KINETIC

Before Lieutenant Anders could start explaining the challenges, Snythe raised his hand, but he started talking immediately, without waiting to be acknowledged.

"Do we really have to accept challenges every month? None of them have any hope beating us!" Snythe declared.

"Well it is true that currently you are much stronger than the class 2 trainees, if they work hard enough and can become more powerful, then they might rival you one day. If nobody puts forward a challenge, then you will not have to fight anyone." Lieutenant Anders explained.

"Hmph! Whatever... Seems pointless to me, we'll be growing stronger at the same time, so they won't be able to catch up." Snythe was clearly annoyed with this topic.

'I'll never allow any of them to take my spot. They're useless and they deserve to remain beneath me while I continue to grow.' Snythe thought, his face was showing his displeasure at the idea of being surpassed.

Snythe was already bothered that he didn't get rank 1, but instead he only got rank 3. 'I wasn't too far away from Nila in the test so surpassing her is doable, but Leofalor is a monster, I don't think I'll ever be able to catch up to him... Especially if he keeps improving as well.' Snythe contemplated his options and ways to get stronger.

Lieutenant Anders went on to explain the challenges. "There will be a box attached to the wall next to the door of your new rooms. If someone wishes to challenge you for your spot as a ranker, they must write their information on a piece of paper and slide it into the box. 3 days before the battle, you must look through the papers and select 1 of them, this is how the challenges will work."

Leo raised his hand, "If there are no papers then it means nobody has chosen to challenge you. Will there be other responsibilities for us when the challenge duels take place?"

"Since a ranker is going to be a part of the duel, another ranker must officiate the duel, if you do not have a challenger to fight, then you would be the obvious choice to officiate the days duels." Lieutenant Anders said.

'I had a feeling this was going to be the case. It shouldn't be too bad for me, all I have to do is stand there and make sure they don't break any rules...but... What are the rules of a duel? Leo realized that they don't have the most important information regarding duels. He immediately placed his hand up again.

"What are the rules for the duel, what isn't allowed?" He asked. "The only rule is that killing is not allowed, we have ability users in class 4 who can heal ,they will be ready to heal most injuries. If an attack appears to be a guaranteed kill, then the one officiating the match must step in to stop the attack as best they can." Lieutenant Anders explained.

Nobody said anything for a while and Lieutenant Anders assumed he could continue since there were no more questions. "The next topic should interest you all, since it will help you grow stronger. "

In Leo's room, Cain and clay are throwing a palm sized ball around while on their beds, while John is just sitting there watching.

Suddenly, to the surprise of the other 2, John speaks, "Can I ask you both a question?"

Cain was the most surprised and he turned to look at John. The ball that Clay had just thrown was forgotten about until it collided with Cains head, bouncing off of him and landing on the floor. It didn't seem to hurt since Cain didn't pay it any attention.

"A question? Sure, go ahead." Cain said with a smile. John was never very vocal, so Cain was excited to see him trying to make conversation.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me a bit about your abilities... I'll tell you about mine as well, if you want..." John asked, he started to trail off a bit at times because he was nervous.

Cain and Clay looked at each other and they both nodded. "Alright, but we won't get specific, we might be friends now but we still haven't known each other for too long." Cain stated, Clay and john nodded in agreement.

"I'll go f-first then. My ability is to create barriers, I can block damage and even do some other stuff as well, but I'm not very good at the others yet." John said with a sad expression.

Cain went next, "My ability let's me change how heavy things are. When I hit the block, I made my fist get lighter so I could move faster, then I made it heavier just before I hit the block." Cain was really excited to talk about their abilities.

Clay was the only one left so the other 2 looked at him. "My ability let's me change the size of things. I'm sure you all saw my arm get larger when I hit the block during the test. In this way it was similar to Cain, because my arm became heavier. Also, my strength increases when I make myself larger."

"Wow, your abilities are so cool and useful... Mine is pretty useless." John said with his head hanging low.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can prevent others and yourself from getting hurt in combat. With you around I don't have to fear an attack from a distance, because I know you can defend me!" Cain exclaimed, trying to cheer up John.

"You really think it's useful...?" John asked. His eyes went wide and started to fill with tears. Both Cain and Clay both nodded with smiles on their faces. 'I've only ever been told how useless I am... Do they really think I can be helpful?' Tears streamed down John's face for a few seconds before he regained his composure enough to talk again.

"Thanks for trusting me to defend you when needed." John smiled a bit. It was the first time the others had seen him smile.

"So" John continued "Do you know how Leofalor's ability works? It seemed very strong and I'm curious about it." John's mood suddenly dropped again when asked this question.