Killian and his friends were woken up at the crack of dawn by children smiling on top of their beds. The boys assumed the children were sent to wake them up. Curiously one of the children played with Dre's locs as he slept, the others didn't seem to bother Killian, instead they examined Silas and his pale blue eyes and white hair, obviously something that wasn't common. A woman stepped into the room, she was very beautiful, she had a mark next to her lips, these nice light brown eyes, and black but slightly blue hair that flowed down her face. She spoke softly telling the boys she'd be their guide around the building, there were washrooms, and they'd be provided with new clothing. Breakfast would be served in the mess hall after they washed up.
We hit the washroom, and there were no showers, instead we were provided with a bucket, hot water, and towels. It was weird but once we were clean and dry, we headed back to our rooms and on the bed's which someone had just made for us, were clothes that looked similar to old Chinese garments. Deandre was given snug fitting shoes and socks, with loose pants and short top. Silas was given the same for bottoms, along with a durable robe, and a long sleeve button top. They gave me a high collared long-sleeved shirt that went down to the knees, and the same pants as everyone else. We all had hand wraps which the woman helped us put on. We ate and she walked us to the training grounds. The village was bigger than we expected, and livelier, street vendors, dancing, children playing games, it felt normal.
We reached a gated area which the woman opened for us, and inside was a raised platform, weapon stands were everywhere, along with some hitting bags hanging up, and seats. Liwei Zhang stood on the raised platform in his training attire along with a man who was burly, the one who carried Deandre, and a smaller, scrawnier kid around our age who helped Silas. Liwei called us to the platform and explained we would fight our matchups to assess our abilities.
"These recruits are fairly new by our standards and have only been with us for a year. In that year they've shown great promise and will be worthy enough opponents to test your skill." Zhang explained.
Silas would be first, he requested a wooden sword, so did his opponent.
"Silas is going to kick his ass. All that sword training his dad put him through wasn't for no reason after all." Deandre whispered to me.
I nodded my head in agreement as I cheered on Silas. The two took their stances and Liwei signaled the fight to start. Immediately the boy charged at Silas, he was fast on his feet, but Silas was calm and his eyes could keep up, he blocked the attack easily. The boy stepped back, they circled each other moving closer, they exchanged quick blows, but neither could get a hit in. It looked as if Liwei was going to call the match, but Silas shocked everyone. Silas charged in, exchanging blows with his opponent, and then he kicked the boy in the stomach which caused him to fall to one knee. He lightly tapped his sword on his opponents head to signify he had delivered a fatal blow, he was the victor.
The boy stormed off, Liwei smiled amusingly. Deandre was next up, against an opponent bigger than him. It's not like he hadn't faced people bigger than him; it's just it was rare to find someone bigger than him.
"Wish me luck." Deandre told me as he stepped up, high fiving Silas as they switched places.
The fighters stared each other in the eye, Deandre taking up a boxing stance, the man taking up a solid stance. Liwei signaled the fight to start, and both wasted no time, they punched away at each other, but Deandre had the upper hand when it came to head movement, speed and countering. He broke down the burly man, or at least that's what it seemed like. Suddenly the man caught Deandre's fist, swung him in the air and slammed him down on the platform. Deandre recovered quickly, backing up, in clear pain but not willing to give up. He was caught off guard though, as the man was charging in while Deandre was still catching his breath, Deandre looked up just in time to see the man swinging for his head.
He couldn't move.
He put his guard up and prepared for the blow, but it was a fake, the real attack was going low to the body. Me and Silas were prohibited from speaking during the exchange, we wanted to warn him but all we could do was watch as the man's massive fist made contact with Dre's gut. Deandre coughed up blood and fell down on both knees, the man winded up again, Liwei's face changed as he yelled for the man to stop.
He did not stop.
Deandre looked up, to see a fist coming his way, it enraged him, "the fight was over, he thought to himself, why is he still going? Does he want me to die?!" Deandre suddenly felt a surge of energy come through him. The punch landed, but it didn't hurt, instead the man winced in pain. Deandre felt himself getting larger and larger, till he could see over the man. He looked down on the man in anger, rage. His fist, larger and hardened winded up an overhand, and it sent the man's face straight down to the platform. It was over, Deandre had won and developed an ability. His size shrunk back down to normal, and he felt extremely exhausted, Liwei applauded his performance. Silas helped Dre walk to a seat as me and Liwei carried the unconscious big man off the platform.
It was my turn now.
And my opponent? Liwei himself.
We locked eyes, the Abbot had come down to observe my abilities against the man on the same skill level as him. The Abbot signaled the start of the fight, and I immediately started moving around, Liwei did the same. We observed each other, how we breathed, moved, any tells, any twitches. I waited for Liwei to blink, and then he did, it was my chance. I used my speed to propel myself forward in an instant and send Liwei flying back with a punch. He rolled back, I followed up instantly, but he was ready and expecting it, he dodged and grabbed my arm, swung me back around into the platform. I bounced off the ground, and he kicked me in my stomach, sending me forward. I got up as quick as I could, he was standing there with a look that said come at me. I ran forward again, this time using my boxing, my powers increased my punch speed and power slightly, but Liwei dodged everything. I let loose an unexpected hook, but he just changed the direction of it slightly with a tap of the hand, and then he countered. He let loose a barrage of punches on me, I could see and dodge a couple, but he was unpredictable, mixing up his combinations. He got me with an uppercut that sent me flying back.
"If this is all you have in you, you won't live through that trial!" He yelled at me.
I felt my emotions build up, as I knelt there. I built up all my energy and would give it all into this attack. I thought of a move my favorite character did where he built up his energy, and like a ball fired out of a cannon, or a bullet out of a gun he propelled himself forward and swung his fist that was coming in with great speed to unleash a devastating attack no one could see.
He called it,
Pegasus Burst.
The name was lame I thought to myself, but I couldn't help but yell it out as I launched myself forward uncontrollably. I felt the wind propel me forward, and my fist caught on fire.
The Abbot's eyes opened, and his eyebrows raised at that.
I was uncontrolled. Too uncontrolled, I flew right past Liwei straight into a wooden gate that stopped me. The good news is that Liwei didn't even realize what happened until I suddenly was halfway across the training grounds.
Bad news?
I missed.
The Abbot laughed, he was amused. He was also happy with the potential my friends and I showed. He decided that he would train Deandre and Me. Liwei would train Silas. I asked the Abbot if he had used his wind to propel me forward. He denied it.
"There may be more to you than meets the eye Killian Kingston." remarked the Abbot.
We freshened up and went to our rooms to talk about our abilities, Silas felt left out but didn't think about it too much.
"We're like superheroes now!" Dre said.
"Silas that fight was amazing, that kick you gave that kid was clever. We knew you were good at sword fighting, but we didn't know you were this good!" I told Silas.
He just nodded. Eventually my friends went to sleep, but I struggled to. All that I could think about was that move at the end, I swear I felt a gust of wind. I couldn't help but wonder, Did I have more than one ability?