Panic Mode

Fight for What's Right

Over the next few weeks, he would wake up, find Neva, help out in any way, then return to bed, sore and tired. He fell into his routine so easily that before he knew it, a month had passed and everything was normal. They had announced the news about the five remaining survivors without much trouble. The weather had gotten warmer and pollen was in the air. The others had gotten cleared as well, but soon decided that working for Neva wasn't for them. They lasted about three days each, which the students thought was hilarious.

The promised lessons on sparring went unmentioned. Neva said nothing on the subject until about three weeks into May. It was after all the students had left and Ace was staggering out the door, ready to flop down onto his bed.

"Ace," Neva called across the room to him. "How strong are you?" Ace stared at her, then shrugged. He had never tried to find out to avoid embarrassment. With Neva's question, he tried to remember how strong he was supposed to be.

"Follow me." Neva turned and walked towards one of the sliding doors. She opened one of the doors and disappeared into the room beyond. Curious, Ace followed. Neva stood by a series of weights, holding out one to Ace.

"You want me to hold that?" Ace asked, looking to Neva, who nodded. Holding out his hands, Neva dropped it into his grasp. For a brief moment, he stumbled forward, but adjusted and soon held it in front of him without much trouble.

"Do you know how much the average fifteen-year-old boy can hold?" Neva asked. When Ace remained silent, she continued. "About one hundred and twenty-three pounds, If I'm rounding correctly. You can carry more than someone a year older than you." Ace frowned and looked down at the weight.

"How much is this then?" Ace asked. He had always thought himself to be weak and never did a lot of physical activity. To know that he was stronger than he had thought was groundbreaking.

"About two hundred." Neva smiled a bit. Ace dropped the weight.

"What?" Ace wasn't sure he heard that right.

Neva laughed and shook her head, "I had my suspicions, but you're a trailblazer, right?" Ace blinked and stared at Neva, a blank expression on his face.

"Yeah, but what do you mean you had your suspicions," Ace demanded. Neva laughed again and took a while to stop. When she finally composed herself, she forced a serious expression on her face.

"Last week, you got upset and yelled at one of the students, and he backed off," Neva explained. Ace sniggered as he recalled the incident. One student had been rude towards Ace, claiming that he was in cahoots with Red. It had been an attempt to explain the reason for his survival of the Flowersdale incident. Ace had gotten upset and yelled some unfavorable words at him, making him go pale and shut his mouth.

"What about it?" Ace asked.

"Part of the reason he backed off was that you had developed red eyes and fangs," Neva explained. "He came to me about it after class." Ace burst out laughing, he couldn't help it. Sierra had told him that he had started doing that since he was ten and had gotten used to it. It made sense that a complete stranger would be scared off. Now, when people discussed Trailblazers, they thought of the adults. An adult would have already developed the defining traits that set them apart.

"Usually it's things like that that show up in fledgling Trailblazers." Neva continued, holding back a laugh as well. "Another common trait in younger ones is sudden accelerated growth. This comes in brief periods, of course. Which comes along with the development of unnaturally strong muscles. I can start training you soon."

Ace shook his head, "I definitely am stronger, but I'm not any taller." Neva looked at him and shook her head. She took the weight and placed it back with the others before gesturing for Ace to follow her. He trailed after her into a room full of shelves. Each shelf strained under the weight of dozens of files stacked on top of the other. Neva tugged a file from one of the shelves and opened it.