His Talent (1)

Adam's eyes fluttered open as the grogginess began to dissipate, his young voice cracking as he spoke. "Ugh," he grunted, still feeling the effects of sleep weighing heavily on his mind and body.

As he fluttered his eyes open, he was met with the sight of several faces staring down at him.

"What the heck?!" Adam exclaimed as he sat bolt upright, the sudden movement making him dizzy. He realized he'd been lying down, and now he was sitting up.

As his eyes scanned the room, he could only see the legs of the youngsters standing around him.

Then, it dawned on him that he was the center of attention, and they were all staring at him. Some of them were smirking and snickering, as if amused by his confusion.

"Where am I?" Adam thought to himself, his mind racing to make sense of the situation.

The last thing he remembered was shaking hands with the strange little girl, Laylane, and then everything went black. And now, here he was, surrounded by teenagers who were finding his disorientation amusing.

As he looked up at the faces surrounding him, he started to recognize some of them from his detention room encounter the day before.

There was the boy with the bright red hair, the girl with the dark, curly locks, and the boy with the glasses who looked like a walking encyclopedia. A wave of familiarity washed over him as he struggled to put the pieces together.

"Oh no!" Adam breathed, a lump forming in his throat. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was back in that weird school, surrounded by kids who acted more like monsters than children.

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the room as something slammed against the table. The kids who had gathered around him jumped back, startled by the noise or rather, who made the noise.

As the tension in the room dissipated, Adam let out a heavy sigh. "Whew!" he thought, relieved that the kids had been distracted from him.

He wasn't sure where the sound had come from, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he was grateful for the reprieve.

Both in his previous life as a grown man and in his new life as a teenager, he had always been terrified of crowds. The feeling of being surrounded by so many people, with no escape, was claustrophobic and suffocating.

If it hadn't been for the sudden interruption, he might have passed out from panic. He counted his lucky stars that he'd been spared from such a terrifying fate.

But then, a thought struck him. How had he gotten to school from his home, when he had been in his room before passing out? Could his mother have caused him to sleep again and carried him to school, to keep him away from the outside world?

"Adamax 001, to your seat!" A harsh, grating voice bellowed from somewhere in the room. Adam jumped, his heart pounding in his chest.

Adam scrambled to his feet, his hands shaking as he tried to steady himself. The authority of the voice was palpable, sending a chill down his spine. He could feel the fear coursing through his body, making him feel weak and vulnerable.

Adam's eyes darted to the source of the voice, and he found himself looking at a man in his late thirties. He was dressed in an all-white modern outfit, and his eyes were hidden behind dark, bug-eyed glasses. He exuded an air of danger and power, making Adam feel even more uneasy.

Adam was so transfixed by the man's imposing presence that he almost forgot the command he'd been given.

The man strode confidently towards Adam, his steps measured and deliberate.

When he was close enough to whisper in Adam's ear, he did so in a sinister, chilling tone.

“I'm sure you recognize me by now. I suggest you take your seat and start the program, or else there will be consequences."

The man left the consequences of disobedience open-ended, leaving Adam's mind to conjure up all sorts of terrible possibilities.

Adam's imagination did run wild, picturing all manner of horrible things that could happen if he didn't comply.

Gulp!

Adam's throat was dry as he gulped nervously. As he turned to look for a place to sit, he realized he was in a different classroom than the one he'd been in before. This one was livelier, but also darker and more ominous.

Adam spotted a seat next to the girl with the rainbow-colored hair from the previous day, but hesitated to sit down.

The man behind him cleared his throat in a way that made it clear that he expected immediate obedience. With a nervous gulp, Adam hurried to take the seat, not wanting to test the man's patience.

Adam sat down, doing his best to avoid making eye contact with the girl, who was glaring at him with an intensity that was unsettling. All he wanted was to keep his head down and avoid any conflict, especially with the man standing in front of the class.

The man's voice was deceptively calm as he said, "Good. Now, I hope you're all prepared for today's activity?"

"Yes, Sir Leon Russell," the class replied in unison, their voices confident and assured.

But Adam sat frozen, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was the only one who didn't know who this imposing figure was, and he felt like a fish out of water.

"Great!" Sir Leon rasped, his voice sounding more hoarse than before. He scanned the room, his gaze passing over Adam without a second thought.

Two men and a woman entered the classroom, their movements efficient and businesslike.

"Leon, it's always a pleasure to have you for Talent Checking Day," the woman said, her smile widening.

"You, you, you and you two over there," Leon said, pointing to a few of the students. "Come forward and show me what you've been working on." His tone was demanding.

The students hurried to the front of the room, standing before the adults in a neat row.

One of them pulled a ball from his pocket and rolled it towards another student, who stared at it intently. A few moments later, the second student collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Well done," Sir Leon said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Your performance was truly sub-par. It took you two minutes and sixteen seconds to put the student to sleep. That's a D grade at best."

The boy slunk back to his seat, dejected and humiliated. Next up was a girl, who began to move her hands in a graceful, fluid motion.

After a few moments, a shimmering blue light appeared around her hands, taking the form of a dragon. The light began to dance in sync with her movements, twisting and turning in the air.

"Keep it up, Mae," Sir Leon said, his words dripping with disdain. "You'd be better off using your talent in a brothel than on the battlefield."

His words were met with a chorus of gasps and a few shocked titters from the other students. He raised a hand to silence them before continuing. "Next."

It dawned on Adam that this must be some kind of talent show. Each student was being called upon to show their unique ability or power.

One by one, the students displayed their abilities, but they all seemed to fall short of Sir Leon's expectations. Even the boy who could control fire, who had bullied Adam the day before, was derided by Sir Leon for having a "low-level" ability.

It seemed that nothing any of the students did was good enough for him.

"Adamax 001, it's your turn," Sir Leon called, his tone bored and almost mocking. He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, as if settling in for a good show.

Adam rose shakily to his feet, his legs like jelly as he made his way to the front of the class. He stood before them, feeling everyone's eyes on him. A minute passed, and he was still frozen in place, not knowing what to do. His mind was a blank.

Adam's mind raced, trying to come up with something to do. Finally, he opened his mouth wide and let out a cry: "Hah!" But nothing happened. No fire shot from his mouth.

Adam tried again and again to produce some kind of power or ability, but nothing happened. Finally, in desperation, he tried to mimic the girl's dragon dance, twirling his hands in the air. But once again, he was met with nothing but silence and failure.

"Are you here to perform a circus act for us?" a woman sneered, her lips curling into a cruel smile. "Or are you just a clown, here to entertain us?" She said the words like they were poison, clearly harboring some kind of animosity towards Adam.

Sir Leon held up his hand, silencing the woman's taunts. Then, turning to Adam, he said, "Why don't you use the notepad in your hands? Isn't that what you always do every year?"

Only now did Adam notice the notepad and pen clutched in his hands, a gift from his mother the night before.

He'd been so focused on trying to produce some supernatural power that he hadn't even noticed he was holding them. But what good would they do him now?

"Let's see how useful your worthless talent is," Sir Leon said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. It was clear he was enjoying humiliating Adam in front of the other students.

With a resigned sigh, Adam muttered to himself, "Let's just do what they want and get this over with." He picked up the pen and began writing on the notepad, his hand shaking with nerves.

After a few minutes, Sir Leon snapped impatiently, "We don't have all day, Adamax 001."

Adam held up the notepad, revealing a series of intricate and beautiful sketches that covered every inch of the page.

The class let out a collective gasp of shock and disbelief.

On the notepad, Adam had drawn a woman in a revealing bikini, her body contorted into an erotic pose. It was clear that his mind had been wandering to inappropriate places.

"Detention!" Sir Leon bellowed, his face turning bright red with anger.

{If you find any issues in this chapter, please reach out to the author ^⁠_⁠^}