The Forgotten One

Ch 4: The Merge

Victor had gone through a lot more survival rounds with the Captain and although he lasted longer he was not satisfied with the defeat. Three weeks before the Merge he lasted 20 minutes. Two weeks before the Merge he lasted 25 mins pushing 30mins. The last week before the Merge, Victor lasted over 30mins so the captain showed Victor his affinity. Victor had already know the captains affinity because of the amount of times his mana had been inside him. The captain burnt bright orange with his fiery mana as he increased the difficulty. "Captain..." Delta said as she watched nervously. The captain with his affinity had his attacks and speed were boosted. On top of that the captain hit Victor while his proper aura. Not the weakened version of aura, not a substitute but actual aura. The Captain left the unconscious Victor to Delta and the other senior agents. The pressure the captain was getting from the other captains was clearly showing as he had knocked Victor unconscious. "Come on guys, you were complaining about not being able to train with the captain. How do you expect to train with him if you can't even train with me!" She scolded the members of Tank C the next day as they laid on the floor after their spar. "45 minutes he lasted 45mins." The Captain said to Delta. "Were you holding back?" She asked as she grabbed #5 with a whip and threw him into #3 as she was healing #4. She knew the answer to her question as she was always a spectator but she curious. "Against that monster not as much as the beginning but now... He has decreased his mental limiter." He said as he watched Victor train with his friend. Mental limiters are limiters that one puts on themselves either because of a life experience. Growing up Victor was gifted with mana and that made his body grow stronger. He would hurt those he tried to play with or befriend. He had then put on a mental block on his strength to make himself seem more human. That way he could play with the village children. Recently after being put near death's door by the captain day after day. Victor realised that in combat he needed more of his natural strength. #1 Sent a slash of wind towards Delta. She avoided it but still took damage. She glared at him and as she was about to attack the Captain stopped her. "That is why you can't spar with them." The captain said as he held her whip. It was coated in a purple mana and made the Captain's veins prominent in his arm. "Says you, I noticed that aura attack. Are you trying to kill the boy?" The captain let go of her whip and his arm returned to normal. The Captain tossed #1 a tank Token before walking away.
Victor was sad because the captain had given his a break period three days before the Merge so no more intense sparring. #40 shocked Victor from a meter away. "On the bright side, you don't have to be carried back to the Tank." #39 said as she tried to cheer as she tried to cheer him up. "I don't think you understand, the captain showed me a level of strength I was yet to experience and that was crazy, the captain felt like a dragon." Victor said to his friends as he sat up straight. "That was the fire time I have heard of the captain's affinity and I have been her for almost eight years." #39 said and the two boys turned to her. She did not usually like giving out things or information about herself and for her to do it was shocking. She blushed as she realised what she did and turned away to hide her embarrassment. Victor noticed that she was now growing scales on her arms, that mean she was healthy. Her hands were also getting webbed but she cut those out before anyone would notice. Victor got up to get food but the pain in his chest burnt like hell. It had been a while since he had felt this pain. As his chest burnt, his tattoo glowed through the shirt until it burnt it completely to show a familiar mark. It was a dragon hording a mountain of gold. "Paragon!" He said as he touched the mark on his chest. "Um... Victor." #40 pointed at the pair of stubs growing out of his head. Victor's eyes had also turned lizard like as he touched the stubs with his scaled hand. As he touched his head, his dragon like features disappeared. "What?" Victor was asked confused as to what they saw. "You... you were scaly and your eyes and horns." Victor was not sure what #40 meant but his heart burn was now gone. "Lets get food. Victor said to them as he was hungry." Victory ate a lot more than he usually did and his heart burn kept coming and going. He kept shifting from human to his draconic form in his sleep as his mental limit was not the only thing unlocked by the captain's training.