August 01, 4021 08:00 [Matriarch 04- Shooting Range]

Gunfire rattled through the air. Shells fell to the ground with an audible clatter. Load, aim, steady, fire, reload. Indra repeated the mantra in his head until the Crow stopped handing him ammunition. The cacophony of bullets quieted as the trainees ate through the last of their magazines. As the smoke cleared, the wire racks started to move, bringing the targets closer to the firing line so that the Crows could observe their work. Indra felt a sense of relief, looking over the towering Crow’s shoulder to see that most of his shots met the mark. He glanced over to Prasanna who was biting her nails nervously. He could see why. Not a single shot had hit the black silhouette on the canvas.

“Shit! This is terrible!” she groaned. “How did you guys fare?” She turned to them hopeful to share her misery.

“I did decently,” Indra replied apologetically.

“Same here.”

They took a peek at Emil’s canvas. Every single shot had landed.

“How could you?! You couldn’t even miss one for me?” Prasanna pouted.

“Enough,” a monotone voice interrupted from behind them. He addressed them with tired eyes, a cold, calculating gaze aimed at Indra. It sent shudders down his spine as he gripped his chest reflexively. The Hyena had tied his hair back, deviating from his usual style. He sported a DIVE Suit underneath his cloak and his goggles hung over bandoliers holding daggers carved to resemble feathers.

“Relax, I’m not here to put a hole in your chest again. I need you three to come with me. We need to talk about the criteria for promotion. Grisha, Jin, and I will assess you over the next ten weeks to see who’s fit to lead and who isn’t.”

“Wait, but I’m not—”

“You were Traitless when you got here, I know. Regardless, your Trait is something special, so I nominated you for promotion. You won’t be going through any processing. I’ve already vetted you so there’s no cause for concern in terms of the risk you pose to national security.”

“That’s great, Indra! Looks like all of us are getting promoted!” Prasanna slapped him on the back.

“Slow your roll, little miss. There are other candidates as well. Some of you will be trained by me and others will be trained by those two.” He pointed to the woman above them and a man standing near the entrance of the shooting range. “Being nominated doesn’t guarantee you a spot.”

“O-of course! I understand that!”

Tengri scratched his chin, squinting at her. His eyes darted between Emil and Prasanna, a look of realization on his face. He snapped his fingers.

“That’s where I know you from! You’re the greenhorns from Matriarch 05, right? You two have come far.”

They beamed at his praise.

“Just as well, Grisha opted to train you both. I would have run you into the dirt had I known you were from my Matriarch. You better not ruin my reputation. I expect maximum effort from you two,” he warned.

Their expressions faltered. I hope to God I’m not on his team.

“Well” —he placed a hand on Indra’s shoulder— “I guess you’re with me.”

Indra forced a smile. Wonderful.

“By the end of these ten weeks, I will turn you into a warrior. I promise. Either that or you’ll die. No in-between.”

Even better.

Tengri turned his attention to the giant Crow staring at him silently. “I know what you’re thinking, you big ox. You’re coming too. If you insist on staying a Crow then you’ll have to follow my orders. You’re going to help me oversee this guy’s training, capisce?”

The Crow stayed silent.

“I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’.”

He signaled to Grisha, leaning over the catwalk’s railing, looking bored. She perked up, dismissing the rest of the Crows and Homunculi as they finished maintenance on their firearms. As the horde left the facility, a few stragglers remained, standing near the man beside the entrance. He was tall and muscular, with skin as pale as snow. The man wore a parka over his DIVE Suit, both of which were a blinding white. He sauntered over, followed by the other candidates.

“So you’re alive? Man, that is some serious luck you have,” the Hyena jeered.

Indra ignored the snide remark, staring behind him at the candidates. The silver-haired man and the woman with plumed hair were present. The other Homunculi that had caught his attention at Sun Rock also made an appearance, with one exception. I was sure that guy with the scar would be here too. His wandering eyes paused on a particular Homunculus; one who stared back at him coldly. Jin followed his gaze.

“Seems like you two know each other,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t know this guy. I just bumped into him once. That’s all,” the Homunculus replied, keeping his eyes focused on Indra.

“Really? Well, I think introductions are in order then, right?” Jin placed a hand on his shoulder.

The Homunculus shook his grip, appearing rather annoyed. “Kaluza,” he stated bluntly.

“I’m Indra.”

“Great, introductions are over. Let’s go train now.” He turned to leave.

“Hold on a minute, hothead. We still have to sort the rest of you,” Grisha called from above. She jumped down from the catwalk, landing lightly on her feet.

“You” —she pointed at Indra— “I want you on my team.”

Tengri stepped in-between them, letting out an exasperated sigh. “I’m not having this conversation again. You’ve already got your assigned team. Stop trying to poach my students as well.”

She clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“Alright, enough delaying, I’m going to assign you all to specific teams. You will be in these teams for the duration of ten weeks before deployment. There will be no switching, so I don’t want to hear any complaints. To start, my group will consist of Indra, Garou, and Kuvira.”

The silver-haired man and the plume-haired woman stepped forward, standing beside Indra.

“Next, Grisha will be training Prasannakshi, Emil, and Xiāoshī.”

The stern-looking Homunculus nodded, joining their team.

“The last group will be Kaluza, Móhú, and Chōuyān.”

“Did I really have to be paired with this nut?” Kaluza sneered at the jittery Homunculus.

“Móhú’s more than capable of pulling his weight,” the purple-haired Homunculus advocated.

Kaluza scoffed. “I doubt it. Neither of you look like fighters.”

“Shut up, you aren’t special either. You three are all leftovers. If I got first pick, I wouldn’t have chosen any of you bastards,” Jin interrupted. “We have our teams, let’s get on with it. The sooner they learn Shakti the faster we can determine who’s eligible for promotion.”

He started to walk away, dragging a protesting Kaluza by the collar. Tengri and Grisha nodded in agreement, motioning for their wards to follow. They found themselves in another arena further into the facility. It was painted white from top to bottom. An upper-level balcony wrapped around the area, acting as a viewing deck for matches below. They congregated on the lower level, listening to Jin as he spoke.

“Listen up because I’m only going to explain this once. Shakti is the energy that flows through all living things. Think of it as intrinsic to life. Organic, that is. Most humans and animals aren’t able to harness this energy because Shakti utilization, in a sense, is the act of bending the natural order of life to your will. That kind of manipulation takes a massive toll on one’s body unless you’re a Homunculus. Those that have manifested their Traits will be able to harness this power due to their heightened resilience. It's necessary that you master this technique as it is a requirement for promotion. All Hyenas must know how to utilize Shakti. Any questions so far?”

Indra raised a question. “What happens if we aren’t able to master Shakti in time for deployment?”

Jin grinned. “I’m glad you asked. To be transparent with you, you will still be deployed, but you’ll be placed near the frontlines right behind the Traitless divisions of soldiers. Chances of survival are slim to none.”

“W-wait, how dangerous is this mission?”

“We’re training you to become Hyenas, to act as our replacements. I’ll let you be the judge of that.”

Indra gulped. Not good. I better pay attention.

“Moving on. There are three types of Shakti. Reinforcement, Restriction, and Release. Each one is extremely difficult to master. Most Hyenas stick to one, although some are proficient in two.”

“Has anyone mastered all three?” the woman with plumed hair inquired. Kuvira. She seems sharp.

Tengri’s eyes darted, his gaze lingering on the Crow for a moment. He looked displeased.

“Yeah, only two people have, if we’re excluding gods and Sirens,” Jin answered, oblivious to his colleague’s reaction.

“Two?”

“As far as we know, within the borders of Yuèliàng, at least.”

“Is there any benefit to learning all three?” Kaluza probed, his interest seemingly piqued by the difficulty of the task.

“Singularity,” Tengri answered. He had been silent for most of Jin’s lecture. All eyes were on him now.

“The three forms of Shakti represent the three disciplines of the Trimurti: Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. Reinforcement represents Preservation. Release represents Destruction. And Restriction represents Creation.”

“I don’t follow. How are Restriction and Creation remotely related?” Prasanna looked puzzled.

“Release and Reinforcement are pretty straightforward. You channel Shakti and use it to either strengthen your defenses or release the energy you’ve been storing. Simple stuff. Restriction on the other hand becomes another issue altogether. It’s the most difficult form to learn because of its specialization.

All forms of Restriction are unique to the user. Think of it like a contract for Spirit category Homunculi. The user will impose a limitation on themselves, either physical, mental, or both. In exchange for the constraint of their bodies and minds, they are awarded attributes and strengths that they would be unable to acquire under normal circumstances. The caveat? Breaking a self-imposed inhibition will enact repercussions on the user, tenfold. This form is not to be taken lightly.

Agreements of Restriction provide power equivalent to the imposed restraint. The more drastic a limitation is, the more power one is able to acquire. Of course, the repercussions for breaking these restrictions are much worse.”

“Isn’t death as bad as it gets? I don’t think there’s anything worse!” the silver-haired man blurted out. Garou. Another loudmouth.

Indra fought a smile forming in the crook of his mouth. He and Akula would get along well.

Grisha laughed, shaking her head. “There are fates much worse than death. You’ll be wishing for it if you’re not careful.”

Garou gnashed his teeth nervously, understandably so. Any sane individual would be nervous around her. She had a wild look in her eyes. Where Tengri and Jin were defined by a calm attitude, hers was like that of a feral animal, bursting with manic energy. Now that he had gotten a better look at her DIVE suit, Indra noticed that it was quite different from the rest. In fact, all of the Hyenas had unique DIVE Suits compared to the standard black suits they had been issued.

Grisha’s matched her eccentricity, a black suit with violet panels around her wrists, neckpiece, and covering the entirety of her leg armor. Yellow canisters extended from her waist and a cloak that looked like it was made out of solar panels hung from her neck. What struck Indra odd about her DIVE Suit was the lack of it in certain areas. There was no armor on Grisha’s upper thighs, her solar plexus, or her shoulders. That seems highly counterintuitive.

She took notice, catching him staring. “Like what you see?”

Indra’s ears went red as he vehemently denied the accusation, citing intentions that were purely for informational purposes. The Hyena laughed seeing him flustered.

“If you’re wondering why I don’t need much protection, there are two reasons. One, I’ve mastered Reinforcement and Release Shakti. And two, my Trait works best like this.” Her exposed skin started to shimmer, forming colored prisms. She waved them away as quickly as they had formed. “Now you can see why Shakti is beneficial. Sometimes you’ll need to leave yourself exposed in order to fully utilize your Traits, and Shakti can cover those vulnerabilities.

The three of us have each mastered at least one of the three forms of Shakti. You’ve been sorted based on your affinity to specific forms of Shakti, determined by your sparring session with Tengri a few days ago. Most of you had an affinity to a single form, although some of you had an affinity for more than one form of Shakti, at which point we decided amongst ourselves who would be teaching you your respective forms.” She motioned for Tengri to finish his explanation.

He nodded. “To continue where I left off, by placing limitations on yourself, you will be able to create new techniques, thus Restriction represents Creation. Restrictions can be imposed on actions or states of being that are more common in your daily life. Vices are good options when it comes to Shakti of Restriction, such as smoking, drinking, and sexual activity. The more of an impact the restriction has on your life, the stronger your technique will be.”

“And what about Singularity?” Kuvira reminded him.

“If a person is able to master all three forms, they can access a state of being called, Singularity. It’s a state of heightened power, akin to the strength of a Deva or even some Sirens. Although, I should add a disclaimer. Unlike these immortal beings, you most likely won’t be able to hold your state of Singularity for very long. It wreaks havoc on your body, Homunculus or not. Their resistance levels are exponentially higher than ours, and they can hold a state of Singularity for prolonged periods of time.”

“Is there any other way to use Singularity, other than learning all three forms?” Kaluza teetered on the balls of his feet, evidently excited.

Tengri scratched his head, seemingly bored of explaining Shakti further. He sighed. “In moments of peril, when a situation is at its most dire, there have been instances of people using Singularity for a split second to save themselves. But you would be remiss to think that’ll ever happen to you. Of the instances I know of, both people went on to master all three forms of Shakti. They already had the potential to do so, and they were extremely lucky. Don’t count on a chance reaction to save you. Instead, rely on your training, and focus on perfecting the basics of Shakti. You’d be surprised how far these factors alone will carry you.”

He waved off any more questions, pointing to the time on the Nerve Cord. Today, they would spar with opponents of different Shakti forms. Release and Reinforcement, Reinforcement and Restriction, and Restriction and Release. Indra looked across at his opponent. He was grinning with feverish excitement, his cold eyes lit ablaze. Indra felt a pit in his stomach. The last time he had sparred, he was gifted a fist-sized hole in his chest. He then woke to find himself in a laboratory being dissected by Vultures. Considering the fact that Tengri had been holding back his attacks, what would his opponent’s attacks feel like?

“Show me the extent of your power,” Tengri said, patting him on the back.

I don’t know how to use my Trait nor do I have any idea what it could be! And this damn Siren won’t answer me and lend me his strength. He sighed, hoping that his increased resilience would cushion the blows.

“The first sparring match will take place between Kaluza and Indra. Pay attention, all of you. You’ll see how different Shakti affinities interact with each other. Watch carefully and plan your strategies accordingly. It’ll give you a good idea of how to react if you ever find yourself against another Shakti user.”

The rest of the group situated themselves on the upper-level balcony, while Tengri stayed below to officiate the bout. He repeated the rules of the match to them. Unfortunately, neither fighter was listening too intently.

The Hyena stepped back, announcing the start of the match. “Begin!”

Indra crouched low, squaring his shoulders. Kaluza stretched his limbs, like a runner would, loosening his stance. His gauges started to glow, the Conduits channeling a surge of energy. His blonde hair started to ruffle. The Homunculus grinned, an aura of power suddenly enveloping him. His hair burned auburn, flying back as he lunged forward. Auburn? Indra finally got a good look at his face as he charged. The scar was unmistakable. Uh oh.