No Longer Students

The medic with maroon hair walked in through the door and stood at attention, saluting Lieutenant Cater. Carter quickly and lazily saluted her back, trying to get the formalities over with.

"Sir, I have the incident report that you requested, Sir."

"Fantastic. Let's have a look at it."

Cater opened the file folder and took a look. Picking up papers and moving them around. It looked like there was a particular piece of information he was looking for. He placed his head on his fist. His elbow was resting on the desk. His index finger was rubbing his temple in an up-and-down motion.

"Was that all the information we could get from that attack, Doc?"

"Yes, sir."

"I see that you stated in the report that those marks on Smith are consistent with razor rat attacks. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir. My reports are always accurate," the medic said, restraining her frown from the insult.

"Was there an investigation? Was the razor rat's body obtained?

"Yes, sir. The autopsy was just finished a few moments ago. I was handed this on my way here."

She handed another file folder in her hand to Cater. He took it in hand, then placed it on his desk. He didn't bother looking at it.

"I'm assuming that you already looked at it. How did the creature die?"

"You are correct, sir. I did look at it briefly before coming in here. It appears that the razor rat was strangled to death. According to the accounts from the students, Carson's shadow power was responsible for killing it."

"Really? A student who just opened his powers was responsible for that. Hmmmm. That just seems very unlikely," Carter said, scrunching up his eye brows, trying to connect the dots of what happened.

"Yes, sir. I was thinking the same thing. Even graduates have a hard time with low-base-level beasts," the medic replied.

"We definitely need to keep an eye on those three; something isn't adding up. But I'm more concerned about how close the razor rat was to both the academy and New Cleveland. Chimera wolves are usually not too far away. My gut tells me something is going to happen. I'm going to put a request in for another medic. Also, I want you to put an order in for supplies. I want that medical center fully stocked. Don't worry about cost; I'll approve it."

The medic stood back to attention and saluted lieutenant Carter and said, "Sir, right away, sir."

"Wait a minute, are all the students here?

"Sir, yes, sir."

"Fantastic. You need to prepare for school starting tomorrow. We have no time to waste. The Territories down south are fighting and can become aggressive toward us at anytime. And the beasts are starting to move irregularly."

"Understood, Sir."

_____________________

Eric and Smith Entered into their room, number five. Eric is still being propped up by Smith. He placed him in a chair in the corner of the room.

Eric's body was overly exhausted. Each individual was sore, much like each muscle was involved in running a marathon. This was due to lightning going through his body at a constant rate for an extended period.

Vincent was in the room when the two got there. As Eric was slouching in the chair to relax his muscles, Vincent stood up and rushed over to them.

"What happen? Who did this?" Vincent asked very concerned.

Eric just flopped his hand and pointed toward Smith. Trying to motion him to talk. Eric's exhaustion was so high that he didn't want to talk.

"Uh. It was Acer and his.... Lackey, I guess, Lowery," Smith said to Vincent.

"But Why?"

"Acer wanted my... Uh.. Answer for his protection. Carson stopped me from staying yes. So. Uh. Lowery started running his lightning power through him. That's why Carson is that way."

Carson stopped talking to Vincent and turned to Eric, "I'm so sorry. Please forgive give. I tried, I should have beaten him faster."

"Wait! What?!?! You beat Acer? Do you even have a power?" Vincent asked with confusion.

"Uh. Um… Uh… Yes. I do have a power. It's wind."

Knock, knock. A muffled knocking on a door could be heard through their door. Then muffled voices could be heard, but the voices could not be understood. 

Knock, knock. Another knock could be heard, and then another muffled voice could be heard again. This time it was closer. It kept happening very quickly, one after another.

knock, knock.  This time The sound could be heard on their door. Vincent walked over and opened the door.

"Sergeant McKinney!"

"Don't worry about formalities. There is a message from the Lieutenant. All students must meet on the yellow line. You have ten minutes."

McKinney suddenly vanished.

"A teleportation power..." Vincent said, stunned by seeing that ability.

He then turned around. "Alright guys, we need to go," Vincent said.

Smith went over to Eric to help him up.

"I can move. Just be next to me, in case I fall. I must stand at attention on my own," Eric said in response to Smith's movements.

Smith decided to hold out his hand to at the very least help him get out of the chair. Eric took his hand and pulled himself up. They all left the rooms, going to the yellow line.

Everyone lined up attention. Lieutenant Carter was walking up to the line where the 120 students were; each person was in their squad group. Eight other military soldiers were behind him. They were carrying large metal boxes that took 2 soldiers to carry, one on each side.

Once he reached his spot to address the students, the soldiers dropped the metal boxes. The thud was heavy, and a muffled clatter came from the boxes.

Suddenly all the students saluted. Carter restarted with a proper salute. When he placed his hand down, all the students fell in suite.

"Today you are no longer students, but are soldiers now. The fighting down south and the aggressiveness of the beast have now forced us to start training early. I now bestow upon you all the rank of private."

All the students started clapping.

Carter continued, "Training will start tomorrow at 0600 hours."

________________

He then lifted his arms up to his sides with his palms facing upward. The latches on the boxes popped, and immediately the lids flung open. It looked as if someone invisible was opening the boxes all at the same time.

Out of the boxes came out sabers one by one. The sabers were floating in mid-air. Then they started to move around to where the saber points were facing the students. The lieutenant then turned his palms where they were facing the students. He pushed his hands forward and then downward, making a circular motion.

Now all the sabers were flying toward the students. They all either flinched or closed their eyes. They all knew that if they didn't have a chance to get out of way, because of how fast the blades were moving. Each saber landed, stuck into the ground, in front of each student.

"These are for you. Each saber is edged with radiation gems. The first half of tomorrow we will begin teaching how to fight with sabers. The other half will be used to spar with someone within your own squad. Using your saber and then with your powers. From this point on, the second half of the day will be used for sparring. DO NOT RETURN TOMORROW WITHOUT YOUR SABERS; IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Carter said this with a strong, loud voice.

"Sir, yes, sir," they all said loudly in unison.

"You are dismissed."

Lieutenant Cater and the other soldiers with the large metal boxes walked away from the students. After they were a little further away, the students grabbed their sabers. They started admiring the new swords they had.

Eventually, they start to swing the sabers, almost like they were testing them out. Everyone but Eric, that is. He was still too tired and sore from the lightning.

"Dude, this is awesome!" Vincent said with excitement.

He has always had a love for swords. He didn't care what kind of sword it was. Katana, long sword, one-handed sword, or even short swords, He loved them all. He was always looking at books that had information about them, especially anything that had pictures. Now he finally had one. One that would be his.

"At our sparring match tomorrow. I'm going to mop the floor with you guys. Who's going to be first?" Vincent said with a light smile that beamed with confidence.

"Not me; you're too much right now." Eric replied.

"I'm… uh. With Carson on this one." Smith said with a head nod.

Vincent looked over at Hurst, who was lined up with them. He was still doing light swings with the saber admiring it when he noticed that Vincent was looking at him.

"Well, I guess it will have to be then. But I want to spar with Smith next, then." Hurst said.

The news was already going around about the fight between Smith and Acer. Actually, it was more like Acer was trying to tell everyone, but no one believed him. It sounded too fantastical for anyone to believe. Because of this rumor, he wanted to see if it was true.

"A person with two powers, can they even exist?" Hurst asked himself.