CHAPTER 9: Learning How To Fall

The professor and the students were walking down a hallway while the professor was speaking.

"Everyone possesses Hani. It's considered the basis of life. Only dead things don't have Hani."

"Although, everyone possesses Hani, not everyone can use it. To use it, one has to awaken their source. Some geniuses have theirs awakened from birth, while others' have to be forcefully awakened."

"It can be awakened through many methods. You don't need to know them, so I'll skip it. The way we tried to awaken yours was a radical and untested method. We injected strong poisons into your bodies to simulate a near death situation. If it succeeded, your sources would have been awakened. If not, it wouldn't. If things went really wrong, you would die."

He glanced at the group that was smaller than before.

"As expected, not everyone made it."

"It just goes to show that they were weak. The Test Zone was established to seek strong, untalented children to use them for research. It may sound harsh, but it's the truth. All of you are untalented, so you were sent here. Well, some of you were raised just to be sent here, so that's a different case."

"Back to what I was saying, there are broadly three categories for all Ranked, but that will take too long to explain, for various reasons. We'll discuss it on another day. Let's talk about those that can't be classified into our current system, those who have supernatural powers."

"For example, those who have abilities like telekinesis, telepathy and mind control, can't be classified with our current system. Most of them are part of the demon and elven races. There are a few from other races that have those abilities, most notably the human race's Renee Family. At least one of their descendants from each generation has had supernatural powers. That's all for now. We've arrived at the training room."

They walked into a big room that had a big mat in the middle, and all sorts of training equipment by the sides.

Professor A walked to the middle of the mat.

"You will all be learning how to fall. While there are many techniques on how to properly fall, I believe that you can only learn by yourself. Today you will do nothing but fall. Of course, you will be thrown while you're doing so."

He clapped his hands. Robots came into the room.

"You will be thrown by these for the whole of today. You will fall in a sitting position today, squatting tomorrow and standing the next. You will only have one day to master your own falling technique for each position."

"Some of you might be thinking that it's impossible to learn how to fall in your own way in one day, so I'll give you some tips."

"Firstly, relax your body as you fall down. Don't tense up. Secondly, never hold your breath. Thirdly, just fall."

"That's all you'll hear from me, so get started. You have five hours."

"Oh, and before I forget, the person who does the best in the training today will get the right to make one request. They can ask for a gourmet meal, a gold bar, anything within reason. But one thing you all should know, something gotten through a request cannot be taken away by other people. It would discourage people from doing well in training if what they got from their request was taken by someone else."

George walked towards a robot. Others did the same.

'That's right, he said a sitting position?'

He got down on his behind and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground.

"God, my body hurts."

The robot had thrown him magnificently onto his back. His back hurt so much.

He got back up.

'He said to relax my body and not hold my breath.'

He tried many more times, only to find himself with the same result two hours later.

'It doesn't feel any different. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should see what the others are doing.'

He looked around. The others already seemed to have found their own way, as they were falling everywhere and getting back up like they were never on the ground in the first place.

'I need to be the best. Maybe I can ask for a journal, like I had back home.'

He went back to falling. It was only towards the end of the training time that he finally found the right position for himself.

'Finally, I think I'm getting it. There's not much time left.'

He looked around at the people who had been falling non-stop for the last one hour.

'I don't think I'll be getting that prize though. I'm only just getting the hang of it now while the others have been doing it well. Well, at least I think they're doing it well.'

A bit later, Professor A called out, "Stop. Training time is over."

"I've been watching all of you this whole time, and it's obvious who was the best."

The kids gathered around him, in anticipation of his words.

"The person who will get the request will be...."

The kids were all holding their breath.

"Subject George."

The group looked around in confusion.

"Who's George?"

"Have you ever heard of a George?"

George walked up to Professor A.

"Professor, can I make my request?"

"Sure, why not? "

"I would like to get journals and pens whenever I want them."

Professor A looked at George.

"Are you sure that's want you want to use our request for?"

"Definitely."

"Okay then, you will get what you asked for."

Amidst the protests of the surrounding children, Professor A started to lead the way back to the dormitory.

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A little later, in Warden's control room.

Professor A was standing behind Warden's chair.

"Should I have really given it to that kid? He clearly wasn't the best. He wasn't even close to being the best."

Warden swiveled around in her chair to face the professor.

"Don't question what I ask you to do, A. Your job is to follow my every command. Without questions. I hope you aren't asking any questions, are you?"

She took out a file from a cabinet next to her.

"Let's see what we have here. Clarisse Mount, aged three. She has a heart condition that no healers have been able to figure out. But it seems a mysterious benefactor had been keeping her alive by paying for expensive-"

"Enough!"

Professor A was trembling in rage.

"I apologize for daring to question your judgment, Warden."

Warden nodded her head in satisfaction.

"That's better."

She swung back round to face the monitor.

"You're dismissed. Go back to your post."

Professor A turned around and left.

When the door closed behind him, a voice rang out from the side of the room.

"Why not just tell him? It's not like it would do any harm."

Without turning around, Warden chuckled.

"You really don't understand. If you treat them nicely once, they'll start to feel like they can approach you normally. I don't want that."

"But anyway, I'll get him to make that George the best again. I wonder how Alex will react when George is the best two times in a row. Will he corner him and try to put him in his place?"

"I can't wait to find out."