We went to the building with all the training rooms. The new students weren’t there, since most were resting and getting ready for the first day of class. Only Tom and I were practicing among the new students.
A guard stood in front of the building. There were guards everywhere in the academy.
"Students are having a practical class inside," the guard said. "If you want to train, you can only use the training rooms."
"We’ll use one of the private training rooms, yes," I said.
The guard extended his hand. I had no idea what he wanted.
"Authorization? You need to make an appointment to use the private training rooms."
Fuck.
We had no idea that was how things worked. Tom was ready to leave when I grabbed his arm. I wanted to try something.
"The principal said we could use one of the training rooms. You can check with him if you want," I said.
I’d forgotten to get the principal’s number. If I had it, this would be a lot easier.
The guard frowned.
"Go in, then. If the light on the door is green, the room’s free to use. What’s your name? I’ll check with the principal later."
"Vincent."
Tom and I entered the gymnasium. As soon as we passed the guard, Tom said, "Are you crazy? He’s going to check with the principal, and that’s gonna get us in trouble."
"Relax, nothing’s gonna happen to us," I said. "Trust me on this."
Once inside, we saw the main part of the gymnasium. It was an arena, similar to the one where the test had been held, but it looked more like a training ground than an actual fighting arena.
There were people there. A class of 2nd-year students, having their lesson. A middle-aged man stood in the middle, explaining things to them. Concepts and strategies to use during a fight.
That was important to know. It wasn’t enough to know your own powers, you had to know your enemy’s powers too, and the best strategy to use against them.
Most of the time, though, there was no way of knowing your enemy’s ability, so the best approach was to always stay careful.
Anyway, when the teacher spotted us, he frowned, clearly not expecting more people to show up. He noticed we weren’t wearing uniforms yet, and of course, he didn’t recognize our faces.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"We’re just going to use one of the private training rooms," I said.
"You? New students, already using the practice rooms? I thought those weren’t available for fresh students."
The teacher was right. The private training rooms were only available after students took their first classes, once the teachers had seen they were fit and could make good use of more training. It didn’t make much sense to let students train there when they didn’t even know how to use their abilities properly yet.
The last thing they wanted was students hurting themselves badly during training because they didn’t have enough control over their powers.
I already knew that, but I was counting on the fact that I had the principal backing me up.
"The principal let us in," I said.
Tom was fucking terrified. I could tell from his face, pale as a ghost. He could already picture us getting in trouble.
"I’ll call him right now to see if you’re telling the truth," the teacher said, smirking at us.
I knew he just wanted to make us look bad in front of everyone. Make fun of the new students.
He called the principal. It took a minute for the call to get answered.
"Principal, two students are here trying to use the private rooms, but they just arrived today."
I yelled from across the room.
"Tell him I’m Vince."
The teacher frowned but did what I said.
"He’s saying his name is Vince."
I watched the teacher’s expression change, slowly turning from I’ll get this kid in trouble to wait a second, the principal’s helping him.
The teacher lowered his phone and said, clearly unhappy, "Go in."
We walked past the 2nd-year students and the teacher. Every one of them was staring at us. I liked getting that kind of attention, feeling like I had benefits others didn’t, but at the same time, I knew it would cause trouble down the road.
Some students were definitely going to come looking for trouble with me, just like that blond idiot had.
Anyway, we passed through a door into a long hallway lined with metal doors. Some had green lights, meaning no one was using them, while others had their lights turned off.
We picked one at random, since they were all the same. I opened the door, and we went in. Once inside, only we could open the door to leave. No one could enter and disrupt our training.
With the privacy of the room, Tom finally had to ask.
"How’d you get us in here? Is the principal your dad or something?" he said.
"No, no, no," I said, waving my hands. "We’re just on good terms, that’s all."
"Good terms? You literally got here an hour ago, what the fuck?"
"Maybe I’m just lucky? Anyway, let’s practice."
The room was pretty big, which was strange considering the building we were in didn’t look that massive from outside. All the rooms were identical, so they had to be using something else to make them.
Maybe some special ability? Items from the dimensional rifts? That was the only explanation I could think of. I was sure it wasn’t natural.
"So what’s your ability?" Tom asked. "You saw me fight, so you know I control wind. But I didn’t see you fight."
I smirked.
It was time to show him what I was capable of, and finally see how I’d stand out among my peers.
"Attack me, and you’ll find out," I said.
Tom looked apprehensive.
"My power’s really deadly. Like, it can cut through you. You sure you want me to attack you?"
"Just do it, bro."
"Alright, alright."
We stood far apart from each other. I waited for his attack, already summoning my dimensional cube. It floated around me.
Tom looked puzzled. He’d never seen an ability like mine before.
"I’ll attack with a wind blade. Watch out and dodge."
Green energy formed around his palm. He threw the wind blade at me! It was fast, and I knew it would cut me in half if it hit. The same attack that had shattered the bones of that guy earlier.
But I wasn’t scared. I wanted to test something.
So instead of shaping my cube into a shield to block it, I decided to store the attack instead.
My dimensional cube hovered in front of me, and when the wind blade got close, it just vanished. A suction force appeared around the cube, pulling the attack in, storing it inside my pocket dimension.
"W-W-What the actual fuck? What did you do?" Tom said, shock all over his face.