《Traverser》 Death Sentence ¡°Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if it weren¡¯t this normal¡±. Maybe in a world where the artists didn¡¯t exist, he wasn¡¯t born into the position he was in, and people really did care that he was Nial Rockford, maybe he would be extraordinary. He knew that that made it sound like he was unaware of the position that he was in, that he didn¡¯t know, that at the very least statistically speaking, he was an anomaly. But that¡¯s only on the surface, only from your perspective where you can view him as a vibrant colorful splash of paint against a broader world of grey. But as he saw it, he woke up every day into a world where he could pass by at least a hundred other people just like him. What does that make him? No need, he could tell you himself, it made him just one of many. Just another side character in the eyes of another man who was the protagonist of their own life. That¡¯s not what he wanted though, he wanted to be truly special. Someone who cannot even begin to be compared to the likes of a man who you could pass by on the street on any given day. Someone who could be called more important than any person you could casually meet. Alas, as was said before he was merely 18-year-old Nial Rockford, and will always be Nial Rockford. Only one out of the five-thousand Theta class cadets in the lower-south-section fourth level artist academy in the African domain. And one of the over five-hundred thousand uno tier artists worldwide. Nial sat in a zombie-like state at his desk as he bemoaned the state of his life while yet again preparing to review his material for tomorrow¡¯s history exam. In the year 1978 the old world ended. In this year the very first artists emerged. Artists are special beings who¡¯ve gained the ability to perceive or even manipulate the 4th dimension. They were then split into four different types; Deltas who could bring things through the 4th dimension, Thetas who could bring themselves through the 4th dimension, Gammas who could use their abilities to gain physical control over the 3rd dimension, and Zetas who had 4th dimensional control over themselves. Immediately after the ¡°Awakening¡± as scientists of the time began to call it the old world began to end. It was a world born to create peace, but the nature of the artists was the exact opposite. An artist was an anomaly so rare that only one out of every hundred people could become one and even fewer could make it past the uno stage in their ascendance. Even worse the only way for an artist to ascend is to kill another artist and take their mana¡­knock, knock. Just as Nial was about to start chapter two he heard the sound of a dangerous intruder impeaching upon his peaceful cram session, or in other words struggle for his life. ¡°You up yet man?¡± Nial¡¯s expression crumbled unsightly, ¡°No, give me two more hours!¡± ¡°Two more hours, but isn¡¯t your test in thirty minutes?¡± Nial rushed to pull back his curtains only to see a full-blown death ray of deadly sunlight. The door burst open and one young man rushed out while another flew backwards against the wall. Nial turned to thank his roommate Hao Liu for warning him before rushing out the door before the other boy could even come fully back to consciousness. Nial rushed through a corridor filled with numerous other doors into a spacious courtyard dominated by the color white. Painted in large golden letters across the center of the walkway were the letters FDRE. No sane cadet wouldn¡¯t know what these letters stood for. The Fourth Dimensional Research and Exploration Institute colloquially referred to as the Org. The Org were the ones who oversaw all artists and ran academies all over the world. During the apocalypse age that occurred after the awakening, where there was no one to stop artists from doing as they pleased numerous people died to the whims of artists whether because they wanted mana or simply because they wished to kill. Then in the year 2000, long after the fall of any major governing organization, the FDRE appeared ran by the anonymous Mr. Mishima. Also known as the only quin level artist in existence. If uno level artists may be able to easily take on a group of normal humans and duo level artists can fight entire large armies if they use their power right, then quin level artists should be considered gods on Earth. Capable of doing nearly anything they wanted at a level of nigh omnipotence. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The vast skyline was dominated by pearly white skyscrapers even far off into the distance. If one came here without any context there was simply no way one would ever guess that this academy wast deep in the Congo rainforest. However, with the use of 4th dimensional abilities humanity could create a thriving metropolis in practically any given area. As Nial raced through in between the large spiraling buildings in an attempt to reach his lecture hall he began to be barraged by the temptation to use his artistic ability to shorten the distance. But the problem lies in the fact that he would have to use it at least three times to make it to class and it was significantly tiring to use it even once, not to mention he also had a practical exam later that day. As he continued his unwitting marathon the sight of the Gorgan lecture hall where he had his exam blew away any thoughts of using his ability as his legs surged with their final wind of strength. As he finally made it to the hall his leftover momentum nearly sent him careening through the entrance as he looked to his left to see Kit Wingate and her large group of female friends staring back at him. What would you normally expect to happen in this situation? Would you expect Kit to maybe ask if he was okay as he caught his balance? Maybe turn the other way in an attempt to save him from the inevitable embarrassment that would stem from his carelessness? Or would you expect her to point at him and begin raucously laughing while signaling her friends to join in, because as Nial had known Kit since the second year of 3rd level academy he certainly did. And as ever she did not fail to meet his expectations. Normally Nial would march over and chew her out in response to this unprovoked transgression but seeing the large group now surrounding her he hesitated. Seeing this Kit¡¯s lips curved upward into a teasing smile, ¡°What, you can only mess with girls when they¡¯re alone?¡± Hearing this all hesitation left Nial¡¯s face he, with steady gate and practiced motion, marched over and flicked the annoying brat squarely in the middle of her forehead. Her possie seemed to pause there in astonishment, not expecting anyone to do such a thing. Their surprise was natural however as Kit was the closest cadet in the academy to being a duo level artist despite only being in her first year. Her zeta class ability was equally impressive though. Kit could, for a short time, bring her previous self from any point in time into the present. These two things combined to make Kit the most popular person in the entire academy, she was more or less guaranteed a high-level position in the org upon graduation. Yet when Nial met her, she was only a sightly annoying friend in the same year. Upon Nial¡¯s finger making contact with Kit¡¯s head Kit became so shocked she was unable to recover herself and fell backward. As Kit¡¯s long golden hair spread in every direction across the floor the expression in her deep blue eyes quickly shifted from surprise to embarrassment to anger. As her blue eyes reflected Nial¡¯s dark black ones she belted out her words in angered throaty tone, ¡°How dare you!¡± Nial couldn¡¯t be said to have a striking appearance with black eyes and hair that didn¡¯t come past his ears, the remarkable darkness cast a naturally cold glint in his eyes as he looked down at Kit. ¡°How dare I, how dare you, say that after you were the one who started laughing.¡± Seeing his eyes Kit seemed to perform a cat like jump out of fear before returning to her rage filled expression. ¡°You know that I can select whoever I want as my opponent for the practical exams today, right? I was just on my way to make my selection and now I think you¡¯ll make a good punching bag.¡± As she said this Kit quickly got up and turned away going further into the building bringing the rest of her possie with her. As Nial watched her still fuming back fading into the distance he became certain. If he wasn¡¯t dead before, he certainly was now. Exam In order to properly grasp Nial¡¯s fear at the moment, exactly why Kit was so beloved and feared at the same time within the academy should be explained. In the first place Kit was the closest to becoming a duo tier cadet within the academy. How much stronger is a duo tier cadet than an uno tier cadet? Well to approximate if a uno tier cadet can overpower about 100 men on their own, then a duo tier cadet can handle about 10,000 men alone. It should be stated that Nial was by no means considered weak within the academy. In fact, within the 1st year of their 4th level academy Nial was ranked 15,326th out of 50,000. If anybody below or at most 1,000 ranks above him challenged him he would have absolute confidence to win. The problem here was that Kit was ranked 1st out of 50,000. At the moment Nial was contemplating where exactly he should ask Hao to bury him, he was shocked out of it by the sound of the world¡¯s loudest bell chiming. ¡°Crap!¡± He had completely forgotten about why he had ventured out of his room at such an early hour in the first place. His test. He had barely studied for it and now he was even going to be late for it. At this point Professor Mayes was going to have him in the ground before Kit did. In an instant Nial¡¯s face went from terrified to resolved. He had to do it, he had to use his artistic ability. Nial closed his eyes and began to imagine. He thought of Professor Mayes¡¯ lecture hall. Visualized the rows of desks gradually leading down to where the professor stood at the blackboard. Next, he thought about the people in the room. It was a test day so it would naturally be filled to capacity. He started by thinking about the people he didn¡¯t like since their faces were easy to recall. Then he thought about the people he was mildly acquainted with. He filled in their faces with basic and bland features. Finally he depicted the people he didn¡¯t know all that well thinking about them as grey shapes, vaguely resembling the human silhouette. Then it was time for the finishing touches. He was already a full meter off the ground, but herds of students dressed in all white cadet uniforms with black buttons passed all around him paying him absolutely no mind. It wasn¡¯t until his ability began to activate that the monotonous white river was impeded upon by a shimmering blue aura. But as soon as it began it was over, and Nial disappeared into thin air. When Nial opened his eyes, it was as though he had held his head underwater for a solid ten minutes. It took him a while of gasping and wiping a never-ending sea of sweat from his face to realize he had successfully crossed over with his power and was now sitting in his usual seat within Professor Mayes¡¯ classroom. It took him even longer to realize that every head in that classroom was turned towards him. Including one with a short stout body and a very angry face.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Do you have a reason for interrupting my class as I give instructions for a very important test?¡± In contrast to his expression, his voice was ice cold. It gave off the impression that he was facing a judge in a court rather than a teacher in a classroom. Was he even supposed to respond in this atmosphere? ¡°I¡¯m here for the test?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Apparently not. As Nial discretely lowered his gaze from the raging bull in front of him his eyes met with the four-page packet below him on his desk. He tried making out the meaning behind any of the questions. ¡°What class of artist can use their control over the fourth dimension to alter themselves?¡± He knew this one! If the rest of the questions were going to be as easy as the ones on the first page, he might have a shot at this! He didn¡¯t have a chance in hell. 30 minutes into the 90-minute exam and he was still on page two. ¡°What formula do you use to calculate the direction and distance of a delta class traverser when they teleport?¡± What, he was a delta class himself and even he couldn¡¯t figure that out. How was anybody supposed to make it through an exam like this? He came to the conclusion, if the test itself was unfair, it must be testing how to get around the test! He thanked a certain show about a spikey-haired ninja boy for imparting him with such a valuable life lesson. His new problem was how did he get around said test? Luckily for him that was the easy part. Right next to him was Michelle a transfer from the U.K. section of the European domain, but more importantly the top student in the class. And right next to her was her scratch paper, and on it was neatly outlined the exact formulas he would need for the rest of the exam. He just needed to take a little look and¡­ ¡°Mr. Rockford please see me after class.¡± Luckily, at that moment, a voice rang out in his head signaling he didn¡¯t even need to finish his exam. Unluckily his professor was the one that voice belonged to. He looked toward the center of the lecture hall and saw the face of the devil and it was smiling back at him. After being made to apologize to Michelle who treated him as though he was a convicted criminal Nial was being made to now have a conversation with Professor Mayes. ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to inform you that the written portion of your exam is nullified now?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°However, I received some interesting information about your practical exam.¡± He had a bad feeling. ¡°Kit Wingate has proposed a challenge.¡± ¡°And about that I have to submit an appeal my ability is mainly used for traversal and it¡¯s a bad match up since hers has direct combat viability and¡­¡± ¡°Normally because of that we would accept your appeal even though she has the higher rank than you. But you do realize that due your cheating attempt you have just lost your grade for the written portion of the exam and no one else higher ranked than you submitted a combat request this semester meaning that¡­¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t accept her request, I fail the exam.¡± At that moment the rare smile that sprouted on his face grew even wider. ¡°So, do you wish to submit an appeal?¡± ¡°I¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°I, I want to except Kit¡¯s request.¡± ¡°Splendid I will set the time of examination for one week from now.¡± I left the room looking like a ghost that only recently rose from their grave, as I began to stumble back to my room to let Hao know t Preparation ¡°I¡¯m not really sure what to say.¡± Here in front of him stood his lifelong enemy, no perhaps their feud wouldn¡¯t even end at their generation. It was very possible that at this rate their animosity wouldn¡¯t even be resolved if their children¡¯s children did battle all their lives. ¡°You bastard. I tell you that I¡¯m due for a battle with the top 1st year cadet in the academy and you tell me you¡¯re not sure what to say!¡± ¡°I mean what do you want me to do. Realistically what can I do but wish you luck and get your parents numbers so I can let them know what happened to their son.¡± ¡°Son of a¡­¡± ¡°In the first place shouldn¡¯t the one you¡¯re most mad at be yourself? I mean this did all happen because you didn¡¯t study and arrived late to your exam.¡± ¡°I challenge you to a combat exam.¡± ¡°You already accepted one.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re provoking me now!¡± ¡°This conversation is useless.¡± Hao was right of course. The only reason why Kit challenged Nial was because Nial decided to retaliate against her childish teasing. The only reason he was forced to accept the challenge was because he failed Professor Mayes¡¯s exam, but the point still stood. He didn¡¯t come to Hao for a reasonable opinion, he came to be told everything was part of a conspiracy that was out to get him. Something along the lines of, ¡°How could they,¡± or ¡°Why would they do this to you of all people?" Alas the cold-hearted bastard in front of him was Hao Liu, the indifferent guy would probably turn down a starving orphan if they were begging for food right in front of Hao. ¡°But it¡¯s not as though there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡± Of course, this was Hao Liu we were talking about the kindest, smartest person Nial knew. ¡°I can help you train right?¡± It¡¯s a good thing there was no challenge because the things Nial was about to do to the man in front of him went against any rule book the academy had. ¡°What¡¯s up with your face dude it looks like your being possessed by two different ghosts at the same time? ¡°Nothing you wanna train? Let¡¯s go.¡± Nial grabbed Hao and took him out of the room as an odd premonition began to come over him. The academy training area was quite a long way away from the dorm where Nial and Hao lived. It was a large facility with three divisions for the three broad categories the students fell under: Combat, Service, and Craftsmanship. Service was the category Nial would normally fall under, since as a traverser, it would be beyond easy for him to get hired anywhere as a private or public means of transport. Because of this he rarely used the combat training area outside of times when he needed to prepare for his combat exams, and he certainly wasn¡¯t alone in this either. The combat training division was primarily used by, well, the students classified under the Combat category. Combat category students or Combatants were solely comprised of the students in the top 10,000 of their class. Meaning that students below 10,000th who wanted to become combatants couldn¡¯t, and students above 10,000th who didn¡¯t want to be had no choice. It wasn¡¯t as though you could just intentionally drop your ratings either. Each professor had a comprehensive list of their students¡¯ total abilities and if they felt you were intentionally underperforming or hiding information on the full extent of your abilities it may not even end at you being expelled, you could be arrested. After all, artists weren¡¯t any run of the mill soldiers, many of them had the ability to take on full on nukes or even output a similar amount of damage. Letting someone like that roam unchecked is far beyond irresponsible. But that¡¯s not to say some don¡¯t slip through the cracks. These unknown artists are known as rogues and they¡¯re part of the reason why Combatants exist in the first place, that is to say only part, of the reason. For these reasons all young artists are required to enlist as cadets as soon as their powers surface. Not only to train them but to make sure they¡¯re registered. Though again it¡¯s not as though every cadet was some sort of future war monger, the two other divisions outside of combat were far more populace. If you did interview every student in the academy, the majority would say they want nothing to do with the Combat category anyway. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. However, looking at the sheer number of cadets desperately training with determined looks on their faces in the combat division at this time one would certainly think otherwise. Standing in front of them though was perhaps the most anomalous part of this whole scene. A beautiful woman, maybe about a few years older than Nial and Hao standing behind the reception desk with a bright smile and even brighter bleach blonde hair, and in front of her was Hao, turning so red behind his glasses that the only one of his features that could be made out were his erratically moving eyes. ¡°S, Sarah.¡± ¡°Hao! You haven¡¯t come by the Craftsmanship division in a while. Who would have thought that I would see you on my Combat shift of all times, though I suppose it is exam season.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as though I don¡¯t come by here at all. You know I¡¯m actually considered pretty strong among the first years.¡± This was a lie of course Hao was ranked about 30,501. ¡°Really! Could it be that you¡¯re planning on becoming a Combatant in the future?¡± Of course he wasn¡¯t. ¡°I would but I just don¡¯t want to take on the risk to my life of course.¡± ¡°Right, I totally understand so do you want me to give you suppressors for when you take on your friend here?¡± ¡°Naturally, but he¡¯s rather weak so I¡¯ll need suppressors for about 20,000 ranks.¡± ¡°Really?! In that case you might even be above rank 15,000 is that right Hao?¡± ¡°I prefer not to say.¡± If Nial didn¡¯t want to hurt Hao before then now he definitely did, so after they walked to a nice, secluded area of the division Nial turned off transparency for the room. Hao tried to offer Nial the suppressing gear, but Nial turned it down. ¡°But don¡¯t you need these to make the training effective?¡± ¡°Whatever could you mean I¡¯m sparring someone 20,000 ranks above me, if anything, you should be the one to put on the gear to make the training more effective for yourself.¡± Hao ever, the smart cadet seemed to realize exactly what Nial was getting at and immediately tried running for the door but alas, it was too late. Nial didn¡¯t need any sort of envisioning when his jumping target was right in front of him. In just a second he was already in front of Hao ready to deliver upon his nemesis his just desserts. ¡°I, I won¡¯t go down without a fight!¡± The normally composed Hao¡¯s face turned strident, as though ready to make a last stand that would go down in the history books. Hao Liu¡¯s power was simple; he could see the future. You may be wondering with such a power how has he not taken over the world yet? Simple, he just can¡¯t see that far ahead yet, seers describe their ability like looking at a comic strip, with the past and present happening all at once. Not only that but with multiple pages worth of different timelines that are virtually indistinguishable from one another due to their sheer volume. Due to this even the best seers can really only comprehend about one year into the future and trying to go any further can lead to an aneurism. Nial ran towards Hao, vengeance painted on his face and as he sought to land the first blow Hao¡¯s forehead pulsed with veins as he seemed to anticipate it countering Nial¡¯s right hook with his wrist before trying to hit him with a straight. But this is where the difference between a lower and higher-level user of the fourth dimension comes in as Nial immediately used his ability to traverse behind him while Hao who had already strained himself with his last ability use was helpless as Nial swept his legs out from under him and got on top of him to use control position as he rained his fists of retribution. ¡°I yield! I yield!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste your breath, there is no mercy only justice!¡± Fist after fist flew towards Hao until Nial was sufficiently satisfied. Though, of course, none of this was actually hurting him. Every cadet had training gear which included gloves that would shelter the victim from any blow they inflicted. This didn¡¯t change the fact, however, that the scene these two were causing would look like a bully ruthlessly beating up a helpless victim to anyone else. When Nial was finally satisfied with his enforcement of justice, or reign of terror, the two got up and it was time for Nial to put on his suppressing gear so the two could actually begin their training. As soon as he put the gear on it was as though he had just gained 50 kilos. He felt weaker and slower but most of all it was though his ability had regressed to how it was in 2nd level academy. All of a sudden if he wanted to traverse to the other side of the room, he would have to imagine what it would be like on the other side of the of the room and he wasn¡¯t even sure he¡¯d be accurate with the jump. The next round Nial couldn¡¯t respond nearly as fast to Hao¡¯s blows, in fact Hao didn¡¯t even need to use his ability to hit him. After Hao landed five blows, he simply swept Nial¡¯s legs out from under him and sent him hurtling towards the ground. ¡°Unlike certain uncivilized bastards I won¡¯t continue an assault on my enemy once they¡¯ve already been defeated.¡± ¡°Which is why you¡¯ll never rise above 30,000.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°I said I want to go again.¡± ¡°Me too¡± After what felt like days, they finally exited the training building under the inky black cover of night. ¡°There¡¯s no way you actually think you¡¯re going to beat Kit, right?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s to say? Maybe I could be the next number one of this academy.¡± ¡°Dude be honest, even if you did win there¡¯s no way they¡¯d immediately promote you to number one anyway.¡± ¡°Look obviously I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to win.¡± ¡°So why put in all this effort, you¡¯re guaranteed to get a passing score anyway?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who suggested training.¡± ¡°And normally you would have said no you like training even less than me after all.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So?¡± ¡°I dunno man, I guess this is the first time me and Kit are hanging out in a long time so I figured I might as well make it count y¡¯know? ¡°Dude, that¡¯s like actually stupid, I mean didn¡¯t all this happen against your will in the first place? Have you been watching romance dramas again?¡± After that another grand battle commenced between Nial and a cadet an intimidating 20,000 ranks above him. Determination ¡°Hey, have you heard?¡± ¡°About what?¡± Kit Wingate was a celebrity in the South African region even before coming to the academy. After 3rd level academy she was practically a household name within the African domain. Currently her popularity was comparable to that of a mid-tier pro athlete if not slightly above. That being the case, it was no surprise that the rumor mill started up when it got out that she would be taking on a non-Combatant for her exam. ¡°Kit is going after someone below rank 10,000 for the exam this semester.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s her friend or something, she might just be trying to hand them an easy A.¡± ¡°I doubt it from what I heard it¡¯s the opposite she¡¯s going after the guy just to beat him up.¡± ¡°Wow poor guy huh?¡± The ¡°poor guy¡± in question was sitting at the table behind them eating pizza in the dining hall but of course neither of the two girls knew that as they continued their gossiping. It was now three days until the climactic show down between Kit and Nial. Nial of course had been training his ass off with Hao for the past five. He had made such significant progress that he thought he could jump about 2,000 ranks if reassessed at the moment but if 10,000 was a wall he was still too weak to overcome then Kit Wingate would be like trying to jump over mount Everest in one go. ¡°I seriously don¡¯t get why you¡¯re trying so seriously to win this match dude.¡± ¡°Who knows? Even if I don¡¯t win, I might still be able to leave an impression, right?¡± ¡°Yea whatever, I¡¯m tired of hearing this already. I bet you won¡¯t even last 5 seconds in the ring with Kit.¡± ¡°You wanna bet?¡± ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°No.¡± He had no intention of explaining his intentions and certainly not to a non-believer like Hao. For now, the only thing they had to do was finish their meal and head back to the training building and that was all he wanted to do too. ¡°Hey, are you guy the one Kit challenged.¡± At that moment, a boy who seemed to be their age if not a little bit younger came running over to them speaking Org with an accent Nial had never heard before. From what Nial heard Org was a language established with English as a base and Arabic mixed in and for this reason, since apparently the Canadian region he grew up in spoke English originally there wasn¡¯t much difficulty for natives to speak it when it was originally implemented. But even still it was required that 1st and 2nd level academies teach their students Org before their native languages, so it was strange to hear someone talking with grammar this bad. ¡°Uh yeah that¡¯s me, why? What do you need?¡± ¡°I need time for speaking¡± ¡°Um okay I guess.¡± It took him a minute to realize that the girls who had been talking a moment ago were looking overhear now. They probably turned initially due to being taken aback by the strange speech, but it was clear that they were now taken in for an entirely different reason. If Nial was just your average guy with pale skin and dark hair with slightly intimidating eyes, then this guy was his polar opposite. Vibrant flawless skin, with curly golden blond hair that had been slightly swept to the side, and deep blue eyes that gave off a naturally inviting aura, it was clear to Nial from the beginning that these two would have no affinity together. ¡°I am friend with Kit.¡± ¡°So was I.¡± ¡°Really? It won¡¯t seem so.¡± ¡°Well, we aren¡¯t anymore.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Um, if you don¡¯t mind me asking what¡¯s up with your accent? It¡¯s kind of distracting.¡± ¡°Oh, mother said to teach me German before Org. She says Org is dangerous language, so I learn it second.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± It certainly wasn¡¯t a rare site. Org was obviously short for The Organization or the FDRE. It was them who came up with the language and it¡¯s them who enforce it. Countries weren¡¯t just going to give up a core part of their heritage without a fight after all. But with as many artists as The Org has on their side denying their governance is essentially a death sentence, though to this day many individuals take the time to pass down their native tongue to their children as their first language. And it¡¯s not as though The Org doesn¡¯t know about this either but as long as it doesn¡¯t rise to a national scale, they¡¯re unlikely to care. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Listen my name is Kurt Krausse I am rank 2 academy.¡± ¡°So, what do you need with me?¡± ¡°I will propose challenge so please drop out of fight with Kit.¡± What? ¡°What do you mean? She¡¯s the one who proposed the challenge in the first place!¡± ¡°More like what do you mean!? Aren¡¯t you the one who came to me looking for a way out of your predicament? This is the perfect solution!¡± Dammit Hao! Can¡¯t you sit this one out! ¡°Please! You understand she wants to hurt you. If you were friends, you know this would hurt reputation!¡± Crap things were spiraling, he needed to find some way to get out of this conversation. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t hurt, and you will still get A.¡± ¡°Look! Kit¡¯s the fight I accepted and Kit¡¯s the one I¡¯m going to take on, no one else. He quickly stood up and began hurrying out of the dining hall but apparently not fast enough since as soon as he made it to the threshold, someone caught up to him. ¡°Look man I need to know what¡¯s going on a couple of days ago you were making funeral preparations but now all of a sudden you won¡¯t let anybody interfere in the fight? Tell me what¡¯s happening!¡± ¡°Look, I¡± ¡°NO! No more of the crap you¡¯ve been spitting up until now. We go back to the dorm, and we sort this out NOW! Normally Nial was physically stronger than Hao but at this moment when Hao grabbed Nial¡¯s wrist he was completely powerless to resist. ¡°Explain.¡± At this moment Hao and Nial seemed to be in the midst of some sort of strange court proceedings as Nial looked pleadingly up to where Hao was sitting on the top bunk of the bed as Hao gazed emotionlessly back at him. ¡°Look I¡¯m not hiding anything from you!¡± ¡°I already know you are now explain.¡± ¡°Fine then you¡¯ll never get anything out of me!¡± ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m sitting all the way up here?¡± ¡°What.¡± Without even batting an eye the bastard pulled out from behind himself Nial¡¯s Nonton Deck 3! ¡°You wouldn¡¯t!¡± Nial had gone out of his way to get a job over summer break and work himself to death to save up 500$ just to by that thing. ¡°You wanna take that bet too?¡± ¡°Look no! Look! There¡¯s no way this is that serious right?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was either until lunch but now I¡¯m not so sure.¡± As he said this, he began tossing the deck from side, right over the edge of the bed. ¡°Enough! I¡¯m sorry I¡¯ll tell you everything!¡± ¡°Then start talking. Now.¡± Nial inhaled a deep breath as he began to let out the words that had haunted him for so long. ¡°I want to be popular.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it I¡¯m dropping it.¡± Just as Hao loosened his grip on the handheld gaming device Hao executed a perfect dive to save his 500$. ¡°Look I¡¯m trying to be serious here! What is wrong with you man!¡± ¡°I am too!¡± Hao cocked an eyebrow. As if offended that Nial would insult him in this way. ¡°You¡¯re telling me, that you would go through all this trouble. Including going up against the number 1 in our entire class. Who you were just scared of a couple days ago, all for a little bit of notoriety?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask me to train with you till all this is over. I¡¯m out.¡± Hao didn¡¯t even give him the chance to prepare another response as he left the room and closed the door behind him. Nial was left there in the room with nothing but his own thoughts. He knew he messed up, but he just didn¡¯t know how to tell Hao why he was doing what he was. Only he knew that, why he felt the way he did. Kit, his brother, Hao even, they were all beautifully unique in their own ways. By comparison to them he felt that he might as well be a folding screen in the background to the epics they would one day write and have written. Looking back, he supposed the only reason he had responded to Kit in the first place was because he was jealous in a way. If she were the sun he couldn¡¯t even be compared to the moon. It was like he was wondering why she had to come back into his life when all she was there to do was outshine him. To his parents, to the students, to Kurt he could tell that the only reason any of them decided to pay any attention to them was because of his value as not even 2nd fiddle but 3rd or 4th string in someone else¡¯s concert. When he first accepted Kit¡¯s challenge he was scared, though to be honest not of her, but of stepping back into her shadow. He knew it himself it was his fault their friendship ended. When Kit¡¯s power first started growing exponentially back in 3rd level academy, she did try reaching out to him, but it was him who cut her off without giving her any reason. It was like he was seeing his older brother all over again. He knew he was hurting Kit but every time he thought he should apologize his pride and fear of stepping back into her shadow began to creep back in. Then the more he thought about the challenge the more he came to believe. What if he could at least put up a fight. Maybe, just maybe it would gain him the respect of his peers. Then he could apologize and the two of them could rekindle their friendship on maybe not equal but similar standings. At least similar enough that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being overshadowed. As he thought about this, he realized why he couldn¡¯t just explain this to Hao. That same fear that had ate away at him with Kit and his brother was now doing the same with Hao. Maybe Hao was weaker and lower ranked than him, but he was courageous and more headstrong than anyone he knew. Somewhere along the line he began to look up to Hao, just like he did with his brother and Kit, but now that he knew this, he couldn¡¯t just let things keep going in this direction. He had to go get his friend back.
The Combatant dorms where Kit Wingate lived weren¡¯t particularly different from the others. Outside of a fast-food restaurant in there were no other different commodities for the Combatants compared to the other classifications. However, just because there were none for the other combatants, that didn¡¯t mean there were none for Kit Wingate. While it may even be considered rougher for other students in her dorm since, after all the main reason the combat dorms were separated was because of the Combatants¡¯ perceived rough nature, Kit was relaxed sipping tea on her balcony and garden while watching tv on her 2-meter tv. Yet all the while she was doing this she was thinking or rather, worrying about an old friend. Someone who she to go as far as to provoke into a fight before they were willing to face her for more than a brief interaction. Someone who she desperately wanted to talk to, and who was that someone? Their name seemed to come to her lips as if in a fading sigh. ¡°Nial.¡± Strain Nial probably hated her, or so Kit thought. She believed she knew why but what tortured her was that she could never know for sure. Why had he suddenly abandoned their friendship and cut off their connection, was that all it was worth to him. They had known each other since before their artistic abilities got officially classified. When they first met if either of them decided to tap into the fourth dimension it would be possible, but it would require a great deal of effort to do so. Even so, however, when their 3rd level 2nd year class really got to know each other there was a clear leader emerging from the group. His name was Nial Rockford, and the reason was simple, his brother. You see Nial¡¯s brother was well known as one of the world¡¯s few Trio level artists. To give context it should be stated that in order to even rise above duo you needed to do one of two things. First was kill a higher-level artist, and in doing so, take their mana or in other words the energy they use to tap into the fourth dimension, a large quantity of which would be dispelled upon the artist¡¯s death. Second, was a rarer measure, to be imbued with the power to rise a tier by The Org. However, this was typically done for only the most promising cadets of the academy or licensed artists in non-Combatant fields who receive widespread recognition for their feats. The problem with this second method was that it would cost an amount of energy that could be used to power the city of New York for 3 years. This being the case Nial¡¯s brother had chosen the former method of ascending. It was from the two events, the first in which he moved up to duo during his time in the Academy, and the next in which he moved up to Trio after graduating that Nial¡¯s brother became a legend amongst the cadets. Through sheer wit and bravery, he was able to overcome two higher level rogues and ascend to become a higher-level artist himself. He was the type of artist every sixteen-year-old cadet in that classroom wanted to be. Needless to say, when they all heard that that famous artist¡¯s little brother was their very classmate, their expectations sored through the roof. And when Nial was met with the burden of these young cadet¡¯s expectations, he delivered. Practicals, writing it didn¡¯t matter, Nial could do it all. Rankings were typically only used in 4th level academies to prevent excessive competition among children, but somehow, everyone implicitly new Nial was number one. It wasn¡¯t as though it was his powers themselves that made Nial so superior, they were on the same level as all the other kids. No, it was the knowledge and tact with which he used them that made Nial above average, a knowledge and tact he no doubt gained from his brother. Kit still clearly remembered a time when she was struggling to use her powers due to their complicated nature. When Nial approached her to help her out he didn¡¯t just try to make her brute force her way into evolving her powers outright like the teachers had done. Instead, he taught her an easier and more creative way to use her ability. A way that, provided her with the method she needed to make her ability combat viable. When asked about how he came up with such a smart way to use an ability that wasn¡¯t even his he gladly attributed it to his brother. His brother had coincidentally fought a rogue earlier that month with a similar artistic ability to Kit¡¯s. Upon recognizing the uncanny similarity to his brother and informing him about Kit¡¯s problem, Nial¡¯s brother easily reverse engineered a solution from the method he used to take down the rogue. It wasn¡¯t just Kit either, Nial was willing to help anybody who came to him, passing on the credit to his brother every time. Eventually there would be a see of 3rd levlers not from Nial and Kit¡¯s class but the whole school looking for advice from the wise sage known as Nial¡¯s older brother. At one-point Nial even came to Kit and told her that she may be the only person he consistently talked to that didn¡¯t feel the need to bring up his brother at every opportunity. From that moment on the two grew closer, it wasn¡¯t as though they knew each other for very long, but they knew each other, and they were comfortable in each other¡¯s presence. Who was Nial Rockford? Who was Kit Wingate? If you asked the two maybe they wouldn¡¯t even be able to give you a satisfactory answer, but if you asked whether the two were good friends they would probably say yes in a hundred parallel universes. Or so Kit thought. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. You see there was one key to becoming a more talented artist without outright raising your tier and that was to use your artistic ability. The reason why this was so hard though was because for lower tier artists to tap into their ability it took a great deal of effort. Most of the training that occurred at the Uno tier was simply finding the easiest way to make use of their ability. So, then what of Kit who had been the first to be taught by Nial the way around her ability¡¯s complication? Well in the months that followed her growth rate, to put it mildly exploded. All of a sudden there was no cadet within their 3rd level academy to rival her. Not even Nial. Her suspicions came in when people started to notice the connection between Nial and Kit and began approaching him to find out its nature. The guys especially seemed enthusiastic to find out they weren¡¯t dating. Nial would always do the same things he did with his brother, he would greet them with big smiles, sing her praises and promise to put in a good word and never follow up. She thought the same reason he was so comfortable in her presence was becoming the same reason he wanted to be in her presence less and less. Nial was a nice guy, he wouldn¡¯t just tell her to her face that the reason he was uncomfortable with her was because she was popular, something he knew she had no control over. But Kit couldn¡¯t just come out and ask if he didn¡¯t like her because he was being overshadowed by her presence. And so, the two were at a stalemate. Instead choosing to fight the battle to keep their friendship they chose to walk their separate ways. When Kit finally looked up to see how far their friendship had fallen, she had no clue on how to pull it back together. So, she started back from step one. Rather than giving some grand apologetic gesture she approached him in the hallway and asked if he wanted to hang out. However, what she didn¡¯t anticipate is that just the mere act of doing this would attract all the eyes in their vicinity due to her newfound fame. ¡°Is that Kit?¡± ¡°Are she and Nial dating?¡± ¡°No way I heard they were totally broken up!¡± The whispers in that hallway still haunted her to this day. She could clearly remember the look on Nial¡¯s face as he turned to look at her amongst all the ambient dialog. Annoyance. As though to ask why after all the time they had spent a part, was she approaching him like this, right now? In spite of this though he answered her politely. Simply stating he had to cram for an exam he had the next day. Leaving Kit to stew in the feelings she had newly gained, anger. They were in the same class, she had no test tomorrow, he couldn¡¯t at least come up with a better lie than that? Even so Kit would try several more times to rekindle the lost friendship, though things wouldn¡¯t get much better. Each time Kit tried to approach Nial it was as though she could feel things get a bit more strained, like successive attempt was throwing a little more water on the dying ember of their friendship. The frustration was getting to be too much. At some point Kit simply stopped trying all together, and the two would go on to graduate without incident. Then it happened. In the 4th level academy entrance ceremony Kit caught someone out the corner of her eye. It was Nial. She was sitting in between a few of her newer friends at this point. Maybe the frustration she had felt from before was starting to return because she threw out a light jab at him under her breath. One of her friends must have heard as they responded with one of their own. She hesitated for a moment on whether or not to respond but her friend situated to her right threw her own jab Nial¡¯s way, this time on his gloomy eyes. Now both of them were looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to throw out the next blow. And she did. Soon the three were joking and laughing away through the ceremony all at Nial¡¯s expense. But when the ceremony ended and the students began to flow out of the auditorium her eyes met with Nial¡¯s dark black ones and what was reflected this time wasn¡¯t the usual annoyance, but betrayal. He had heard. Somehow, someway he had heard. She needed to apologize. She hurried over to where he was, but he seemed to be speeding up to avoid her pursuit. This time though, his speed was outpaced by her urgency. ¡°Listen Nial...¡± ¡°No.¡± She needed to tell him how sorry she was. ¡°Please can¡¯t you just hear me out this time!?¡± ¡°Why should I.¡± She wanted to talk like they used to. ¡°Every time I try to talk to you like this you just blow me off!¡± ¡°And I¡¯m going to do the same here.¡± She wouldn¡¯t let anything like that happen again. ¡°Look I won¡¯t do that again.¡± ¡°Youb don¡¯t need to tell me that.¡± Nial smoothly exited the scene just like he would at every encounter they had afterward. It infuriated her, made her regretful, made her sorrowful but above all as Kit sat in her Hamock with just 38 hours till her and Nial came to blows. It made her want her friend back. Easy Win ¡°So that¡¯s the reason you say you want popularity?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Just so you can apologize?¡± ¡°Yes. ¡°And you couldn¡¯t just tell her how you feel about this yourself?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°So now you want to make an impression in front of the whole school. ¡°Basically.¡± After the scene Hao had made in leaving their dorm, Nial hadn¡¯t expected him to digest all this information so easily. Then again though, if he knew one thing it was that Hao was easily one of the smartest people he knew. Maybe the anger he had shown during his initial exit was just another tactic in baiting his reasons out of him. ¡°We still won¡¯t be doing any more training together.¡± ¡°What, why not? What else do you want from me? Just tell me I¡¯ll do it!¡± Nial was kind of embarrassed to admit it, but Hao was probably the only cadet in the academy he was close enough with to ask to train together. It wasn¡¯t as though Nial was an unsociable guy, but he wasn¡¯t the type of guy to hang around in a large friend group. ¡°Hah, look you can tell, I can tell, hell the whole damn academy can probably tell at this point, there¡¯s just no way any amount of training would let you last more than twelve seconds in the ring with Kit. It¡¯s not just a matter of strength it¡¯s a matter of compatibility. You¡¯re a theta class traverser and she¡¯s a Zeta class manipulator. Your main combat strategy is to take her by surprise, meanwhile her ability is to control time¡¯s effect on her. Meaning she can¡¯t be surprised. I mean if Kit is this jilted friend trying to make up like you said she was¡­¡± ¡°I never said she was.¡± ¡°Oh, from what I heard you definitely said she was. Anyways, why would she challenge you to this fight in the first place?" By my predictions the beatdown your about to get is going to do far worse than a little teasing to your relationship.¡± ¡°I mean I kinda just assumed she wanted to beat me up and that was it.¡± ¡°You know what Nial? Having known you since Summer at this point, I can say with confidence, that if I had Kit¡¯s level of power, I¡¯d want to beat you up too. But not because I don¡¯t like you, because you¡¯re an idiot.¡± ¡°No need to sugar coat it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t. Anyways if you¡¯re serious about what you say the way I see it you only have one option.¡± ¡°And what would that be?¡± ¡°You need a new combat strategy.¡± ¡°No way, envisioning was the combat strategy my brother taught me and if you think you can come up with a better one¡­¡± ¡°Enough! Look we don¡¯t need to get rid of envisioning as you just need to find a way to work around it in order to counter Kit¡¯s ability. Otherwise, you better find a way to ascend by the end of the night if you want a chance a beating her.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°But I mean it¡¯s like you said yourself Kit¡¯s ability essentially allows herself from two different points in time to exist during the same period. It¡¯s like if she had a shadow clone, and I can¡¯t traverse to two places at once so even if I take one off guard the other one can just counter.¡± ¡°Which is why you don¡¯t use your traversing to directly attack her.¡± ¡°What but I can only use my traversing on myself, I need to envision myself at my destination in order to even use it so how could I use so how could I use it not to attack her? My only other option would be to run away.¡± ¡°Nial, listen, what field do majority of non-combatant traversers seek work in?¡± ¡°Transport.¡± ¡°And why is that.¡± ¡°Because they¡¯re the fastest means available so they¡¯re easy hires¡± ¡°No, how exactly are they able to act as transport.¡± ¡°By bringing people and things from place to place through physical contact. Wait you aren¡¯t suggesting¡­¡± ¡°That you use your ability to traverse with Kit? I am.¡± ¡°Look do you really think I wouldn¡¯t have thought of that before?¡± ¡°No, you definitely would have just not the implications that using it on Kit would have.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Think about it what did they explain to us about Kit¡¯s ability in lecture? ¡°She has the ability to transport herself from five seconds in the past to five seconds in the future.¡± ¡°Correct but what they also said was that what she was doing was in practice becoming a temporary fourth dimensional object. Moving herself, her true self to an area where time and space flow differently.¡± ¡°And that would mean?¡± ¡°That in practice she isn¡¯t summoning a version of herself form a previous point in time, but that we¡¯re observing her existing in a different time flow entirely. So, in practice there¡¯s still just one version of her. Meaning that if you ventured with her into the 4th dimension¡­¡± ¡°We would go back to existing in the same timeline.¡± ¡°One in which she no longer has the ability to clone herself.¡± ¡°But the problem is that it would only be for a few seconds at best I can¡¯t stay in the 4th dimension for that long. It¡¯s like I¡¯m underwater or in space out there if I stay for too long in between traversals I¡¯ll just end up defeating myself, after all Kit¡¯s powers allow her to exist in the 4th dimension, mine just let¡¯s me travel through it.¡± ¡°Hmm, the two of you trained before didn¡¯t you is there anything there you can use? Maybe a way to tire her out before you traverse with her.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, and even if there was, like you said the chances are low that I even last twelve seconds in a straight up fight with her.¡± ¡°What about that strategy you said you¡¯re brother passed along to her, what was the problem he even needed to fix?¡± ¡°Kit always used to talk about how she needed to split her focus in order to properly split herself through time. She said she gained completely new memories of the past while perceiving the present at the same time. Sort of like if you had to fight someone in real time while also having to focus on a tv broadcast of a completely different fight occurring in the back of your head.¡± ¡°And what was your brother¡¯s solution?¡± ¡°Dance Dance Revolution.¡± ¡°Dude.¡± ¡°I¡¯m being serious here! He told me to tell her that if she couldn¡¯t split her focus to managing to versions of herself then she should essentially have the two versions of herself act like one being, by having them focus on completing the same action, like the arrows in Dance Dance Revolution.¡± ¡°I see, but if that were the case she¡¯d be beyond predictable though. There¡¯s no way she would be the number one combatant.¡± ¡°He said the same thing, which is why he said as she get¡¯s more proficient she can focus on working in different moves or omitting ones entirely. Like a two player DDR screen.¡± Hao¡¯s forehead creased into a deep frown. It was as though he had been given a completely new type of math problem and was told to solve it without a calculator. ¡°That would mean then, that the Kit from the present would have to be the one directing the fight. If we could just figure out some way to disrupt her focus then tiring her out wouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± ¡°Yea but Kit brings herself from five seconds in the past not five days in the past. How the hell am I supposed to tell which one is which.¡± ¡°That¡¯s just something you¡¯ll have to figure out on the field won¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Hey¡­¡± ¡°Look bro, in case you can¡¯t tell I still haven¡¯t fully forgiven you for not just telling me why you were so pressed on this fight from the beginning, so consider this little loose end as punishment. I suggest you go rest up; you have a big day tomorrow.¡± Hao shamelessly began walking through the dormitory hallway while smugly waving his hand in the air toward a fuming Nial. Nial was left where he stood, internally reigniting a multigenerational war within himself. Build Up Benjamin coliseum was the name of the African domain¡¯s 4th level academy arena. It was named for the academy¡¯s 2nd and current president. Prior to that point it was just known by students as ¡°the arena¡±, and to this day that was what majority of students called it. Kurt Krausse was among that number, and currently he was proceeding through the halls of that very arena at a snail¡¯s pace. The reason was obvious, it was absolutely loaded to capacity with people. However, it should be noted that this fact was highly unusual, especially during exam season. After all exams were open to spectate but very few of them would be interesting to watch. The majority of those taking the exam weren¡¯t even combatants, so how could they possibly provide a particularly entertaining match when they barely even knew how to fight? So, then who were these people making the hallways so congested? Why were they even there? Well, that was also obvious, they were the combatants themselves, and they were there to see Kit do her practical. You see combatants weren¡¯t the primary target of the exams to begin with. In military terms they would already be army recruits, that means the ones who were being examined were the draftees or in other words, the non-combatants. In practice the practicals were combat exams meant to determine whether or not you were worthy to be forced onto the frontlines post-graduation and while the combatants were allowed to participate it was mostly optional. In the mind of The Org there was probably no point in testing the people they already had locked into their private army. Although this wasn¡¯t to say that combatants wouldn¡¯t participate in the exam at all, it just meant that they themselves had the option on whether they did. But if someone wanted to challenge them, perhaps in order to take their place in the top 10,000, then they were free to do so. The question though was why would they do that? It should be noted that even the majority of current combatants didn¡¯t want to be combatants and the process of challenging a current combatant wouldn¡¯t be an easy way of raising your grade either. Combatants especially were students with heavy wrap sheets on their total abilities, if a professor even so much as slightly suspected a combatant of throwing their match they would be immediately thrown out of the school which would make them an unregistered until they sought enrollment at a different academy. Which is exactly why it was such a big deal that the rank one combatant, Kit Wingate, posed a challenge to someone below rank 15,000, and moreover, that the lower rank accepted the challenge. Did he have no one higher ranked to fight? Did no one lower ranked pose a challenge he could have accepted? Generally speaking, practical exams for non-combatants operated a bit like balancing for their test grades. You needed 150 points to pass all exams. Written exams would count for 100 points while practical exams would count for 50 points with your score raising 50 points for every 500 ranks your opponent was above you. So how bad did this person¡¯s grades have to be to accept a challenge with Kit Wingate of all people? No one knew, but every combatant there was attending for the inevitable spectacle this would become. As Kurt was squeezing his way through the hallway a certain match being broadcasted on a tv above a corridor leading into a room of the arena. On the screen was a kind of skinny looking Asian boy going against a kind of brawny dude with brown hair. The reason why it caught his eye though was because he seemed to recognize the Asian boy on the screen. ¡°That¡¯s the boy who was with Nial in the dining hall a couple days ago,¡± he murmured to himself in German. On a teleprompter above the screen darting from one side to another Kurt made out the words ¡°Hao Liu vs Bert Witherspoon¡±. Kurt was curious at this point. In his mind Nial Rockford was a rather odd character. He seemed adamant on going through with his fight with Kit, yet he said that the two of them were once friends. When Kurt offered him a way to back out of his fight with Kit he seemed almost insulted, but if he were really Kit¡¯s friend then he should know that a fight like this would only hurt her overall reputation if he were to perform well at all. The only explanations could be that Nial thought he would definitely lose and definitely lose badly, or that he was determined to find some way to preform even if it damaged Kit¡¯s reputation in the process. Or option three was that it was neither and Nial was pursuing this battle for an entirely different reason although Kurt found that unlikely. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. As Kurt¡¯s focus returned to the screen his curiosity once again overtook him as he chose to see if Nial¡¯s friend would be as peculiar as him. Kurt squeezed, pushed, and contorted his body to make it through the crowd and into the corridors. What awaited him was a small arena with a few stands situated to either side of the ring. The seats were the tough metal kind often found at third level academies. Surprisingly to Kurt at least the seats weren¡¯t empty either. On the opposite side of the arena from him was a group of three guys and an officiator in the corner who seemed to be perpetually bobbing their head up and down. One with a short and pudgy figure, another with a tall and lanky figure, and one with greasy brown hair with features in between both previous extremes though to far in either direction to really be considered average looking. They seemed to be there mostly to sit down and avoid the crowd outside though occasionally they would heckle the fight taking place below. That is, if you can call it a fight at all. It was more like a game of tag played while standing in place. Hao was using his ability which, based off his bloodshot eyes and bulging forehead veins, seemed to be some type of foresight to dodge Bert¡¯s attacks while not returning any of his own, possibly due to ability strain. While Bert who¡¯s ability seemed to be a more straight forward speed enhancing ability to throw blow after blow at Hao even though he would consistently miss. The two were clearly in a stalemate and it appeared to Kurt to be like one of those scenes from old martial arts movies where one master throws out a series of hits towards another only for the other to dodge everyone. The difference here though, was that both of the boys below were moving at speeds even Kurt could surpass, and he wasn¡¯t even a speedster. Kurt assumed that if Nial really was the combat minded fanatic he assumed he was that he would associate with likeminded people but neither boy below seemed to even be above rank 30,000. As Kurt was in his contemplative process though, the stalemate seemed to finally break. Bert finally landed a single blow squarely on the jaw of Hao which sent Hao reeling for a few steps before the boy finally went tumbling to the ground, prompting the officiator who seemed to be a few seconds away from dozing off to finally stand up. ¡°Bert victory, Hao loss. Bert Witherspoon will be awarded 300 points; Hao Liu will be awarded 50 points. Bert Witherspoon is hereby due for rank reexamination.¡± With that the two boys returned to their respective locker rooms and the other people in the room, including Kurt, slowly began to trickle out. Kurt ruminated on what he just saw. He couldn¡¯t really call either boy¡¯s combat aptitude particularly impressive, but one thing did stand out to him. Hao seemed to be able to maintain his ability for an exceptionally long period of time. While the act of fighting and using his ability clearly placed a great deal of strain on him you can tell that were they not in combat situation Hao¡¯s control over his ability might even be maintained even longer. If Hao was a seer maybe he wanted to be a news anchor? It was a common gig for those who could tell the future after all, but the problem is that still didn¡¯t give him any insight into Nial as a person. Kurt was so deeply entrenched in thought that he didn¡¯t even notice as he smacked face first against the sea of people once again clogging the main walkway as he exited the corridor. As Kurt drew a deep breath and once again began searching for a place to insert himself among the crowd he noticed that all the faces were pointed in one direction. A girl, about 18 years of age, with blue eyes and blonde hair like his own though subtly different. It was, of course, Kit Wingate. The question though was why was Kit Wingate here? She should have about 40 minutes till her match, shouldn¡¯t she be at least heading to her locker room? But instead, she seemed to be casually wading through the crowd as though parting the Red Sea. Whatever the case Kurt didn¡¯t hesitate to make his way over after catching a glimpse. He just had to many questions going through his head, and he wasn¡¯t going to hesitate to talk to someone who has the answers he needed. ¡°Kit you wait!¡± She seemed to jump a little at his call. ¡°Kurt?¡± ¡°Why you here?¡± ¡°Oh, I was just going to get some food and a drink to calm my nerves.¡± ¡°Calm nerves?¡± And why the hell would she need to do that? It wasn¡¯t like she was the one fighting someone 15,000 ranks above her. ¡°We must talk.¡± ¡°Oh, can we do it after I get my food though.¡± ¡°No.¡± He just grabbed her hand and began pulling her along to where the locker rooms were in the basement. Having Kit with him was like having people repellent as the combatants were now moving from side to side themselves to make way for the two cadets. Kurt had Kit in his hands and he fully intended on getting every answer to every question that had been eating him up for a full week now. This Is Stupid ¡°Kit hasn¡¯t been talking very much lately has she?¡± ¡°Shh! She¡¯s right in front of you!¡± ¡°But this is important, she¡¯s going to be starting 3rd level academy soon and if she goes there like this she¡¯s going to get bullied! Teenagers are not known to be civil people!¡± ¡°Even so, you know why she¡¯s like this. After what happened to her mother, there¡¯s just no wonder she¡¯s taking it so harshly.¡± Kit¡¯s mind seemed to be playing memories of the distant past in order to allow herself a way to escape the situation at hand. She was currently inside her locker room being hounded by her younger friend, Kurt, looking as though she were a child being made to explain why she should be able to come out from timeout. Kurt and she had been friends for only about four months now, but he already felt like something of a little brother to her. Kurt had been lauded as an artistic genius from a young age leading to him receiving the opportunity to transfer into to a 4th level academy at the young age of 16 by The Org. However, this was unlike the momentous occasion that skipping a grade in normal high schools and universities called for. It was, in reality merely a thinly veiled attempt to bolster their fighting force with another effective asset as quickly as possible. Everyone knew that graduating earlier meant being on the frontline against rogues and dimension tears that much earlier. Kurt was perhaps the most aware of this though. When Kit first met the boy he always walked around campus with this grim, pale look on his face as though he were being chased down by a fate he knew he couldn¡¯t avoid. Kit could relate in a way, constantly cursing the very talent that was pushing you through the ranks as it was the very thing preventing you from enjoying the life you desire. Since Kurt was the rank two of the academy, he lived just a floor below her apartment in the combat dorms. Because of this she often took the opportunity to bring him some home-cooked meals or show him around campus in order to settle him in. At some point he began relying on her, actively seeking her out for help. It was exactly what she imagined having a little sibling to be like. That was exactly why it was also so embarrassing, scolded by that same little sibling. ¡°You explain.¡± ¡°I.. um¡­¡±
Kit¡¯s ocean blue eyes were dancing in every direction as though searching for an escape route, but Kurt¡¯s eyes, a slightly less vivid more cold blue were locked on to her as though to implicitly communicate that he would not let that happen. After a few more moments of her desperate scramble in the face of Kurt¡¯s wall of indifference Kit finally breathed a sigh of resignation. ¡°Where do I begin¡­¡±
¡°Kit your teachers told me you got into another fight at school.¡± ¡°It was their fault! They bullied me because of my ability so they deserved it!¡± Teresia Wingate was a gentle if strict mother. When she was notified that her daughter got in trouble, which was not an infrequent occurrence, she would never get mad. She would, instead, always make sure to have a long talk with her daughter about why she did it and how she could have handled it better. ¡°You ought to punish her at least once otherwise she¡¯ll think she can get away with it again.¡± Johan Wingate on the other hand, was raised under an affluent South African father who valued discipline over all else. He believed his daughter should be guided onto the right path with a slightly, firmer hand, but he was to weak to both his wife and his daughter to actually act on any of these beliefs. ¡°She¡¯s only a child Johan, if we teach her corporal punishment is the best consequence for these types of things she¡¯ll grow up to be just like you y¡¯know.¡± ¡°Oh? And what¡¯s so wrong with that? You¡¯re the one who fell in love with me after all.¡± ¡°Oh you!¡± Teresia playfully threw out a couple punches towards Johan¡¯s chest in response to his teasing, but Johan took on every blow before wrapping her in his arms with a big bear hug and silencing her with a kiss. ¡°Mommy and Daddy are disgusting!¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. With that the two who had seemed enraptured in each other¡¯s presence seemed to finally snap out of it and return to the issue at hand. ¡°Right um, sweetie those kids were being mean, but the reason is because they¡¯re not happy either.¡± ¡°Why would they be mad though? I wasn¡¯t bullying them?¡± ¡°Well, you see honey, you¡¯re very very special. Not everyone will get the opportunity to awaken to an artistic ability like you have.¡± ¡°Really? So, then they were jealous!¡± ¡°Right honey! But think about it, would you be happy if one of your classmates had something special you didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°I guess not.¡± ¡°Then you should try to forgive them, remember, friends are always better than enemies.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Good now go to your room and get ready for bed, Mommy will come to read you a bedtime story in a little bit.¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Teresia stood and sent a triumphant glare towards Johan as though to declare once and for all that she was the better parent. Johan on the other hand returned her an impressed stare while slowly beginning to clap his hands. ¡°Amazing but there¡¯s one problem.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll be able to read that story before she falls asleep.¡± ¡°Why? Hey wa¡­¡± Before she could respond Johan scooped Teresia off her feat while cackling villainously. ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll even see you in the lab tomorrow! Mwahaha!¡± It took a while, but Teresia would, in fact, read the bedtime story and needless to say she would make it to work the next day. During which time Kit on the other hand would have to put her mother¡¯s teachings to the test. She really didn¡¯t want to, but she had no other choice. Her mother was the person she respected the most and the person she wanted to cross the least. So, as she walked into her second level academy her little face was the picture of determination. ¡°My mommy says I should forgive you guys since you¡¯re just jealous of me!¡± Perfect execution. ¡°What?¡± ¡°No way you¡¯re the one who beat us up!¡± ¡°You guys are the ones who said I can¡¯t use my power right first!¡± ¡°Yeah but you can¡¯t though!¡± ¡°Yeah we didn¡¯t lie!¡± And so, another brawl involving 3 individuals no more than four-foot-five, ensued, and yet again the teacher was the one to intervene. And Kit was now once again dejectedly riding the bus back knowing the call her teacher sent would get there long before she did. And as she stepped through the door, expecting to see the same scene she always did on days like this, what she saw was nothing her little brain could comprehend, and perhaps it would be better if she never did. ¡°We¡¯re sorry sir, but I¡¯m afraid what we¡¯re saying is true.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be. Teresia¡­¡± ¡°We haven¡¯t identified the rogue involved but we promise on our status as members of The Org that we will.¡± Three men, clad in black suits carrying stoic faces as they gazed upon her father, collapsed in his chair with a face frozen with a look in between shock and anguish. This day would be the day that the young Kit¡¯s life took on a whole new direction. ¡°Kit hasn¡¯t been talking very much lately has she?¡± ¡°Shh! She¡¯s right in front of you!¡± ¡°But this is important, she¡¯s going to be starting 3rd level academy soon and if she goes like this then she¡¯s going to get bullied! Teenagers are not known to be civil people!¡± ¡°Even so, you know why she¡¯s like this. After what happened to her mother, there¡¯s just no wonder she¡¯s taking it so harshly.¡± The gossiping aunts dropped their voices to whispers. Apparently they thought since their brother¡¯s daughter was to young to have the same mental faculties as them she lacked the same hearing ones too. ¡°I heard the closed casket is because they only found half of her in the wreckage.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah apparently she wasn¡¯t just cut up either, she was cleanly bisected, top to bottom.¡± ¡°Oh my god!¡± Kit didn¡¯t need to be older to know who they were talking about, it was obvious. But even so, she didn¡¯t believe it. The casket was closed, she couldn¡¯t believe the one everyone was talking about was really in there, she wouldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Mommy is, mommy is still at work.¡± ¡°Quiet.¡± Her dad looked on next to her with a blank gaze, but his voice sounded less like the usual unshakeable pillar and more like a dam ready to burst. Time passed and things changed. Kit would still get into trouble but this time there was no arguing preceding fists, no gentle talking to waiting on her when she got home only harsh scolding, no bedtime stories to lull her to sleep. Eventually she would reach 3rd level academy and things wouldn¡¯t change much. People still looked down on her for her artistic skill, she still got into fights in return. However, there was one difference, this time she was losing. 3rd level academy was around the time where most cadets gained a genuine grasp for their abilities. She was falling even further behind than she had been. So, when in her second year she heard the popular kid in class had a brother who was knowledgeable about all types of abilities she was interested. Kit may have been the only person who looked at Nial for him instead of his brother but to Kit Nial was so much more than that. He was the first real connection she had since her mother. He was the reason why leaving home wasn¡¯t the lowest part of her day anymore. Peace, perhaps to Kit that¡¯s what Nial represented to her. That¡¯s why she can¡¯t lose him, that¡¯s why he¡¯s the only one she can¡¯t just explain all this to. That¡¯s why every time she runs into him nowadays she can only flounder to grasp at his interest, so he doesn¡¯t walk away. Why she challenged him to a fight instead of just apologizing. Because until she met Nial that was all she had done, and without Nial it was all she knew to do. ¡°Hah, this is stupid.¡± It was always funny to hear Kurt manage to get out the occasional sentence in perfect org. ¡°Tell him yourself.¡± ¡°I.¡± ¡°You both, very stupid.¡± Kit Wingate to arena 1 in thirty minutes It looks like time was up anyways. In a few short minutes the time for talking would end and the time for fists would begin. It Begins Nial was out of his element. He began to think to himself what was the largest number of people that had ever come to watch one of his practical exams? Well, there was Hao whenever he could, Professor Mayes on occasion, one time his parents and brother even showed up but that was just back during the 3rd level practical exams, there was even that time that Kit came just to heckle. All this to say, even if Nial were to compare the total number of people who had ever seen him preform a combat exam, it would still pale in comparison to the sheer number of spectators in the stans right now. It was like a sea of monochrome black and white uniforms, lining the stans, all looking down on him, ready to watch his fight. How was he supposed to feel. It was like his head was a roulette table, constantly spinning deciding which emotion to land on at random. Surprised. Nervous. Curious. Happy. Excited. Thousands of cadets, combatants at that, and who were they waiting to see? Him. Today was the day Nial had been anticipating for the past week. It felt like that feeling you felt right before you got on a really scary roller coaster. Did people call it butterflies in your stomach? To him it felt more like he had ingested several rocks instead. Half of him was excited, the other half was about to shit himself but all of him knew that no matter what he did, the restraints had already been pulled down and he was going up this hill no matter what. Like or not. On the other side of the arena Kit had just finished putting on her uniform. The uniforms were like typical school gym uniforms though slightly thicker and bulkier than usual. But when you take into account the litany of sensors that populated the inner lining of the dry-fit material you¡¯d expect them to roughly double the body weight of anyone who put them on. How was she feeling? Trepidatious? Perhaps, looking at her from a third person point of view it was almost as though she was being crushed by the weight of the world. Though the ironic nature of it was that she was being weighed down by the weight of one teenage boy. In that way perhaps these two kids, currently in the most outrageous of circumstances, were just like kids of their same age attending normal university. On her face was painted a much darker more intimidating expression than even Nial¡¯s. No matter what the outcome it couldn¡¯t be good for her. A: She wins and gets to be painted as a rude hateful vindictive person who fight someone much weaker than themselves for the sake of a petty wound to their pride who is now even deeper in the hole with Nial. B: She somehow loses and is now all of the above, except she lost on top of it. ¡°Contestants to the Arena!¡± As Nial began the agonizing walk out it was like somebody had used their artistic ability to turn up the gravity by 200%. Every step he took felt like it would leave a dent 100 meters in the ground. He looked up to see the ludicrous number of people encircling him. As if a miracle he managed to pick out a bespectacled Asian boy from the crowd. ¡°Hao¡­¡± How was he supposed to describe that look Hao was giving him. Worry? Resignation? Hopefulness? Whatever the case Nial was sure of one feeling he had himself, he was tired of discerning feelings. He locked his eyes on nothing else but the opposite arena exit. Out came the face he was expecting to see. A tall, picturesque girl with golden blond hair tied up into a flowing ponytail and ocean blue eyes staring back at him with a look more mature than any he¡¯d ever seen form her. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Kit on the other hand was trying her best to not notice Kurt grimacing at her reproachfully from the side of her eye, but she was finding it slightly hard to focus on Nial too. His slightly messy black hair and ink black eyes combined with his super serious expression gave off an impression as if she were going toe to toe with the grim reaper. Though it was also kind of cool. ¡°Are both you ready? Are there no further preparations needed to be made on either side?¡± The officiator never took his eyes off Nial. It was clear what he was trying to say, but Nial firmly shook his head from side to side, he had come to far to back out now. ¡°Then on the count of three, begin.¡± ¡°3¡± ¡°2¡± ¡°1¡± ¡°Begin!¡± The moment that word was said Nial disappeared form Kit¡¯s view with a flash of blue light. It was clear what he was trying to do. He wanted to reach her before she had a chance to use her ability, but he had been too late. It took her less than a minute to formulate her dual move set. At the moment Nial reappeared in front of her another Kit was already waiting there. Grab him while he¡¯s focused on me, gain control of his arm, take him to the ground and place him in side-mount. While Kit¡¯s time clone had been focused on executing her move list current Kit moved to take Nial¡¯s balance from him. Nial was caught off guard by the instant pincer attack but that was also something he knew would happen. How can you guard against someone you don¡¯t know will be there? Simple. You don¡¯t. You adapt your preexisting plan to have them in it. Instead of countering either attack Nial instead chose to dodge the attack from behind and take the full brunt of Kit¡¯s leg sweep sending him hurtling towards the ground. But along the way he extended his arm to take Kit with him. This would force Kit to step away to avoid compromising herself. Afterall, seeing as how the other Kit had appeared out of nowhere to try to grapple him from behind, he was certain the Kit in front of him was the real deal. And indeed, Nial was correct. Kit couldn¡¯t let herself follow Nial to the ground as it would then become a grappling match which se would probably have the advantage in due to her relative experience, but it would come at the trade off of it becoming a more even battle due to her likely not being able to focus on her move sets. As she regained distance and Nial regained his bearing he now realized the spot he had been put in. The plan he and Hao had come up with relied upon him knowing which Kit is which, and due to his recent snuggling time with the dirt he had been disoriented. Now instead of a girl and her clone, he saw to identical girls standing ominously on either side of him. Charge in, throw a series of hits at his upper body as decoys while I go low again for the grapple. Both girls flew at him with such tremendous speed that he could only focus on one while he had to expose his back to the other. ¡°Eeni, meeni, mini¡­¡± He couldn¡¯t finish that thought because at that moment an impact to his jaw sent him reeling. The combat suits reduced pain but that didn¡¯t mean pain was non-existent. One of the Kits had finished their rush first and landed a kick at a critical point. Kit saw that her time clone managed to land her shot and rushed forward to complete the move, but Nial once again disappeared into blue light. When he reappeared, he was on the other side of the arena with a good line of sight on both of them. Kit was fast, but not that fast, by the time either one of her reached Nial he¡¯d have recovered and would be ready to confront both of her. Her best choice was to take the opportunity to recover herself too. The crowd could be described as slightly surprised at this point. There had only been two move exchanges at this point, but many had bet Nial wouldn¡¯t even make it past one. Nial on the other hand was starting to be pressured already. He had lost the initiative, he had opened the first exchange yet he unequivocally lost both. He needed to think up a new method to execute the strategy. His main method to win was to tire Kit out yet that wouldn¡¯t work if he kept needing to take breaks while giving her breathing room too. What could he do? Nial thought back on his conversation with Hao. ¡°Dance Dance Revolution, how do make her mess up Dance Dance Revolution.¡± All of sudden a light bulb went off within his head. He had an idea.