Cyberspace; The Ultimus Collection

Chapter 7, Prove Yourself

Daniel steadied his stance. He got into the best fighting pose a man of his caliber could muster. He glared at the two guardians, eyes burning with passion and determination.

"I'm not done yet! I'm not ready to give up!" Daniel shouted.

"The point of this exercise was to get you accustomed to this unfamiliar world, but if you are willing, we can start the real training now."

"Wait hold on!" Alyson exclaimed, turning to G-1. "He doesn't even have his powers yet! We can't go straight into training! We'd kill him!"

"True, training at this point in time might be more dangerous than advantageous. But there is a benefit to it. If we commence with training now, then we can see Daniel's potential at his lowest point. And he can learn how to defend himself without relying on his future abilities." G-1 explained. "But for the sake of your concern, we will only progress if Daniel is willing to fight."

"You better believe I am!" Daniel yelled.

"I have a bad feeling about this. But if you two are sure about this, then I guess there's no use in resisting." Alyson sighed.

"Give me everything you guys got! I CAN TAKE IT!" G-1 reconstructed his tank tread legs. He laughed quietly to himself.

"If you insist." G-1 then rocketed towards Daniel at impressive speeds. He raised his fist and slammed it down towards the confident foreigner. To everyone's surprise however, Daniel caught G-1's fist before it could collide with him. The force of the attack pushed Daniel into the ground, cracking and shattering the earth around him. Daniel looked G-1 up and down.

"Jet engine legs? Pretty nice tactic. You almost caught me off guard." Daniel said smugly.

"Don't get too confident now Daniel. One blocked attack won't be enough to be the next guardian." G-1 charged an energy blast right under Daniel's chest. "You remain vigilant, and keep on your guard, and yet you didn't seem to notice that I kept my arm as a cannon." Daniel looked down, now noticing his impending doom, and quickly pushed himself away from G-1. Daniel stammered back as the ball of energy shot into the air.

That was a close one. Daniel thought to himself. He continued to ponder over the situation, planning his next actions.

"Standing still isn't very advantageous, nor is it a very smart idea." G-1 claimed, charging up another blast. "We need you to be not only quick on your feet, but quick with your mind." Daniel jumped out of the way, and soon after G-1 fired the energy. It exploded against the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and dirt. G-1 reconstructed his jets back into legs. "Why did you dodge so early? I could've easily readjusted my aim." Daniel smirked.

"Because, I knew you wouldn't!" G-1, for the first time during the exercise, was taken aback. "I've taken enough damage already, so another direct blast would've killed me for sure. That's why, every time you readied an attack, you waited until after I got away to fire the blast! Because of who I am, and where I come from, I'm way too valuable for you to accidentally kill. And even if I wasn't as special as you guys think I am, you wouldn't kill an innocent civilian because you two are heroes!"

"This kid is something else!" Alyson shouted.

"You have a pretty sharp mind. I should've gave you more credit." G-1 remarked. He turned back towards Alyson, and gave her a nod. She nodded back, and waved her hands up. Soon Daniel was trapped in a prison, with walls of pure light.

"Huh? What is this?"

"You may be mentally strong, but we need physical strength too!" G-1 charged up another attack. "You can't run from this, you have to block. Prove to us that you have the strength necessary to become the next guardian!"

"Hey wait! Didn't you hear what I was saying earlier?! You might kill me!" Daniel pleaded.

"Don't worry, I will only use 58.67% of my power, or roughly 10% less than before."

"That's not a really big difference!" It was at that moment that Derick walked outside.

"Hey guys, how's training coming alon- HOLY SHIT! YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO KILL HIM!" He shouted.

"He will be fine, as long as he properly blocks."

"I leave for 10 minutes and you guys are about to kill our only chance of stopping the killer!"

"We have to test his abilities now! And besides, you should have faith in your pupil!" G-1 then fired the energy at Daniel. The ball barreled towards him at impressive speeds. It was smaller, so therefore it was faster.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" Daniel put up his arms to act as a shield. He covered his face and chest. He closed his eyes, looked away, gritted his teeth, and held his breath. The attack smashed against Daniel's body. It exploded such intense force and power. Smoke filled the air. Derick drew his sword and slashed at the air, creating a whirlwind that blew away the dirt and debris. When everything cleared, Daniel was seen, left still standing! G-1 laughed before reverting his body back to normal.

"I do believe we have a good candidate for the guardian program. Good work Derick."

"Are you kidding me! You could've seriously injured him, or worse!!" Derick shouted.

"He'll be fine. Remember, you've got me on your side." Alyson said with a smile. With a wave of her arm a soft glow flooded the sky and a beam of light descended down onto Daniel. It healed up his wounds, and left him in a better shape than what he arrived in. Derick sighed. "Congrats kid! You passed our little entrance exam!"

"You have the drive and resolve of a true hero Daniel. And even without a power, you can certainly hold your own." G-1 recounted. "Welcome to the guardian program Daniel. From here and out, your real test begins now!"