Daniel Xander, Chapter 9: Combat Adaption

After going through the calendar of this place in Davy's room, Daniel found out that the day today was Saturday. He'd arrived on 13th May, spent the 14th roaming around the place and moving into the dorms, and now, he didn't know what to do during the weekend.
After heading back from dinner with Davy yesterday, he'd just gone to have a bath and returned to find Davy passed out. He hadn't told him about anything. Not even the working of the place. Daniel had contended himself with the thought of getting information out of him by the next day.
But the next day, which was today was no better. Daniel had woken up at 10 am in the morning and hastily cleaned up and gotten dressed. Davy hadn't been in the room then and Daniel had no idea where he'd gone. He'd returned and told Daniel that he'd gone down for breakfast. By the time Daniel had gotten down, the only thing there for him was a couple slices of toast. He spent the day inside his room and was in a generally bad mood. Thankfully, Davy had left for some training session with Cecile at around noon so Daniel pretty much had the room to himself. He spent the remainder of the day trying to study from the 'how to start' book and actually got through about a fifth of it before Davy returned at 6 pm with a package in hand and passed it onto him.
"What is this?" Asked Daniel catching it.
"It's a package from Darius Rowse. I suppose it has your uniform." Replied Davy sitting down at his desk and opening a book.
Daniel opened the package to see that it was indeed a uniform. He went inside the bathroom to check the fitting. It consisted of a white shirt with a logo, black pants and black shoes. It fitted him well. Daniel wondered how Darius had gotten his precise measurements.

Once done checking out the uniform, Daniel saw an envelope peeking out of the package. Daniel opened it and saw that it was a pamphlet with everything there was to know about the school and the selection programs. There were also about 4 pages dedicated to the arrival procedures of semi mortals on earth. Once he was done reading it, a bunch of his doubts were cleared out.
So apparently, semi mortals of ages 14 and 15 were supposed to come over to Anoterose as soon as their parents willed it. If, by age 15, a semi mortal wasn't registered for the move; or if in case a tragedy were to befall, special semi mortals from the rank system were discharged from the capital to act as escorts. Currently, 6 semi mortals had been moved to Anoterose under the mentioned circumstances, including Daniel and Cecile. In a normal case, semi mortals would receive a considerable amount of knowledge about the system and it's working from their parents. Also, they would most likely already be homeschooled in semi mortal subjects. However, incase a semi mortal wasn't homeschooled in subjects of importance, they would have to attend extra classes and extra tough training regiments. In an ideal case, a semi mortal registered for the move would be sent to Anoterose by the end of a year at age 14 or 15. Some semi mortals can also be sent over at younger ages if their guardians choose to accompany them.
In Daniel's case, he basically fulfilled every unconventional condition there was to fulfill. Apparently, the summer vacations had started for this academy, so most students were either going home, on vacations or devoting themselves to training. As for Daniel, he had already received a notice that he would have to attend summer school. The worst thing was that he alone had to enroll in summer school because apparently, he was the only semi mortal who'd come here under special circumstances this year. His parents had tried to hide him well, but the ghoul attack had given them away. This was actually better than having to enroll in night school, which he would have had to attend had he arrived during some other time of the year. Well, this was a start. So their were entrance exams for school admissions most of the time. But they had made an exception in Daniel's case. He would get schooling services for the summer vacations, and he would have to give an entrance examination by the end of the summer to actually enroll. The dorms were basically giving him a sanctuary. Luckily, their had been space available.

Well, things weren't too bad. Daniel could go to summer classes, work extra hard and crack the entrance exam. Things could still look up. He'd also befriended Bruce who was really cool and willing to coach him in the library.
The only thing bothering him a bit was Davy. He'd tried striking up a conversation with him, but so far, he hadn't made much progress. He only knew that Davy had come here with a bunch of others by the start of the year (earth year) at age 14. His birthday was on February 5th and he'd spent it here. He'd been here for more than 5 months and knew about everything, more or less. His parents had hired a semi mortal tutor to help him with the basics. Daniel still didn't know under what circumstances Cecile had come here, but he was kind of keen to find out. He really was starting to find her despicable, but according to Liz, their had been a change brought about in her. And Daniel wanted to know what that change had been or what had brought it in her.

His train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door. Daniel got up to open it but Davy gestured him to remain sitting and went over to open it. A tall man strode into the room. It was Mr. Bartemius.
"Xander," he said looking towards Daniel who stood up straight immediately, "I am sorry to interrupt your Saturday. I hope you are working hard with all the material?"
"Yes sir," Daniel replied, "I spent the day reviewing it and also went through the pamphlet with everything."
"That's good." Said Mr. Bartemius, "I am here to take you with me for a while, so please follow me. We have to take you to a doctor and find out what repressed Imperium you have."
"Yes sir." Replied Daniel. He cast a glance towards Davy who was looking at him with interest. The latter hastily returned to the book he'd been reading.

Daniel and Mr. Bartemius left the school campus in Mr. Bartemius's car.
"Don't mind me saying so," said Mr. Bartemius suddenly as they drove away from the school and took to the busy streets, "but you by far are the most unusual semi mortal we have had. We haven't ever had a case like you in 400 years."
"I see," mumbled Daniel feeling uneasy, "how so?"
"For starters, you are a semi mortal with a repressed Imperium. Those are rare enough. On top of that, a special escort had to get you here. That has only happened 6 times. Another thing is that you have no knowledge about the semi mortal world whatsoever. Adding all of these things together, we see that we haven't ever had a case like you before."
Daniel didn't know how to reply to this so he didn't say anything. Unusual semi mortal. He wasn't unusual. He was as normal as possible. The circumstances he was placed in were unusual. But again, there was nothing he could do about them.

It took half an hour to get his results from the hospital, and another half an hour to return. The hospital had been very crowded. And from observation, Daniel had been the only one there who could walk, talk and feel uncomfortable. Because the rest of the people in that ward had been infants. It made sense. This must be the ward where parents brought their children to have their Imperiums determined. Of course, Daniel hadn't been able to take this test during his infancy; so he had to take it now. Daniel hadn't known what was to be expected. The doctor had just briefly grasped his wrist, looked into his eyes and told him to wait. Half an hour later, an assistant had handed a report to him and Bartemius had pulled him out of there.
"It's way easier once you are older," Mr. Bartemius had said in explanation of the unusually short test, "because during infancy, your bodily functions are more prevalent. Your energy goes to breathing and other necessary activities. Once you are older, things change."
Of course, this wasn't the thing Daniel had his mind on. All he wanted to do was grab his file out of Mr. Bartemius's grasp and tear it open to get a look at the inside contents. He was, for the first time since his arrival here, feeling excitement. His own superpower. His very own superpower. Really.
Would it be something powerful? Would he immediately be a planet buster? Or maybe even a system buster?
Unfortunately, Bartemius was holding onto that file as if his life depended on it. But Daniel could tell that he was also in a state of anticipation.
"So, Darius told me that there would be an orientation program." Said Daniel as their car sped along the road, "Is there an orientation program?"
"You got your pamphlet, right?" Asked Bartemius smiling, "That was it."
"Really?" Said Daniel feeling betrayed, "Lame."
"Yeah, we get that a lot," laughed Bartemius, "I should do well to point out that you aren't officially a part of the school. So sit tight. You will get your orientation program."
"Sir," began Daniel as something occurred to him, "I have my uniform and everything. But what if I fail the entrance?"
"Well, we will just make you pay back for everything, I suppose." Said Bartemius smiling wickedly. Then, looking at the expression on Daniel's face, he laughed and said, "You shouldn't worry about failure, Xander. Believe in yourself and solidify your resolve. No way you will fail. If you do, your friends will figure something out. You should rely on them for once."
"I will keep that in mind." Said Daniel.
"Also, if you really want an orientation, I will give it to you once we get back. Get dressed into something more open. Something suited for combat. Actually, ask Mr. Castillo to pick something out. Or get something from the school shop. I think he will be happy to help you out."
"I doubt that, sir." Said Daniel.
"Oh don't be like that," said Bartemius, "try to get on good terms with him. It will help. Anyway, after getting dressed, meet me in the private gymnasium on the 4th floor of the building to the left of your dorms. Ask someone to give you directions."
"Sir, is there something in particular I need to be prepared for?" Asked Daniel feeling suspicious.
"Well, I don't think there's anything yet." Said Bartemius, "I will examine your file first, and tell you everything up at the gymnasium."

After waving away Daniel's protests and taking his file with him, Mr. Bartemius went away as soon as they reached the school. He made the elaborate gesture for Daniel to be on time by tapping his wristwatch. Not knowing what to expect, Daniel ran back up to his room. The day had passed so quickly that Daniel hadn't even noticed it was dark out. He asked a bewildered Davy to suggest something combat suited. The latter in turn picked out a black shorts and a loose red t-shirt, asking Daniel why he was inclined to dress in combat clothes all of a sudden. Daniel told him about Bartemius's invitation, at the mention of which, Davy stared at him with a look full of pity.
Daniel had no time to ask him why he was looking at him like that. He ran out and in no time, he was right in front of the huge building outside the entrance of which, a bunch of guys were hanging out. As soon as Daniel entered the place, he knew he didn't belong. It was a huge hall and the whole floor was carpeted with a 100×100 blue wrestling mat. There were people all around the place, girls and guys and it was clear that they were sparring. So this was the gymnasium?
"Daniel Xander?" Said a tall blonde woman from beside him.
"Yes?" Said Daniel uncertainly.
"Mr. Bartemius has requested for you in the private gymnasium on the fourth floor." She said looking and sounding unimpressed.
Daniel had no time to analyse her look. His heart was pounding. He wanted to know what his super power; or rather his Imperium was. He ran up the stairway on one side of the main area taking three stairs at a time. He reached the fourth floor breathless and threw open a the glass door a few meters away from the stairway which said: Private Gymnasium.
There was nothing that was different from the rest of the building. The place was fully carpeted except for a few meters surrounding the glass gate. However, this place was significantly less crowded. There were only 6 to 7 people here. Mr. Bartemius stood in the centre of the room barefooted, holding a file. Daniel could see that the carpet had ringed designs on it in places, 4 meters in radius and there were a bunch of these rings. One in the centre where Bartemius was standing. And one in every other corner. There were shoes in the uncarpeted area where Daniel was standing, and he kicked off his own shoes as Bartemius beckoned him forward silently. Daniel walked across the carpet which was soft under his feet to where Bartemius was standing.
"So, Xander," said Bartemius looking at the file in his hand, "should I reveal your Imperium to you now? Or are you willing to wait-"
"Tell me sir!" Said Daniel hastily and a bit too loudly. The people around the room were turning to stare.
"Very well," said Mr. Bartemius, smiling, "Daniel Xander, your Imperium is Combat Adaption."

"Well, that isn't too bad, I guess." Said Daniel feeling a bit underwhelmed. Combat Adaption....well, it had a nice ring to it, at least. But at the same time, it didn't sound like it would be anything too useful.
"Do not underestimate Combat Adaption, boy." Said Bartemius warningly, "This Imperium can turn the tide of battles in an instant. Used right, you can become the number one combatant here."
"I see sir," said Daniel attempting to amend for his dejected look, "but what are its specifics?"
"Well, it is a less powerful form of your father's Imperium," said Bartemius throwing the file aside, out of the mat, where it landed right next to a water bottle and a small bag, "a variation of the Imperium called Reactive Evolution. The wielders of this Imperium will be able to manifest the power of a counter Imperium to the Imperium or the general prowess of their adversary once they get the hang of their opponent's Imperium or their combat prowess. However, unlike Reactive Evolution, this Imperium will only be able to manifest the power of one Imperium at a time. In case you fight multiple opponents, you will be able to manifest the counter Imperium to the opponent causing you the most trouble. The specifics are all in your file so feel free to read them once I free you from here.
"Now, you must be wondering why I have brought you here, though it should be clear from the environment of this place."
Daniel looked around once and said, "Are we here to train, sir?"
"Indeed." Said Bartemius tonelessly, "Your current guardian, Elizabeth Brown, imparted the duty of training you to me. Now, it is normally unusual for a member of the faculty to directly train a student or engage in combat exercises with one. However, considering your special circumstances, Mr. Soto has allowed it."
Bartemius took a very intimidating stance and said, "Bear in mind Daniel: I have no obligation to hold back. As long as I don't kill you or leave you in a state of permanent incapacitation, I can do whatever I want with you.
"The aim of this combat exercise is to train your body and mind. As well as break the repression on your Imperium. Repressed Imperiums are often unleashed when an individual is placed under enormous stress or put through incredibly taxing ordeals. Beware Daniel Xander, beware. This training we will have to engage in everyday until your Imperium blooms. Everyday until you start to use the full potential of your innate semi mortal abilities. This, Daniel Xander, will be your hellish training."

Daniel stared. He couldn't not stare blankly at Bartemius, whose personality had somehow changed in a matter of seconds. Right now, he looked incredibly intimidating. The hard lines of his face gave off the impression of someone who'd gone through hellish training himself. But at the same time, everything he'd said had sounded very..... filmy. Unreal. Daniel didn't know what to do right now. Yes, he remembered what his father had told him about going through pain beyond imagination. And he was definitely scared at the prospect of that. Who wouldn't be? But at the same time, he didn't know what it was inside him that was roaring in excitement.
"So, where am I supposed to start?" Asked Daniel.
"Advance at me and give me your worst. Why do you think I have taken this stance?" Said Mr. Bartemius wearily.
"What? Attack you?" Asked Daniel incredulously.
"I am the one who is going to be your first opponent. So yes, attack me and give me all you have."

Daniel hesitated. He wasn't really underestimating Bartemius. The old man looked really formidable. In fact, overwhelming instinct was telling him to not attack. Attacking would mean doom. But at the same time, Bartemius did look really old. Would he really be able to move fast enough for Daniel? Ignoring the scream of the fabrics of his body which were telling him to walk away, Daniel charged aimlessly. He hadn't formed a plan. He didn't know any martial arts. He'd just decided to punch Bartemius in the face. Every single cell of his body was screaming against this plan, but this was all Daniel had.
He wasn't even in arm's reach of Bartemius when in happened. An invisible force struck him in the stomach and his abdominal region burst into pain; as if someone had put his inside organs into a mixer. He wasn't even aware that his feet had left the ground. Spots danced in front of his eyes and all air was sucked out of him, leaving him gasping, unable to breath. He hit the ground, not able to see, feel or hear. He only knew that his insides pained like hell where the invisible force had struck him. He rolled over onto his front, clutching his stomach as if the insides fall out if he let go of it. His ears were ringing. His eyes still weren't helping him see. He was vaguely reminded of the time when Nathan had judo kicked him in the exact spot. This was a million times worse. He was somewhat aware of people standing around him as someone's gentle hand rested on his back.
Then, the ringing of his ears subsided a bit and he heard Bartemius's voice.
"Sandra, bring a revival pill from your bag."
"You hit him way too hard, chief," came a girl's voice from afar.
"Tch. So weak. Honestly, I don't think any amount of effort put into him will be able to turn him into a soldier. Just look at him. Grovelling down there, unable to even raise his head." Came another very familiar voice. The one he despised so much: Cecile's.
It was the rage Daniel felt in that moment; the pure unrelenting rage, which helped him turn and with extreme difficulty, put himself into a sitting position. He looked up to see the much blotted image of Cecile, dressed in a t-shirt and track pants, looking down at him with the same condescending look.
"Whoa! He's concious?" Said a tall guy with purple hair and dark eyes.
"Looks that way." Said Mr. Bartemius, and through his blurry vision, Daniel could see he was smiling.
"Here, I got the pill." Came another voice. The girl had long, glossy silver hair, tied back in a knot and green eyes. She was looking at Daniel with some concern and there was a pill in her outstretched hand.
"Take it, Daniel." Said Bartemius as Daniel took the pill from the girl- Sandra's- hand and swallowed it. Instantly, the pain in his stomach began to subside. His vision cleared and the ringing in his ears stopped. The only thing not okay was the bitter aftertaste the pill had left in his mouth.
"Wow! Thanks!" Said Daniel looking up at Sandra and getting up to his feet.
"Don't mention it." Said Sandra with a smile.
"Can you move well? Breath ok?" Asked Bartemius looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, that fixed me up." Said Daniel rubbing his arms as the other students went back to their own rings.
"Well, that wasn't too bad." Said Bartemius, "Not bad as in your tactic was pretty bad, but the fact that you tanked that hit without passing out is pretty impressive. Your body is pretty sturdy."
"Thanks." Said Daniel.
"Well, I suppose we need to give it another go." Said Bartemius rubbing his hands together and taking a stance.

Daniel knew he needed to change his tactics. He didn't know how Bartemius had hit him when he'd clearly been out of his reach. Was it his Imperium? Had he moved inhumanly fast? What had it been? Daniel took a sort of stance himself. This time, he wanted to wait for Bartemius to strike first. He would wait and observe Bartemius's style. Of course, this plan was only effective as long as he didn't get punched in the face and completely lose consciousness.
Bartemius stood there, unmoving. Maybe he was waiting for Daniel to attack again. But Daniel had his mind set. He wouldn't attack first. He would force Bartemius to show his hand.
Perhaps, Bartemius sensed that Daniel was waiting for him, because he punched out. The thing was that he'd punched the air in front of him, but somehow, the strike had caught Daniel in the chest, even though they were standing five meters apart. It was as if someone had replayed a tape or a CD. Daniel's feet left the ground again as he drew in a rasping breath. But this time wasn't as bad as before. He was able to land directly on his feet just before flying out of the ring. So this was Bartemius's Imperium. He struck the air from where he stood and the hits reached Daniel here. How could he fight something so unpredictable? Without further thought, he ran forward towards Bartemius. He didn't have a plan. He was just waiting for the hit to come. He would dodge it no matter what.

Daniel lay on his back trying to make the pain go away. His chest rapidly rose and fell and he repeatedly tried to blink the spots out of his eyes. No good. In the 20 minutes Daniel had spent trying to land even one hit on Mr. Bartemius, most of the time he'd ended up on the ground, his insides in tangles. Even now, he saw the old man standing over him, shaking his head. Daniel's whole body was drenched in sweat. His whole body ached like mad. His plan of action had been to charge Bartemius and look for an opening while dodging all hits. If he could do it all over again, he would just have happily remained in one place and taken all the hits from Bartemius instead of making a fool of himself and running in circles just to be sent flying.
"I guess you are in need of a new partner." Said Bartemius, "I am sorry. I really tried to hold back. But well...."
Using the remainder of his strength, Daniel got back up to his feet. His face felt incredibly hot. He was aware that almost everyone in the room was looking at him, some with pity, others with contempt, and the rest with indifference.
Davy had arrived shortly before Daniel's last beat down as well and picked the purple haired guy as his partner. They fought at such immense speeds in one corner of the room that Daniel couldn't follow with his eyes.
THWACK! WHAM!
The sounds of them hitting each other echoed all around the room. In another corner, Cecile and Sandra were arguing heatedly about who had scored the final point. Bartemius had left Daniel to sort out their dispute, leaving Daniel with enough time to really think about what he was doing. He looked down at his arms. There were red and purple marks on his skin wherever Bartemius had struck him. His mind was completely numb. His body ached and at the same time, he felt like he couldn't feel anything. He felt strangely detached. So this was the pain beyond imagination his father had talked about? Daniel's hellish training as Bartemius had put it. This was of course, only a fraction of what he had to undergo. Not for the first time since his arrival here, Daniel felt like burrowing himself into a hole and spending the remainder of his life there. Why was it like this for him all of a sudden? When had things turned around? He cursed the blood oath, cursed this semi mortal world, and cursed everyone within it.
Weak.
With one word, his reality came crashing back to him. It wasn't the fault of this world or anything. It was his own fault. He didn't have a solid enough resolve to fight. Why was he complaining so much when all of these other people were going through the same thing? He wasn't supposed to be this weak. He had to grow through struggle and pain. But at the same time, a part of him was mocking him for fabricating these dialogues. Grow through struggle and pain....as if I signed up for this in the first place, he thought to himself.
But thinking about this was useless. The truth was that he was here, and he couldn't change that.
He'd already told himself this about a million times. But somehow, it didn't feel like enough.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Bartemius and Cecile.
"Well, we have decided to shuffle the partners a bit." He said uncomfortably as Daniel stared. No god, please. Not her not her not her.....
"And Cecile here has requested to spar with you." He continued as Daniel's stomach did a backflip. Why her of all people? Did she want to prove a point? Show him that she was the one truly superior?

"Play fair now, ok?" Said Bartemius as Cecile wordlessly stepped into the ring.
"Um, well..." Began Daniel feeling himself cower a bit under Cecile's piercing stare and immediately feeling angry at his own cowardice. This was the girl who'd called him a mistake. Who'd insulted his parents over something that hadn't even had anything to do with her. So why was he faltering now? He wouldn't stand down.
"Ready when you are." Said Daniel more confidently than he felt and took a stance mimicking Bartemius.
Cecile made a sound which sounded like "tch", but made no movement. She wasn't even taking a stance. Daniel had no idea what this was about. Come to think of it, he didn't even know her Imperium. There were no visible signs to show what her Imperium might be like Nathan's marks or Darius's nails.
Wait. Her nails were unusual. Up until now Daniel hadn't paid to much attention to Cecile because of the rage he'd felt against her. But now that he looked at her carefully, her nails seemed unnaturally shiny and long. But he could swear they hadn't always been like that. So maybe this wasn't a permanent mutation like Darius? If that was the case, what was her Imperium? Again, it was his instinct-a small inner voice-which was telling him that he needed to close the distance somehow. Victory would be his if he got close enough.
He charged forward. It wasn't like he hadn't picked up some tricks. He'd observed other fights in between of his own clashes with Bartemius. Charging forward in itself might be a bad idea but if his instinct was right and if he needed to win, he had to do something-
He stopped abruptly. Something was very weird. Cecile had thrown her hands out with a flourish. And if that wasn't weird enough, he could feel something warm trickling down his forehead. Not just his forehead, his entire body. Daniel raised his arms and stared at them. He was absolutely stunned. He could see that there were deep cuts in them, the back of his hands, his torso and most probably, his forehead too. Suddenly, Cecile retracted her arms and crossed them. Wha-
All at once, his body exploded in pain beyond imagination. It was indescribable. As if someone had chopped him up. He could feel blood spurting from his body and onto the carpet, giving it a crimson shine. He gasped clutching his throat and cheek. Had she slashed his throat open? All this while, he'd thought that the pain couldn't get any worse. Nathan had beaten him, Bartemius had beaten him, but that didn't even come close to what he was feeling now. And the worst part was that he felt fully concious. He could hear and see properly. He just lay on the mat twitching. Bartemius was shouting something and someone had run over from one of the other rings and grabbed his shoulder. Before he knew it, he was being hoisted up and taken away from the private gymnasium. Before going out of consciousness, Daniel looked back once, to see Cecile standing in the middle of the ring and smirking at him.

"Not looking too good, young man." Said the doc, patching the last of his injuries up, "You got real lucky that Miss Kress wasn't aiming for your vital organs or anything. Or things would have been real ugly."
He sat on the chair in front of the doc in complete silence. They were in the doc's office which smelled like antiseptic, was lined with uncomfortable looking beds and had 3 or 4 cupboards with a ton of labelled bottles in them. Right now, the doc was picking out one of them.
"Here, take this." He said handing him the bottle, "It's a painkiller and it will help with the stinging. With the paste I used, you should be ok by tomorrow morning. If you feel like anything's out of place, you know where to find me."
Daniel nodded silently and thanked the doc before getting out of the office and taking a deep breath of the fresh air. Doc's office was on the ground floor of the main building, somewhere to the left of the reception. Daniel's memory was still hazy. He had no idea what had happened. He remembered Cecile throwing out her arms and Bartemius rushing him out of there. What he remembered very clearly was Cecile's face. The smirk on her face which really made him wanna punch a wall. Well, his hands were messed up so that wasn't gonna happen.
"Hey!" Came a voice from the other side of the corridor. Daniel turned to see Bruce there, frowning, along with Davy, who looked sympathetic.
"Ooohhhh." Said Bruce wincing as Daniel approached them, "You look really brutalized. Who was it? Cecile or Bartemius?" He added turning to Davy.
"Cecile." Said Davy not looking at either of them now.
"I thought so." Said Bruce. Then, turning to Daniel he said, "For some reason she seems to hate you."
"Yeah I don't need to be told that." Said Daniel. He was already feeling like crap. He didn't want to amplify that feeling by having these guys bring that up over and over. That Mr. Bartemius. Why had he paired him off with Cecile of all people? Couldn't he have paired him off with Sandra or someone nice and encouraging? And Cecile..... What the hell was her problem? So talking behind his back wasn't enough for her. She had to go ahead and show off her strength to him in order to express her dominance. Or she just wanted to make his life miserable somehow.
"Hey, Daniel?" Said Davy clearing his throat and looking awkward as all three of them set out of the building.
"Daniel, is it?" Said Daniel letting his anger get the better of him and snapping, "I thought I was 'that Xander idiot' to you and your friend."
"Not to me!" Said Davy earnestly, "I honestly don't care about the upbringing of people! Well, a bit obviously-"
"Funny you should assume there is anything wrong with my upbringing." Said Daniel as Davy turned to look horrified.
"That's not what I meant! I just- oh damn it. Look, forget I said anything. Lemme start over." Said Davy hurriedly. He took a breath and said, "I am just saying that I personally have nothing against you. That's all. And I am sure Cecile will also forgive you-"
"For WHAT?!" Shouted Daniel, actually wanting to strangle Davy, "For being born?! For being my father's son?! Tell me Davy, what have I even done?!" Roared Daniel all at once, wanting to get everything out there, "I just want to go back to my parents. Is that too much to ask for?"
"I- well, it isn't you." Said Davy, looking down, "It's just that Cecile holds your dad's decisions against you."
"Even when the decision had nothing to do with her?" Said Daniel.
"Well, the harm it caused- that harm has everything to do with her and her spite." Said Davy.
"He is talking about the sworn protection oath." Said Bruce suddenly, looking uncomfortable, "And none of that was Samuel's fault. So stop bringing that up."
"What sworn protection oath? You guys have a ton of oaths here, do you not?" Said Daniel.
"Anyway, it's neither of our stories to share." Said Bruce glaring at Davy, "Cecile will share it with Daniel if ever she feels like it."
"But he should atleast know-" began Davy looking pained, but Daniel cut through him. He wasn't interested in hearing Cecile's story anymore than he was interested in eating the weird vegetables served in the mess.
"I don't want to know why she hates me. If she has a problem with my father, so be it." Said Daniel angrily, "But I will unlock my Imperium soon. And I promise you, I will beat her. Then atleast she wouldn't see me as a weakling she can slap around."
"Whoa, chief," said Davy looking at him with wide eyes, "this is Cecile you are talking about. Slow down."
But Daniel wasn't listening. He didn't want to listen. Immediately, he broke into a run and ran all the way back to his dorm room, trying to figure out if he would be able to keep his promise.

Davy returned half an hour later with a folder in his hand. He didn't meet Daniel's eyes when he came in, but simply tossed the folder to him.
"Since you came in late, and under the most unusual circumstances, you are gonna get some special treatment for this week atleast." Said Davy sitting down at his desk and taking a laptop out of the bag beside his table, "this has everything you need to know regarding siege factions, entrances, and whatever. Also, it has a letter from Bartemius. You might wanna go through it. These are the last papers you will be sent, so try preserving them."
"Right." Said Daniel not looking at him and sitting down on his bed.
He opened the folder and too out the paper in it. It looked like an official notice.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
To Daniel Xander,

This is an official letter issued by the school authorities in collaboration with the Siege Faction: Hawk.
This letter has all information needed for participation in a siege faction, siege activities, and other necessary requirements for the same. Siege Faction entrance exams take place in March and October respectively (check our website for more information) and if you fail to join a siege faction an official will be discharged from your local army headquarters to help you with the remaining options you have.

1. Faction Lion, information and requirements.
Faction Lion is the most prestigious Siege Faction with some of the most brilliant minds working tirelessly behind the scenes to retain the pristine image it has. Faction Lion favours the prowess of mind over the prowess of the body or the Imperium. Hence, the requirements for this faction are focused more on the academic and tactical side of your skill set. Though the Faction favours brain over brawn, the recruiters still believe that you should have a good mastery over the Imperium you have.
Leader: Nathan Kyle, rank 1.
Requirements:
7/10 Imperium points
6/10 combat points
Irrelevant physical prowess
9/10 mastery points
10/10 intelligence points (In the aptitude test set by the Faction)
Moreover, the minimum academic requirements are:
Atleast a 94% in 4 of these 6 subjects:
Planar Basics, History of Immortality, Mathematical Fundamentals, Semi mortal Biology, Reality Studies, Imperium Law.

2. Faction Hawk, information and requirements.
Faction Hawk has a spotless reputation when it comes to leading a siege. Having taken over 50 districts under their control, Faction Hawk is leading in the number of towns captured by a single authority. Faction Hawk believes in selection of all rounders. Hence, the entrance exam is set accordingly as well.
Leader: Elizabeth Brown, rank 3.
Requirements:
8/10 Imperium points
8/10 combat points
7/10 physical prowess
7/10 mastery
8/10 intelligence
Moreover, minimum academic requirements are:
Atleast 85% in 4 of the 6 subjects:
Planar Basics, History of Immortality, Mathematical Fundamentals, Semi mortal Biology, Reality Studies, Imperium Law.

3. Faction Leopard, information and requirements.
Faction Leopard is a Faction which mainly guards the borders of Anoterose. The Imperium prowess required for this faction is irrelevant. Individuals of peak physical conditions and ones possessing quick thinking abilities are favoured. Combat prowess has to be honed to perfection.
Leader: Penelope Sherman, rank 4.
Requirements:
Irrelevant Imperium points
10/10 combat points
10/10 physical points
Irrelevant mastery points
7/10 intelligence points
Moreover, minimum academic requirements are:
Atleast 85% in 4 of the 6 subjects:
Planar Basics, History of Immortality, Mathematical Fundamentals, Semi mortal Biology, Reality Studies, Imperium Law.
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Just 3 factions? Weren't there 5 of them? What about Bruce's or Darius's factions?

"Hey Daniel." Said Davy from beside him as Daniel looked over, "I just remembered something weird. You called yourself the Xander idiot just now as we were leaving the main building. But how do you know Cecile calls you that? It's unlike her to just go and call you that to your face. And I spend a lot of my time with her and she has called you that a lot of times in my company. So, have you been eavesdropping on us?"
There was no hiding it.
"Well, once." He said, "I kinda have a habit of eavesdropping. You know, growing up with just my parents and not having any friends, kid's gotta do something to keep himself entertained- don't look at me like that!" He said as Davy raised his eyebrows looking amused, "I didn't ever eavesdrop on anything wrong ever! Ok? But back on topic, I kinda heard you and Cecile talking about me the day before yesterday at the park."
"Really?" Said Davy sounding more amused than angry, "How come? Were you hiding behind a bush or something?"
"Nope. I was sitting on the bench next to yours."
"But the other bench was ten meters away!"
"Well, you guys weren't making many efforts to make your conversation inaudible to by passers." Said Daniel shrugging, "It was almost as if you guys wanted people to hear your conversation."
"No, no, no!" Said Davy loudly, "We specifically talk in undertones when we are discussing a sensitive topic or talking about a person. There's no way anyone sitting ten meters away could hear us talking."
"But I did!" Said Daniel.
"Are you sure?" Asked Davy.
"Yes."
"Well then," Said the other guy rubbing his temple, "ever since coming here, has a weird sensation taken over you? Like, you suddenly went into a state of hyper awareness of something?"
Daniel thought. The time when he'd heard Liz and Nathan talking had been pretty weird. "Yeah." He said finally, "Once before hearing your conversation."
"Right. Were you in a particularly distressed state during those times?" Asked Davy.
"Yeah, well. I have been distressed ever since I came here. If you are wondering about whether I was any more distressed than usual, the answer is yes."
"Right. My final question." He said, "Did you get into a fight before coming here? A fight with a semi mortal?"
"Yeah, Nathan." Said Daniel, "My escort. He treated me like crap and I kinda lost it and attacked him."
"He used his Imperium on you?" Asked Davy.
"No, it was a physical-" but he stopped. Nathan had indeed used his Imperium on him the night before when Smith Baker had stopped him, "yeah, actually." He said, "But not during the fight. My quarrel with him was the primary source of my distress too."
"This can mean only one thing. So get ready. Ok?" Said Davy sounding excited.
"What do you mean?" Asked Daniel, very confused now.
"Look, I want you to recall your fight with Bartemius, ok?" Said Davy, "Remember it. Relive it in your head. And try to direct whatever you'd been feeling to your body. Like how sometimes you want to run really fast in excitement or punch a wall in anger. Just don't do anything, ok?"
"Why?" Asked Daniel, perturbed.
"Just do it please!" Said Davy, a strange light in his eyes.
Daniel closed his eyes and tried to do whatever Davy had asked. He could see now, not very clearly, Mr. Bartemius waiting for him to advance and then hitting the air as Daniel flew back from wherever he stood. He remembered Cecile's dialogues, Sandra smiling to him kindly, and then, it was Bartemius beating him down again. He felt angry. The pain had been unbearable. He wanted to do something about it. He didn't want to continue cursing himself for his own weakness. It was pointless. He balled his fists and gritted his teeth subconsciously.
"Yeah, I have done it." He said looking at Davy, "What now?"
"Good." Said Davy, and without warning, he threw soccer ball at his head. The ball hit him squarely in the nose with a sickening sound as blood spurted out of his- wait.
He wasn't feeling any pain. Why was there no pain? He blinked, and suddenly, he was looking at Davy, holding a soccer ball in hand and preparing to fling it at him. Daniel instantly ducked as the ball sailed over his head and hit the wall opposite.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Asked Daniel furiously.
"Ok, you tell me, what happened?" Asked Davy sounding really excited.
"Well, you hit me in the face with the ball and- hold on," said Daniel pausing abruptly and giving it a thought, "well, you hit me and it didn't hurt. So then, I blinked and suddenly you were holding a ball in hand. So I figured you would hit-"
"You again!" Finished Davy for him, "That sounds really weird, right? Well, come here!" He said grabbing Daniel's arm and forcing him to sit on his chair in front of his laptop.
"Hey, what are you doing man?" Asked Daniel impatiently.
"Watch this!" Said Davy.
Daniel squinted at the screen. It was a rather plain looking webpage with a big bold text on the top which said: A Study by University of Anaqbuzar. Combat Adaption and the counter measures it takes against Imperiums. A database.
This database holds the countermeasures Imperium no. 1410 takes against other Imperiums. This is a public database issued by official authorities of Republic of Anaqbuzar.
Countermeasure 2, against "Warp Hit" Imperium.
Countermeasure type: passive.
Countermeasure: foresight. The Imperium which allows the holder to see 1 second into the future. It accelerates brain function by 10 fold so the scenario from one second after flashes in front of the eyes for about 4 seconds. The field of vision is the wielder's field of vision itself.

Daniel looked up slowly, his heart thumping.
"That isn't all!" Said Davy as he opened a new tab of the search engine: Anoterose public search engine APSE. He typed "scenarios similar to warp hit."
The top result showed, which was an answer on a public forum, said:
If you wanna get good at dodging warp hits then immense speed and reflexes are a must. Warp hit isn't instant. The invisible force travels at about 1200 miles/hr and reaches as far as the field of view of the user. If you want to practice avoiding warp hits, then have objects thrown at you from unexpected places to train your intuition. Once you get good at that, practice with paint balls. However, innate Imperium prowess is ofcourse the best way to take on a warp hit. Or tanking it is a good idea as long as you know you can take it and your opponent doesn't hit you where it hurts.

Daniel looked up to Davy slowly who sat down on his bed.
"What is this about?" Asked Daniel feeling numb.
"Don't you see?" Asked Davy, "You have already unlocked your Imperium! Your fight with Nathan, all the things you were carrying bottled inside you since childhood, everything went to unlocking your repressed Imperium. Your fight with Nathan must've triggered it!" He was actually bouncing up and down now, "I had a suspicion, so I did some quick research. Bartemius told me about your Imperium while you were passed out in the med room. So I wanted to check. Now, the thing is, your Imperium only gets activated when you seem to have emotional baggage. This is only for some time, I bet. Just now, I asked you to relive your hellish training experience, and bingo! You had already fought Bartemius today which means your Imperium came up with a countermeasure as soon as it sensed that you were gonna be put in a situation similar to your fight with Bartemius. Meaning that whenever you have emotional baggage, you would be able to see surprise attacks coming from a mile away!"
"But-but," sputtered Daniel, "why didn't it come up with a countermeasure during my fight with Bartemius?"
"Because this Combat Adaption requires you to fight an opponent once, rest up so that your body can adapt, and then, it develops and stores a countermeasure so that you can have it for a lifetime. That countermeasure will be activated as soon as you encounter a situation which calls for it. So, under an unprecedented blow- not an attack- but a blow, you will be able to use foresight."
"Is this- is this actually happening?" Said Daniel looking down at his shaking hands, "I have actually unlocked my Imperium?"
"Yeah, you have." Said Davy, "But, your hellish training is in no way, over."
But Daniel wasn't hearing anymore. So all that time he'd spent, beaten by Nathan, being in spite of his parents, and being uncertain about everything, all of that had amounted for something? His first instinct was to call Liz somehow and tell her about it. Tell her he wasn't gonna be dead weight after all.
"Wait a sec." Said Daniel feeling a bit strange, "Davy, why are you acting so excited?"
"Well- I....." He said, before dramatically clearing his throat and saying, "that's none of your business." He retrieved his laptop from the desk and shoved it in his bagpack.
Daniel let it slide. If Davy didn't want to tell him, so be it. He didn't want to know either. There was only one thing on his mind now that he had unlocked his Imperium. He was gonna defeat Cecile and shut her mouth. He was gonna make his parents proud. He just had to wait and tell Bartemius. He looked down at his fist and clenched it.
"I won't lose." He said, so quietly that Davy didn't hear it, "I will win, no matter what."