Chapter 19- Disappointment

Dubs placed his hands facing each other in a circular position.

"Is there some sort of trick to this? Are the magic particles supposed to just collect in my hands?" Dubs thought.

Nothing happened. Dubs sat bewildered as the air between his hands remained unchanged.

"Whats going on here? Perhaps I need to concentrate more to gather the particles. Let me try to envision them gathering within my hands."

Dubs began to imagine particles of all different colors forming in between his hands. His eyes were closed shut, and his brows furred. He heard the footsteps of Peter walking closer to him.

Opening his eyes, Dubs saw nothing in between his hands, and Peter let out a chuckle.

Peters face straightened after a short laugh, and he gazed at Dubs.

"It looks like our test subject here has failed to produce any results." Peter remarked.

Dubs glanced at Peter, though he looked away confused at what was happening.

"Perhaps it was true that I have no magical ability after all. This could prove to be an issue if I want to climb the rankings and become powerful. What about my other self though? He was able to easily release bursts of magic. It seems like I am only able to deflect and absorb magic, however I cannot release or gather it.", Dubs considered.

Looking back at his palms, Dubs remained calm and addressed Peter.

"Forgive me, Lieutenant Peter! It appears that I do not yet have the ability to control magic.", Dubs reported.

Peter gave a smirk and walked away, and coldly whispered "Disappointing..."

Dubs didn't pay too much mind to Peters cold treatment of him. "I can deal with him later, however I've come upon a large problem. I will have to communicate with my other self to see if I can reconcile this limitation."

Peter walked back to the center and began speaking.

"And with that, we have determined where you all stand, and what paths your studies and training will be focused on. With the exception of Dubs, for the time being you all are to focus on improving your skills in the areas in which you are specialized in. Everyone, go on your own initiatives to train yourselves in these skills. As for you Dubs, you had better figure out how to use magic before the first mission comes. I won't be responsible for babysitting you when that time comes."

The entire squad let out a shout

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

The squad members dispersed among the gym, and Dubs walked over to a corner where he could be alone to speak with his other self.

"You awake yet? Do you have any idea why I can't use magic?" Dubs asked

"Uuuuuuh..." A gargled voice rang through Dubs head. "Alright alright I'm waking up Dubs. What do you want?"

"Why can't I gather magic like the other squadmates?" Dubs questioned.

"Well that much should be obvious. You lack magical control.", the voice responded.

"What do you mean by that?" Dubs prodded.

"Alright I'm awake now. Since helping you now will help me to release some stress later I'll work with ya. Here's the deal- when you went under experimentation, you were originally a single personality, but you got split into two people- me and you. With the split that occurred, your abilities were also split between us. I gained the ability to release magic, and you gained the ability to resist and absorb or repel it. I also gained the ability to quantitatively analyze, while you maintained the rational ability to decide. I could list off a ton more qualities that got split between me and you, but there's a pattern."

Dubs nodded. Interested, he stated "Go on."

"Each one of the abilities that got split between me and you are counterparts to one another. Without both the abilities to absorb and release magic, you cannot gather magic. Without both the ability to analyze the situation and rationally decide, you cannot make an informed decision. Our abilities overall are hindered by our split personality, and it requires much more effort for us to do what other people would consider to be easy."

Dubs was shocked. "How could this be?", he thought. "To think that I am starting off my quest for power with such a handicap is a large setback. I wonder if there is a way to correct it?"

Dubs asked his other self. "Is there anything we can do to regain our abilities to function?"

"Heh heh.", Dubs other self snickered. "Of cooourse there is, my dear Dubs. All we have to do is become one again. And you know what the best part is?"

Dubs grinned at hearing this. "What?", He asked.

"After being split into two for so long, our individual components for the abilities we lost have increased beyond that of a regular human. Needless to say, once we merge with each other and are able to function as one, our power in comparison to others will skyrocket even further."

Both Dubs and his other self began to laugh hysterically. Their tones lined up as if they were really one person, and when they finished laughing, his other self got Dubs' attention.

"Ooooooh... it looks like our synchronization with each other has finally reached 1%! Now that we've hit this landmark, we should have each obtained a small amount of each others abilities. Try to gather those particles once more!"

"Wait a minute..." Dubs pondered. "How do you know we've reached 1% synchronization? I felt an increase in our synchronization, but how do you know the amount?."

The voice responded. "Simple, Dubs. Simple. I gained our ability to quantitatively analyze everything. After having a purely quantitative ability to perceive the world, I have honed my ability to transform all information into numerical data. Every change that goes on around us, I perceive in terms of numbers. Whether it is length, force, time, energy- any measurable quantity, I only see the values.."

Dubs nodded, and took this into account. "What about me, then?"

"You, on the other hand, perceive everything qualitatively. You are able to feel the changes in the atmosphere- in peoples intents, and in the objects and auras around you. You lost the ability to associate any information numerically, but gained heightened senses as a result.", The voice replied.

"You perceive things like a hunter, and I perceive them like a computer. When our minds link, with both quantitative and qualitative ability to perceive, there will be no piece of information that escapes us."

Dubs began to smile and once more put his hands together. A single red particle began making orbits around a central focus point in between Dubs hands. A green particle followed, along with an orange, a white, a black, a clear, and a blue particle.

It looked like an atomic model where the electrons revolved around the nucleus of an atom.

"Haha! You've done it Dubs! Our synchronization has allowed us to use a small amount of magic! Keep at it, and we'll surely grow stronger."

Dubs agreed and continued practicing,

Hearing footsteps coming close to him, the haughty voice of a young male resounded in Dubs' ears.

"Whats going on, failed experiment? Trying to gather up some magic to prove yourself useful? If I were you I would just go into hiding somewhere and quit your lofty ambitions here."

Samuel appeared in front of him, and he flipped his hair from left to right. His hands were in his jacket pockets, and he wore a condescending facial expression.

Dubs lost his concentration and the particles he had gathered dispersed back into the air. Regaining his composure, he stood up and faced Samuel.

"I wouldn't be insulting a failed experiment if I were you. Chaos follows us, you know.", Dubs answered.

"You sure know how to talk back, for someone who talks to himself." Samuel retorted. Putting his arm around Dubs, his face twisted with enjoyment. "You better keep to yourself pal. I'm the prodigy here, and I have no intention of letting anyone who goes against me survive in the resistance. You get me?"

Dubs heard his other self speak to him. "You wanna know the numbers on this guy? Lemme tell you so you know how strong you are compared to him."

Dubs replied to his other self, ignoring Samuel. "Sure, what do you got for me?"

Samuel became confused at Dubs reply. "You must really be going nuts. I don't even know what you're trying to tell me, but if you're picking a fight I wont back down." He stated aggressively.

Dubs other self whispered to him. "His physical attack strength is 3.51 times as strong as yours, but his physical defense and vitality is 5.23 times less than yours. His reflex speed is 1.2 times that of yours. After running the numbers, if you were to fight him physically, you'd come out on top. What do you say, Dubs? Wanna challenge this guy to a fight? Magic won't be an issue due to your resistances."

Dubs smirked, but decided not to fight. "I have to keep up my reputation for now. We can fight later when we won't get caught." Dubs addressed this statement at his other self, but Samuel clearly believed that Dubs was speaking to him.

"Heh. I guess you're not wrong there. You better not chicken out on me when that time comes, though." Samuel took his arm off Dubs and shoved him away. Dubs fell backwards, but his leg firmly planted itself as he was falling to prevent him from losing his balance further.

"Haha! What a jerk! I hope you don't mind that I took over your leg for a second there Dubs, I didn't want him to get the satisfaction of witnessing you falling over.", Dubs other self rasped.

Dubs smiled and began to walk back towards where the other 3 students were training themselves.

"Time to check up on how everyone else is looking.", Dubs remarked.