The Atlantis Academy Heraklion Gym.
It sounded a bit odd, but it was certainly impressive, and much larger than I expected, being like a large hall that went deeper than I could even see.
It had a ton of equipment on the inside with a staircase leading to a basement and one leading to a floor above. The space inside was enough for a whole army division to work out and still have room for more.
And that was all on the first floor. No one was there, so I did the only sensible thing. I explored the room, finding out that it really did only have equipment for exercising, organised in such a way so that everything needed for a full body workout was close together.
It was kind of intimidating to be honest, so much so that I gripped the jacket I’d brought along. It was a warm summer morning, and we were a bit outside the city where it was somehow even warmer, but I didn’t want to risk anything with my training partner’s cold powers.
Still, no one was there, so I went down to the basement, finding Jensen standing there in a simple business suit, overlooking a large arena through a wall window and holding a remote of some sort.
“Excuse me?” I said, barely remembering to speak in English in front of the man.
“Oh, Alexander, you’re a bit early. Although that might actually be beneficial.” he smiled as he gestured me over to his right side. “I believe you are acquainted with Miss Paulsen, although it might not have been under the best circumstances.”
I rubbed the back of my neck with my gloved hand, the texture making the hairs there stand on edge. Our meeting didn’t start off very well, but I liked to think it ended up being more positive than negative.
Reaching him, I looked down to see that there were two figures standing on opposite sides, a man and a woman. They each looked to be so far apart from one another that I could feel the distance even so far away.
One of them I had already met, Birgit with a last name that was something or other. The man’s hair seemed to have the same pattern as hers, black with various stripes all around it, apart from the fact that his appeared to be red.
Both of them seemed to be dressed in black tank tops with shorts, standing barefoot on the seemingly cold floor, with their hair seemingly being tied up in a ponytail. I suddenly felt myself shivering as I remembered the cold produced by Birgit’s powers the other night.
They were wearing even less than I had been that night and both seemed to be fine.
“How are they not freezing cold?” I asked in wonder.
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“You shall see.” responded Jensen simply, using a tone that made it clear he would not be elaborating further.
I used my left hand to fiddle with my right glove during the ensuing awkward silence.
It wasn’t something that I often did, but I just needed something to do with my hands.
As if on cue, the glass’s edges began to freeze with window frost, and became foggy all over. From what I could tell, even Birgit started to shiver in the cold, but the man opposite her didn’t seem to move at all, apart from raising his arms in her direction.
A huge, smooth block of ice was formed on the floor in front of her, expanding rapidly toward the unknown man, who just stood there.
And then it happened.
Two large bursts of flames shot forward from his hands, shattering and melting the ice, causing a layer of white fog to spread in the room, and even I was unable to see what was going on from my viewpoint, seeing only the fog below.
I turned to Jensen, only to see his face was completely calm, as if this was a regular occurrence.
I leaned on the glass as a way to see better. Yes it was practically helpless, but displays of power like these were usually reserved for TV or hero action. And this was just a training session!
Suddenly the man flew through the smoke, a trail of fire that was coming off his feet propelling him through it, making it clear into thin air. I could see him better now, and he did really look a lot like Birgit, to the point where it would be baffling if they weren’t related.
They weren’t all that similar when it came to face shape or anything like that, and he was clearly at least a year or two older, but they both had the same crystal blue eyes and look that I couldn’t properly describe.
He turned to look at me, and I physically jumped back in response.
In the two single seconds that this action took, he managed to angle himself diagonally down, straight to Birgit’s position. Sparks came off his hands and feet, the latter transforming into a short burst of flame that he used to throw himself at the girl.
She raised her arms and a series of icy pillars as wide as the room began to head straight to the man.
In turn, he released another torrent of flames from his hands that once again completely obliterated her offensive.
Even the window’s glass shattered, sending shards in my and Jensen’s direction, although they mostly missed us, the sole exception being a single scratch on my cheek.
They were so bright and powerful that it felt like I was staring into the sun and I had to drop the jacket and put my hands in front of my face to protect my eyes.
I once more heard the sound of a large fire being lit and ice shattering before I turned down to see Birgit on the floor, with the man standing in front of and looking down at her.
I clenched and unclenched my fists and audibly swallowed at the display of power I just witnessed.
I expected a gap in our powers, this was even wider than I expected.
“How can I go up against that?” I said out loud involuntarily and my eyes widened as a result.
Jensen just smirked in response. “How? I thought that would be obvious.”
“Does it look like it is?” I snapped at him,
“Overwhelming power has more than its fair share of uses, but ingenuity and wit are just as important in a hero. A combination of both would make you unchallenged.” commented the man as he pressed a button on the remote.