Walking up the main stairs I struggled slightly as the floor felt unstable

I still hadn't gotten used to my own strength yet so sometimes my body didn't do what it was told

To solve that problem I decided to go to someone that would have enough experience with newly mutated people

As I walked through the hallways my movements felt awkward and stiff as if my whole body was filled with sand making my body extremely slow

Because of all the clunky movements my longer dirty grayish hair seemed to repeatedly fall into my eyes annoying me

Ever since I had mutated I noticed may changes, some were visible like most of my hair turning more of a greyish than a blond while other changes could only be felt, like my bodies increased strength

When I finally reached the doorway it felt like I had been shuffling from my room for an hour and constantly brushing my hair out of my eyes

I gently laid my hand on the door and slid it open with the least amount of strength needed

Even then it was slammed open causing the inside of the room to immediately fall into a state of silence as they stared at me

The embarrassment made me feel like I was going to die standing up

"E-excuse me. I uh, I'm looking for the old man"

Looking between themselves the ten people began whispering among themselves

Even though they were whispering I could still hear them for some reason

"Old man?"

"Did he just insult the master?"

"Should we beat him?"

"Should we actually tell him?"

"He must know him, he called him old man after all"

"What do we do?"

As they were all trying to figure out what to do a wooden sword came flying at me

Caught off guard I was scared it was going to kill me

Just as I was resigning myself to fate the world seemed to slow down and the sword which looked like a blurry afterimage became as slow as a fly

I was surprised by the dramatic change in speed but my body still acted instinctively due to my continuous fights with the scholarly wolf in that weird forest

My foot slid across the ground lowering my stance allowing my head to move out of its trajectory before it collided with my neck

As the tip of the wooden blade began to pass by my ear my hand launched upwards and gripped the middle of the blade causing the sheer momentum of the wooden stick to drag me back a few steps before it finally stopped

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

As my thoughts began to begin again I realized that my grip on the sword made sure that it didn't slip in the slightest, my footing was stable and controlled and I moved my head and kept my body safe before attempting anything else

'When did I become such a good fighter?'

"My, my. You can already control your strength this well?"

Looking towards the origin of the sword I spotted an old man with messy hair

"What the hell old man!"

"Haha, what's wrong with having a little fun?"

I glared at him

'That sword could've killed me if I wasn't a mutant!'

"Is killing me that entertaining?"

"Please. An enhancer can easily dodge that, it's surprising you caught it though. You truly went beyond my expectations"

"Oh? And when did you get the news I was a mutant?"

He seemed to stiffen up and avoid eye contact after I asked him

"Fucking murderer"

"Hahaha"

He wiped away nonexistent tears from his eyes

"When you get to my level you can feel the change, I didn't need anyone to tell me"

Interested by his statement I decided to ask

"And what level are you at?"

Chuckling to himself he pulled his index finger up and pressed it against his lips as if to silence me

"That's a secret"

I looked at him dumbfounded

He was acting like a complete child all of a sudden?

"Tch. Can I get to why I'm here then?"

Raising an eyebrow the old man stared at me like I was an idiot

"Your here to adjust to your new powers aren't you? That's why most people come here in the first place"

'Oh'

It made me feel stupid

I was so focused on my self that I didn't even bother thinking that others who had received similar powers or even just mutated would do the same

'Selfish bastard'

"Hmmm, how to do it?"

Struck out of my stupor by his playful tone I felt cold shivers reverberate throughout my muscles almost like an animalistic instinct of danger

"A-aren't you going to, spar with me or something?"

At my words the group of adults all only a few years older than me burst out with different comments and types of criticism to my words

"Spar with you?"

"What makes you think you deserve that?"

It was getting harder and harder to focus as the loud noises assaulted my ears

"Why would he do that?"

"You wouldn't even last a minute kid"

The words got louder and louder

It hurt and burnt my brain

I clutched at my ears as the sounds reverberated inside my eardrums like screams without end

"Enough!"

A single scream stopped everything except the pain that continued to eat at my brain and ears like a million bugs causing me to suffer

"It seems his senses as well as his physical body has been enhanced. Your practically torturing a child while they can't control their abilities. Do you understand?"

Bowing their heads they sincerely apologized understanding what they had done by accident

As I regained my bearings the pain quickly disappeared even though I could still vividly remember each feeling and each little wave of pain that assaulted the insides of my head

"Since he's not worthy, you lot will spar him"

At the old mans words the room stopped

"All. Of them?"

A hearty grin adorned his face as he stared at me. Finding it a hilarious reaction to his words

"All at once"

"B-but I can't take that many!?"

"They'll only use first tier powers, you'll do fine. Trust me"

Before I could refuse more the old man clapped and turned to the three men and four women on the floor

"You have half an hour, no weapons, anywhere inside the base is allowed, only tier 1 abilities and no hurting the kid too much"

Without an hesitation they all nodded and expressed their understanding

Immediately they shifted their positions and entered positions optimal for assaulting me like wild beasts

Before they could all launch at me one of the women with hair as dark as night raised their hand in the air causing everyone to pause

She was still in her original position unlike everyone else causing more confusion to emerge from the on lookers

"Yes?"

"Why should we bother with this?"

Tilting his head the old man thought for a minute

"Because I asked you too? Do you need something else as motivation, or do you just feel bad for the kid?

"Yes, I want a prize"

Pausing the old man thought for a minute before smiling and turning towards everyone else

"What kind of prize would work for all of you?"

Unable to respond everyone seemed to relax and think

As they thought I slowly moved my foot backwards towards the door

It seemed like no one noticed my movement as they were all stuck in thought about what prize they would want

At least that's what I thought