<(Caleb)>
"We've been riding on this bus for six hours, now," Nick complains to Chad, the second on our team. "And they still haven't told us where we're going."
"Simulated battle with other teams," David states what we already know. He's sitting in front of them with another member of his own Squad. "They do this toward the end of every session, as a sort of contest between the different locations. There are a few of us, but we're the only one with one group. There are eight total groups between the three locations. Our particular training branch hasn't earned first in the simulations in several decades, though we aim to take the crown back."
"If Caleb would use his Gift," Kieran reveals himself to them from his spot beside me. "You guys would probably win within a few minutes."
"It lasts for seventy-two hours," Owen says. "And usually ends in the last four."
"Just what is Caleb's Ability?" Jared turns around to ask him. "I mean, I've figured out the general category, but not the specific version of it."
"His Gift is probably the most powerful you'd ever come across," Kieran states. "Though he stubbornly refuses to use it. Actually, he's got part of it he's always using, despite not wanting to. It's why he can always see and notice me, why my perception field doesn't work on him. His Gift is ranked with four letters."
"They only go up to three," Jared says. "Single for anything that's not a Special or in the Gravity Class of Manipulation. Those two sets are automatically an S-Class. They also have their own ranking system, with a second letter added after, using the same E-A, S ranking style as single-letter. There's one particular type that is considered S-Class no matter what, and so has two S's, then another letter, ranked E-A, S as well. Territory type. They're insanely powerful, and…"
Jared's gaze fixes on me.
"You're a special, powerful type of Territory Special, aren't you?" He asks. "You have to be, if you really have four letters to your ranking."
"Or there are types you've never heard of," I say. "After all – have you ever heard of a Territory who can directly interact with your auras or Abilities?"
"Gifts," Kieran amends my statement.
"That's annoying."
"Deal with it."
"I will twist your mind inside out again."
"That's surprisingly aggressive for you," Kieran says. "You've been sticking to a passive style of combat or going for instant take-downs. If you can't disable immediately, you dodge until the opening presents itself, sometimes fighting for twenty minutes as you wait for them to wear themselves out. You're an interesting fighter."
"Says the guy who plays with people's perception just to toy with them instead of disabling them immediately."
"I'm not sure if I like the new Caleb," Kieran tells me.
"Deal with it," I look out the window. "We're here."
"Where?" Jared looks out the window. "It looks like a desert."
"Look ahead," I instruct him. "There's some ruins. And we're back in a realm of eternal night as well. This will be one interesting test."
An hour later, we arrive at our destination, and the forty of us exit the bus, Kieran exiting last to make sure all of us departed. Irina and Fowl wait outside, watching as we line up.
"This!" Fowl states loudly. "Is your final test before the mock final training exam, which will take place in at the end of your basic training! After this test, we will return to the branch and finish the training, and in a month, you'll all get to rest! Our branch has not won this challenge in forty-three years! You are no ordinary group of cadets, so we expect you to win it this year!
"The forty of you!" He continues. "Made it this far! No other branch can lay claim to a unit that has ever done this before! Indeed, we are the first! And so, I declare that, should you claim us this victory, you will receive a full day of rest and a special meal!"
Huh. He was actually serious when he said that. Unless he's just saying that to get everyone to work even harder and try to be more cooperative.
I look at Kieran, whose face is as impassive as ever. Fowl must have mentioned this to them when I was tuning them out.
"On to the exercise!" Fowl exclaims. "In the building behind me is a neon orange flag with our unit number on it! Over the next seventy-two hours, you will all attempt to defend this flag while stealing at least one other flag and bringing it here! There are eight total units, just as there are eight total squads in a unit!
"We," he looks annoyed. "Are Unit 8! This is because we have not won in over four decades! We will be Unit 1 next challenge!"
He probably says that every training group, but has no idea that we will be winning this. I made a promise to Teacher, and I will do my best to uphold that promise. By the end of this session, I want to use my Ability.
"On to the rules!" Fowl continues. "The battle will begin once the flare goes up! There is a field surrounding us that will prevent death! We are in what we call a reality marble!"
I already knew that, I could feel it as we passed through. It feels like Teacher's magic. I think he used his Ability for its creation, though, not just his magic, and simply removed that part of his Ability from himself, using his magic to finalize it. Far easier than actually creating a reality marble with its rules and restrictions through magic when wanting it to remain permanently.
"You can still be injured, just not killed! There should be no monsters, but they may wander in past us! If they do, do not engage! None of you are prepared for real battle yet, which is what your training period after BT ends will be about! Let us handle it!
"If, for any reason, you're in a situation you cannot handle or escape from, then use your flares!" He orders us. "You will each be given a backpack with some supplies, including an emergency flare, two water bottles, and rations! How you survive is up to you, but you are all one unit! You will not have our assistance during this!
"You will, however!" Will he just finish this already? I need to pee. "Have aura guns and regular guns with simunition! This is ammunition that will not penetrate, but it will hurt! They're essentially a form of paintball, for those of you who've done that before! If you don't want the bruises, then try not to get hit!"
"Yeah," Kieran mutters. "Simunition's a bitch. And if you shoot me with the gun to show it like you did last time, I will shove it up your ass."
"I would demonstrate how it hurts on Kieran!" Fowl states. "Except I've been instructed not to do it again! Unless one of you would like to demonstrate?"
Surprisingly, he doesn't order someone to come be his example this time. Guess he's being lenient because they do hurt. Teacher shot me with one once to prove it. Then again to make sure I knew.
The next night was one of the few times I ever managed to catch him off-guard. Our Abilities cancel each other out – he can't read my mind or notice my presence in the passive territory. It's the same reason he's able to sneak up on me.
"If you receive what would be a fatal injury were these real guns and this not a reality marble!" Fowl continues. There's more? "You will be teleported out of the combat zone and into a safe area, where instructors will watch over you and continue your training until this ends! We're also changing it up, starting this time! It will last the full seventy-two hours, even if a flag is earned! From now on, we're going to see how well you can retrieve a flag, return with it, and defend it! The team that has the most flags at the end, if one does, will be the winner, but even that is subjective! This building is your safe house and your base! Defend it and your flag well! Earn us that win!"
A flare goes up in the center of the playing field, and with that, Fowl, Irina, and Kieran board the bus as us Cadets move on, with Kieran hanging back for a second, immune to people's perceptions once more. Kieran looks at me.
"I forgot about the changes," he yawns. "Too sleepy right now to bother remembering. Go get us all the flags. Show them just what the Alzir Branch of the GSDF training groups can do."
With that, Kieran gets on the bus, which then leaves. I turn around and head inside our group's base, where Jared is already delegating tasks to the various Squads and individual cadets.
"The playing field," I approach him. "Is five miles in radius, or ten miles in diameter. They've spaced each of the teams at random distances from the border, but kept us relatively equal in distance from our neighbors. If I can get within a mile of a base, I can pinpoint its exact location."
"What makes you think you can do that?" Jared asks, continuing to look at the map on the table.
"They never said we couldn't use magic," I say. "And the instructors know I'm capable with magic."
"Using magic doesn't mean you can do that," Owen tells me. "Any sort of divination magic was lost back during the Calamity."
"Before?" Jared mutters, then snaps his gaze to me. "Just what all do you know?"
"Enough that we can win," I say. "I'd suggest taking the bag with your name on it."
"Why?" He asks.
"It's lined with a material which make it resistant to Abilities," I inform him. "It also doesn't work on my passive territory. Look inside it."
He walks over and opens his bag, then looks over at me.
"How did you know?" He asks.
"I told you," I say. "Get me near enough to a flag, and I'll be able to pinpoint its exact location."
Jared pulls out some of the items in his bag, which include a new version of his outfit from before he came to basic, which had metal bracelets, bands, collars, hems, and stuff everywhere. It's an identical outfit to the one before, but this one is fitted to his new size.
"They're giving us," I tell him. "What we need to fight at our fullest. That's why we had a full breakfast and a full night's sleep. Anyone who had aids they needed or used before starting BT will have them again. This trial is where many advance in rank.
"The other teams," I pick up my bag and sling it over my shoulder as I remove something. "Will likely split the strong between hunting down other flags and defending their base. The best option for us is to leave our strongest here.
"There are comms in each bag, front pocket," I clip it to my ear. "Clip them to your ear. We can use them to communicate with others on our team across the entire distance. You can expect them to stop working at some point, as it wouldn't be a true challenge if we didn't lose communication at some point and have to adapt and make do with what we have at our disposal. Because of that, it'll be best if we're prepared for any circumstance.
"Which is why," I continue. "I think it's best if we leave our strongest behind. I can scout for the first day and locate the other flags while everyone rests up here. The first fight will likely take place this evening. If I know the locations and who all we're dealing with, I can make predictions of how things will play out and which flags will be easiest for us to acquire. Might even be able to predict who will gather flags together, ready for us to steal them.
"After that's calculated," I say. "We could send a small force of our weakest members to retrieve flags. The other teams will wear each other out and make it easy for us to take. We'll use only one strong person for that. Marks, you're the best for that.
"For defense," I say. "We'll move the flag to the roof and keep all of our mid here, in the lower levels, and the rest of the weaker upstairs. The strongest will stay on the roof, acting as snipers up there to try to 'defend' the interior of the building."
"Why?" David asks. "And who put you in charge? What the hell? I can't sense my Ability!"
"He can disconnect people with their Abilities," Jared states. "Hit me with it a few weeks after we started. I still can't figure out if it's part of his Ability or if it's magic that he knows. Caleb, it's how you'll know where the flags are, isn't it?"
"I can sense anything within a certain range around me," I shake my head. "It's-"
"You have a passive territory, don't you?" He's only now realizing that? I thought he already figured it out. "That's why you read as both a Psychic and a Time! You can hear the thoughts of anyone around you, and that lets you know what's going to happen!"
"It's part of my Ability," I confirm. "But it's not my Ability. I can't stop the passive territory, though I am beginning to realize things about I never realized because I'm no longer fighting it."
"What the hell are you guys talking about?" David asks. "What the hell are Territories?"
"Territory," Owen steps forward. "Are an Ability Type in the Special-Type Abilities. They're automatically ranked as S-Class among Specials, which are automatically ranked as S-Rank among Abilities. They have three letters, the last of which denotes their rank among Territories. They're the most powerful known type of Superhuman there is, though Caleb's ranking apparently adds on another letter. He is the most powerful Superhuman here, with three S's in his ranking, along with another letter. Even Kieran is weaker than him, and he was supposedly the most powerful Superhuman in the facility."
"And that," Jared adds. "Is why he and I are leading this operation. We're the two strongest cadets here and combined, the two of us truly can take on everyone else. Caleb, why do you want me to stay behind with Marks sent out instead?"
"That's simple," I approach the map, scanning it. "You and Owen work well as a team, when you combine your elements. We can only afford to send a single strong person."
"Why keep the strong people here and send the weak out?" Owen asks.
"That's easy," Jared realizes. "They'll see the weak people out going for a flag with a single strong person, and expect that to be our strongest team. Then, when they get here, they'll find some slightly stronger people, and realize we left all but our best here to defend the flag. Then they'll go upstairs and find our weakest – only to realize the flag isn't there."
"Then," I say. "They'll realize that the roof fighters are the ones guarding the flag. Unless they can get onto the roof, they won't be able to take our flag, and they'll have already exhausted themselves against more than half our forces, if they make it that far."
"And once they get up there," Jared slams a fist down onto the table. "They'll be crushed."
"You two," I say to Owen and Jared. "I have a separate mission for you initially, but once it's done and you're back, stay out of sight. That way, unless they have something that lets them gauge Abilities or people, or know if someone's there or not, once word gets out that we have an A-Rank and a B-Rank, they'll be cautious. If they can't see if you're here or not, then that will weaken them, mentally. They'll be unsure."
"Or if people don't return," Jared cracks his knuckles. "Why let them run and tell when we can kill and send them to the safe zone?"
"It's likely that those in the safe zone would return after awhile," I answer. "So word would get out anyway. And you know my views on that. Kill if you want, but I'd rather you disable or chase off. We're not going to just come in first – we're going to take every single flag."
"You're insane!" David exclaims. "No one's going to manage that! Do you have any idea who we're up against?"
"Doesn't matter," I shrug. "We have my Ability's passive territory, then Jared's and Owen's teamwork. No one will get the flag through them and we will find every flag. Our little retrieval team will acquire every flag they hunt. If you guys need me, contact me over the comms. I'm heading out."
I turn and leave, making my way out of the house.
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<(Kieran)>
"You were right, Kieran," Fowl says as we observe through the magic screens. Ancient relics even the best of magic researches have yet to figure out how to recreate. The Sage truly was powerful to have made so many of them and for them to still work, over two centuries later. "Caleb asserted control without realizing he was doing it and did so without fear – and Jared let him."
"Jared acknowledges his might now," I state. "Even if he doesn't understand it. Now that Jared knows that Caleb is something more powerful than a Territory and that even I acknowledge that, he knows my old friend is truly powerful. What he did with his magic only reinforces this."
"He also acknowledges that Rivers is special enough to make you talk," Fowl says. "You still haven't answered our question about aura, by the way. Both you and Caleb showed up here with immense aura – and access to it even though that's extremely rare. Caleb, at least, imitated it being inactive, unawakened, and fooled us until that day. How did the two of you have access to your auras when you were just little kids?"
"We have our reasons," I return my focus to the screens in front of us, watching over everyone in the playing field. "Caleb's hunting down the other flags. He gave himself until the end of the day, but he could probably do it in a few hours even without using his Ability."
"I can't believe there's one alive," Fowl says. "And yet, he said there were three. One's his Teacher, and one, he wouldn't tell me."
"The one who saved our lives," I tell him. "We both heard his trigger and Caleb says it's not his teacher's. Oh, those poor boys and girls. They have no idea what they're in for."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"What boys and girls?" Fowl asks.
"There," I bring one of the screens into focus. "Tell Arianna that one of her teams is about to enter a bloodbath."
"You can talk to her, you know," he tells me, and I shrug. "Hey, Arianna! Your team's on their way to intercept a pair of the strongest members of Unit 8, who are seeking a water supply source."
"Prepared to lose your strongest?" She approaches, watching the screen. "What are their ranks?"
"Brown hair is Jared Fuller," Fowl informs her. "An A-Rank metal Elemental with no limit on his metals, and gained access to stone during BT, after an encounter with our strongest."
"And blondie?" She asks. "An electric?"
"B-Rank," Fowl confirms. Almost all electrics are blonds, even if not all blonds are electrics. "Owen Darxis. He's no ordinary kid, and when he and Jared team up… they've proven to be quite the formidable combination. I'm glad there are no records of any Elemental with both metal and electricity, as that would be an eternal nightmare. Here comes the battle."
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<(Jared)>
We discovered after Caleb left that none of us actually had water, so after discussing it with Caleb, he directed us to the nearest source of water and Owen and I set out. I'm pretty sure Caleb had something else in mind, but it was hard to convince him to tell us. Of course, it turns out that that was Caleb's side mission for Owen and me anyway and he had just forgotten to tell us before he left.
As powerful as he is, and as much of a thinker as he can be, he sometimes forgets the weirdest things to forget. 'Oh, I had a whole mission for you so we can get essentials like water, but I completely forgot to tell you before I left'. Seriously?
According to Caleb, there's a water Elemental in a small scouting party who could sense it and is now leading her party over there. Owen and I decided to get water anyway, and I have to wonder why Caleb didn't want to tell us.
"Man, these packs are heavy," Owen complains as we reach the small spring, where the other team is already waiting. "I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they used some absurd material to make these packs just to make them heavy."
"Looking for water, boys?" A girl with ocean-blue eyes asks, standing in front of the spring defensively. "Because we're laying claim to this spring here and if you want it, you'll have to get through us."
"And here I was," I look at Owen. "Hoping for a damn easy time."
The two of us are dressed in the uniforms in the bags, an entirely black 'suit' and combat boots, our unit number in dark blue on each shoulder, our various weapons strapped to their spots. The girl's crew all have a dark blue three on their uniforms, which means that they're of the third-best unit here.
"Oh!" She laughs. "It's just Alzir Branch. You know, I heard that they're so lax there, you guys actually get to sleep in sometimes! Is it true that your night guard is a kid?"
"Kieran?" I ask. "He's creepy. You don't want to be around him, he's a Special-Type Superhuman, and his gaze alone gives me the shivers."
I shiver, pretending to be scared.
"Man!" She laughs. "You Alzir's really are weaklings!"
"Your guys aren't filing their bottles," I say. "If you're not going to, mind if we do? We'd rather get back to base and-"
"Hah!" She laughs. "I'm more than enough to take down two from Alzir!"
"Is that really what you think of us?" I ask. "That you can just take us out? And really? Did you really think that Alzir would let two of its agents go out on its own without some sort of backup?"
Only a moment of doubt appears on her face, before she laughs.
"Alzir grads are only good for guards!" She says when she catches her breath. "They-"
She stops the moment one of her teammates drops to the ground.
"Don't travel alone," I tell her. "You were taking too long. Have fun finding our sniper!"
"You want to, or me?" I ask Owen as their Conjurer summons up a metal staff to fight us with.
"Do you want to?"
"It would be really fun," I say as more bullets rain on them, causing them to enter a temporary panic as the girl screams at them to calm down and defend, to take us out. "But you can if you want."
"How about me first, then you?" He asks. "The Conjurer seems able to block most of the attacks. Oooh – David's going to be so jealous when he learns this guy not only can do metal weapons, but two at once."
"Nice shield!" I wave to the Conjurer as his rod cackles with electricity. He yelps, dropping the staff. "What? Was that too shocking?"
Just as he recovers from Owen's attack, I shift the metal of the shield to wrap around him, expanding to the point of almost transparent thinness before he release his power over it. The metal object vanishes, which is no fun for me.
Fortunately, he forgot about his other conjured item.
"Too late!" I laugh, the staff wrapping itself around his legs, sending him to the ground.
As he frees himself, Owen fires a shot to his head, making him the third of the ten to disappear.
"Don't let any escape," I order the snipers as Owen places a hand on my shoulder. "Ready to try this for real this time?"
"Of course!" Owen laughs as chaos continues to ensue.
They're only now realizing we have more than one firing at them, and the water Elemental summons up the only nearby source of water she knows – the spring – and prepares to use it as a weapon against us.
"What a waste of water," I say.
"Indeed," Owen says, and I feel his Ability begin running through me at the same time I run mine through him.
We take control of the area, every piece of metal charging with electricity as we control them in harmony, melting belt buckles, watches, necklaces, rings, rubble. The clearing fills with our power and in a panic, the girl launches all of the water at us an a frigid spray of water as sharp as ice, a thousand needles flying at us.
They evaporate before ever reaching us, the girl screaming at us in anger as she and the others all lose their 'lives'. Owen and I release our strike, then collapse to the ground, breathing heavily. Nothing could stop us. We took out a quarter of an entire unit by ourselves. Well, with the aid of chaos, but still. Only one or two others were killed by our team, the rest was all us.
"Thanks, guys," I say. "Caleb's other source of water should be secret, now, and Unit 3's going to be pissed when they find out she destroyed their source of water."
"Hey, guys?" Caleb's voice comes over the comes. "Nice Unison Strike. Also – I snagged a flag on my way. No one noticed me take it, either. They really should keep their eyes on their – oh, hey, another flag. Gimme five."
I thought he was scouting the flags? Is he just taking them as he goes, now? He sounded kind of happy and cheerful as well. Should I be concerned about how much magic he's using right now?
The five of us return to base and distribute the water bottles back to their owners, then take up our positions. Caleb doesn't contact us again and he doesn't respond when I try to contact him, which is annoying, but he could just be busy. I hope he's busy.
I will be pissed if he's just ignoring me.
"Hey, Jared," Caleb snaps me from me thoughts around what I think is nine at night.
It's hard to tell the time, though there's enough light for me to see the boy standing in front of me.
"I've been trying to contact you for the last several hours."
"I was grabbing flags," he opens up his backpack and pulls out seven flags. "Sorry."
Did he seriously snatch all of the flags?
"If they waited until we got home," he says. "We'd be done now. I can see why they're making us wait, this was easy. I'm going out and causing a little confusion. Bye."
He leaves again, and I'm left wondering if he'll be assigned a team. He seems to work best when alone, seeing as he retrieved all seven of the other flags without once calling for help, and he likely did it without hurting a single person.
Probably wove magic to make himself invisible, just like he did the day we first met. That spell is probably far more powerful now than it was when we first met, now that he's getting past the things events from him past that make him hesitant with his abilities.
The night is uneventful and we see our first attackers at our base early in the morning. They're a group from Unit 5, and as soon as they see our guys down low, they laugh, taunt us, and call us weaklings and wusses.
They 'mercifully' let our guys live, only to get frustrated when they find out we put the flag on the roof, where we can shoot down at them as they attempt to get up here. They don't make it up here, and after losing three of their ten, they make a 'tactical retreat'.
They return four hours later with the entire remainder of their Unit, ready to lay siege to us. They have no need to leave anyone at their base when there's no flag to defend there.
Owen and I merge our Abilities once again, and when we do, we set the entire street they're marching down into our control, turning it into an electrical nightmare with rebar and steel beams forming an inescapable prison. Inescapable, until they die and are transported to the safe zone.
The rest of the challenge goes without much incident, with no one reaching our roof, but all of them calling us weak and cowards.
That is, until the last day of it. The final twelve hours, we start seeing people that Owen and I took out. Caleb was right that they were going to bring them back into here. We lost our comm access sometime during the night as well – another point Caleb was right on.
He's far more dangerous than he comes off. I definitely want him as my ally.
How far out can you sense metal?
"Caleb?"
I can hear your thoughts, you just need to think it.
About six hundred yards, maybe?
Do you sense any in a distance from you? Roughly north of where you're at and slightly to the east? In that massive building that's somehow still standing?
Yeah, why?
Sniper. There are four of them. They plan on taking you and Owen out.
Can't you deal with them?
All at once, if I activated my Ability, but I'm not going to do that. I still can't use it, not without fear. I can take out one, maybe two, before everyone is in position.
What about with your magic? Can't you fly or something?
Teacher won't teach me how to fly and I haven't managed to figure it out. It's annoying. He's going to teach it to me during the rest period after BT ends. Take out that sniper and the one to his east.
"Got it," I say, focusing on the weak trace of metal I can sense in the spot Caleb directed me to.
"Out!" The word vibrates on his metal a moment before I manage to kill him.
"Crap!" I exclaim, shoving Owen down. A moment later, simmunition slams into the roof there. "Shield me!"
Owen nods and I focus on the other sniper. Only one shot, which means that Caleb's probably taken the other two out. That, or took one out and is occupying the other.
"They've taken out the snipers!" Someone yells, their voice vibrating the metal around them. "We need to act! Now! That pairing can't take out more than a street at once! They have a sneak! That's how they got the flags! Remember – do not overlook even the slightest thing! That sneak could have killed us when he stole the flags!"
Except Caleb wants to avoid fighting when possible.
"Everyone, be ready for something really, really big," Caleb's voice comes over our comms. "When it comes, don't be scared, just fight on. They think we can only take out one road by ourselves. I will activate this the moment Owen and Jared pick their target."
He says that, then every street surrounding our base fills with people, other cadets storming our base. Did every other unit join together to challenge us?
Owen and I focus on the largest force, the one with all of their most powerful. They grouped together, believing they can withstand anything.
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"Deep breaths, Caleb," I tell myself my eyes closed and head tilted down. "You can do this. No magic, just Ability. You can do this. You can use it. No one will die – not for real. Teacher arranged this place using a power similar to it centuries ago and no one's died in it. You can do this, Caleb, you can do this."
Owen and Jared combine their Abilities into a Unison Strike once more, and the street with the strongest of the attackers becomes a "deadly" prison.
"No one will die," I take a deep breath as I try to reassure myself. "No one will perish. Teacher's power will ensure that. You can do this. You can do it."
I take another deep breath, this one long and slow, then exhale it just as slowly.
"This is my Reality now," I snap my head up and open my eyes, feeling my power flex, filling the space around me as the Ability rapidly expands, overtaking the entire battlefield, stopping at its edges, just as I desired. "It worked."
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<(Kieran)>
"What the hell?" One of the other instructors gasps. "What just happened? Why can't anyone leave the streets? What's going on?"
"They can," I tell her. "But only one at a time, and probably with a ridiculously long wait time between exits. This is just a small fraction of the power of Alzir Branch's strongest Gifted. He is a Creator, capable of forming his own Reality Marble. I was expecting him to make golems with his magic as he's pretty fond of using them, but to actually use his Gift? He's finally getting over his fears. He's changed his trigger, too."
"Trigger?" She looks at me. "What do you mean?"
"All those with a Territory or Creator Gift," I explain, shifting Caleb's image on the screen into focus. "Use a 'trigger'. They're not required to say it, they just do for effect. Notice his eyes – that's unique to Creators themselves."
His irises glow gold with three concentric circles, the middle one connected to the outer one with a line between the two at the top and to the inner one with a line at the bottom.
"If you ever see a Creator with their eyes like that," I say. "Then you know they're using their Gift. Caleb's likely only created the rule about the streets, though he can create far more differences with far greater deviations from reality than that. He's still scared of truly using his-oh, there are the golems."
Golems twenty feet in height and formed from asphalt rise from the streets and march through the Gifted, who focus their attacks on them while forgetting about the siege they were laying.
I knew Caleb would use them.
Caleb initiated another deviation. I should have expected it. His allies cannot take wounds from this fight. At all. No one can kill a Unit 8 member. It's also likely he's replacing their spent energy with his own as he could fuel them for hours without issue.
Slowly, the safe zone fills with 'killed' cadets as Caleb's golems, his reality, and his unit slowly wear them out and end them.
The most powerful Gift to ever enter any of the training branches, no doubt. His unit would all were it not for him, by they would still likely take first overall for this session. Their defenses, for now, are flawed, but against their foe, it is flawless.
The battle ends after about two hours, but only because Unit 8 killed every last opponent.
"I believe," Fowl says. "This means that unit 8 has won the battle. And they did it with all eight flags, too."
"You didn't tell us you had a trump card like that," Arianna says. "You didn't even tell us what Caleb's Ability was."
"Because I hadn't confirmed it," Fowl states. "All he'd told me was that his Ability was ranked with four letters. He's refused to use it. Much like Kieran here, he survived the Alkran City Massacre, and he believes he's at fault, simply because people died when he used his Ability. I have to wonder what changed in this fight, what caused him to use his Ability here."
"Me," a voice says, and we turn to find a teen who looks like an older version of Caleb, but only by a few years. He radiates power, and it sends a whisper of fear down my spine. Just what is he? "The spell that surrounds this playing field is of my own creation, and Caleb felt comfortable in knowing that, as he knew that the aspect that prevented anyone from dying truly would prevent it. That allowed him to use his Ability. He also swore that if he couldn't use it here, then he'd quit training altogether. Don't expect him to use it again anytime soon."
"Who are you?" Fowl asks.
"I am the one Caleb calls 'Teacher'," the teen answers. "Though I am known by many names. I felt Caleb's Ability flex here and had to investigate since this was the second time in just a few months he'd used it, though last time, it felt out of fear. I confirmed through my familiar that it was just Kieran harassing him."
"I was just trying-"
"I know what you were attempting," the teen looks at me calmly. "And I'm not a teen, seeing as I'm far older than anyone in this room. Even Caleb doesn't know how old I am other than that I predate the Calamity."
"That's how he can make golems, isn't it?" One of the instructors, a woman, asks. I don't know her name. Betty or something. Bethany? "You know forgotten magics?"
"He actually figured that one out on his own," the magician responds. "And it's Brenda."
"Huh?" She asks.
"Kieran was trying to remember your name for a moment," the magician tells her. "He doesn't commit them to memory unless he thinks you're important, and he didn't think you were important."
"That's offensive."
"You'd find anything offensive," the magician says, then turns his gaze to me. "Tell Caleb that I'll see him in the rest period once BT is over, to answer his question and teach him the spell he's been wanting to learn. And tell him to remember this battle, too. It will benefit him in awakening his true power to do so. Anyway, I must be off, I was simply in the area while hunting something down."
The magician vanishes and everyone is left wondering what the hell just happened.
His power and smell, his perception – it all read of Caleb, to me. Their Abilities are very, very close, and so too are their magics and auras. There's something odd about the two of them.
"His aura," Irina speaks up. "Matches Rivers's almost exactly. Three solid colors, each taking up a third of it, perfectly harmonized with the rest."
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<(Caleb)>
"What the hell was that?" Jared laughs as he claps me on my back. "Golems? Seriously? That's powerful! And forgotten magics, too! And then that little trick with the streets – how did you keep them from exiting? What kind of magic was that?"
"Part of my Ability," I answer. "It's a little complicated to explain."
"Whatever it was," he laughs. "It's damn awesome. Man, I would kill for an Ability that can do that!"
"Don't say that," I pull away from him. "Not even to joke. The last time I used my Ability, a lot of cadets could have died. The time before that, there were four hundred daushar attacking my friends and family and a lot of people did die. I couldn't do anything about it, I couldn't stop it. I used my Ability and they all died anyway because I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop it."
I feel myself breaking down as realization hits me.
My Ability didn't kill them. It failed to save them. Back then, I was powerless, hopeless. Then a few weeks ago, I reacted out of fear, just like back then. It worked, but they still came close to death. Just recently, I only used my Ability because I could feel Teacher's presence in the magic, because that comforted me and made me know no one was at risk of dying.
I'm weak. I'm stupid and pathetic and weak.
This whole thing was a bad idea. I should just quit training anyway.
"Caleb? Caleb, are you okay?" Jared asks as the world spins around me. "Caleb!"
My vision turns black, and I hear a voice in my head. A familiar voice I've been longing for.
Caleb.
"Moon?" I ask.
Yes. I've managed to establish a link, but I'm not sure how long it will last. I was able to grip on to you when you used your Ability. I didn't want to disrupt your training even though it wasted a great deal of time I had for this. Now, we can talk, but we might only have a few minutes.
"Why did you abandon me?"
I didn't abandon you. I am the moon you see at night, but I also possess a physical body that can interact with your world. I am what is called a Domain Deity. We exist everywhere, and I am one of the most powerful on Earth.
I was trapped and now rest in a prison. The Sun is facing a similar threat, and the Earth is also in danger. Someone is attempting to begin a second Great Calamity and the Sage might not be able to stop it this time.
"Is the Sage even still alive?"
He is the man you call 'Teacher'. He is ancient and powerful, but even he has his limits. He's busy trying to hunt down and slay certain beasts, as well as reseal beings that are awakening, beings he thought secure in their prisons.
We need you, but not now. You're not ready, and we've got time. At the least, three years, by my calculations.
"Before the next Great Calamity?"
Before its first stages, yes. Finish your training, form a powerful team. When your two years of training are up, take your team to Mount Norvara – that is where I am being held. In two years, you will be powerful enough to rescue me.
"What about Teacher?" I ask. "Couldn't he rescue you?"
Yes, but it is a process that takes time and right now, the Sage is occupied with other matters. If he is able, I will attempt to contact him. The issue, however, is that he hasn't awakened his bloodline, he hasn't even come close to it. You are near it and by the time you finish your training, I'm sure you'll have done it.
"My bloodline?" I ask. "What do you mean by that?"
An ancient and powerful race flows through your blood. Many possess it. If you were to ask Irina what the green in the auras she reads mean, she'd tell you that she has no clue. It is a sign of a particular type of bloodline. You have it, the Sage has it, Jared has it, Kieran has it, Owen has it. There are many who have it, but at the same time, few do. When you awaken it, you'll know what it is. Please act in wisdom, Caleb, and do not rush to me the first chance you get. You will be killed. Get stronger and in two years, bring your team to Mount Norvara. The connection is weakening – if I can contact you again, I will.
His presence fades from my mind, and I wake, looking around the medical room of the training branch.
Or at least, I try to. Pain pierces my skull and stomach. That was far more of my power than I was prepared for and I sustained it far longer than I expected to sustain it. They held out well against my golems and our unit.
"Easy there, Caleb," someone says as I groan. "That was a lot of power you used, and for someone who hasn't intentionally used his Gift for that long or that strongly in quite a long time, you're probably in pain and hungry."
"Food," I moan from the pain.
"By your bed," Kieran informs me as I slowly sit up and start eating. "You've been out for about twelve hours. Alzir Branch was declared the winner, since as we took on almost three hundred other cadets and still won, though mostly due to your little restriction there. One exit for every half hour per street? Why stop there?"
"Wasn't sure how restricted I could make it," I tell him. "What's happened since?"
"We all came back here," he answers. "And most everyone is resting. Fowl's keeping to his word about giving you all a day of rest and a special treat – there's going to be a small party this afternoon that no one's going to know about. I mean, you are, but there's no point hiding it when you'll just hear it in their thoughts. Jared's actually saying nice things about you."
"They ordered pizza?" I ask him in surprise.
"Did someone just think about that?" Kieran asks.
"Fowl was wondering if he ordered enough," I nod. "He's calling them up to add to the order. So Alzir actually won. That's nice. My head hurts like hell, though."
"More food will be brought in," he tells me as he does something on his phone. I think he sent a text to request more food for me. "I can't believe you actually sustained it for two hours, you'd only ever managed an hour before, and that was in a Reality far smaller than five miles across. Then again, you're stronger now and had fewer adjustments, even if they were pretty extreme, when you think about them."
Yeah, I guess they were. I just wanted to make sure no one on my team would get hurt. I couldn't stand the thought of losing someone again.
Tomorrow's going to be fun. Training will resume, and it sounds like we're going to get pushed as hard as ever – and then some.