Hashim didn't know when, how, or what time they got back to their room last night. They were already bad at sleeping, so staying out late didn't help. Luckily, they didn't have a roommate. Or at least, they weren't supposed to.
When Hashim awoke, the only other thing in the room was a small black spider. He watched silently as it creeped across the the doorframe, his eyes barely picking up its black form in the weak morning light straining through the cloth hung over their window.
He was alone.
For the first time since coming here, he was alone, alone in his own mind. Some mornings it happened. Most it didn't. So he just lay still and thought. He was so still that the spider began to venture up onto his arm. He hadn't even noticed that it was hanging over the edge of the bed.
Hashim would have moved it, if it weren't for the spider. He liked spiders. They were such interesting creatures. Eight legs, eight eyes, but no arms. For some reason, spider-form were the most common type of beast that the Academy's graduates, named "heroes", found to be in control of other monsters. Hashim thought there might be something to that.
Being able to watch over everything in the room was a good trait for a leader. If you couldn't do it naturally, it was hard to imitate.
Of course, the best way to lead was to know everything that would happen. No one could predict every eventuality. Except for Goda. She had been a student here a few years ago, and they said that her ability showed her every possible action and reaction that could be taken within fifteen feet of her. Of course, that much information had driven her mad, which was understandable. Officially, she had been killed by her brother's hand, at her own request. But the official story wasn't always true.
Hashim rose up, keeping his hand carefully in the same place. The spider still clung to him. Toon liked spiders as well, but he said that their form wasted too much energy to move across long distance efficiently, although the many inputs of friction meant that such a body could be more precisely maneuverable than a human's, with two legs.
Hashim set out to prepare himself for his day. And although he would never admit it, he felt a bit relieved when Xavier started to annoy him about what had happened last night. They were still here, not gone forever.
But their plan was more important now, so Hashim pushed Jake into control. It was always a bit easier in the mornings. Hashim didn't know why he woke up any earlier than the others. It didn't make sense, but it was the way that things were.
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They went through the rest of their week without incident, despite Xavier's every attempt. Jake, or Hashim when Jake was in control, which was a lot of the time, kept him back from interfering. and then it was time.
Time for the orientation. Time for the first performance.
Gone were the thoughts of their own mind. Gone was the confusion they had faced.
Knowing James and Summer, Jake felt they could go on with their plan. After all, this school was ruled by power. So to rule it themselves, all they had to do was to have the most power.
And the easiest way to do that would be to gain the loyalty of the four most powerful ability users. There was only one problem.
The files said there were four restricted ability users. But they didn't say who the other two were.
But they would find out. Jake smirked, and Xavier receded inside of him. One week of going to this school, and their power would be displayed for the first time. But not all of it. That would be for later.
The trick to gaining the loyalty of the most powerful?
Indomitable strength. And when you didn't have that, you could fake it.
And that was exactly what they would use. With a clever application of Xavier's ability, they could gain a power rating that was much higher than they should have. And then again, if the Academy had a machine that could measure their power, and it worked like a ralkamester, they would already look incredibly powerful.
But this was banking on a physical examination. The only class they had that they hadn't gone to yet was the one on fighting and techniques. It was honestly the one that would most likely end up being the most important. This was where people's lives in this school took place.
The center of the Academy was the dueling ring.
That was where they would prove their worth. It didn't occur in the first week because the first week was for experiencing, and potentially dropping, classes, and the fighting class was required. It was so integral to student like, hierarchy, and the position that each student would have after they graduated that it didn't even have a name. But Xavier had heard one from some of the upperclassmen.
They called the field Puddles, apparently because it was so much work that some people sweated puddles. The legend claimed that if you stood in the same spot on the field for long enough, you could smell the sweat of past students. This included General Romania, who was currently the head of the entire Defense Force. it was said that if you spent enough time out on the field, you would find that you understood the lessons about technique better, and could utilize your ability to your advantage in a fight no matter what it was.
Of course, that was most likely just a myth.
Toon and Jake figured that the second part of the legend came from Romania secretly visiting the Puddles once, and teaching the students standing there something. It had been two years ago, the year after she graduated. Before she became the general. But of course, people already knew where she was going.
Straight to the top. And that wasn't exactly what they wanted. They weren't going to the top. They were going to become the top.
With that, Jake stepped back, and Hashim emerged.
Hashim chuckled softly, getting himself into character.
Now he got to play with some minds.
Hashim walked up to the edge of the auditorium. It wasn't a true building, more like a massive amphitheatre. It was set into the ground, so that if you were far away, all you would see was the top row of Ionic[1] pillars. But once you stood on the edge, as he did, you could see the huge pit in the ground, filled with numerous layers of seating ringing it in a step-like pattern downwards, and at the bottom in the center there was a circular stage.
Hashim crossed his arms, looking down and across the student body.
Slowly, they hushed, glancing up at him.
No, past him. Hashim wasn't that important yet. But they would be.
The person they were looking at was James. James Callway. His face must already be known. Despite this being his second year, they all looked up to him as though he were some sort of irritable older brother, with fear and a hint of respect.
James walked past him, brushing his shoulder, then he turned and scowled at Hashim.
Hashim just smirked. This fool didn't know what he had coming. Unfortunately, he would need to utilize James. He would have liked to simply take him down a peg.
Hashim's ability was activated, so he felt hardly any shame. After all, he was just putting forward a face, not being himself. A smirk and a malevolent chuckle were better than any amount of walls. It was thrilling to be so close to someone, and yet have them know nothing about him.
James muttered something, then slouched off to his seat.
Already there were whispers. That was good.
His goal was to have the students regard him with a sort of reverence. The trick was that instead of just showing his power, he would create an air of suspense, causing confusion, anticipation, and expectation of disappointment, dismissal.
And then he would fulfill all of the rumors.
Hashim marched forward and took his place. The auditorium was very segregated. At the top were the weakest. At the bottom were the strongest. Hashim didn't ask for a place. He walked down to the first row.
There were plenty of empty seats there. Despite it being the smallest row, the only people there were James Callway and the like. Not one of the first years wanted to compare themselves to that, and even most of the upperclassmen stayed away, leaving about fifteen students sitting there. Not one of the new students except for Hashim, that is.
Hashim didn't particularly care what people thought of his morality. Jake was less good at acting confident and uncaring about others' opinions, mostly because Hashim was uncaring. So Hashim did the acting, his specialty, and Jake helped direct him.
He didn't need much direction, though. Ever since Xavier had come forward with the new plan that didn't involve them being inconspicuous, to everyone else's surprise, Hashim had eagerly supported it. In fact, he had been looking forward to it since that first day of classes. This was what he liked.
If he was going to be the bad guy, he would be the best.
[1] It's a type of pillar. Swirly patterns on the top and bottom, but not super fancy like Corinthian pillars. And yes, I still remember that from History class in high school. If you already knew that, good for you.