Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Kyle is ushered into the Tower by Casimir, who had a big smile on his face. Kyle instantly became immersed in the beauty of the tower; the interior painted in white, stairs intertwined beautifully, the front desk a huge wooden table sat directly opposite the door between two large white vases. The tower was filled to the brim with people as they pranced to and fro.

"Captain," a timid feminine voice called from behind him. He turns towards where his name was called, a lady dressed in corporate attire stood there, her black hair braided into two big braids.

"Dionne, fancy seeing you here."

"It's eight in the morning, and I work here, so... you must be Arsenal. Nice to meet you," she extends her hands. Kyle accepts the gesture.

"It's Kyle, ma'am."

"My apologies. So, I would take you to where you would meet your colleagues, okay?"

"Sure," Dionne leads him.

"Casimir," Eloise called.

"Eloise."

"How did you manage to convince him to join?" She asked folding her arms

"Well, we had a little chat about our pasts and what motivates us, and we kinda threw fists also."

"Wait, you fought him?"

"Well, he wanted it, and not that I fought him like fought him, we just had a little fun." He said tapping her shoulder

"So what do you think?" She asked glancing at him and Dionne

"He would make a fine addition to my team." He smiled

"Your team? That decision would be made by him."

"Where are you headed?" He asked 

"The tryouts. Aren't you supposed to be there also?"

"Oh, that. Dionne is already there; she would take care of that. I have other things to take care of."

"A mission?"

"Kinda. Someone has been making some funny movements of late, I am just going to investigate, that's all."

Eloise sighs. "Take care."

"Sure, I am the strongest after all."

+

Dionne opens the door for Kyle. He enters the room, four people all within his age group scattered throughout the room. Tension filled the room immediately, His eyes lockes unto one of the students in the room for five seconds before quietly sitting down on an empty chair on the edge of the room.

"Damn, damn, damn," Gabriel hurriedly barges into the room and panting heavily.

"Thank God I was here before Big Sis." He said panting heavily 

"Everyone take your seats," Eloise said from outside the room. Gabriel hurries to the last empty seat. Eloise stands in front of them, Dionne stands beside her.

"Good day, everyone. I am sure you all know me, so I won't bother with the introductions. You all are here having passed the entrance exams."

"I didn't see him at the exams. When did New Order start special treatment?" One of them asked, pointing at Kyle, while twirling his long black hair.

"Kyle is um... here on special recommendation." She responded 

"Is that so?"

"Yes, Luke."

"I don't see anything special about him to be recommended." Luke continued as he stared down Kyle. Kyle ignores him.

"Now is not the time for arguments, Luke. If you think he isn't much, then you can have a sparring match after this meeting," Eloise said, slamming the table.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now in three months' time, you all will have your evaluation exams. Depending on how well you do in that exam, missions would be assigned to you. In those three months, you all would be fixed into two groups and assigned a temporary captain from our roster. After the evaluation exam, if you like the tutelage of your assigned captain, you would be immediately assigned under them. Any more questions?"

The room goes silent.

"Okay, if there are no questions, Miss Dionne would assign you all into groups. Miss Dionne?"

She timidly takes Eloise's position.

"Please, if you hear your name, kindly move to this side of the room," she pointed to the right side of the room.

"Group one, Luke Ayling, Rachel Mason, and Raymond Unolav." Luke stands from his chair, standing way taller for his age and a physique to match. He walks proudly towards where Dionne indicated, his long silky black hair dangling freely, his black eyes shining brightly. His white shirt with the two top buttons undone and blue trousers help his intimidating appearance. Rachel follows, matching Luke's intimidating introduction. She follows him closely, her dark blue embroidered dress and jewelry making her look overdressed for the occasion. Raymond walks behind her, his mind visibly somewhere else; his brown eyes seem devoid of life, his brown hair unkempt. He increases the volume on his orange headset that matches his T-shirt and cream-colored shorts and sits on the floor beside his teammates.

"Your captain would be Grade one esper, Leah Silva," 

"Why aren't any of the captains here?" Eloise asked

"I don't know either. I told Mr. Casimir to pass the information on."

"You told Casimir?" she said with a disappointed face.

"Yes, he promised to pass the information."

"Oh, Gawd," she sighs.

"Your captain would meet up with you at the sparring arena on the top floor," Eloise addressed them.

"Group two, Gabriel Nero, Kyle Rodriguez, and Tori Alexander." Kyle and Nero walk to where Dionne indicated. Tori, a short girl with a slim physique, walks behind them, dressed in white combat trousers and a white tight crop top.

"And the captain assigned is..." Dionne stops midway, trying to understand what she saw.

"What's wrong?"

She shows the name of the captain. Eloise sighs heavily.

"Your captain is Casimir."

"Yes," Gabriel thought out loud. Everyone stares at him.

"Get accustomed to your teammates and meet up at the sparring arena in an hour." Eloise and Dionne walk out of the room.

"Hi, um… I am Gabriel; nice to meet you, Arsenal." He extends his hand.

"I don't go by that name anymore." He said ignoring his hand

"Why don't ya?" Tori asked.

Arsenal walks towards the door.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Leaving already?" Luke asked.

"Yes."

"How about a friendly spar?" he asked.

"Not interested in your games; if you want to assert your superiority over anyone, leave me out of it." Arsenal walks out of the room.

+

The two teams stood opposite each other inside a wide room, a large red circle drawn in the middle of the room. Casimir stood beside his team, three elderly men in suits sat just a floor above them, barricaded with a transparent wall.

"Sorry for being late," Leah said as she walked towards her team, her cyan hair matching her eyes, dressed in green sweats and sneakers.

"Alright, now that you've met your captains, the board wants to personally see the aptitude of its new recruits, and the head of New Order is also amongst them." Gabriel looked at the barricaded section; he tried to prepare himself mentally. Casimir's voice interrupts him.

"Don't worry; after these three months, your father will surely acknowledge you," he said with a wide smile. Gabriel nodded subtly.

"You are free to use your psionics at the highest level; we have exceptional medical espers in the organization. The first person to make his opponent submit wins," Eloise added.

"With the rules out of the way, let's have our first spar." She continued 

"I'll go first," Gabriel said.

"You sure?" Casimir asked.

"Yeah."

Gabriel walked into the circle.

"How about you go, um…" Leah tried to remember his name.

"Raymond." He reluctantly stands up and walks into the circle.

"Hope we can have a nice spar," Gabriel said.

Raymond just stares blankly.

"Okay, fight."

Gabriel gradually envelops himself with his psionic energy. Raymond takes off his headphones, a massive amount of psionic energy bursts out of him; everyone was caught by surprise by the sheer amount of psionic energy he released.

"What's up with this guy? He looks so out of depth. My guess is that it's just some kind of trap; he also, like Arsenal, got taken by recommendation, and he isn't from any prominent family; I've got to be careful.

"What's up with this energy? The sheer amount is terrifying," Arsenal thought to himself.

"Raymond Unolav is a special kind of esper; he has the most psionic energy in all of New Order. The downside is he can't control it; that is why he needs those headphones. And technique-wise, he is strong. Gabriel has his work cut out for him," Casimir said.

"Damn, only the pressure of his psionic energy is crazy. Can I do this? No, I must. I have to prove my power to my dad."

"I am kind of impressed," Raymond said slowly. "You are the first person to not give up upon witnessing my psionic energy."

"You can say I need someone like you to prove myself."

Keep my distance.

Primordial Flame; Blue.

His aura gradually takes a blue coloration.

Burn.

He shoots a massive amount of blue flames at Raymond; the smoke gradually clears, Raymond's body burnt by the attack gradually regenerates.

"What?"

"My psionic ability; Healing allows me to infinitely regenerate from any psionic-based attack. It takes a lot of energy to use my technique, but life blessed me with a lot of it. So lets just not fight…"

"Not at all."

Gabriel immediately closes the distance between the both of them and lands a powerful punch on Richard's midsection, landing quick combos of jabs and kicks, overwhelming Raymond.

Burn.

The last punch sets Richard on fire; Richard doused the fire, his body remains unharmed.

"Now what?"

"For an hour after using my technique, your technique that damaged me before can't hurt me again."

"Interesting," Leah said.

"Give up?"

Primordial Flame; Green.

His aura changes color to green; blood begins to seep out of his nose.

"That technique is taking a toll on you." Richard said 

"I know."

My psionic ability allows me to change the color of my flames, each increasing in heat intensity and gaining a special ability.

"When did he learn to use green? He only used Red and Blue?" Eloise thought out loud.

"His determination to be acknowledged by father has pushed him again," Dionne said. "He has the same ability as your father; I see a lot of potential in Gabriel."

I'll end this in one attack.