Daniel Xander, Chapter 11: The New Trainer

Daniel stood atop the border wall, yawning. Strangely, there were no searchlights shining in the forest. These people had really messed up his sleep schedule. He inhaled deeply and exhaled. Man, this place really was beautiful. The sky was still ink black and littered with stars. The scenery was as beautiful as the last time he'd come here. The city wasn't lit up like before, which was weird. Only the light from a few taller buildings and houses reached him. To his back were the mountains with the aurorae, and the forest, whose center was bathed in a fiery orange light.
He'd arrived here at 4:45 am with Liz and had no equipment or anything. He felt a spike of nervousness mixed with excitement. This was way different from when he'd been waiting for Bartemius right before they'd left. That old fool.... Daniel would get back to him someday. He immediately felt just slightly guilty at himself for thinking that way. Though his anger towards Bartemius was rightful, being vengeful would only distract him. He looked around for his new coach to arrive. Penelope...a family member of his he hardly knew. Training with her would be interesting. Or so Daniel hoped. He hadn't talked to her that much at all. Just on the phone yesterday. She'd told him to get here by 4:45 am in the morning. So where was she-
SPLASH! Daniel gasped as someone doused him with ice cold water from behind him. He spun around shivering, swearing fluently. His hair was sticking to his forehead.
It was Penelope, dressed in her Faction uniform, with the armour plate, jeans, t-shirt and black arm gauntlets, like the ones from ninja movies, with a spiky blue design.
"Not so impressive reaction speed." She said seriously.
"Oh, yeah! Good morning to you too." Said Daniel furiously.
"Good morning." She amended. Her hair was styled in a single neat plait which fell down her back and she was holding a bag in her left hand.
"Here, put these on." She said handing it to Daniel who took it cautiously. As he had suspected, his hand immediately sank under the weight of the contents of the bag. But he had prepared himself for something like this. He immediately let go of it and hopped to one side at the bag fell to the ground and it's contents spilt out. In the dark, it was hard to make out the articles of the bag, but they faintly resembled wrist and elbow weights.
"Don't drop this stuff!" Said Penelope sternly, "It's really important."
"Right," said Daniel picking up on of the objects. It was moderately heavy- atleast compared to the weights Bartemius had handed him-and looked like a wrist band.
Penelope was picking the rest of it up.
"By now, I am assuming you know what you have to do with these?" She inquired.
"Uh, wear them?" Suggested Daniel.
"Exactly," she replied with a satisfied look on her face, "however, that is only the first part of it."
"Right." Said Daniel yet again, a feeling of intense dread settling in the pit of his stomach, making him want to barf, "what is the other part?"
"You have to wear them all the time." Said Penelope, and she wasn't smiling, as Bartemius had been at the prospect of seeing Daniel in pain; she had a rather grim look on her face.
"All the time?" Sputtered Daniel. Sure, the weight he'd picked up had been fairly light, but having to wear it all the time? He was going to break. He knew with certainty.
"Look, I know it sounds bad," Said Penelope, apparently taking pity on Daniel, "but it is the only way to train you for Cecile. The only way to bring out your innate physical power. I bet you have always been fitter than most guys your age. That is because our bodies are built different than mortals. Even a Semi Mortal with a thin frame should be strong enough to lift a car."
"A car." Repeated Daniel, losing his grasp, "Are you being serious?"
"You don't have to be so scornful about this." Said Penelope, "I remember Liz telling me you saw her lift a tank."
"Because that was her Imperium!" Said Daniel feeling new levels of desperation, "How can I be sure that I wouldn't break under these? And how can I be sure that you are not lying about semi mortal physical prowess or whatever?"
"You don't believe me?" Asked Penelope coolly.
"It's just a bit too much to take in!" Said Daniel flustered.
"Fine, come here." Said Penelope indicating him to follow her. The two of them walked straight to the edge of the wall and Daniel felt vertigo just by taking one glimpse down. They were about 200 feet up. It was hard to even make out the surface. Penelope didn't even wait for Daniel to catch his breath. She grabbed him by the back of his shirt, lifted him over her head, ignoring his cries of protest, and jumped off the border as casually as if she were just jumping from the bottom two stairs of a staircase.
His vision blurred. He couldn't see. There was wind whistling in his ears, deafening the sounds of his own breathless shrieks. He could feel Penelope's grasp on the back of his shirt tighten; she was holding him over her head like a wrestler about to perform a special move. His eyes watered as the treetops came into his vision.
BAM!
Penelope landed heavily, making a small crater in the ground and scattering twigs and leaves. Daniel could feel his back hurting really bad, like someone had punched a hole through it. At once, Penelope set him down on his feet beside her and he collapsed, falling on his behind.
"What the hell was that?!" He shouted as soon as he was able to breath.
"I just gave you a firsthand experience of innate Semi mortal prowess." She said, feigning innocence.
"Couldn't you-couldn't you have jumped yourself?!"
"But I wanted you to experience it firsthand." She said, "Had I gone alone, you might have passed it of as an illusion. But now, can you call your experience an illusion?"
Daniel looked at her big dark eyes, which seemed to be piercing through him, examining him like a sample. Daniel realised that she was actually looking for some sort of potential, or a flare of undiscovered talent. She'd done this to prove a point to him. He didn't have anywhere to run this time. Though this hadn't had to do anything with her actions, Daniel felt, not for the first time, shame at his own cowardice. This was who he was. A complainer. A quitter. All this while, he had talked big and talked about beating Cecile, training hard. But in the face of real training, the only option he was even willing to consider was running away.
"Don't." Said Penelope suddenly, sounding very stern.
"Don't what?" Asked Daniel, his train of thought broken.
"Don't start looking down on yourself." Said Penelope as Daniel stared at her.
"Look, it's easy to tell someone that they should stop looking down on themselves or something," said Daniel, "but it's not as easy as flipping a switch or pressing a button. Especially when you are in a position like mine. All I have thought about ever since coming here is saving my own worthless self. I know my life is on the line here. I know I won't be able to go back to my parents if I don't do this-"
"But everytime you face a hardship, you feel like it isn't worth it." Said Penelope.
"Yea-yeah." Said Daniel, feeling more terrible now.
"Look, I don't know what you went through. So I wouldn't judge you for how you are feeling," began Penelope, getting down on one knee so she was now facing Daniel, "I don't know what Kyle did, or what Bartemius did or whatever. I just know you went through something." She inhaled deeply, "But does that take away your drive to change yourself?"
Daniel was silent. He didn't know how to respond to this. Were these mishaps really enough to break-
"Stop!" Said Penelope loudly enough to make him jump, "Stop thinking! You know Daniel, I think I understand your problem now. Your heart and your head are both full of potential, the same as everyone. But you use the wrong thing in the wrong place, and at the wrong time. Here, where I demand fighting spirit, you are trying to overthink things and are continuously trying to look for new excuses to put yourself down. Why not, for once, stop thinking about failure, stop thinking about your shortcomings and just do something? Use your head where it is needed. The only thing in demand now is the fighting spirit. The only strength that counts to me is the strength of your resolve. So what if you've been trying to run away until now? Does that mean you aren't going to work towards changing that? Because if you have lost the drive to change yourself, I am sorry. I can't help you. You might as well tell Elizabeth that you can't do this. You can do that if you want. But, there is something else you can do as well. And that is, you can get up, grit your teeth, shut your thoughts and fight on. I am giving you an option. But trust me on this, if you choose to stay and fight on; if you, right now, choose to take the path your spirit desires, you will be able to attain greatness."
She had her gaze fixed on him; a firm look. What was it that his spirit wanted? No, he was making the same mistake. He was trusting his head way too much. His head wasn't gonna answer what his spirit wanted. For once, he let his gut take over. And with that, he began to feel a boiling sensation. This time, he didn't feel shame at his cowardice. No, this time he felt anger and disgust. How had he even considered running away? Had he lost his resolve just after a single look at those weights? No. His only truth was to contribute to something and return home. All this while he'd been repeating that to himself. So that he could keep going. But this time, he wasn't just repeating it to himself; he was carving the words into him. He wasn't gonna go down a coward. He wasn't gonna lose. On another hand, it wasn't like like he had been a complete coward. Even after getting beaten down, he had gotten up again and again. The only difference was that before, he had stood unwillingly, because he couldn't see another way. This time, he was gonna stand with the resolve to become stronger. He was gonna use his fighting spirit. He just had make that his character. He just had to get an indomitable will.
He stood up, brushing himself as Penelope stood up herself, satisfied expression on her face.
"So, you ready to go?" She asked.
"Yeah," said Daniel with all his confidence, "let's do this. But what do I have to do, again?"
"Yes, I was just coming to that." Said Penelope. She put her fingers to her mouth and whistled so sharply Daniel's hair stood on an end. Suddenly, a baggage dropped from the top of the border: the same one containing the weights. But it wasn't the only thing dropping. A dark, four-limbed shape was bound to it and they were both hurtling down. Daniel momentarily saw the glint of the creature's eye. It hit the ground with the baggage in it's mouth.
"What is-" began Daniel but he was cut off as the animal lunged at him and pinned him down. Terrified, Daniel looked up to see what it was.
It was a leopard. A feline creature the size of a motorcycle. And it was staring intently at Daniel's face. In the dark, it's eyes shone like silver coins etched into it's sockets. The weird part was that it was completely quiet.
"Arthur." Said Penelope as the leopard got off Daniel and jumped into her arms. Daniel was half sure Penelope would probably fall under it's weight, but he could only stare as somehow, the leopard shrunk in size and became no bigger than a cat in Penelope's arms. It was very clear that it hadn't morphed into a cat. Only that it had shrunk in size.
"What is that?" Asked Daniel, discombobulated.
"This is Arthur." Said Penelope fondly, stroking the leopard as it purred, "He is a Felis; a shape-shifting member of the cat family. He can manipulate his size on command. And he is going to assist us in our training."
"Right." Said Daniel looking at Arthur who stared back at him, "How is he going to help."
"It's very simple." Said Penelope, with a smile.

His arms and legs hurt. He knew there was no way he would be able to adapt this fast. But this was seriously taxing. It felt like someone had tied multiple cars to his body parts. There were two weights tied around his wrists, two weights tied around his biceps, two weights attached to his shoulders through a weird contraption, a single weight around his chest region and two weights around his ankles. All in all, he was lugging a total of 290 kgs. The agony was beyond imagination.
They were about two hours into the training session. His first two hours of wearing these weights. He'd spent the first half an hour screaming and crying and trying to just pick himself from the ground as he felt crushed under these weights. No matter how much motivation Penelope had screamed or how much he had tried to think about his resolve or willpower, he couldn't pick himself up and simply crawled pathetically, dragging himself through the dirt. Then, gradually, something weird happened. He felt a certain strength surge through his limbs and he got up, agonisingly slow. The pain was still there and it was maddening. No amount of thinking or willpower was able to make it bearable, but somehow, he had managed to stand and walk forward. And Penelope had with a triumphant expression, started the first session of their training.
Right now, he was lumbering forward with the speed of an ant as his whole body screamed in protest. He was painfully slow, but his hope wasn't lost. Semi mortal bodies were way sturdier than human bodies. As Penelope had put it, had a human's legs been crushed under the 200-300 kilogram weight, there wouldn't have had any hope for treatment. But for semi mortals, just a few hours were enough. With this knowledge, Daniel knew that he wouldn't need hospitalization because of the weights uniformly bound to his body. It would take some getting used to, but eventually he would be able to understand the full power of his body. Therefore, he didn't have much to worry about.
Or atleast, that is what he was thinking constantly to console himself. In truth, he he didn't think he was gonna last a day in these. The first part of his training was speed and endurance. Penelope had given him a 100 second headstart. After 100 seconds, she would send Arthur after Daniel to pin him down. Then, they would start over. They had already done this about seven times now and Daniel didn't feel much hope for his eighth time. He was dazed and only a small part of his brain was working rationally. He couldn't even register how far he'd gotten.
As if on cue, Arthur the Felis slammed into Daniel from behind, making him yell in pain as he fell to the ground. Seriously, the cat had become larger than a rhinoceros just to pin Daniel down. He purred on top of him and licked the side of Daniel's face, which comforted the latter just a bit; atleast he was on good terms with Arthur.
"Better." Said Penelope walking to his side and pulling him to his feet, a satisfied smile on her face, "Much better. I am sure soon, you will be able to walk like normal as well."
"How much farther did I get in comparison to the first time?" Asked Daniel, completely winded.
"You made about two meters of progress. Good job." Said Penelope, patting his shoulder and making his knees buckle. He fell down again with an 'oof.'
"I am sorry." She said pulling him back up.
"That's ok." Said Daniel, his eyes watering, "How long do I have to wear these for?"
"As long as it takes." Said Penelope seriously.
"Right, so I don't get breaks or anything?" Asked Daniel.
"I am sorry. But you don't." Said Penelope.
"How do I use the washroom, then?" Asked Daniel, hoping for something.
"Oh you don't need to worry about any of that! Just go around with your day as normally as possible." Said Penelope waving her hand. "Now come, we should get you some food."

Madron coffee house was extremely crowded in the morning, which made it worse for Daniel to navigate through the rush of people dressed in neat suits and casual jogging outfits, now that even the tiniest bit of contact was capable of sending him sprawling. Some looked like they had just straight up walked out of bed to get their morning coffee. Despite the immense pain in his body, Daniel's stomach grumbled. He remembered the last time he'd come here with Liz and Darius. The food had been almost as good as his mother's. Almost. But maybe that was just him being biased. Penelope had her hand on his shoulder and Arthur in her other arm, in cat form. The little guy had fallen asleep after their training. Penelope led him to an empty table in the corner of the room. She waved towards a waiter who arrived with a pen and small notebook.
"Two plates of eggs, bacon and eight pieces of toast. And for beverages, give me a glass of orange juice and get the young man a milkshake. That fine?" She asked turning to Daniel, who nodded. After the waiter left, Penelope took out her phone and started to scroll through it. She made an occasional vague remark or a 'tch' sound which made it evident for Daniel that she was going through the news. Normally, at a time like this, Daniel would try to think for himself or reflect on his training experience. But he didn't. Partly because it was no use thinking about it. One good thing had come out of Penelope's pep talk; and it was that Daniel no longer tried to look for reasons to doubt himself or overthink his experience. And partly because he was in way too much pain to think much about anything. However, he no longer felt dizzy and his vision wasn't blurry. Though his body screamed, his head felt somewhat clear. Maybe he was adapting? Slowly, but surely.
One interesting thing Daniel noticed was that the chair he was sitting on hadn't broken down. How the hell was this possible? He currently weighed over 340 kilograms, and the chair he was sitting on wasn't breaking.
"These are some pretty strong chairs." Said Daniel conversationally.
"Indeed. They are made from Steel Wood trees. The fibres are so closely packed and intricately intertwined it's very hard to take them apart." Replied Penelope, not looking up, "Almost everything in the semi mortal world is made that way. Hard to break."
"Right." Said Daniel. Then, he remembered something. "What about Silver Moon Blossoms?"
"Smith Baker has a plantation of them on earth. They are used for his products." She said.
"What products?" Daniel asked.
"You know, revival pills, reversal bandages, stuff like that."
They sat in silence, which gave Daniel plenty of time to observe the people, while trying to massage his aching shoulders with his aching hands. It wasn't affective.
Unfortunately, the place itself had no noteworthy people around, and his brain was slowing down again. So there wasn't much he could do.
"Daniel? What are you doing here?" Came a voice.
Daniel turned to see Davy standing a few feet away from the table him and Penelope were sitting on. He was wearing a black tank top, black shorts and slippers. His hair was tousled, giving off the impression that he'd just gotten out of bed. The circles under his eyes also made that clear.
"Breakfast." Said Daniel in his choked voice, "You?"
"Ah, me too." Said Davy nervously, "The idiots didn't make anything remotely edible, and today is the start of summer vacations, so I wanted to eat out. I don't have any money, though."
"What are you planning to do, then?" Asked Daniel.
"Well, I was looking for Cecile. I was hoping to find her here with a stroke of dumb luck." Said Davy, rubbing his neck.
"Is he your friend?" Asked Penelope, looking from Daniel to Davy.
"Oh, we are roommates." Said Daniel.
"Then why don't you eat with us?" Said Penelope gesturing Davy to one of the empty seats, "You are welcome to, if you like."
"Woah! Really?" Asked Davy bounding forward happily and sitting down on his chair. "You are too kind, miss...."
"It's Sherman. What's your name?" She asked.
"I am Davy Castillo. And-wow! I can't believe I am in the company of the Penelope Sherman!" Said Davy pulling a menu to him.
"The? I do not think I have done anything remotely worthy of praise." Said Penelope.
"That isn't true at all ma'am!" Said Davy with a wide smile, "You are a hero! I have read all about your battle in the City of Sand! If it hadn't been for you so many soldiers would have died!"
"Oh, it really was nothing." Said Penelope modestly, though it was crystal clear that she was flattered. "Davy, right? Why don't you allow me to treat you?"
"Oh, it's ok Miss Sherman. You really don't have to." Said Davy.
"I insist. Any friend of Daniel is a friend of mine." Said Penelope waving away his protests. Davy looked at Daniel with wide eyes and a triumphant smile.
"Thank you ma'am, you are very generous." Said Davy.
"Oh please, call me Penelope." Said Penelope.
"I didn't know you were the type to fall for flattery." Said Daniel, his expression pained.
"Flattery? I am just expressing my gratitude and admiration towards one of the toughest soldiers of Anoterose on behalf of the other citizens!" Said Davy indignantly.
"I sense sincerity as well." Said Penelope, "It's so nice to see that some people are finally beginning to see how underappreciated I am."
Daniel snorted but said nothing. Sure, he did have respect for Penelope, and he was grateful to her for training him. But he had been sure she would be able to see through Davy's sugarcoated words. Unless Davy was really being sincere?
Soon, Davy ordered the same thing as Daniel and the waiter put all their food items on the table. Penelope and Davy talked about studies and some other things Daniel couldn't make head or tail of, which meant there weren't any openings in their conversation for him. After finishing their food, the three of them walked out into the now bright sunlight.
"I will leave then. I will send Arthur to you to get the training underway. In the meantime, keep these on." Said Penelope.
"Like I could take them off myself." Grumbled Daniel. It was true. The weights were basically latched onto him, and the keys were with Penelope.
"Keep an eye on him." Said Penelope turning to Davy, "I am counting on you, Davy."
"Of course, Miss Sherman." Said Davy bowing deeply.
"So what now? We head back?" Asked Daniel, turning to Davy as Penelope walked away and disappeared into the crowd.
"Yeah. Bartemius sent your schedule for summer school this morning. So we should hurry." Said Davy.
"Right, I will just-" he began but gasped as he felt someone shove him from behind. With an 'oof' he fell forward on his face and felt the pavement scrape his cheek.
"Daniel!" Said Davy grabbing his shoulder concerned, "What the hell, Marcus?" He shouted suddenly. From his position, Daniel couldn't tell who he was yelling at. But Davy sounded very angry.
"What?" Came a snide voice, "Your pet was standing on it's own two feet, so I was just reminding it of it's place."
"Damn you..." Said Davy sounding truly furious. Daniel himself struggled to push himself up but couldn't do much at all. The weights were still too much and his shoulders and legs were throbbing worse than before.
"What a pathetic mongrel." Said the same voice, which Daniel figured belonged to the guy named Marcus, "I can see you are not ashamed of your company, Castillo. Perhaps, I should teach you your place as well?"
"I would love to see you try, actually." Said Davy coolly, "I can use an excuse to hit you right now." Suddenly, something grabbed the back of Daniel's shirt and hooked him up swiftly, setting him to his feet. Daniel gasped in surprise as he almost lost balance again, but Davy grabbed his shoulder. How had he lifted him up so effortlessly?
Daniel turned to face the Marcus guy who had pushed him. The guy was sneering at them. He had all the outdoorsy good looks; tall and muscular build, an angular face and flaming red hair. He regarded Daniel with a look of disgust on his face. Daniel felt himself shrink a bit.
"So? You got an Imperium?" He demanded in a loud, booming voice.
"I don't see how that is any of your business." Replied Daniel, straightening up a bit and trying to exude more confidence.
"Now look here, you trash," said Marcus, stepping forward menacingly, "don't you talk back to me in that smart tone. I will end you if you do. I know your parentage. I know your type. Samuel Xander's son, aren't you? The audacity of that man. He actually went into the mortal world to have a son. Listen, you are a mistake. And here, there is no place for mistakes. But I will tell you what," he added as Daniel felt a strong sense of repulsion, "kiss up to me and treat me like a dog would treat it's master. And I will not make your life hell."
"In your dreams." Said Daniel through clenched teeth.
"You dare?" Marcus breathed, inching closer.
"Get along now! All of you!" Came another voice, away from the group now. All three of them looked towards the source of this voice. It was a girl with long, metallic silver hair, green eyes and chocolate skin. She was really pretty, but something was unsettling about her.
"Marcus, don't cause any trouble now." She did smiling.
"As if I will let you boss me around." Said Marcus, with the same sneer. "You want me to leave, right? Make me."
"Give it up Marcus." Said Davy tiredly, "Just leave. You don't want me reporting you to the principal. Anyway, we are on a crowded street. Let's just be civil and not start anything."
Marcus seemed to consider this. He sighed and started walking away, but not before bumping into Daniel and whispering, "You are dead meat."

"What an actual animal." Said Davy as the two of them walked with the girl, back towards the school. "I would have taken him down myself had he made a move."
"Yeah, thanks for the support." Said Daniel glumly.
"Eh?" Said Davy looking at Daniel confused. Then his expression turned to bewilderment. "Oh! Look man, don't pay any attention to he said. Like I said, he is an actual animal. The moment you start listening to him-"
"It's fine Davy. I wasn't even meaning to talk about that." Said Daniel, attempting to smile, "I know he was just running his mouth. It's cool. But to think there are more like him, probably. That is a bit scary."
"Don't worry man! I have your back! I owe your cousin and Liz a meal anyway. And well, I need you in your best condition for my bet-"
"Is that why you are even sticking up for him?" Said the girl, talking for the first time since they'd started walking. "Because of your bet?"
"That, and I consider him a friend." Said Davy.
"Thanks man." Mumbled Daniel again. Then, turning to the girl, he said, "Sorry, but you look kinda familiar. Who are you?"
"My name is Sandra," said the girl smiling, "I am a friend of Davy's."
"I see." Said Daniel, "Have we met somewhere?"
"Ye-yeah." Said Sandra suddenly looking uncomfortable, "Um..."
"Didn't you guys meet during training?" Asked Davy.
"Ah, yeah!" Said Daniel, wincing in pain suddenly. "You gave me a revival pill!"
"Of course! We met then." Said Sandra sounding relieved, "Anyway, I gotta run now. Mom's waiting for me at home." And with that, she took off, running through the crowd of people.
"Say, Davy," said Daniel turning his attention back to the other guy, "Summer vacation has started, right? So how come you are staying at the dorms?"
"Ah, well, my family doesn't want me back before I have participated in my first siege." Said Davy, with a wry smile.
"Wait. You haven't participated in your first siege yet?" Asked Daniel, surprised.
"None of us have." Replied Davy, "Not me, Cecile, or Sandra, or Marcus. Well Bruce has. But he is rank two."
"Really?" Said Daniel, feeling as if someone was undoing an undiscovered knot in his stomach.
"Really." Agreed Davy. Then, as if he had a sudden realisation, "Wait, don't tell me you haven't been afraid of participating in a siege alone this whole time?"
"What do you mean? Of course not!" Said Daniel indignantly.
"That's what I thought." Said Davy.
In truth though, Daniel felt beyond relieved. Even though it had seemed pretty illogical in his head, he had had this weird idea up till now that all of them who had come here before him had already participated in a siege. This had been eating him up really bad. He hadn't once considered that they were his age and on equal footing in this battle against the worst. The idea of fighting alone hadn't occured to him completely, but he had been sure, subconsciously, that he was gonna be the only one from his year in this fight. Knowing now that he was not gave him immense comfort. He was going to be alright afterall.
"So, what about my timetable?" Asked Daniel feeling somewhat at ease, even though he was still a little dizzy, and trotting like a turtle. It hadn't occured to him that Davy had slowed himself down to match his pace.
"Well, you can check it as soon as you get back. Your first class is math with Bartemius. He will give you an orientation as well. And the others are on the sheet too." Replied Davy.
"Are you the only one staying at the dorms?" Asked Daniel.
"Me, Cecile and a couple others. We have a group chat. Though Cecile left it recently." He replied, "Some other students, like Sandra come by to use the private gym. And some who live close by come by Madron coffee house to hang out."
"Right. I am assuming I am the only student in this summer program?"
"Yeah."
Then, suddenly, taken over by an inexplicable urge; something he hadn't even wanted to say, Daniel blurted out: "Say, Davy. We-we are friends? Right?"
That made the other guy freeze in his tracks.
"Of course, we are friends. It shouldn't be something to ask out loud like this." Replied Davy after a short pause. But he was avoiding Daniel's gaze. "Why do you even ask?"
"Well, I just thought you were sticking with me because of your bet and your row with Cecile. That's all." Said Daniel nervously. He didn't know what had brought on that question just now.
"I see." Said Davy but didn't say anything else.

Both of them continued walking in silence, and Daniel felt really anxious about his first lesson. If what Hugh Soto had said was true; about Bartemius finding Samuel Xander disagreeable, then Daniel didn't exactly have high hopes for his lessons. Nevertheless, he had to give his all. He shuddered to think about what would happen if he didn't pass the entrance. Weirdly enough, the person who had really motivated Daniel to go on and rely on his friends had been Bartemius. So why had he changed his attitude so suddenly?

His lessons in school ended on a high note on that day which cheered him up a bit even though his body felt like it would fall apart with the slightest touch. Apparently, Bartemius had to go take care of some family emergency early that morning, so he was instead greeted by half a dozen other teachers. 4 of them were pretty strict but the other two were really pleasant and encouraging and even the strict teachers weren't being unfair to him in any way. So there was that. He almost felt like a normal student in a tuition class for once. However, today's classes were more of a warm-up for him, so he was sent off pretty early. Outside the main building, he was greeted by Davy and Sandra, who were playing badminton in the main lawn. After much persuasion, Daniel finally agreed to play a couple rounds with them, even though he was unable to swing the racket at all. But this felt good. He was having fun. Just sitting down on the grass with the two of them and talking felt good. Retching at the too sour lemonade brought by Sandra with Davy felt good. 

So this is what it was like to have fun with friends. Had his school mates been able to do this everyday? Even with his track team, Daniel was an outsider. He'd never gone to a mall with them after practice or even to one of their houses. Just one hour a week, and then, it was all done. 

Then, in the evening, Daniel got a taste of the treatment Liz had warned him about. He was pushed down the stairs by a green haired girl. It happened when Daniel had been leaving Hugh Soto's office after submitting some paperwork Darius had given him earlier. He'd bumped into her on the way downstairs and had just turned to apologise. But before he could say anything, she had pushed him down the flight. 
"Don't touch me again, or I promise, it will be a lot worse." She had warned him with a disgusted look on her face. 
Daniel hadn't exactly been in a condition to retort or even form a comprehensible response because his body felt like it was on fire. He'd fallen so hard he had almost lost consciousness. 
"Get up, moron." He muttered to himself, "Don't pass out here." 
He could see the girl walking out of his field of vision. He tried to set himself on his elbows, a task which took him over ten minutes to accomplish. There wasn't anyone around to help him anymore.
"C'mon, get up, damnit!" He said to himself. 

He was drenched in sweat, but eventually, he got to his feet. He felt angry. How had his father's decision affected these people? What right did they have to treat him like this? 

"Mew." Came a small voice from beside him. 
Daniel turned to see Arthur, the kitten sized snow leopard standing beside him, clawing at his feet. He picked him up.
"Your mistress sent you here to get me?" He asked as Arthur purred and nodded.
"You can understand me?" Asked Daniel incredulously.
At this, Arthur made a movement which seemed like a shrug.
"Whoa. You are one smart kitty." Said Daniel stroking him. Arthur purred once more before wriggling out of Daniel's grasp and walking out the main building. Daniel followed him. 

Penelope Sherman was standing just outside the school gates in her faction uniform. 
"Good boy." She said as Arthur jumped into her arms. 
"Next phase of training?" Asked Daniel as way of greeting.
"Yes. We will continue from where we left off in the morning and to end it, you will face me in a duel." She said.
"Face you?" Asked Daniel warily.
"To get you accustomed to another Imperium. Don't worry. I will hold back enough to make it fair." She said reassuringly.
"Well, that is something to look forward to." Said Daniel with a wince.
"Oh, believe me, it is." Said Penelope smiling.

He didn't exactly have high hopes for his training experiences going forward, but this was just the start of the so called hellish training. Maybe, things might improve for him. Silently, Daniel followed Penelope to her car, not exactly looking forward to a face-off between them.