Chapter 7

It was night as Velariel thought about everything that had happened that day—arriving at school, meeting the other mutants... the farewell with her mother. The week between meeting the professor and joining the school seemed to pass both quickly and slowly. She also recalled how she had tested both the X-genes she had acquired and her own, particularly the latter.

'Absorbing negative emotions is quite simple. In a radius—though I'm not entirely sure how large it is—I can absorb emotions. These emotions are divided into two groups. The first group strengthens me, improving my physical strength or increasing my energy reserves, which I can feel but can't use. The second group just accumulates and doesn't do anything until I use an ability, which so far has only been Enchant, but I don't have enough to enchant anything' she thought with frustration.

"Basically, one group is used automatically, and the other I control when to use. I think I'll call them passive and active emotion energy for simplicity," she said out loud.

"Well, I should get some sleep. Something tells me tomorrow will be a busy day," she thought before turning off the lights in her room.

...

"Where are we going?"

"There… to a place I didn't show your mom and your uncle," began Professor Xavier. "Inside the school, we not only teach how to avoid hurting others with your powers, but also how to use them." In Velariel's young mind, that sounded the same, but she said nothing.

"So, with the help of Professor McCoy, we designed this place..." he stopped in front of a large gray door, which opened after inserting a code.

"The Danger Room!" he exclaimed, extending his arms as if to encompass the enormous underground chamber. It was an oval-shaped structure, made up of many white panels with the exception of one wall where windows could be seen.

"..." The little girl, though she had memories of rooms like this—if not more magnificent—couldn't help but stand there with her mouth open in awe. Seeing it with her own eyes was different from seeing it on a screen, she thought.

"Impressive, isn't it?" said Hank, who was standing beside her.

"You two really like showing off this place," said Logan, rolling his eyes as he recalled how he had been introduced to the room.

"Yep."

"Yes."

"Obviously."

"Definitely."

"Yeah," agreed the other students, who had all gone through the same experience.

"Well, you don't build a place like this and not show it off a bit," said Professor McCoy, adjusting his glasses.

"As I was saying," Professor Xavier continued, "this room is for testing your powers, and that's exactly what we'll do."

"How will you do it?"

"In the room, you'll be exposed to various physical tests, ranging from obstacle courses to combat exercises. Don't worry, little one, all the tests are perfectly safe."

...

"So Velariel, the first test is divided into two parts. First, a one hundred meter race, and second, an endurance test to see how long you can maintain that speed—in other words, a speed and endurance test," the professor said from the observation room, accompanied by all the others.

At that moment, part of the floor lit up, revealing it as a track. Velariel went to the starting zone, first taking a typical running stance that she remembered, but after a second, she shifted to one where both feet were planted, slightly leaning forward, her body at a ninety-degree angle, and her tail fully extended.

"That's a weird position to run in," said Bobby.

"Yes, but her body is different too. Her center of gravity isn't in the same place as ours because of her tail, plus who knows how her horns might affect her," Logan replied, to which Professor McCoy nodded in agreement.

"If you're ready, we'll start in three, two… and ONE!" the professor said through the speakers, prompting Velariel to shoot off from the starting line.

"One hundred meters in… 7.34 seconds! I think that's a world record," Hank said, and everyone responded with surprise.

"That's impressive. Let's see how she does with endurance." They all watched the girl run in circles until she eventually wore herself out.

"She maintained her top speed for 2.34 minutes and didn't fully tire out until after 4.49 minutes. Impressive," Hank noted.

"I understand her X-gene enhances her abilities, but isn't that a bit much for a 5-year-old?" Warren asked, clearly surprised.

"Well, you can fly with your wings, even though that should be physically impossible," Scott responded.

"Touché."

After waiting a few more minutes for her to recover, the next test began.

"Alright Velariel, here's the second and final test, and the boys' favorite—the robot attack. As the name suggests, you'll be fighting against robots in rounds, with each round having stronger and more numerous robots."

The professor paused for a few seconds to give the little girl time to process what he had said.

"Alright, if there are no problems, we'll start in three, two, one… NOW!"

"First round, easy level," said a mechanical voice after the professor, and then a rather boxy robot, just slightly taller than Velariel, came out of the wall, slowly walking toward her.

The girl recalled something from her knowledge given by the Xenomorph—know your prey first and foremost. The robot was a bit taller than her, looking like several white boxes stacked together in a humanoid shape with blue lights where its eyes should be, along with other bright lights of the same color. Seeing she couldn't gather more information, she decided to start the fight.

She took the same stance she used for running and charged straight at the robot. Midway, she raised her fist, preparing an obvious attack, but just before hitting, she slid under it, her body passing by the robot, which was in a guard position, and as she slid past, she slashed with her tail across its abdomen, leaving a large gash.

The robot prepared a counterattack, throwing a punch from its left side, which Velariel dodged by rolling to the right. With her claws elongated by her X-gene, she stabbed into the neck area, causing the robot's lights to turn red, and it clumsily exited the danger chamber.

In the observation room, everyone watched in stunned silence until Logan spoke up.

"So… that was it."

"That was what?" Ororo asked.

"...When I first saw the girl, something inside me told me to be cautious around her. At first, I thought my instincts were playing tricks on me, or maybe the girl was poisonous or something like that, but it wasn't any of those..." He looked ahead again before continuing, "The girl is a hunter..." He paused again and glanced at Charles, saying, "Professor, it's good you recruited her; otherwise, who knows what she would have become."

...

"Fifth round, Normal Mode," said the mechanical voice. The previous rounds had been simple—each round added another robot. The second round posed some problems, but by the third, she had figured out that the trick was to aim for the neck or hips, and the fourth round was even easier. She felt a little nervous about the change in difficulty, but also a bit excited.

The wall opened again, but this time a different kind of robot emerged. If the first one had been a pile of blocks, this one was a more elaborate piece, with a more humanoid body standing about one meter eighty in height. It had the same blue eyes and lines, but this time it started in a hunched stance, fists raised, ready to fight from the beginning.

The countdown began. Velariel got into her running stance, and when the countdown reached zero, both figures charged at each other. The robot, trying to take advantage of its longer reach, threw a right punch that she narrowly avoided with the same sliding move she had used to attack the first robot. But when she thought she could finish it in one move by going for the neck, her tail was blocked by the robot's forearm. It was then that she noticed its arms were made of a tougher material than the rest of its body, gleaming grey instead of white.

The robot took advantage of her distraction to grab her tail and throw her away—a move that could have been effective if not for her ability to twist mid-air and land on her feet.

Once again, the two figures charged at each other. This time, the little girl aimed for a frontal attack with her claws extended, targeting the robot's neck. The robot, anticipating the move, stepped back and threw a left punch, which connected directly with one of her horns, causing her to stumble back from the impact. The robot took advantage of her dazed state and performed a judo throw, pinning her to the ground and holding her arms down with its legs and arms. Just as everyone in the observation room thought it was over, something surprising—yet not entirely unexpected—happened.

Velariel drove her tail into the robot's back and, as if that wasn't enough, began injecting acid into it. Black stains started spreading across the robot's chest, its lights first turning red before going out completely, reflecting the damage.

"That's enough! It's over," the professor said, thinking they had seen the girl's limit.

Velariel pushed the robot off her. Hearing the professor, she began walking toward the exit, but halfway there, she collapsed to the ground and started convulsing.

"VELARIEL!" Kitty shouted, using her powers to rush into the room with everyone else following behind. But when she arrived, she saw that the girl was sitting on the floor—though something had changed. Her once bone-white tail had turned pitch black, and she could swear it was thicker. The spikes on her back had elongated and changed to the same black color. Even though she was still covered in clothes, it was clear that her figure had changed—it was as if a shell had grown around her body, more like an exoskeleton tightly fitted to her form.