Anomalous

Chapter 5: Training Rules

Wearing a black uniform they move into the dining hall, the Restaurare for their first meal as Domitare.

The Restaurare is almost occupied and a lot of Domitare are eating, only vacant seats are at Alpha's table.

"Shall we sit there?" Mega asks Hemera then pointing to Alpha's table. Hemera nods and smiles.

They sat on the empty chairs beside Alpha. Mega gets some forks and then picks up something new to her, a ham.

"Have you never seen a hamburger before?" Hemera asks her.

"No, I've seen one. I just have never eaten one."

An Eruditus boy replied from their front, "Abnegatus eat plain food. Plant-based diet with no sauces and a minimum of seasoning." then ate a portion of his food.

"Which textbook did you swallow?" Hemera asks teasingly. The boy only smiles at her.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm Prometheus Byron Merino. Eruditus, but you can call me Ron." the boy introduces his name.

"Of course you are," Hemera replied and sipped on her cup.

"No offense, but I'm surprised Abnegatus even eats at all," Omega added and ate the ham.

"Too selfish, right? No wonder you left." Hemera says as she bites a portion of her food.

"You gotta be pretty self-confident to be friends with a Candidus," Ron added.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hemera asks.

"You have no filter. You say the first thing that comes into your head." Ron says.

"You mean like, You're an idiot?" Aion interrupted. Then they chuckled.

"Nice one, Ai. At least we tell the truth," Hemera proudly said.

"Eruditus can tell the truth because we have the facts," Ron says.

"I don't want to hear about your old coalitions. You're Domitare now," Alpha interrupts us while drinking in his cup.

"Were you a transfer, too? Or Domitare-born?" Mega asks.

Alpha shakes his head saying no.

"Are you kidding?" he asks in frustration.

"No." Mega answers.

"What makes you think you can talk to me?" he asks in authority.

Mega stutters, "It... must be because you're approachable."

Looks at her and utters a word.

"Careful."

They are approached by a Domitare leader, and talks to Alpha. Mentioning something that makes him more frustrated, is a man named Hades.

After he leaves, Hemera insists that Mega has a death wish.

"You, my friend, have a death wish," Hemera says.

"You know, he was first in his class. They tried to recruit him for leadership twice, but he said no." Ron added.

There is tension between Hades and Alpha, stemming in part from a job that Alpha has repeatedly turned down.

Domitare are clanking their cans, a cup. Then a man above them, on the next floor speaks.

"Initiates, stand," he commanded. Then all of the initiates stand including Omega.

"You have chosen to join the warrior coalition tasked with the defense of the city and all its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery and the courage that drives one person to stand up for another. Respect that. Do us proud."

Initiates cheers.

Whoahhh...

They held high the initiates and shouts.

The next morning, they woke up from the banging of the door. Alpha is waiting for them.

"I want everyone in The Hell. Two minutes."

Alpha leads the initiates down a hallway and tells them more about the training they'll undergo during their initiation. There will be multiple stages, and the initiates will be ranked to determine who will get the first pick of jobs after initiation.

"There are two stages of training. The first is physical. Push your bodies to the breaking point and you'll master the methods of combat."

"The second is mental. Again, breaking point. You'll face your worst fears and conquer them unless they get you first."

"You'll be trained separately from the Domitare-born, but you'll be ranked together. After initiations, the ranking will determine what jobs you move into."

"Leadership, guarding the fence, or keeping the Outcast from killing each other."

"Only the top ten initiates are made full of Domitare. If they get cut, they must live homeless." Says Alpha.

"The rankings will also determine who gets cut," Hades added.

Omega and Hemera looked at each other and then asked.

"Cut?" Hemera asks.

"At the end of each stage of training, the lowest-ranking Initiates will be leaving us," Hades added.

"To do what?" Ai asks.

"There's no going home to your families, so you'd live Outcast," Hades says softly.

"Why didn't we know that?" Ron asks in confusion.

"It's a new rule," Hades answers.

"A new rule? Somebody should have told us that." Hemera speaks out.

"Why? Would you have chosen differently?"Hades asks. "Out of fear? I mean, if that's the case, you might as well get out now. If you're one of us, it won't matter to you that you might fail."

"Now you chose us. Now we get to choose you."

*Someone's POV*

At the Domitare coalitions, Initiates are starting their training. They are running in the open space with obstacles ahead. There are punching on a punching bag, performing different martial arts, and then the new Initiates, Omega, and her companies are around the sparing room, surrounding the two-man sparing at the center.

Punches lounge, men attacking each other, kicking one another.

You can feel the pain they felt. But the rule is rule, once you fail you'll become an Outcast.

*Ends of Someone's POV*

*Omega's POV*

We are in the sparing room where two men punching each other, kicking each other, and hurting one another.

Seeing them fears crept on me, thinking that I may fail. Feel their pain but they can't fail, because the rule is the rule. Once you fail, you'll become an Outcast. You'll be nothing but trash. You'll be nothing but toxic to the coalitions.

Punches lounge, men attacking each other, and kicking one another. Drops of blood dripping but they never stop, wounds in their flesh, scratches, and bruises.

That night an initiate from Candidus, named Jason Aion Hand breaks down and cries in the dorm.