Animus

Chapter Eleven - The Journey Begins

My mind was calm as I kneeled on the dojo's padded floor. The air around me whisked and whooshed as quick footsteps surrounded me. The presence of the individual was faint, but the speed was making it difficult for me to track its movements. To the untrained eye, the figure circling around me looked to be a blur. 

I opened my eyes and attacked from my rear. I missed.  

Liara and I had been going at this intense training for three days straight now. Despite all my progress, I just couldn't keep up with her. We barely took any breaks during sessions and if the dojo wasn't so well built, it would have looked like multiple grenades were thrown inside. 

Another attack from the rear! I spun to meet Liara's fist but I was still too slow, she knew this and disengaged from her attack and began to circle me again at high speeds.  

"You're only acting on instinct, Nolan. You're not feeling where I am!" Liara called.  

A punch connected with the back of my head dazing me. I was then slammed to the ground by Liara. On paper, Liara and I were on par with each other, but when it came to critical thinking and coordination, Liara was light years ahead of me. This is the third day in a row where she's outsmarted me.  

"I should just stay here," I grumbled, my face still pinned to the floor, "there's no way I'm going to past the test."  

"Don't say that!" Liara snapped. "You know as well as I do that our styles complement each other, they were never meant to be superior to one another." Liara dismounted me and helped me up. "We work together or we both fail."  

I bowed my head and apologized. "I'm just frustrated that I can't keep up with you."  

"My training and cunning is what separates me from most Nathak," she said proudly, "it's not going to be easy to outsmart me. But I believe that with enough training you can be just as good as I am." There was a pause between us once I agreed with what she said. "Alright, let's call it a night. We've been at it for almost six hours straight. We need to rest up for tomorrow."  

I agreed and decided to pack it in for the rest of the night. The following day would be very eventful...and physically straining.  

The next morning I was awoken by Liara who was half ready to jump out the door. Her hair wasn't messy, she had her uniform shirt on and matching black pants, her gun holster was missing and she had a toothbrush in her mouth.  

"I overslept too! Come on!" I managed to make out through the gibberish.  

We both got ready finishing at around the same time, leaving an hour and a half to kill before we had to leave. We sat down in the den and had a small meal. Liara handed me another letter that had the instructions of what to do today. According to the letter, all applicants were to load onto an airbus at their home HQ. Once they cleared their names with the crew they will have permission to board. The airbus would leave at exactly 8:05 a.m., leaving anyone behind meant they would have to find their own way there.  

Liara and I headed up to Overlord's rooftop. I could see the M8 airbus that we would be taking already loading up applicants in the hold. The M8 airbus was a more militarized version of the M7 - a hovercraft used to transport civilians who don't own a hovercar. Once Liara and I cleared our names with the crew; we loaded up and sat down.  

The M8's floor was metallic and my boots clambered with every step. The leather, uncomfortable seats were foreign to me, and the faces that sat from across from me I didn't recognize. The other applicants weren't in any particular race order; some were Chiron, some Human and some Nathak. I eyed a Nathak and Chiron near the exit of the M8 who looked to be about 10 or 15 years older than me. They looked more hardened and experienced; I could tell they've seen their share of combat already. All the others looked young, inexperienced, and fragile.