Rise of the Young: Warriors are not made; they are forged (The Ascended Book 2)

by Bygott, Hugo C.

  Kry had not paid attention to anything that had been said in class. His mind was in a faraway place. He stared back at Professor Nam not knowing the answer.

  Athena raised her hand. Professor Nam shook her head again and turned to her. “Yes, Athena. Please put us out of our misery that Kry has put us in.”

  Kry could not concentrate. Nothing he did was the same. Ever since he had read Jaeger’s book and understood he was one of those two boys, the only thing he could think about was revenge: revenge against the Shadow Government, revenge against the Blades, and revenge against Jaeger, the one who did this to him. His only thoughts were of revenge, anger, and of the other boy whom he may never know.

  “The difference between a stationary and non-stationary object is the amount of focus required. A moving object takes twice as much energy and concentration to manipulate whereas a stationary object is reasonably easy to control without too much focus,” said Athena.

  Professor Nam clapped. “At least one of you was listening to the lesson.”

  He did not care. Kry found himself caring less and less about these classes. At first, he thought he could become stronger by coming here, and he did, but now the classes were becoming dull and repetitive. The only actual improvement would happen in the Cube. That would be where he could learn the most.

  Whisper gave him a suspicious look. He knew Whisper was worried about him. So were all his friends. He had not told anyone about what he had found and would keep it that way. This was his burden to carry, and whatever darkness was in him, he would deal with it himself.

  “As I was saying, you don’t need to see the object to move it. Even if the object is behind a building or if your vision has been hampered, you can manipulate anything with enough determination and focus.” Nam began to draw diagrams on the whiteboard.

  Kry was once again in his own thoughts, thinking about what had happened all those years ago. He was one of those boys, and Jaeger had wiped his memory, but Athena had said that they were both killed. For whatever reason, that was not true, at least for one of them. Was there a remote chance the other boy survived as well? It made him even angrier thinking about how his life had been tampered with in such a way. It was infuriating. Why was it done? Why Jaeger? Why did he do this?

  “The bigger the object, of course, takes much more mental strength to pull off. Moving cars, ships, and planes are all possible. There are even tales of Users moving buildings,” said Nam.

  A collective awe came from the students. Kry paid little attention. How could he become stronger? He had yet to beat Abel, and soon he and his friends would enter the Cube with the winners having the chance to choose one among them to go against Aiyax. But if he could not even beat Abel, how could he even stand a chance against Aiyax? These classes did nothing to help him. He needed more. Only Zero’s class of elemental training pushed him to new limits. Despite Zero’s teaching style which was aggressive and unforgiving, he had improved more in his class than in any other, and the more he thought about it, Zero’s offer of private lessons became more appealing. It was still unclear why Zero wanted to teach him in the first place. The offer was strange, but Zero had said he could make a champion out of him. If that was true, then Zero may be his only chance of becoming strong enough in a short amount of time.

  “As you know, telekinesis has multiple functions. The main one being the movement of objects, but another function is sensing the objects you wish to move. Now why is this so important?” asked Nam.

  Kry would find Jaeger; he would find Jaeger and make him tell him why he had done this to him.

  “Kry! Answer the question, now!” Nam’s hiss was high-pitched enough to break a mirror.

  Again, he had not been paying attention. What was her problem?

  “I’m sorry, Professor. I don’t know,” he replied with annoyance.

  Nam’s eyes turned red in anger. “Kry, what’s going on with you? You were much more attentive before. Now you’re just acting like a teenager with anger issues. Fix it!”

  He shrugged his shoulders. What was the point anymore?

  Whisper looked at him with worry. Whisper was a good kid, but he was too young to understand what was happening. How could he tell Whisper about what he had discovered? It would not do any good.

  Athena appeared as worried about his behavior as Whisper. She kept looking back at him trying to figure out what was happening to him. She raised her hand once more.

  “Yes, Athena, go ahead,” sighed Nam.

  “Being able to sense the object means multiple things. It means you can move an object without seeing it, and it also can be used to detect the presence of nearby Users,” said Athena.

  Nam slowly clapped and walked to the board to draw another diagram. “Being able to sense another User is a highly sought after talent. The best Users in the world are masters of sensing others, and it’s almost impossible to hide from them. However, it’s also possible to mask your presence from others. Two parts of the same skill. The User with the greater energy, focus, and concentration will undoubtedly win the competition. Users such as the members of the Shadow Government are the greatest at this, and it’s said that no one can sense their presence, nor can others hide their presence from them.”

  For the first time, Kry was interested. He needed to know this talent to find Jaeger. If Jaeger was alive, he had to be strong enough to find his presence.

  Nam then continued to write notes on the board for several minutes, using occasional diagrams to highlight different practices and talents.

  Kry wondered if it was possible to locate Jaeger from a great distance. It seemed impossible, but Rush had once told him that if anyone could find him, it would be Kry. There must be a way to find Jaeger. He wanted to rid himself of this uncertainty about who he was. Jaeger had the answers. If his memories had been taken at an early age, then who was he really? He punched the table in sudden anger.

  The sudden outburst caused many students to turn to him. Professor Nam dropped her pen in surprise. “Kry, you again?” she said with disappointment.

  He looked down at his hand; it was shaking. What was going on? He did not even think about doing it. Somehow, it just happened.

  “I…” Kry could not even find the words to explain.

  “Speechless again? I’m not surprised,” said Nam.

  He ignored her and placed his head into his hands fearing another headache was coming. Damn you, Jaeger, damn you to hell.

  Professor Nam sighed loudly. “Anyway,” she said, finishing her notes on the board, “telekinesis can help with one last skill. Some of you have already become proficient in this ability, while others,” she looked at Kry, “have barely scratched the surface.”

  Sonus raised his hand, smiling widely at Kry’s discomfort. “Professor, allow me to answer as I don’t want to hold the class back as Kry has been doing.”

  Kry was going to smash the table again. Sonus was like an itch that would not go away. He was persistent in trying to make his life miserable, and still he had yet to be punished for taking another human life. This place was barbaric and cruel. No wonder the Shadow Government could find so many new recruits for their Blades and Seekers when places such as this university created such evil from the very beginning.

  Sonus sneered at Kry before answering. “Moving objects is one of the key aspects of telekinesis, but being able to manipulate your particles allows you to teleport certain distances depending on your strength and focus.” He looked back at Kry with a smug arrogance.

  Sonus made his blood boil. He itched to get into the Cube now and finish this feud once and for all.

  Nam nodded and seemed to appreciate his response. “Indeed, blinking as we refer to it is the ability to teleport distances from point A to point B using your ability to manipulate your particles the same way you would as if moving an object.”

  Nam then proceeded to blink across the room, once in every corner. The students’ eyes followed her each time she blinked. She returned to
the front and looked back at them with a strained face. “However, constant use of this ability drains your energy extremely quickly, sometimes to the point of fatigue. If you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself collapsing from the strain.” Nam wiped the perspiration from her forehead and wrote more notes on the board.

  Kry had achieved mild progress with blinking. He had managed to blink short distances but was always drained afterward. He was surprised at how much fatigue he had experienced once he had done it the first time. He almost collapsed and had only had traveled a few meters. Rush had achieved teleporting him and his friends from London to his home in Hill Valley the night his family and Rhea…Kry did not want to remember that night and pushed the memory away. Instead, he took control of his growing anger; it helped him to take his mind off the pain of losing them, and he found himself enveloped in that silent rage inside his mind.

  “Of course, in battle, blinking is a brilliant skill to have,” said Nam with excitement. Her eyes glowed with delight as she smiled to herself. “Soon, some of you will be taking part in the next event in the Cube.”

  Sonus rose his fist into the air along with his faction members.

  Nam moved her shoulders and began to punch the air. “I remember the first time I was in the Cube, the energy, the excitement—”

  “And the death.”

  Nam stopped and hovered her eyes over the class. “Abel, thank you for your input. I almost forgot you were there, sitting silently in the shadows,” she said with irony.

  Kry agreed with Abel. Nam was excited about the Cube, but death was real, and Xu’s death was a reality.

  “As I was saying, my first time in the Cube was a mixture of emotions. I wish I could fight again, but now I must teach the next generation,” said Nam.

  Abel remained quiet sitting alone in the back. Kry had wanted to challenge him again today, but with the Cube event being so close he had not had time and needed to prepare. He knew Abel would prefer to stay factionless and sit on the sidelines.

  “You must all be excited for the Cube,” said Nam. “I’ll be cheering you all on.”

  The students were excited as much as she was.

  “Now,” said Nam. “We’ll do some exercises of telekinesis and move objects with our eyes closed.”

  Blindfolds from her desk appeared and floated in the air toward her. “Each of you will place a blindfold on and attempt to move objects into the appropriate holes in the test chamber,” said Nam.

  Students came up, took a blindfold and went toward the testing chamber behind them. Kry was familiar with this task as he had done it a number of times. They would need to place the shape of the object—square, circle, triangular or another—into the correctly shaped hole in the frame. This had been relatively easy for him, and even Whisper did a good job. Now they would be blindfolded so it would be interesting to see if he could get them in by mind alone.

  Kry, Whisper, and Thrace took the blindfolds and followed the rest of the class to the testing chamber.

  As the students stood in a line across the room, several objects were placed on the number of tables in front of them. A wide area with a large metallic frame stood in the distance where various shaped holes had been cut.

  Kry could not help feel that someone was watching him and turned to see Sonus glaring at him.

  Nam picked up a red square from the table and then proceeded to blindfold herself. She floated the square into the air and quickly placed the square into the hole across from her. Again, she used her mind to do the same with a number of shapes, each one fitting the holes perfectly and making not one mistake.

  She took her blindfold off. “This task is harder than it looks. I’ve practiced countless hours on this, and to be able to sense an object without seeing it requires a knowledge of the area around you. The energy is all around us and touches everything. Once you know where to look, you’ll see things more clearly than having perfect vision in both eyes. You’ll see things your eyes can’t. Now focus and start practicing.”

  Students began to blindfold themselves and proceeded to practice, many fumbling and knocking against each other. Nam just rolled her eyes at the feeble attempts.

  Kry, Thrace, and Whisper were now beginning the activity.

  “So, the Cube is by the end of the week, and we need to finalize our team,” said Thrace, picking up an object blindfolded.

  Thrace then floated the circular object and tried to shove it into a square hole. “Damn it!”

  Whisper laughed at Thrace’s attempt.

  Kry had put it out of his mind regarding who would fight. For certain, he knew he would. Application forms had been posted on the student billboards, and they were required to choose five members from their group to participate. Five, no more, no less.

  Kry blindfolded himself and focused his mind on what he could sense was a triangle. He could feel its edges, his mind touching the sharp point of each, and then floated it across the room toward the frame. As he floated the object across, he returned to think about who they should choose to be the five. Whisper was so young, and he did not want him to be a part of it, but knowing him, he was sure to argue with that.

  His triangle object found the frame, and he could see the energy outlining each hole. It glowed brightly showing him the way. He then found the energy which outlined the triangle and began to fit the object together, but suddenly he dropped it as something hit him in the back of the head.

  Kry quickly took his blindfold off and looked around. No one had noticed. Everyone was continuing to do their own practice, but someone had definitely hit him on the head. He touched the back of his head which was now painful, and there was a small patch of blood which coated his finger. A small square object lay on the floor next to him just under the table. He bent down, picked it up and saw that one of the edges had blood on it. Kry clenched his fists and looked around the room to find out who had done this.

  Nam came over to him. “Is there a problem, Kry?”

  Kry put the square on the table and then refitted his blindfold. “None,” he said. He would not allow the satisfaction of letting whoever did this get to him.

  Nam sighed and left him to practice with Thrace and Whisper.

  Whisper seemed to be skilled at this activity as he was fitting objects into the holes with ease.

  “Damn, Whisper. How are you so good at this?” asked Thrace, slightly envious.

  Whisper laughed. “Not being able to speak has helped my other senses, I guess.”

  There was no doubt that Whisper had grown stronger. They all had. Whisper may have been a scared boy in the tunnels of Baker Street Station when he had found him, but now he was quickly becoming one of the strongest Users, and he was still so young. Kry knew he would put up a good fight in the Cube, but there was still doubt, especially after seeing Xu’s death first hand. He could not allow Whisper to put himself in such danger. No, never again would someone be taken away from him.

  Kry touched the back of his head, once more feeling the bruise now forming. He ignored the pain and returned to practice, this time picking up an octagon. He saw clearly the bright energy in his mind and began to float it toward the frame. Everything was clear, and in the back of his mind, he could hear the faint laughter of two boys playing together.

  I’ll be the strongest!

  No way! I’ll be the best!

  Kry turned just in time and caught the flying object in his right hand. Another object came from another direction, but he caught it with his other hand. He removed his blindfold and looked around the room. This had gone too far. The energy began to flow wildly through him as he searched through the students and felt their presence, each one unique and different to the next. Their vibrations hummed with their emotions: some happy, some excited, and then there was anger—a dislike toward him. He could feel it a mile away as he felt the presence of Sonus pretending to move objects with his mind.

  Kry could not control his rage any longer. He placed the thrown objects onto the
table, took his blindfold off and went straight for him.

  Whisper took his blindfold off. “Kry, what are you doing?”

  Kry ignored him. His only thought was beating the living daylight out of Sonus. There was a glow in his eyes as he marched through the students. He was angry, not only at Sonus but at everyone. His thoughts of Jaeger returned, and he remembered that his life was a lie. He was angry with his parents for lying to him, angry with the Shadow Government for taking everything he loved away, and angry with Sonus who continued to get under his skin. Kry focused all that anger and allowed it to overwhelm him.

  Sonus continued to feign ignorance as Kry approached him.

  “Kry, where are you going?” asked Nam.

  Kry ignored her also, and before Sonus could take his blindfold off, he picked Sonus up by his throat and threw him across the room.

  Sonus slammed against the metallic frame causing all the students to remove their blindfolds.

  “Kry!” shouted Nam.

  Kry could not stop. His rage dominated him as his eyes briefly lit up in white flames before returning to normal. Nam grabbed him and held him against the wall. Sonus ripped his blindfold off; his face was red with anger. Sonus turned on his barrier and blinked forward next to them.

  Kry sensed the oncoming attack and formed his barrier which knocked Nam out of the way. The two of them now tried to strike at one another as the other students quickly tried to get out of the way of the furious rage between them.

  Nam was bewildered with what was going on and created her own barrier, stepping in between them and launching them both into the air. “Enough!” she shouted, so loudly that the whole room vibrated.

  They had taken everything away from him! They would pay! Kry glared at Sonus as they were suspended in the air. “I know it was you!”

  Sonus shouted back. “How’s your stupid head?”

  The room began to vibrate again as the energy Kry was displaying was growing. Nam looked on in shock. She threw Kry against the wall to try to stop him.