*Knock Knock*
"One Second! Be there now." Her feet thud against the wooden stair the soles of her feet slamming on each step. Black wet hair clings to the back of her shirt with a towel loosely holding it all in place.
"Hi, sorry I just got out of the shower." Raven calls out, opening the door while drying her hair off with a towel.
"Don't be sorry, its not like i was left waiting long. Today is the day we begin your mentorship!" Pyre yells with a hearty roar, beaming with a wide smile.
"If you'll follow me. The military has already assigned Sim Rooms for training. Designated exclusively for mentors and students." Pyre explains, sitting near the railing of their apartment complex balcony.
"I'm going to get you used to using your powers like the back of your hand." Pyre assures through a wide smile, igniting a potent spherical flame in the palm of his hand.
"Alright just let me just gather my things." Raven nods, moving to grab her purse, slinging it over her shoulder
"Key card, gum and my phone, perfect." Raven mutters to herself, going through a mental checklist of her important items. Storing away all of her important items in her purse, she slides on her blue trainers along with a fuzzy black hoodie, stars littering the entire hoodie.
"It's nothing formal right?" Raven says, her baggy clothes bringing a sense of relief.
"Hahaha! Of course not! Wear whatever you like were just doing some training." Pyre sheds tears of laughter.
"We're sparring not getting you wed." He chuckles at the thought.
"Cool, I hate wearing formal clothes barely any character to it at all." She says, clamping down on a stick of gum.
"Have to agree with you there, it's why you never see me in the usual military attire. I prefer to stick to my own battle gear." Pyre chuckles, reminiscing on past battles.
"It holds too many memories to change out. That and it keeps me cool when I overheat". He brushes a hand down the old marks and scuffs on his battle gear.
The shoulder pads look chewed and singed by flames, having long since seen better days. The general skin of his battle gear remains intact a deep navy blue lines his body up to his ankles and wrist, hexagonal patterns covering the whole skin each line growing bright.
"I get that, its kind of the same with this hoodie. Even though its old and worn out it holds one of the few good memories of the past." Raven recounts, her eyes lock with the stars on her hoodie recalling the day she was given it.
"My dad, he took me and Blake to a carnival, he won me this hoodie at a carnival i was so excited when he gave it to me. What i would give to spend another minute with him." Raven recounts holding back a wave of tears fighting off a forming lump in her throat.
"Still remember those words of joy from my dad. 'Perfect know my little girl can I have a piece of the stars with her.' I made sure never to let this hoodie get wrecked its one of the few in near pristine condition." She reenacts the memory, imitating her father's gleeful tone. Her hand finds its way on the shooting star symbol on the hoodie. To the stars embroidered into the fabric.
"He always loved the stars couldn't go a second without him having a symbol of it in some kind on him." She recounts, a tear wells up in her green eyes before trickling down the side of her cheek.
"You father was a very bright man. To this day his influence is still felt across the world especially on current standards of technology." Pyre comforts, knowing the name almost too well by now.
"Your power, its telekinesis right?" Pyre asks, changing the subject back on topic.
"Yea..." She nods, chewing her wad of gum. A bubble slowly starts to form expanding outward, hiding her mournful expression.
"Have you ever tried making that gum bubble float?" Pyre asks, trying to be creative with his exercises.
"Think of it as an exercise before the spar. Try and keep that bubble afloat as much as you can bear till we get to the Sim Room. It will be a good test for your endurance with your powers." Pyre instructs, his hand stroking the red strands in his beard.
Confusion fills her face behind the huge pink bubble encompassing most of her mouth. Biting off the end of the bubble, she seals it. Her hair slowly starts to float as the bubble slowly starts to rise.
"Like this?" Raven asks, keeping her focus trained on the pink sphere of gum. Still baffled by the concept of the exercise.
"Perfect. Now keep it floating just like that." Pyre instructs, leading the pace between the two of them.
After around 15 minutes the two arrive at a private facility for the military. Deep carbon and Reinforce steel make up the majority of the materials for the bunker like facility. The grey steel is outshined by the deep blue of the carbon.
Scanning his hand at the door, his credentials are verified. The sealed doors opening with a slow hiss. As the two enter, the sounds of others fill their ears. Sweat crawls its way down her freckled face, stinging her green eyes in the process. The bubble of gum just managing to stay a couple of centimeters of the ground.
"Oh thank god i can finally stop." She says, her face withering with exaggeration. Letting She says clenching and unclenching her numb fingers.
"You did well Raven." Pyre smiles wide, seeing the commitment from Raven.
"Those types of exercises are really good for increasing your endurance with your power you want to try and keep doing that going forward." Pyre says admiring Ravens commitment.
"The more you do it the easier it becomes over time. Like training a muscle." Pyre explains, demonstrating by tensing his bicep.
"Looks like were not the only ones here today..." Raven sighs, staying behind Pyres frame.
"Well that not too big a deal." Pyre assures, putting a hand on her shoulder guiding her along.
"You might come across someone in a similar position to you Raven." Pyre says, keeping his bright smile.
Approaching the Sim Room. He punches in his personal access code on Sim rooms panel. A holo-screen projects in his vision with a wheel split into sections each one having a different environment. Flicking his fingers downward the wheel spins rapidly until finally falling upon an environment, almost immediately the film of the Sim Room stretches open.
"Remember don't hold back for this one. Give me your best!" Pyre encourages with a wide grin before walking through the film of the Sim Room.
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In a training room opposite to Pyre and Raven a short blue haired girl sweats trying to keep up with the intense training exercise. Attempting once more to summon something out of her palm tensing and forcing every muscle in her body for something, anything to happen.
"Ahhhh!" The girl yells out in a near growl agitation clinging to every part of her demeanor, her hands slam into her head over and over again in frustration pulling at the blue strands of her hair.
"Late awakening AS IF!" She lets out a bitter scream, punching the white cubes making up the walls of the inactive Sim Room
"I just don't get it, why does my brother have powers and I don't! We are related dammit!" She cries out slumping to her knees as tears start to stream down her cheeks.
"How is that even fair?" Her nails start digging into her palms, a trickle of red running down her palms.
"I can't even fight back." She cries, hugging her knees flashbacks of her brother always having to rescue her haunt and torment her only adding salt to her wounds.
"I'm just useless..." She sobs quietly, burying her face in her knees.
"Useless? Doubtful. Inexperienced definitely." A gruff voice enters her ears, followed by the sound of hard boots against the floor. An old grey haired man enters the sim room being drawn to the sound of the girls cries, an empathic look forms in his only eye.
"Every comrade I've ever come across has their own set of strengths." He explains his tone nonchalant and carefree speaking from experience as he puts a silver flask to his lips.
"You just have to find your own strength." He says through a sharp cough screwing the cap back onto his silver flask. His hand rubs the grey hairs on his beard an idea slowly coming to mind.
"Have you tried using a weapon yet? I know its not common. Most of the time the military only cares if you have a power, but humor me." He says, placing the tip of his sheath to the floor to support his weight, his good eye observing the girl in front of him.
"No, I've never really had the opportunity to use one." She responds burying her head deeper into her knees.
"It cant hurt to try, you never know where your talent might bloom. Plus I have a good feeling with you." He smiles wide through his grey beard, showing off his yellowed teeth.
"In my years on the battlefield, there have been a few who go down a different route to power users. They get just as many results." He explains, his tone full of confidence recounting some of his past comrades.
"Give this a test. I'm curious to see how you'll first take to it." He says, tossing her his weapon. Wave patterns detail the side of the sheath streaking toward the tip.
Receiving the sheathed blade, she begins to feel a strange sense of comfort like a missing piece in her life finally finding its way into the puzzle. Her fingers begin to wrap around the hilt of the blade.
Locked in a confident grip unsheathing the long katana in one beautiful fluid motion. Slowly her posture starts to take shape, intuition guiding the process.
'I thought as much, her aura is far too bright not to have something hidden underneath the surface. Still who would of thought it would come out like this.' The old man's eye locks with the girls his gaze sharpening not wanting to miss any detail. His eye watches the golden flow of energy circulate rapidly around her, slowly flowing throughout her entire body.
'Now this is rare.' His thoughts get more and more intrigued seeing the display of aura.
"Give the weapon a try, I'll summon you a test dummy". He says, walking to the entrance of the training room, he interacts with the command panel. Projecting a holo-screen he scrolls through the list of training dummy's selecting one of the higher defense based models.
'Lets see if she can handle 3 star defense. Beginner power users even struggle at this level.' He ponders, wanting to see just far she can go.
A large gladiator is materialized in the space they're in. Donned with rough metals forming into an abstract piece of armor protecting the summoned virtual body.
A strong instinct floods her mind guiding her hand, locking onto an opening in the dummy. She grips the blades hilt as hard she can rushing forward into a lunge slicing the blade down splitting the dummy in half, the sides falling apart at either side.
"Confirmed down!" The room rings out.
His eye goes wide witnessing the fluid motions she performed, the girl herself is left in bewilderment staring at the blade shocked by her own skill. The slow golden flow going through her body starts to slow dimming almost entirely now.
"Some may not have powers but that doesn't mean they're not strong." He chuckles, impressed with the girls skill.
"What's your name girl?" The old man asks a wide smirk forming on his face, his hand stroking his beard.
"Enyo, what about you sir?" She asks still shocked by her own skill her gaze almost unable to break away from her hands.
"Dolos." He says, his eye still stuck on the training dummy shocked by the clean split.