The room glowed; numbers flashed.

3…2…1 Go! 

Draven climbed up and hid within the tree leaves, gripping the daggers.

A couple of robots trudged through the wilderness, while they carefully scanned the area with loaded guns, ready to fire.

Catching a lead of his footprint, on a caterpillar track, they waddled to his tree. Like a dart, the dagger cut through the air, it stuck straight to its optical sensor. Aligning his sword, he jumped down, and with the gained momentum, it sliced through the robot in half. And casually swung his sword horizontally, chopping off the head of the robot. Draven strolled out. A second later, they went boom, sending the lit scraps in all directions, attracting the others.

He leaned his back straight to the trunk, as a drone flew above. He rolled and took cover in a nearby bush. Pensively looked around. 'Hmm, last time I used the rings. But they are too taxing for my current level. I need to figure out a way to conserve energy!' his eyes wandered the field and glanced at a bullet looking scraps on the ground, probably the remnants of the bots. 

'Oh, I know... a bullet’ joining his hands together, with a gap in the middle, he concentrated, slowly creating a miniature ball of fire. With the power of his mind, he shaped the ball into a bullet, of the size of his index finger. After understanding the process, he was able to create tens of bullets, they floated mid-air.

Meanwhile, the robots detected a significant spike of heat on their radar. They soon circled around the bush. Draven flipped forward; they fired a barrage. He twisted his body in the air and with a flick of his wrist. Under the swift command of a general, the fire bullets rose and Draven rolled on the ground, avoiding the clash of bullets above. He smirked, as his bullets split and drilled holes in the robots, frying their circuits. Draven unhooked a shield from his back and shielding himself from the simultaneous blasts. 'Die! You filthy robots! Die’ spitting out his hate, he laughed within the circle of fulmination.

His celebration was cut short, a laser beam shot from above, struck his shield, leaving a hole in his defence. Tossing it aside, he rolled to the side and blocked the drones’ sight with the trees. The drones fired, as Draven skirted from side to side, fast enough to go beyond its level of prediction.

Literally thinking on his feet, fire boosted his shoes up, he jumped from one trunk to another, till he reached up; past the leaves. The drone fired bullets from its sides, occasionally shot heat rays from the centre.   

Unclipping the whip from belt and spined it around, ass the metal ropes minimized the damage, bullets stuck his chest and shoulders; an inch from his vital organs. A fragment of his memory played in his mind.

“Robots are creations of man, as creators we are gods! Kill!!” An old man in a robe, shouted in the corner, as a younger but battered Draven wrested in a pool of blood with a robot. 

“RRRHHH! There is no way, I am going to defeated by a dumb robot!!!!”

 Forsaking defence, he poured fire energy into the whip and swung it down. Overwhelmed, a huge wave of fire splashed on the drone, incinerating it into pieces. His ears pricked, to the sudden moments in the air. He dived down, breaking his fall with a roll, avoiding the streaks of bullets, as they clashed against the ground with a spark. Another robot approached his right.

His heart beats for violence, coursing the adrenaline in his veins, he skirted side to side at an extremely fast pace, confusing its level of targeting system. A few strays struck his arm, yet the pain was never registered and like a terminator, he was solely absorbed with the target at sight. Age-full voices chanted in his head, ‘Eliminate! Kill! Kill!’  

Enhanced by this mysterious power; his jay-blue pupils shifted to a dangerous red, he smirked villainously, he jetted closer to the flustered robots, leaving trails of fire. Within range, following the footwork of his clan out of instinct, he cocked his neck to the side. A heat beam grazed his cheek, he swung his blade across and chopped its head. He jumped over and slashed the next bot in half.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

Bullets rained from his back, he slid to the left and he tossed his inflamed dagger, like a dart it went straight through; leaving a hole in its chest.

*Kaboom*

He stood admiring his masterpiece or the surrealism of this fantastic machine.

The forest transformed back to the dark room, taking him back to reality.

Draven clenched his chest, he sat on the floor and meditated; to cool himself down. 

He suddenly exclaimed "That was fun! not even my virtual gaming console was as exciting as this!" 

Turning to Vernon, he enthusiastically said "More! C’mon, one more time. and this time make it harder!" 

Shocked by his host, he thought 'Just a second ago I saw him ripping a robot with pleasure! what a maniac!' 

Vernon said "Ok, super hard coming right up" 

'Isn’t his rate of learning, a bit too fast? Sure, I want him to grow… but then what will I teach him later on?’

Draven unknown to Vernon's thoughts waited in the centre, swinging his whip; ready for another round.

Vernon pressed a few buttons, setting the difficulty to level four with six killer bots instead of non-lethal robots. And changed the battleground to a swamp.

‘If anything happens, I can always heal him using the hermostatic healing pill from the shop’

While Draven was having another go at the simulator. sounds of fighting filled the room.

Alone, Vernon thought ‘I will let him have his fun but the time I must figure out a training plan for this kid. I expected him to cower under the pressure like any other entry power users. But he isn't normal. He seems to have some kind of experience or formal training.

His handling of the whip is a bit shaky. I wasn't expecting him to pick the whip. Accordingly, to my analysis, he would be best suited with fencing or archery. unexpectedly he went beyond my prediction. It seems that his potential is much higher than I expected’

Vernon watched Draven fight and sighed. ‘Good tactics, good skills and able to think on his feet. He is doing way too well for a beginner. He knows exactly how to fight and use his powers wisely. I wasn't wrong in choosing him to be my disciple.’

‘But I have to make sure, this brat doesn't become too cocky for his own good. As I have seen the downfall of arrogance. Its okay to flaunt once in a while… but in a war, that is plain stupid,’ he shook his head in thought.

He sighed ‘I have to make sure he doesn't become too strong or stupid! Being a teacher is so stressful!’

“Wait! I know what will help him gain more experience faster... I remember the Justice Alliance had developed combat bots with the fighting styles and the thinking process of the best superhuman fighters. Let me check if they have any of those...” Vernon tinkered with the control panel.