Blake led Alex to the inner city, which was separated by 30 meter tall walls. Alex had yet to come to this part of the city simply because he wasn’t allowed to yet. This was where the school was and Alex was still not technically enrolled. As they approached closer to the wall, Blake handed Alex a badge.
“This is the platinum badge, you should’ve heard about it. I was able to get it for you early so you’ll be allowed here now. Your house is also ready for you to move in.”
They arrived at the gate and the guards asked Blake and Alex to show their badges. When Alex showed his platinum badge, the guards were visibly shocked and quickly opened the gate. The guards were all peak corporals. Security is really tight here, Alex thought to himself. If the outer city was spectacular, the inner city was heavenly. There were no longer stalls along the streets, and there were much more kids walking around. The buildings all looked incredibly majestic and Alex could even see his own reflection in the street. Alex didn’t get a lot of time to admire his surroundings as Blake took Alex to a massive building. The building before Alex looked similar to an arena and was at least 10 stories tall. The building was circular and had a diameter of at least half a kilometer.
Blake led Alex inside and they went straight to the 7th floor. When they arrived at the 7th floor, Alex could see ten other students sparring against each other and another four stretching. At one of the many arenas on this floor was a tall man who exuded a powerful aura. When the man saw Alex and Blake, he quickly went to them.
“You must be Alex. I am Second Commander Yadao, but you can call me Instructor Yadao,” he said as he shook hands with Alex. “Everyone gather!”
All the other kids immediately stopped what they were doing and lined up behind Instructor Yadao.
“Everyone, this is Alex Gedeon and he will be joining us as a reserve fighter. Be sure to welcome him properly.”
Everyone was slightly surprised that this skinny kid would be a reserve fighter, but they trusted their instructor's judgment. They all did a slight bow at the same time and quickly went back to what they were doing.
“Instructor Blake briefly told me about you and what you did against the shadow wolf, but if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to see it first hand.” Instructor Yadao said before calling on the students stretching. “This is Watson, he is in his second year and recently became a core member. I’d like you two to spar.”
They both got to an arena and got into a fighting stance. Alex was nervous, not due to fighting against someone else, but because they were looking for Alex to use his void punch. (A/N: I will start referring to black mana attacks as void attacks) Alex knew that if he didn’t use it, they would be disappointed and he could very well be removed from the team because he was only an entry level peak soldier. There were plenty of those at this school so Alex had to make a choice. If Alex didn’t use any void attacks, he would likely be removed from the reserve team. If he wasn’t a part of the reserve team, he would have a tough time navigating the school and would be looked down upon and bullied. But if he did use a void attack, they might notice that he was using a strange power and question him. After considering the risks, he decided that he had no choice but to use the void power. Instructor Blake had seen it once before and didn’t question it.
The fight started and Waton quickly charged in, moving around sporadically. He closed in on Alex and sent a left hook to his jaw, to which Alex responded by ducking under the attack and sending a left jab to Watsons abdomen. Watson parried the attack with his right hand and they both backed up to make some space. Alex could tell that Watson was still holding back and just probing Alex. If he wanted to win this fight, he would have to go all out now.
This time Alex charged in first, he sent the void power to his legs and dash forward. Alex was so fast that everyone only saw his afterimage before he arrived before Watson. Watson had yet to respond to Alex so he sent a fully charged mana punch to Watsons jaw. Just before his fist collided, Watson disappeared and appeared five meters behind Alex.
“Alright that’s enough! Alex, you showed some serious potential. Not just any first year can force Watson to use his power.” Instructor Yadao said.
“Power?” Alex had never heard of this ‘power’ that Instructor Yadao had mentioned.
“It makes sense if you've never heard of it. Every person has a unique mana flowing from their mana core that is able to interact with the environment. One's power is the result of their mana interacting with the outside mana. And in Watsons case, it allows him to travel along the mana currents at the speed of light, making it seem similar to teleportation.”
So it’s similar to my void powers, yet different at the same time, Alex thought. What the man in Alex’s dream did was this power that Instructor Yadao was referring to, but the void powers were also separated from Alex’s mana core and could enhance his mana. Does this mean I can have two powers? Maybe by learning about how to use powers, I’ll be able to do what the man did. This prospect excited Alex, and he wanted to learn about these powers as soon as possible.
