Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 9 - Mysteries

It had been several weeks since the ball throwing incident Zayne had undergone. His arm still wasn't fully healed, but at least everyone would stop worrying as much when they saw it. They'd all freaked out when he came to school the next day with the cast on. The base in the cave was much more extensive than Zayne ever thought. The main room with the bed and a few of the medical supplies, along with the massive display monitors everywhere, was the central point of the entire facility. It went off to the right quite a distance, with several rooms splitting off on either side of the wall. The very end of the hall was where the practice rooms were located. A little way ahead of the practice rooms, closer to the main room, was a fully furnished and facilitated medical room. There were all sorts of hospital and emergency room levels of medical supplies and machines everywhere.

Ver had quickly gotten Zayne's arm bandaged and wrapped up, then put in a cast for protection. The next day, when Zayne had shown up to the morning rest area with Aries and Austin, they flipped out and started asking if he'd tried committing suicide. It was typical of them to think of that first since their personalized culture of memes somewhat revolved around the subject, but Zayne was still a little confused that they'd think he would try that. After settling their panic and assuring them that he wasn't depressed, in fact he was the exact opposite now, they continued their usual routine, although Aries and Austin seemed more on edge than normal.

It was after school now. Zayne's arm was not black and charred like it had been right after his ball throw, but it still looked crispy. Occasionally Zayne would feel a flare of pain jolt across his arm, but even now it wasn't as bad as before. He could move it, and all they needed around it now was a thick layer of a casing to make sure it didn't twist or break again. His bones were healed, but fragile currently. Any slight movement in the wrong direction could snap the marrow in half like a toothpick, so they needed to be extremely careful. Despite this, however, Zayne continued his training. Agility and dodging were the only things he did currently. The stamina one would have to wait another time when he could actually use his arm properly.

In his personal training Zayne had become more adapted and stable in his control over the Dragon's Heart. He had stopped his sudden bursts of energy all at once, and he could now easily regulate his own body temperature with the snap of a finger. Unlike a few weeks ago Zayne no longer had the outbursts of scaled arms and uncontrollable heat. However on his way to control he'd had several incidents. One included the reason why he wasn't using his personal bathroom anymore. It was really bad in there, especially since everything was half melted. Still, he'd had a good laugh, as had Ver and Keith, at his own failings and training to perfect his powers. It was an ongoing battle.

Something Zayne also had improved in his personal training was his physical strength. Ver had explained that the Dragon Heart didn't give him strength or power, it just improved his current state. He was heavier, and in a good way, but he wasn't at the needed standard for his type of Dragon Force. He had gone under a lot of regular training for improving his muscles and body strength. He wasn't able to work in the stamina department much because of the injury, but he was still trying his hardest to run every day. Ver had made a small program for him to follow every day. Lifting, running, stretches, all sorts of things to do and work on. All the while Zayne was attending school and working on class work. To say the least, Zayne had a very busy schedule.

After a long day of exercise and dodge training, Zayne had traveled back to the house and had grabbed his home clothes. He walked down the hall towards Damien's room, since that was the bathroom he now used, and stepped inside. Damien ignored him as he entered, he was focused on playing his games. He was currently in the middle of a boss fight or something intense. He was leaning forward in his chair, glued to the screen. Zayne just silently chuckled and closed the door to the bathroom behind him. The room was pretty big, especially for a bathroom. There were two entrances, one from Damien's room and one from Ver and Keith's bedroom. The wall that stretched between both entrances held two sinks, two mirrors, and tons of bathroom products on them.