We departed the library, each of us taking a different path, our need for secrecy palpable in the air.

The rest of the afternoon flew by fast. As usual, the last class was the combat training class at the BG.

This was the only class I was not looking forward to. I already knew much of what the trainers were trying to teach us, which added to my impatience. And then there were the familiar faces: Brandon, the twins, and Nox. It was a pain just dealing with all these people.

As I walked into the BG arena, I could see Brandon chasing Eva around as usual, the twins looking for me as I hid behind a wall of students trying to stay conspicuous, and, of course, Nox standing right behind them as if he were Cora’s shadow.

“Today is PT, people, so let's start running,” said Mr. Warnick.

I quickly blended in with my fellow students and started to run the course as instructed. Time went by quickly.

As the class was nearing its end, our trainer, Mr. Warnick, called it a day. I quickly dashed towards the boys' lockers; as I walked into the locker room, I spotted Nox heading my way out of the corner of my eye.

Once inside, I quickly showered and returned to the locker room to get dressed. Nox was waiting for me right outside my locker.

“Khyrum, let's have a chat,” he said.

“Sure. What’s on your mind,” I answered as I started to get dressed.

“Man, what the hell have you been doing? Working out 24/7 or what,” he said as he looked at me bewildered.

I just shrugged.

“Look at your arms and chest. They're fucking ripped,” he said incredulously.

“You even have a chiseled stomach,” he said, all pumped up.

I just looked at him strangely.

“Is this what you hear to talk about,” I said suspiciously.

“Because if it is, you can get the hell away from me, as I don’t play that way,” I said with a questioning look.

Nox instantly understood my undertone and quickly composed himself.

“You got me all wrong, bro; I appreciate people who care for themselves. It shows they have the passion to succeed as they strive for human perfection,” he said as he stepped back.

I just eyed him as I finished getting dressed.

“So, what do you want to talk about then,” I said.

Nox quickly sat on the bench opposite me, seeming lost in thought for a bit.

“Khyrum, I would really like you to be on the freshmen strike team,” he said thoughtfully.

“I’m not sure if you know, but there has been an increase in beasts at the battle zones, and according to my dad, we might be called in to help in the future,” he continued.

“As the leader of the freshmen strike team, I have to look at everyone on the team and put the interest of the group first, especially if we are going to be fighting beasts in the future.”

“I know that you are probably better than half of the team right now, so I need you to help us out,” he finished saying.

I looked at him, quite intrigued.

“Hmm…I don’t know,” I mumbled.

“I hate to say it, but I’m not much of a team player, so I usually keep to myself,” I told Nox.

He just smirked for a second and got up to leave.

“Think carefully, Khyrum; we could use your help.”

“I know Cora, Yara, and Brandon are part of the team already, so if this is causing you to hesitate, let me know, and I can find a workaround for it,” he said as he walked out of the locker room.

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I thought about it for a little bit. Dealing with Brandon, Cora, and Yara would be a pain, but that was not my biggest worry. It was my skills and what to do about how over the top they were.

“Nah, I can’t do it; there is no way I will be able to hide my skills during battles; this will only cause me more problems,” I told myself.

“I’ll think of a way to help them out later,” I said as I walked out of the locker room.

On my way out, I called another ride service to drive me back to the apartment at Mt. Ethos.

Along the way, I kept thinking about what I could do to help the first-year student's strike team.

“I can’t do enchanted gear, as that would immediately raise suspicions. Shit, what can I do,” I kept thinking.

We arrived at my apartment. I paid for the ride service and proceeded to go inside.

Once inside, I dropped the backpack on the floor by the door and sat on the living room couch.

“Let me call Damian and see how things are going.”

I punched Damian's numbers into the CAD and proceeded to make the call.

After two rings, Damian picked it up.

“Hey, are you home right now,” he said.

“Yeah, just got here.”

“Okay, I'm heading that way right now. I'll be there in 10 minutes,” he said as the call finished.

“Hmm, must be something important as he didn’t even give me a chance to ask how it went this weekend,” I said.

I got up and went into my bedroom to change. I had just finished getting into my regular clothes when the doorbell rang.

“Fuck that was quick; he wasn’t kidding when he said he would be here in 10 minutes,” I said to myself.

I quickly went to the front door and opened it.

Damian was standing outside, looking a little flustered. I gestured for him to come in, and he did. Once inside, we both went to the living room and sat down.

“What’s going on, Damian,” I said questioningly.

“Well, hello to you too, Prime,” said Damian, a little bemused.

“You know you could be a little more appreciative that I kept your secret all this weekend,” he said.

I looked at him cautiously before finally nodding.

“I apologize for sounding so direct, but you made it look like it was an emergency of sorts,” I said.

Damian thought about it for a second before nodding as well.

“Yeah, I might have been a little straightforward as well, so yeah, sorry about that. It's just that I've been a little tense since the weekend,” he continued.

“Ok, so if you don’t mind me asking again, what’s going on,” I asked.

“I’ll try to explain this as best as possible, Prime,” said Damian.

“The Alliance’s military arm wants you to work for them,” he said hesitantly. “Really, and what happens if I say no,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“Nothing bad right now, but the consequences could be bad in the future,” he said.

“Think about it, Prime; they said they would be investigating the circumstances around you, so if you say no, do you think they will stop or come at you harder?”

Hmm…I had to consider all the options carefully here. We weren’t talking about a rag-tag team from my high school here; it was the alliance coming to ask for help.

If I said no, would they just stop and say, let's go home? No, it was more probable they would dig in and make it harder for everyone here.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to help. But how would I go about doing it?

“Damian, if I decide to work with the alliance, how would we do it?" I said, concerned.

"I don’t want to stand out, so my identity must be kept secret,” I continued.

“Well, your identity as Khyrum is still a secret, as no one knows who you are or what you are,” said Damian.

“But your identity as Prime is common knowledge; in fact, Prime is a world superstar, my friend,” he said smugly.

I gave him a condescending look,

“Yeah, thanks to you, Mr. Big Mouth; if you would have stayed quiet, no one would have known,” I said.

“Really? No one, you say.”

“Did you see the videos on the world network? They are viral, my friend; you're talking over 1 billion views on each video.”

“You couldn’t remain anonymous even if you hid under a rock,” he finished saying.

I wanted to argue some more, but it was now pointless. What’s done is done, and nothing we do or say now will change that.

“Ok, so how do we fix this,” I asked.

“Very simple, keep using Prime as your alias when working with the alliance,”

said Damian.

“That’s fine on that part, but what about my anonymity? How do I keep my face from being plastered all over the news,” I questioned.

Damian thought about it for a bit before saying.

“Can’t you fight in that armor suit you have, the one you brought out at the end to finish the fight.”

That would be great if I could, but that was a unique ability; I couldn’t just bring it out just like that. I had to learn to control it, but up until now, that part eluded me.

“It’s not that simple,” I started saying.

“To bring out that skill requires me to be in a state of ascension within myself, which I have yet to master,” so bringing it out is not an easy task,” I finished saying.

“Hmm, well, that is not good, so what do we do now,” said Damian.

I thought about it for a bit.

“Tell them I will work with them, but I ‘m not joining the military.”

“If they need my help, they can reach me through you, and I will try to take care of the issue as quickly as possible,” I said while looking seriously at Damian.

“But there will be no joining from my part. If they can agree to this, then we can move forward.”

“Oh, and another thing, you know that I’m still in school so I won't be traveling out of this area for a long time. So, invent something that will keep me here, but don’t make it sound like something too ridiculous,” I told Damian.

Damian was just about to respond when the front doorbell rang again.

“Man, who could it be this time,” I said.

I walked over to the door and opened it up, only to be surprised.

It was EVA and Paige standing at the front door.

Eva wore a tight, form-hugging dress with an open back and a V-neck that plunged below her chest; it was very revealing.

The temptation was too much even for someone like Khyrum.

I couldn’t help but stare for the longest time.

“Ahem…Ahem... seen enough, you pervert,” said Paige with a displeased gaze.