I awoke the following day to footsteps outside my cell and a quick clanging on the bars. A recognizable voice scolded me, “471, are you going to sleep the day away, or will you come and smell the flowers.” His smiling face greeted me as I rolled to the side of my cot. Marco was standing just outside of the bars with a giant smirk on his face.
“Ten more minutes. I was having the most wonderful dream. A dashing prince came to save me from a tower. Then he and I rode off on horseback into the sunset. I was just about to get to the good part, too,” I replied. A quick yawn left my mouth as I began to get out of my cot.
“Well, look no further than I. Since someday soon you and I will leave this place for what lays just beyond these walls.”
“Shut it! You two get a move on,” 82 screamed as he sauntered down the prison block hallway. His portly belly was hanging out, and he was scratching it with what looked like a fork. Seeing his belly was so large and his arms so small, he carried around a fork to scratch the bottom of his stomach. I couldn’t help but think that he must also use that fork to eat since there seemed to be a bit of leftover food on the tip of the fork. The idea made me throw up just a bit in my mouth.
“Sorry. Sir,” came the voice of Marco. “I forgot to tell 471 when we were supposed to get up in the morning. After all, today is a big day!”
“Why is today any more special than yesterday?” I asked, standing beside Marco in the hallway. The smell of filth and garbage coming off of 82 now filled my nose. It was only slightly dissuaded from that coming off of Marco. I hadn’t realized it before, but Marco had a distinct smell of honey about him. I would have to figure out where he had gotten cologne in this prison later. Since, at the moment, his smell was the only thing keeping me from fainting. The stench of the fort and 82 burned my senses.
“Today is the day that one of the ranked weapons in the fort leads a discussion. I have heard that the topics are almost always on how to be an effective soldier. Information like that from those on top will no doubt help us survive out there and maybe even thrive,” Marco said with a small fire in his eyes. I hadn’t seen him get this passionate before about any topic. Was something about these talks that important to our lives?
“That’s right, since 18 is here, he will be leading it today,” 82 confirmed. “Now, the both of you need to get moving. Otherwise, I will lock you back up.” 82 gave us a death glare. I quickly got out of the cot and joined them in the corridor. Then Marco and I began walking through the fort without looking back at 82. I could hear the scratching of his fork while we continued on our way.
When we finally got some distance away, I said, “So, what do you think the topic will be today?”
“I know as much as what I told you. With 18’s power set and what he said to you the other day probably some talk of finishing blows. I might even get some new ideas on how to use my powers to finish fights even faster!” Marco exclaimed. “I can’t wait to become a full time soldier and master my abilities. I don’t think a soul in this world will be able to defy me!” At that moment, Marco began to scare me. What if he was already descending into madness?
The books Alfonso had left me rang back into the front of my head. What if it was right and our powers always corrupted us and made us walk down the path of evil? If Marco and I had stayed together, I could prevent him from falling too far. But could it be too late already? I mean, he already has blood on his hands and hasn’t even left this fort. I pushed the thoughts down. Now is not the time to think about these things. Marco and I would have enough time to prove the world wrong and do good.
As my thoughts cleared, the bright light from the sun momentarily blinded me as we entered the courtyard. The courtyard was filled with a few benches for people to sit while 18 spoke. 18 was still unaccounted for, so Marco and I found a spot off to sit. As the seats started to fill more, 18 finally walked out. He took his spot before us and motioned for the side conversations to end. When the rugged demonic affinity users finally ended their discussions, 18 said, “Today, I am here to instruct you on how to use your abilities more effectively. Some of you have abilities more like mine, where we are best suited to assassinate key targets in combat. Others of you have abilities that are good at clearing large groups of people. However, all of us can work towards improving our power sets. I want those of you who can team up for some simulated combat. If your abilities are not suited for nonlethal practice, I would motion you towards the firing range and target dummies.”
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“Do you want to team up?” I asked Marco.
“No, I don’t think I have a good handle on my abilities. But I am not sure if I would accidentally kill you,” Marco replied matter-of-factly.
“Don’t worry. It will only be my golem fighting you. I don’t think I have any combat powers myself. At Least, I don’t think I do.” Honestly, I hadn’t tried to use my abilities for combat purposes yet. Although with some practice, I could probably quick cast my ritual. This would cause my target to become a spell component and turn into ash.
Marco looked me over for a moment before relaxing. “Alright, it would probably do me good to practice with some stakes on the line.” With it settled, Marco and I went further out into the courtyard to begin.
However, I still had no intentions of fighting with Marco directly. So, I motioned my golem from its spot next to my ritual materials. After the golem slowly made its way over to us, I faced Marco and said, “Ready if you are!”
With that, Marco was the first one to make a move. He unleashed an all-consuming fire onto the golem. Before I could even get the golem to move toward Marco, the fight was over. My golems eyes had dimed, and no matter what I tried to do, they would not move.
“Well, that was disappointing,” I said to Marco.
“Why didn’t you have the golem close the distance between us?” Marco asked.
“I don’t know. It stopped working as soon as the fire hit the golem.”
“Do you think you can get it moving again?”
“Yeah, but it will take some time.”
“Your golems soul was too weak for this fight,” 18 said as he approached us. “This fight was ill-suited for you, 471. The life force you put inside of that golem is less than most normal people have. So, it was over before any of you could gain benefit when it came to square off against an ability that directly targets the soul.”
“So, what should I do in the future,” I asked.
“The lesson here is to pick your fights wisely since not doing so here cost you. For you 468, the lesson is not to underestimate your ability, but you should also be wary of those with strong souls. People with great pride in themselves or who have trained in self-reflection will last longer than your abilities.” 18 turned to leave us when he saw that another battle had ended.
“Looks like I have work to do,” I said to Marco.
“Yeah, sorry about that again. I didn’t mean this to be that kind of experience for us. The firing ranges are calling my name. Catch up after all of this is over?” Marco asked.
“For sure,” I said with a smile. It didn’t take me long to assemble what I needed to reawaken my golem. Especially with the materials they had been supplying me in the fort. I grabbed a few roses from my stockpile and knocked out the ritual. After being satisfied with how much rose dust I imbued in the golem. I returned to Marco.
“Did you get any use out of practice,” I asked as I approached him.
“Well, it could not have hurt. I feel like my accuracy has increased by a bit. But, it almost always latches on to a target since my power seeks out creatures with souls. I did practice turning on and off the ability, though,” Marco said.
“So, you don’t have to kill everyone that comes into contact with your power?”
“Something like that. It could be useful in case my power sticks to the wrong target. It almost happened today. One of the other demonic affinity users walked through the firing range. My power latched onto him,” Marco paused. The look that came over him was that of genuine worry. I could see the color drain from his face before he continued. “I managed to stop it before he lost his life. But what if next time I wasn’t in the right state of mind or if he was already weakened? I could have killed him!”
“Well, that didn’t happen. Don’t worry. I will be around, so if you need a quick punch to the face to knock you back into it, I will be there for you.” I gave Marco a quick jab, and it cheered him up.
“It looks like you put your golem back together.”
“Yeah, it took me a bit of time, but it is back in one piece.”
With that, Marco and I finished our business in the courtyard and headed back in for the day.