashing in front of my eyes. But the guard was‟t even breathing heavily. Even though the guard wasn’t even close to the strangest thing I had fought within the last hour he was certainly the first guy I meant who would be in the best position to kill me.

In the past all enemies I faced I wouldn’t be able to take them out but merely hold them off long enough for someone else to save me. But at this moment no one could save me. I wiped the blood away from his mouth and cursed at Zhou for telling me to go and put the weird doohickey helmet. I cursed myself even more for listening to him.

The guard started walking towards him. I tensed himself, then dived out of the way, avoiding a lethal double strike of foot and fist. He landed next to a dustbin, overflowing with rubbish. Using all his strength, he picked it up and threw it, grinning through gritted teeth as the bin crashed into his attacker, spilling rotting food all over him. The guard swore and stumbled backward. I ran around the back of the fridge, trying to catch his breath, searching for a way out.

I had only seconds to spare. I mean knew that the guard would be coming after him and next time he would finish it. He‟d had enough. I looked left and right. He saw the cylinders of compressed gas and dragged one out of its wireframe. The cylinder seemed to weigh a ton but I was desperate. He wrenched the tap on and heard the gas jetting out. Then, holding the cylinder in front of him with both hands, he stepped forward. At that moment, the guard appeared around the side of the fridge. I jerked forward, his muscles screaming, shoving the cylinder into the man‟s face.

The gas exploded into the man‟s eyes, temporarily blinding him. I brought the cylinder down, then up again. The metal rim clanged into the guard‟s head, just above his nose. I felt the jolt of solid steel against bone. The guard reeled back. Then suddenly he got to his feet and charged at me.

Looks like my abilities were slowly coming back as I managed to get my light speed reactions back and I sidestepped to the side and the guard fell to the ground. I made a mental note to only do the lightning reactions for very short distances. Anything more than that and I would end up surely tiring out. The man looked to the wall on his left and smiled. On the wall was a simple glass case that read: “in case of emergency break glass.”

Below the text was a hefty fire ax. The man ran over to the other side and I ran over to him to block him off from the ax to which he responded via elbowing me in the side of my ribs. I let out a cry as I fell. I heard the sound of the man breaking the glass and grasping the ax firmly

I heard the man let out a deep breath and in his shadow, I saw that he was raising the ax right above my head. That’s all it took for my lightning reflexes to kick in. I rolled over before he was even halfway in his swinging motion. The sudden surprise on his face that to him probably looked like instant teleportation made the guard drop his ax in confusion. I took this moment to grab the ax. The guard got up and punched me. At least he tried to. I blocked his punch with the blade and his hand began to bleed.

The guard then punched me in the leg. Pain rocketed throughout my entire body and I dropped the ax. The guard grabbed it and kicked me in the stomach. When I fell to the ground I saw him raise it up again to attack me. I got into my instincts once again and managed to kick myself away from an instant before the ax struck the ground. I ran, trying to figure out a plan to beat this guy. I turned back to see the guard hurling the ax directly at my face! At the same time, I tripped over a mouse-sized hole in the ground and fell.

It was lucky I did so, as the ax landed just a mere inch away from my face. I heard the sound of the guard quickly advancing on me. My instinctive reflexes only made me able to do a backflip and get to my feet but unfortunately, I landed in another mouse-sized hole and tripped. Mid trip the guard picked me up and used me as a battering ram and ran towards a normal-sized refrigerator. This dream spirit guy making himself look like a Walmart employee sure was smart. Since my feet were off the ground I couldn’t kick him and since my arms were also restrained I couldn’t punch him.

Then I had an idea. What if I made myself so scared via imagination that my body would go fully into instincts? I began to think of the worst and scariest thing ever. I thought of the first thing that came to my mind. The eldritch plant horror monster thing that I dealt with about two hours ago.

The fright was so terrifying the instant its image appeared in my head chills went up to my back. I was pretty sure I peed a little. My mind perceived the image as danger and vibrated at such a fantastic speed, the guard's arm went ablaze! The guard screamed and hurled me upward, still running in his dazed confusion. My instincts went full gear as I ran across the ceiling, jumped down, and punched the guard in the back with all my strength!!

My attack sent the guard rocketing forward into the refrigerator and he fell to the ground, limp as a rag. “Knocked out cold” I muttered as I approached the refrigerator and took out some ice from an ice bucket and popped it into my mouth. The guard suddenly woke up and threw a punch at me. I dodged and slammed the ice bucket onto his head. He fell down, head showered in glistening ice. “Knocked out even colder!” I said crunching on the Ice and exiting the really strange hallway as my dream began to distort.