"Impossible," Darious said, unbelievingly. "This wasn't supposed to develop for another two years from now. Why is it happening now?"
"I don't know either, Darious," Ms. Dubose said, sipping a cup of coffee. Both were sitting in Darious' training room, relaxing on the soft, padded floor. A breeze gently flowed in from the upper-right hand corner of the room, making the branches on the miniature trees in the background sway in a beautiful manner. After closing her eyes for a moment, Ms. Dubose began to speak again. "I have been sensing the disturbance in the boy for the past couple of weeks or so, but today it appeared clearly that his memories are begining to resurface."
Darious slowly flexed his tired muscles and put his hands over his face. He had trained extra vigorously this morning after his training battle with his most prized student, Amarene. Darious had realized this morning that it wasn't because he was out of practice that he lost this morning, but because Amarene's powers had increased substantially.
"Will this complicate the procedure?" Darious finally asked.
Ms. Dubose stared through the window at the sky. After a few moments she answered, "Not at all."
"How will we go about changing our original plans then?" Darious asked, curious.
"Well, Amarene has moved up the deadline, so so will we. For right now we will just watch and see what happens. I'll inform Sage Kimao of what has developed so far."
Darious nodded in agreement. But as he glanced in Harriette's direction, he noticed that there was something wrong.
"If you don't mind me saying so," Darious said casually, "It seems as if there is something on your mind."
Harriette Dubose just sat still, staring upwards at the skylight in the ceiling of the room. "Darious, this is... getting harder to do."
Darious looked at her, then turned his head away solemnly. "Well, easy wasn't stated in our contract, Harriette. We told you what you would be getting yourself into when you signed up for this."
Harriette turned her gaze from the skylight to Darious himself. Then, in an almost reciting tone, she said, "Yes, yes, I remember. I was teaching at a university in Murasma and that's when you and Kimao came down to visit me about a proposition. You told me you had information about my daughter, and that if I agreed to the terms of coming here to this hellish corporation to teach while keeping my eye on this student here you call Amarene you would tell me where to find her."
Darious thought for a moment. "I know you feel you're stuck in an unusual situation--"
"Darious, I am stuck in an unusual situation," Harriette countered. "This entire thing is just, crazy. When I first learned I had this weird... power, I thought I was some kind of freak. Normal people... don't just get mad and hurl random objects twenty feet in the air with their minds. This power of mine messed up the normal life that I used to have. One with a husband and a child. I've been spending the last ten years of my life reconstructing. And then six months ago you ask me to leave all of that..." She paused for a moment. "You ask me to leave all of that to come back to what I was trying to get away from."
"For your daughter, Harriette." Darious said.
"Yes, yes I know, but," She looked down towards the ground. "Everything is just so confusing, you know? Well, maybe not for you, since it appears you have all the answers about this already. But for me... I just can't figure out what's going on. Why has my daughter all of a sudden just disappeared? And where is her father? Wasn't he supposed to be taking care of her? What is this place? You told me it's a military academy school, but I can tell there's something being hushed up around here. There's too many 'secrets' for this just to be a military academy. I want to know what's going on. I'm supposed to be taking charge of the operation of keeping track of this 'Amarene' boy and I'm the one who's the most in the dark"
Darious was silent for a long time. Then he said, "Try not to let it bother you too much. It would not be appropriate, nor is it the right time, to tell you everything now. Your stay here shouldn't be too much longer if what you say about Amarene is true. But I just want you to keep in mind that after all of this is over and you find your daughter, you may find yourself still involved in this."
Harriette looked at Darious with a penetrating glance. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Darious simply responded, "As long as you are what you are, you will always in some way be involved in this."
Harriette didn't say anything. She simply stood up, preparing to leave.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Darious exclaimed. I've got to hurry downstairs to the stadium room or I'll miss the junior preliminaries. If Amarene is actually advancing far beyond the scale of what we thought he would, it would be best if I monitored him during his matches to make sure everything stays okay."
Harriette sighed, thinking heavily. She made her way to the door, then stopped. As an afterthought, she stated, "Report back to me later then, and see if you can get a visual data copy of the matches and send it to me for analysis later." Ms. Dubose walked out as the door slowly shut behind her.
Darious sighed heavily, pulling out his giant, ancient sword and lancing it into the ground straight in front of him. He was still sitting, holding the handle of the brutish weapon in both hands, thinking heavily. Darious was not ready for everything to begin to take place now. But he had no choice; if this was the time the fates had planned for everything to take place, then there was nothing he could do except to prepare and make himself ready. He gripped Omnimesh tightly, Omnimesh being the name of his weapon. The sword was said to contain the ancient knowledge of all the Carsians that had once thrived on the planet.
In almost a desperate act, Darious silently called upon his ancestors for help. The sword glowed brightly, and Darious stated himself.
"Great Wisdom, I am lost on my path; what should I do?" He asked, listening, waiting.
Sometimes the Ancient Wisdom would take several hours or even days to answer a single question, depending on what was being asked. Sometimes the Ancient Wisdom would not answer at all.
To Darious' surprise, his answer came rather quickly. The reply was only two words;
"Tttteeaaach hhhiiiimm."
The sword then returned to it's natural state.
Darious exhaled heavily, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Summoning the Ancient Wisdom took a lot of power. In Darious' semi-weakened condition it put a slight strain on his body.
"Hmmm. Teach him," Darious recited back to himself the Ancient Wisdom's response. "If that is my answer, then that is my new path to my goal. I will teach Amarene the arts more severely than I have ever done in the past if that will make him ready for what he's about to endure." Darious slowly stood, steadying himself with his sword. As he sheathed his weapon, the only thing Darious could think about was the display of power Amarene had showed this morning. But it wouldn't be enough. Not now. Morphaeion was still too tough to tackle head-on just yet.
"Damn," Darious cursed himself, making his way down to the stadium. "I've got a lot of work to do."
CHAPTER 4
After a half period of science class, it was finally time for us to go downstairs to the main stadium. The stadium that led to my destiny as star elite class member of the SCI special squadron.
"Well, looks like we're finally here," I said to Terrone as we stepped through the giant doors that led to the stadium. Everybody was standing in a waiting room now, waiting for the announcer to give us the signal. "The preliminaries. Finally. After training for so long I've finally made it here."
Terrone smiled. "Well, go get'em. I'll be up in the stands rooting for ya, okay?"
I turned back to him. "Are you sure you don't want to participate?" I asked him one final time.
"My name's already off even if I did want to," He answered. "But it's okay. Really, I'm fine."
I shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"Well, well," An annoyingly familiar voice echoed from behind. I didn't even bother to turn around. Devlin wasn't even worth holding direct eye-contact with. "Looks like we've got the loser and his pet attempting to participate in the junior preliminaries. I guess you didn't want to heed my warning and sign off of the sheet as soon as possible. You're much dumber than I thought you were."
"Devlin, I should knock you out of the tournament before you even get in the ring!" Terrone shouted threateningly. I sighed. Terrone was never one to be able to control his temper.
"Try it and you'll end up in the infirmary," Devlin counter-threated. "I'm warning you, my power level has multiplied considerably since the last time you've seen me battle."
"Well, that's interesting, Devlin," Terrone said, sneering. "Since it seems that you don't even have the power to know when you're talking a bunch of--"
"Will all combatants entering the junior preliminaries please step into the stadium at this time," The announcer, well, announced. "I repeat, all combatants entering the junior preliminaries please step into the stadium at this time."
"Hehehehe," Devlin snickered as he stepped through the entrance, disappearing into the crowd of people entering the stadium. "See ya, losers!"
Terrone literally growled, but I held him back from doing anything foolish. "That bastard," Terrone barked at no one. "It almost makes me wish I kept my name on the tournament list."
"Ah, don't worry about it," I told Terrone. "I'll handle him myself once I get into the stadium."
Terrone sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. Hurry up and get in there before everyone starts without you. I'll be in the stands."
"Alright." I replied, and Terrone exited out the back to find a good seat in the audience. Mainly teachers and the students who weren't participating. I hurried along through the entrance to the stadium and quickly caught pace with everyone else.
The stadium was huge. The platform that the fights would be held on was right in from of me, elevated only about two feet off the ground. Above it hung a monitor that was blank at the moment, but I knew it wouldn't be for long.
But surrounding the whole platform safely away was a whole audience full of people. They must have come from other branches, I told myself. Our facility did not house this many people. People ranging from kids to elderly teachers filled the stands. I began to get a tad nervous; I don't do so well in front of people.
All the participants were siting in an area customly built for them to wait for their turn between battles. I took my place on one of the benches and sat gently. There were people sitting next to me that I didn't know, so I was relatively quiet, waiting for all of the noise from the audience to settle down.
After about five minutes, the announcer appeared from the other side of the stadium and made her way to the center of the platform.
Yes. A she.
I was somewhat surprised. Normally the announcer was Matt. I only knew him because he taught my math class.
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the tenth annual junior preliminaries tournament, sponsored by, well, us! The loving staff at the SCI office faculties located all across the world!" Her voice was cheery and chipper in a melodious sort of way. She was dressed in a very short red skirt with long white socks and a beautifully red halter top. Her feet were dainty, like her entire body, and she couldn't have stood more than 5'2. Her hair was the color of fire.
"Well, let's say we get things rolling, shall we? First, my name is Papria. All of the contestants names have been randomly matched for the first part of the tournament, so everyone sit back and watch the monitor! We'll soon find out who our first match will be against."
I looked above at the monitor as the audience applauded for the start of the preliminaries. The monitor flickered, then glowed to life. The matchup screen was at first blank, then the names began to fill the boxes for the first part of the tournament.
As far as I could see, there were 24 match-ups. That meant there were 48 people participating.
At first all I could see were people being matched up that I didn't know. Alice vs. Cedric, Maverick vs. Corie, Garret vs Lucile...
Hmm. I was match-up number five. Good. My opponent was someone named Treiko.
"Alright!" Papria pranced in a true girl-like fashion. "For our first match-up, we'll have Alice versus Cedric. Will both fighters please enter the platform?"
Both fighters advanced onto the platform. Alice looked just like an innocent schoolgirl, uniform and all. I could already see she was a deadly opponent. She was attempting to conceal half of her actual power level, plus she was clever enough to use deception as a weapon.
Cedric was living muscle. All in all, he had Alice dwarfed at least by three feet and a hundred pounds or so. Unlike Alice, he wasn't holding anything back. He wanted everyone to see his strength, his power. But I could also see he wasn't too gifted when it came to being bright.
"Both fighters, take your position in the center of the ring." The announcer commanded. They took their places, Alice smiling pleasantly and Cedric simply glaring and flexing. Alice couldn't have been any taller than five feet, sporting off a usual SCI blue female uniform. Cedric had on no shirt, no doubt using his impressive brawn to intimidate any who opposed him. His jet black shorts were torn at the bottom, and he wore military combat boots. An extremely bad choice of footwear for keeping up with your opponent.
"This battle will be conducted under no time limit. Victory is obtained either through knockout or ten seconds out of the ring. Also, please remember that this contest is strictly for determining the new members for the elite class of SCI. You are not to kill your opponent. Does everyone understand the rules and guidelines of confrontation? Of course you do. Now to continue with the match. Are both fighters ready?"
Both contestants stared at each other, eager to begin.
"Begin!" Papria shouted. And the battle was underway.
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Cedric shouted, bearing down on Alice with fury. It was a stupid, barbaric move. An attack that anyone with any real talent could have dodged with ease.
Cedric's fist arced downwards, lancing towards Alice like a battering ram. But his fist was going much too slowly.
"Incredible! Cedric has already taken the first few seconds of the tournament to attempt to inflict some serious damage to his opponent!" Papria chirped. "The question is; will his attempt succeed? And how will this opening move affect the match?"
Answer to question #1: No.
Answer to question #2: He'll lose. All in all, a match I really could have afforded to miss.
Alice leaped over the attack like an athlete would leap over a hurtle. She landed daintily behind him, holding her hands behind her back. Her grin grew wider as she waited for her opponent to realize she was no longer there in front of him. It took him a while, believe me.
"Ooooh, an attempt at early damage thwarted by Alice's impressive dodge technique!" Papria annoyingly chirped again.
"Grrrr..." Cedric growls like a wild beast. Unfortunately for him he was too stupid to realize he had already been beaten.
Two things that kinda missed the audience's attention.
One was the five rapid blows that connected with both of Cedrics legs before she even leaped into the air.
Two was the small microscopic energy orb she placed onto his back by energy transfer halfway into leaping through the air before she landed.
Cedric turned to face her once more and went for a dash. The only problem with this maneuver was that he no longer had the use of his legs to execute it. Cedric fell flat on his face, and I could tell he had no idea why.
"Ah... what, have you done to my legs?"
Alice merely grinned.
"Well, this is certainly, uh, interesting," Papria called out, confused. "For some reason it appears that Cedric is no longer able to walk. What will be his next move now that he no longer has any motor function in his legs?"
I knew his next move. So did Alice.
Cedric attempted to pull off a quick but not very powerful chi blast. And the buildup of energy activated the energy bomb.
Cedric was engulfed in energy flame before he even got a chance to pull the attack off.
"Amazing!" Shouted Papria with enthusiasm. "I don't know exactly what happened, but it seems quite evident that this match may already be over!"
As the smoke from the blast began to fade, I could make out Cedric's form lying on the ground. I was quite sure he wouldn't be getting up for some time.
"Let's start the ten count!" Papria began. "One! Two! Three!"
"What's the point?" Alice said, speaking for the first time since the match began. Which was only about fifteen seconds ago. "He's not getting back up from that any time soon."
"Five! Six! Seven!"
"So, what did you think of the fight?" Someone next to me asked. I turned to find myself face to face with--
"Ten!" Papria finished. "Alice wins by knockout!"
--A Harpium?
"Well?" She asked again. I could only stare. It was the first time in my life I ever saw a full blooded Harpium before. They look just like normal people, if you can get past the huge hawk-like wings and bladed claws and talons on their fingers and feet. The one that spoke to me was my height, but her wings made her look taller. She had piercing green eyes and jet black, straight hair. Her outfit was a simple pair of skintight red shorts and a red tank-top, complete with matching shoes. Evidently she was dressing for comfort today.
"It was too predictable and too short," I replied. "Quite boring, if you ask me."
"Yeah, I thought the same thing," She responded. She tilted her head upwards to look at the screen, which showed Alice advancing to the next round to fight either Maverick or Corie. "Hey, if we both win our first match, we'll be paired up against each other in the next face-offs."
I glanced up and verified her statement.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not planning to lose my first match. I've trained way too hard."
She giggled. "Well, me neither. I bet our opponents are saying the same exact thing." We both laughed a little.
"Well, good luck to you." I said respectfully.
"Good luck to you, too." She said back with a smile.
"Well folks, I don't know about you, but I hope that the next match is a lot longer than this one was! In either case, Alice will be moving on to the next round. The next matchup will be Maverick versus Corie! Please step to the center of the ring at this time. Oh, and to our waiting participants, please remember that you are not limited to the benches. Feel free to come and go as you please as long as you make it back in time for your match. If you are late, you'll be disqualified and your opponent is moved on to the next round."
I saw Maverick and Corie move into the ring and take their places. I was contemplating to myself whether I should leave and get something to eat before my match or stay and watch the fighters. I decided to stay; after all, I wasn't particularly hungry, and if I wanted an edge on my competitors I had to stay and watch to see how they fought. But half of the people participating didn't even look like they were worth my time.
Well, except maybe for the girl I had just spoke to. According to the matchup screen, her name was Andrea.
"Good luck fighters!" Papria said, stating the begining of the match. "Ready? Begin!"
The match started so quickly I didn't have much time to check them out before they began to batter at each other.
Maverick was wearing a martial arts cloak that was very maneuverable and had a strange black symbol on the back I couldn't decipher. The rest of the uniform was completely white. He looked about maybe fifteen or sixteen, and his black hair was closely cut.
The other fighter had on almost the same outfit, except for the fact that his was blue and had a red symbol that differed from the other challengers. They were both barefoot. And by the way they went at each other initially, I could only determine that they both practiced a form of martial arts that branched off from a base martial arts form. Corie was about the same age, had butter rum skin, and his hair hung loosely around his ears. Both had a powerful build.
Both started off with fairly good speed. Maverick, the white suit, started off with a devastating kick. Corie lunged out with a fist of steel.
Yes, literal steel. It was interesting. Corie appeared to have an earth or rock attribute.
Amazingly, I noticed that there was something up with Maverick's foot, too. It appeared to be glowing with white energy. A pure white elemental. Interesting.
Both blows connected with devastating force.
"Heh, this is more like it." Andrea said with a grin.
"Waah, aaaaaah!" Papria was blown back by the force of both attacks. I wasn't surprised. The wind sheer force up there must have topped seventy mph. when both blows connected.
Neither Maverick or Corie inflicted any damage. They simply bounced back to their original positions after executing their failed attacks. Papria peeked up from the rim of the platform. She was too frightened at the moment to even say anything.
Then they went at it again.
This time they started off with more simple forms of attack. Corie rushed in, executing very rapid jabs at his opponent. Maverick warded them off with his forearm, and then lunged quickly with short burst kicks. But their speeds were evenly matched. Neither was inflicting any blows on the other. Yet.
"Agility!" Maverick shouted, and almost instantly his speed doubled as he leaped around the ring. Almost at the same instant, Corie focused his fingers to the center of his forehead and forcefully commanded, "Accelerator!" Corie had instantly matched speeds with his opponent and was now going in for the attack. Their speed was so high they were using the entire field to leap and attack and plow into one another.
"Wow, this battle has suddenly turned into an acrobat show," Papria peeped from the side of the platform. It was apparent that she wouldn't be trying to re-enter the ring again any time soon. "It appears that both fighters have resorted to leaping across the field while rapidly punching and kicking each other."
"Aren't you the observant one." I heard Andrea mumble under her breath.
The turning point of the battle finally came. Once again, almost at the same time, both fighters shifted their fighting techniques. They both now attempted to put their speed reserves solely into attack now without regard for defense. Normally a move like that is quite foolish, but I could understand from their point of view that they weren't getting anywhere by flitting and dodging around like a couple of hummingbirds on speed.
I could see now that only ten seconds after battle mode change they were already causing severe damage to each other. But their bodies were holding up good against the others assaults. Maverick was doing some deadly footwork on Corie's midsection, but Corie was pummeling the area that meant the most; the head. But already I could see that both fighters had already made a very bad mistake. They were using up too much of their energy all at once. They flooded their energy into every assault, which made the attack powerful, of course, but it was draining them too quickly. If either of those fighters tried to advance to the next round with that kind of strategy, they wouldn't last very long against someone who could hold out for a few minutes. If they kept it up, both of their power reserves would be depleted in a little under five minutes. Already I could see the signs of fatigue on their bodies.
But slowly yet surely, there seemed to be a winner developing.
Maverick's kicks were more powerful than Corie's punching assaults, but they also took longer to pull off. Corie's jabs were quick and took less energy and were able to connect more times. Corie could possibly win simply by wearing Maverick down. Eventually, it did happen.
Maverick and Corie both broke apart and separated from their assault on each other. Then they both began to charge, Maverick glowing with white energy and Corie glowing an indigo color, emitting vibrant energy.
Maverick went in for one final devastating kick. But instead of rushing to meet him, Corie stayed absolutely still.
The distance closed down shockingly fast. Then, in a motion that was too quick for most people's eyes, Corie glanced his kick aside with one powerful arm swipe.
Maverick was shocked that his kick didn't connect. Enraged, he tried to counter with his left foot to catch Corie off guard. But Corie had already read his move and crouched downwards to avoid the blow.
Then Corie's right fist began to glow with amazing power.
"Rising Torment!" Corie shouted, gathering energy from the earth. Then, with an astoundingly powerful uppercut, Corie executed an explosive, upwards beam rising attack on his off-balanced opponent. Maverick flew into the air like a feather on a powerful air current.
Corie landed gracefully, but the attack had put a tremendous toll on his energy reserves. He was sweating and using the rest of his strength to support his body.
We had to wait about ten seconds, but Maverick finally hit the ground. He was out cold.
"Maverick is down! I'll start the count now!" The announcer cheered, feeling it was safe to re-enter the ring now.
"One! Two!"
The fight was interesting, but I needed something to do before my match was called. I left the stands as discreetly as I could and made my way to hallway B104. I almost laughed. The place was so big they needed to label hallway numbers so that you wouldn't get lost.
It took a few minutes but I finally made it to a room where me and Darius used to train all the time. It was a room he took me the very first few times we started to train together. The room was called "Holloluse", a training room that used light amplification technology to create holograms for training.
I found what I was looking for in the corner. It was a device used to record an individual's power level. I hadn't used the training room for an entire month now because I was under severe training.
The device was basically a platform sitting on the ground with readout screens on the side and up front. You used to have to attach these electrode thingies to your body in order for the screens to give you a readout on your physical stats, but technology has come a long way since I came here. Now the platform itself enshrouds you in a data sensory field that more accurately reads your power level than the electrodes ever did.
I stepped onto the platform and activated it from the panel in front of me. The readout screens on the sides gave data about heartbeat, perspiration, respiration... stuff I wasn't really too interested in at the moment. I was interested in the front panel that gave my physical stats as a fighter.
After the power was turned on, everything was voice active from this point forward.
"Holloluse, engage energy level detection system." I commanded the computer.
"HOLLOLUSE ENERGY LEVEL DETECTION SYSTEM ONLINE. <READY>"
I wanted to see my normal power level first before powering up. So I simply let the computer detect my stats as they were now.
"DETECTION COMPLETED. RANGE PARAMETERS ARE AS FOLLOWS. STAMINA IS AT AN EXCELLENT LEVEL OF SEVEN THOUSAND SEVENTY. PHYSICAL ATTACK STRENGTH IS AT FOUR THOUSAND POINTS. ELEMENTAL ATTACK STRENGTH IS AT SEVEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY POINTS. VITALITY DEFENSE IS AT TWO THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY. ELEMENTAL DEFENSE PARAMETER IS AT THREE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX. SPEED AND AGILITY PARAMETER READ AT FIVE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX. TOTAL POWER LEVEL FOR SUBJECT AMARENE ARLEN READS AT THIRTY THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO."
Thirty thousand five hundred twenty two?
I looked at the monitor, almost unbelievingly. The last time I had been here my power level after powering up to 100% had only hit twenty-two thousand eight hundred ninety-two. Now at normal level I was more powerful than I had ever been. By seven thousand six hundred thirty points. At normal level I had only been fifteen thousand two hundred sixty-one. I realized amazingly that I had doubled my power level in only a month.
Well, now to see how powerful I could really become.
"Holloluse, record level data and stabilize for a second reading."
"CONFIRMING. PLEASE WAIT... CONFIRMATION COMPLETE. DATA STORED. DETECTION SENSORS READY."
Without any further ado, I began to power up.
It was certainly different from last time. The experience this time was way more intense than anything I had ever experienced.
The sensors to my left and right were beginning to go crazy. Radars and warning screens were popping up telling me that my bio stats were becoming abnormal and unstable. But I knew what I was doing. I paid them no attention as I continued to push every cell in my body towards 100% complete perfection.
There was so much power surging through my body that I could see the effect it was beginning to have on the area around me. Everything was appearing really wavy; from the intense heat waves being emitted from my body, no doubt. My skin, which already has a natural reddish color, was beginning to grow redder and redder by the second. My vision flashed red, then normal, then red again, pulsing like a heartbeat. My muscles were contracted and tight as steel, buffing themselves up slightly as the cells expanded to release more energy. The veins in my body were pulsing volcanic temperature blood with incredible force, making themselves noticeable all over my arms and neck. Sweat drenched my entire body under the tremendous power stress, but the entire time I was going through this excruciating process the only thing I could think was, 'This is so cool'.
I could feel the climax of my power when I felt I could no longer increase any further. Although the process of getting up to the point where I was at in energy was a roller coaster ride, the point itself was quite stable. I felt wonderfully strong. But the strangest part was, I felt more than strong. I was used to reaching new power levels like I was at now, but I had acquired something else at this level. Confidence. I mean, I've always had confidence, but never like this. This was 100%, complete undisputed confidence. I wasn't worried about anything. Not even the competition. It sounds strange, but the new power level I had reached not only affected me physically, but mentally also.
"DETECTION COMPLETED," The computer began. "PARAMETERS ARE AS FOLLOWS. STAMINA LEVELS ARE BEYOND EXCELLENT LEVELS READING AT TEN THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FIVE. PHYSICAL ATTACK STRENGTH IS AT SIX THOUSAND POINTS. ELEMENTAL ATTACK STRENGTH IS AT ELEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED THIRTY. VITALITY DEFENSE IS AT FOUR THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED TEN. ELEMENTAL DEFENSE READS AT FOUR THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED EIGHTY-NINE. SPEED AND AGILITY PARAMETER READS AT EIGHT THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE. TOTAL POWER LEVEL FOR SUBJECT AMARENE ARLEN READS AT FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHTY-THREE."
I was astounded at how powerful I had become. It was amazing. If I was as powerful as the Holloluse was calculating I was...
"Holloluse, record this data in secondary file for Amarene Arlen and then pull up all power level data information."
"CONFIRMING ACTION. PLEASE WAIT... CONFIRMATION COMPLETE. ALL DATA SAVED. OPENING FILES..."
I had to wait a few moments, but then a digital projection shot in front of me with all of the students' power levels that were in this facility.
"SHOW INDIVIDUAL PARAMETERS?" The computer queried.
"No. Just straight power level."
"UNDERSTOOD. CONFIRMING... DONE."
The list stretched from A to Z. I was along the top, with some other people I didn't know.
Adam Lvl. 16,304 MaxLvl. 24,456 Last visited: Feb. 20; yesterday
Aegis Lvl. 13,600 MaxLvl. 20,400 Last visited: Feb. 7; two weeks ago
Agatha Lvl. 19,006 MaxLvl. 28,509 Last visited: Feb 2; 2 weeks 6 days
Alex Lvl. 18,070 MaxLvl. 27,105 Last visited: Jan. 28; 3 weeks 3 days
Amarene Lvl. 30,522 MaxLvl. 45,783 Last visited: Feb. 21; today
Arian Lvl. 22,360 MaxLvl. 33,540 Last visited: Feb. 17; four days ago
The list stretched on for several hundred names. I glanced through nearly all of them, and I realized the thought that I had lingering in my head was correct; I outclassed everyone in this academy. Maybe there was one who was much stronger than me in another S.C.I. school facility somewhere around the world, but as far as the building I was in now no one was even close. The closest power level I saw anywhere near mine was 6,000 points lower.
I glanced at the digital clock readout on the holloluse and decided it was time to go; I had spent nearly half an hour inside the training room. But first I had to revert back to my normal power level. After powering back down and shutting everything off, the only thing I could think of was the exhilarating experience of powering up to nearly 46,000. I had this preliminary in the bag, I thought. And why shouldn't I have? No one here came anywhere even close to my strength. Yet I was still smart enough not to get too cocky. There were people here from other academies, people who's data was not stored in the holloluse. And even if they were, I had learned recently that power levels don't always mean everything. Darious was much stronger than me, I knew, but I had still nearly beaten him this morning. Even with the little exercise I had just performed, perhaps there was something that eluded even me about myself and my strength.
I exited the room, full of confidence but still also full of anticipation and anxiousness. I wasn't worried, but I wasn't completely calm, either. The feeling that transcended my body as I made my way back to the stadium is hard to describe, but one thing was for certain as I made my way to my destiny up on that platform; my life was about to turn in a totally different direction.