A gift

I walked into the training hall, and immediately remembered where all of our budget went.

The 25 meter high climbing wall streached across the right of the giant dome, which was about 40 meters tall. To the left were the equipment storage chests, each labled by sport and sorted Into groups by Danger Level, or DL for short.

DL of equipment goes from 0 to 8, with DL-0 being mostly protection gear, and DL-8 being the most powerful weapons we have for training.

Next to each group of chests was an arena, that fit the intensity of training with the equipment in the DL of the group it corresponds to.

These are the places where we actually fight.

at the far end of the room was the firearm area, both an area for tactical training and a range for live rounds.

I glossed over the room, intentionally not paying attention to the structure in the middle. I saw that There were already groups of soldiers training, they all looked a few cycles older than us. A couple of them were trying to climb a newly set route on the climbing wall, it looked almost effortless for them. Another group was doing a ground fighting tournament in the DL-0 arena, and a different group next to them were doing weapon sparring with knives in DL-3. I really don't understand how they have the energy to train this early in the morning.

We went towards our instructor, who was waiting next to the DL-1 arena to the left.

After we finished the warmup, all of us stood in order of our ranks, and the instructor started talking about today's training.

Our instructor was named joy.

Though he was no longer serving his job as one of the 8 elite commanders, as they have to retire at cycle 36, he was still the most powerful person I've seen. He was a lion standing over 2 meters tall, his build was as expected of a former elite commander, he looked like he could save those soldiers that were climbing a bit of time and just throw them right to the top with no effort.

His body was covered in scars, the most prominent ones being the one on his right foot, and the one going across his snout. Both scars looked like that part of the body was cut off completely and stitched back together right after. But it only made him look more intimidating.

In reality he was a really nice guy, he wasnt nearly as harsh as any of our other instructors, and always wore a bright smile on his face, even when demonstrating lethal techniques with ease.

I wasn't really listening to what he was saying, I always understood his techniques just by watching them once or twice.

As he kept explaining a knife disarm we went over 2 weeks ago, I looked around to see if I could find anything interesting.

This is when i noticed who got shot earlier, it was number 87. I don't know him that well but I remember getting punished once for saving him in training, good to see he wasn't even worth helping.

"Remember, you want to make sure you have full control of the knife before trying to fight back with it"

our instructor finished explaining. "Now I want you to practice in pairs."

Soldiers near the top of the cycle are usually paired with the lower ranks to help them learn, I just hope im not with- "87!" Joy called, "You go with 17."

"Yes sir" we both responded.

"Great" I said to myself with a sigh, I was lucky enough to get paired with HIM again, hopefully this time I won't be punished.

I held the wooden knife first, charging at him with little force to help him understand what he needs to do, surprisingly he actually did the disarm pretty well.

Then it was my turn to disarm him. Knowing that I'm a higher rank, he decided to charge at me with full force. I swiftly stepped aside and grabbed the knife that was still in his hand, then I applied light pressure to the spot on his arm where he was shot earlier, that made him let go of the knife.

but I didn't let go of his hand yet, now was time for fun.

I held the wooden knife and forcefully stabbed it into his shot wound. "AHHHHH" he screamed and started tearing up, pathetic.

"I saved your life once, just remember that I can take away the gift I gave you" I told him up close, I think he learned his lesson.

As we started getting ready to leave, I heard happy squeals coming from the entrance.

I watched as the 5th cycle kids entered the hall and run straight to the shooting range.

Judging by their small age and chaotic reactions, I assumed this was still one of their first times shooting. I remembered how much fun I had when I first got to shoot, I felt like I had so much power in my hands, now its just normal.

On the way to the room where the test will take place, 59 approached me. "Are you ready for the test?" He asked, "considering the only thing stopping you from being in the top 10 is your bad magic control". "I think It'll be fine, dont worry" I responded.

I was relieved that there was still no suspicion about my strangth, even from my closest friend.