The Prodigy Read online

  “Thanks. For real this time.” Her cheeks redden, but I don’t call her out on it. I know it’s hard for her to give compliments of any kind, plus I’m relieved that the conversation turned out the way that it did. I feel bad for lying to Summer and everyone else by extension, but it’s still too much for me right now. There’s a lot going on, and throwing her and everyone else’s opinions in the mix would only add to it. Her making it look like I’m some sort of paragon isn’t helping either. That’s even more of a reason to keep it all under wraps until I get a handle on it.

  “Come on. Let’s hurry. We’re going to be late for class.”

  ****

  My second day back isn’t too much different than the first. From the moment I stepped into class, everyone had a strange vibe. I’d only had a half-day yesterday, so I figured they suspected the worse. I spent the majority of my down time between classes convincing everyone that asked me that my half-day wasn’t worth freaking out over, and that I was back on track. I didn’t give them as much details as Summer, and it was implied that what I told her was in confidence. She’s not the type to feed the rumor mill, anyway. She’s better than that and knows how quickly things can spiral out of control.

  In Mr. Hoover and Ms. Cosgrove’s class, I sit out of the main lesson, just like I’m supposed to, while I do my own thing. The objective for the day is to work on building on the technique they taught yesterday, but there’s also a lecture that details the benefits of being flexible in combat. The takeaway seems to be that standard techniques are applicable and establish a foundation, but using your abilities in conjunction with what you already know is what gives you the edge.

  After the main lesson is done, I watch as our class breaks off into groups to work on whatever they like. I begin my jog around the training grounds, pushing myself to jog at a slightly faster than normal pace than I usually do. When I demand too much of my powers, I realized that my heartrate spikes. It’s hardly a new discovery, but if I can’t improve my abilities while I’m out here, at least I can improve my stamina.

  Physical fitness in general has a lot to do with what we can do. After all, at the end of the day, everything we do is directly tied to us in some way. Back when I was powerless, when I first enrolled, I built up my body to keep up with everyone else. I haven’t stopped since then, but I did somewhat shift focus since my powers reawakened. Most of my recovery has been improving my body, so it’s safe to say that I’m officially back to my roots, and then some, although it feels like something’s missing now that I actually experienced using my powers at will.

  After going about three-fourths into my lap, I find myself unable to do more. My lack of sleep’s affecting my energy, and my pace was probably a bit too much. I finish up my lap by walking the rest of the way, taking note of what the other students are doing as I catch my breath.

  Erik was training with Summer before I left, but now, Erik’s working solo while Summer’s reading a book under a tree while suspending a small mass of ice in the air and twirling it. A stray fireball whizzes past her and crashes a few feet from where she’s sitting. She twists to look behind her and sees Kaci and Tristen sparring not too far off. It’s hot enough to melt her manifestation, so she yells at them. They don’t appear to pay her any mind. They’re wrapped up in their own world, which is crazy.

  Kaci usually doesn’t spar with Tristen, or at all, really, and Tristen’s more of a lone wolf to begin with. Even when they were teammates, they never seemed to be going at it this hard.

  Kaci’s suit is shredded and Tristen has another fireball swirling in his palm, ready to be used, and it doesn’t look like Kaci’s been doing too much damage to him.

  Tristen throws his fire, and Kaci dodges it as she charges him. He then unleashes a stream of fire while she’s mid-movement. Rather than stop, she continues her charge, while using her energy to cut through the attack. At first, there’s a bit of a struggle, but Tristen puts more power behind his flame, causing her to be overtaken by his flames.

  Once Tristen’s flame dissolves, it’s clear that Kaci is down. Summer gives a speculative nod to the scope of the attack, and goes back to her book, even though Kaci doesn’t seem to be moving. Tristen, being the kind of guy that he is, marches over to her and begins to yell at her, but I can’t make out what he says. I can only imagine that he’s barking at her to get up.

  Kaci eventually removes her cowl and sluggishly rises to her feet. By the time that she does, Mr. Hoover’s already made his way over there and offers his hand to heal her. He touches her shoulder, but she shrugs it off, refusing assistance. After a brief talk, Mr. Hoover gets out of the way, and they’re back at it again with Kaci being on the receiving end of Tristen’s brutal flames.

  The rest of the students continue to do their thing, training with one another to better themselves while the teachers float around, and I do what I can even though I’m spent. The next half mile that I do is pathetic. My upper body workout isn’t much better, but still, I don’t give up. Training with Mr. Ferris took more out of me than I originally thought, but I’ll just have to bear it. Until I get over my mental block, this is going to be the new norm.

  The rest of the day is a struggle, and when it’s over, I plop down in my bed, exhausted. Sleep comes to me quickly, but just like always, I’m unable to make it through the night. Von’s face spurred me out of my sleep...there wasn’t a fight or anything like that, but just his face was enough to get my heart pounding. I never thought that a person could get inside my head this much.

  When it’s time for me to go to training, I put away my books and head out to meet Mr. Ferris. I find him right where I thought he’d be, doing exactly what I expected him to be doing. Meditating. Once I get close enough, he opens one of his eyes and closes it, as if every second counts. “Morning, Aiden.”

  “Morning.”

  “How did you manage yesterday?”

  “I was tired, but I got through the day just fine. I can keep this up as long as I have to, no problem.” I punch my fist into my hand.

  I’m not gonna lie, this sucks, but I’ll endure it for as long as I have to if it means overcoming my mental blocks.

  “You’re determined, that’s good, but it’s okay to be tired, Aiden. It’s part of the process. If you need to take things slow, let me know. I’m not a mind reader, but I am pretty close.” He chortles. “Yesterday was only an orientation. Things will get progressively harder until I deem you ready for the next step. I don’t want to release you to your own devices unless I know you’re prepared to handle whatever comes your way. We’re our own worst enemies, you know?” Mr. Ferris smiles. He’s right, and I’m starting to understand why. “Take a seat whenever you’re ready and we’ll begin.”

  “Right.” I sit in front of him and close my eyes after assuming the meditative position he taught me the day before. Moments later, a pulse echoes through my head, and when I open my eyes, I’m standing opposite to him in the realm housed by our two minds. “Cool, so, we’re back. What’s the lesson for today?”

  “I really want you to be in tune with your abilities before we progress to anything else, so we’ll start off the same way we began.”

  “The same way we...? You want me to attack you again?”

  “I do.” Mr. Ferris nods. “But this time, I want you to hit me, and make it clean, preferably.” He smiles. “In fact, we won’t do much else beyond this until you can complete this task.”

  My mind flashes back to when I tried to attack him yesterday. He was able to read through my attacks and ended up countering me without much effort. Extreme concentration, the second ability he revealed to me, was most likely what allowed him to anticipate my moves like he did. I don’t have anything close to that in my arsenal, and even without it, his abilities as a fighter were still enough to make me look useless...

  “Last time we fought—but your concentration ability—how can I?”

  “It’s like I said the last time we met. I’m weakened here. Holding
this realm together pulls at my focus, which further limits my already limited ability. I barely used it last time, so there’s room for you to grow.”

  “But what if I can’t do it?”

  “Then you try again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and so on... You remember what I told you about being here, right? Everything you do here primarily drains from your spirit, so your time is limited. Be sure to make the most of it. When you’ve had enough, call it. If you don’t, then I will.”

  “R-Roger.” I tense my hands into fists and nod.

  “Okay then, let’s begin...”

  “Yes, sir.” Mr. Ferris assumes the same pose that he did last time we fought. His hands are in his pockets—he doesn’t think I have a chance. I’ll just have to make him regret underestimating me.

  I rush forward, leading with a jumping kick. Mr. Ferris dodges it by pivoting his body. Once I land, I step towards him and launch a sidekick, which he gracefully avoids by shifting his torso. Mr. Ferris uses his momentum to sink to the floor, and he delivers a leg sweep, hoping to catch me off-guard. I read his attack and dodge it by doing a one-handed cartwheel while simultaneously launching a burst of energy with my free hand.

  “Nice moves.” I had no intention of hitting him with my first two attacks—they were just to get a read on his movements, but this time, I’m actually looking to connect. Mr. Ferris shuffles back and keeps his composure, the range of my burst just barely missing him. I land on my feet and sling my other arm forward, backing it by my inertia. Another burst of energy erupts from my palm and Mr. Ferris jerks to the side before firing a quick shot to my ribs with his leg. I soak up the attack and try to use it as an opening, but there’s nothing to exploit. He’d retracted his leg back to safety before I could do anything about it. He’s quick, and as far as I know, his ability doesn’t affect his actual speed...just his processing ability...his reaction time. I fall to one knee, the pain from his direct hit setting in. It wasn’t a particularly strong attack, but his foot managed to crash into my solar plexus. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Aiden.” Mr. Ferris snickers. “A lot better.”

  Operating on this plane puts us both at a disadvantage, but Mr. Ferris still has the upper hand. He’s stronger and more experienced, plus every second that I’m here, I’m getting weaker. Using my abilities only accelerates my decline. I’m one hundred percent certain that I’m losing energy faster than him, so the gap only widens the longer and harder I fight. Is it best go all-out or have a conservative approach? I can increase the radius of my explosions, but that’ll drain me quicker. I ca—

  “What’s the matter? Lost your nerve, already?” he asks as he steps in closer. He slightly bends his body forward, waiting for me to respond.

  Now!

  I quickly point my palm in front of me and unleash a violet burst of energy.

  Mr. Ferris dodges to my side, kicks me in the arm, this time, far harder than he’d ever hit me before. The weight of his kick propels me across the ground, and my shoulder goes numb from the brunt of the impact. “Aiden, did you honestly think it would be that simple? You can’t trick a trickster.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot,” I rasp after standing and sinking into my battle stance.

  “...I’m not quite sure that it was. You spent a lot of your energy on that last attack of yours.” He’s right, I did, but I’m positive that I got him to use his ability just now. The shift in his demeanor...the sudden tension. The scope of my attack was way too big for him to dodge unless he had a head start. If I can just keep up the pressure then I might be able to find an opening. “Don’t count me out just yet.” I push off the ground, ignoring the ever-expanding emptiness harbored in the pit of my stomach. I summon my flame and feed more power into it as I cut my hand across the air once I’m in striking range in an attempt to distract him.

  I try to follow up while his focus is elsewhere, but Mr. Ferris’s fist crashes into my nose before I can finish my attack, and my vision blurs. He then steps into my guard, grabs me by the arm, and slams me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. I discharge my flame from the ground in retaliation, but without a proper angle, it’s a huge chunk of wasted energy. “Looks like I win this round,” Mr. Ferris announces while towering over me. “I’m calling it... Too much more of this and you won’t even be able to put up a fight. We can move on to the second part of our session now. You can stay laid out on the floor if you’d prefer, but I’d rather you sit down, like me. It’s going to be much harder than it looks, so give it your all.” Mr. Ferris steps away and assumes his meditative pose.

  “O-Okay,” I respond, while still sprawled out on the ground.

  “I want you to try to focus on your spirit, Aiden. That energy that powers your abilities. Really feel it. What is it telling you? How does it feel? How do you feel?”

  “Is that rhetorical or do you really want to know?” I rise on all fours and transfer over to his seated pose.

  “I’m serious. I want to know. Close your eyes, search yourself, and tell me.” I do what he says—I close my eyes and really search. “Don’t think too hard about it. It should be easy here.”

  “I...my energy is draining...faster than before. I can feel it leaking out... I can see it in my mind. It’s...it’s almost like little beads of light floating from my skin and into the sky.”

  “That is correct. I wasn’t kidding when I said that this place feeds off of your energy. If you search deep enough, I’m sure you’ll realize just how much of it you’ve already lost.”

  “Yeah...” I nod.

  “The amount that’s being taken from you is far greater than the amount your body is naturally able to produce. There’s no way around this fact, but depending on the conditions of your existence here, you can slow the process. You’ve used two high-magnitude attacks while you were here, and I inflicted damage to you. Those factors should have caused your energy to leak at an accelerated rate... Now that you’ve visualized what is happening, I want you to consciously try to retain as much energy as you can, for as long as you can. Your heartrate, your frame of mind, the tension in your body, all of these things contribute to your energy’s inevitable depletion. Calm yourself. Focus, and try to establish control.”

  “Right.” I concentrate on my energy, pinpointing the source of it all in the pit of my stomach. I visualize a purple flame at the root of it all, distributing its radiance throughout my extremities. I can see where my energy is leaking through the pores of my skin and being whisked away. I slow my breathing and center my thoughts, blocking out everything but the task at hand. Despite my effort, it’s still a losing battle. “It’s...not working...”

  “Concentrate, Aiden.” I suck it up, ignoring my mounting fatigue until I can’t take it anymore. The purple flame at my core flickers wildly, as if going through the throes of death after being doused by an onslaught of water. I lurch forward and gasp. This feeling—it’s like I’m suffocating—slowly suffocating even though everything’s just fine. “Aiden?!”

  “I—I can’t. I—” I push my palms against the floor, buying me time from completely collapsing from exhaustion. “I’m at my limit, Mr. Ferris. I can’t do this anymore.” With my form completely broken, I hang my head while I struggle to amass air into my lungs.

  “Hmm... You lasted fifteen minutes. Not bad, but you can do better. A lot better.”

  “How?” I rasp.

  “With practice.” Mr. Ferris walks over to me and places a finger on my forehead, breaking the bond that our minds share. I open my eyes and find that my heart rate’s elevated, and I’m slightly out of breath. “It’s the only way that you’ll get better. I recommend meditating in your free time.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “It’ll help you gain control. We’re going to be doing the same thing tomorrow, so be sure to rest up before our next session. I can tell that you’ve burned through a sizeable portion of your energy just now. Take the time to recharge before class.”

  “Will
do.”

  Just like last time, once our session ended, Mr. Ferris continued to do his own thing, meditating to refine his abilities. I walk back from North Campus, completely exhausted even though I had nothing to show for it on the outside.

  “Aiden?” Once I pass the gym, someone calls out my name. I didn’t expect to see anyone I know out this early, but I guess I was wrong. The sudden call from the unknown delivers a hit of adrenaline to my system. The voice sounds familiar, but I can’t quite put a name to what I heard.

  Having stopped in my tracks, I turn around and see Malik, the new student. His clothing is visibly drenched in sweat, and he appears out of breath. “Hey, Malik. How’s it going?”

  “It’s going... I’m soaked, as you can probably tell.”

  “Training?” I ask.

  “Yeah. Mr. Hoover announced that special combat exercise, so I’m trying to make sure that I can hold my own. I’m the new guy, so I don’t want to be deadweight.”

  Considering that I was in the exact same spot a few months ago, I know the feeling. He reminds me of myself when I first started.

  “I wouldn’t sweat it. No pun intended. You seem like you’re doing just fine. You went one on one against Summer on your first day. Even if you didn’t win, you definitely made a good first impression. It takes guts to do something like that. No one is going to hold that against you.”