The Exceptions

Weaklings

Lucian

The room bursts into a flurry, students standing up and rushing to their classrooms. The Academy believes in 3 short training regimens before breakfast, in case you needed to fight without food in the real world. Lucian thinks this makes sense, making it the one time he, Dawn, and Mirai thought anything The Academy did was smart. The Examiner quickly divides everyone into multiple training groups-- Lucian, into physical combat; Dawn, into magic APD (Accuracy, Power, Duration); and Mirai into advanced power awakening. Lucian looks on, unfazed as Mirai steps into a dark room, and Dawn is taken into the lecture hall. He wishes to everything holy (and not) that he gets ANY power soon. He hates being that dweeb that can't do anything but stab things with knives. 

Granted, he did pick up that skill very fast. His favorite thing to do is rock-climb, so he has a lot of arm strength. The Examiner brought him out to the training yard, so that his lesson could begin. His coach is just as boring as all the examiners--a lifeless male, maybe in his forties. His face is bland, with a little black scruff on his chin, and he always seems to be tired. The only thing he is useful for is his knowledge of the human body, and exactly just how to harm it. Lucian was taught about every vital area in any given human and how to adjust where he should stab based on different body types. The old man has also taught Lucian which muscle groups should be engaged when performing different movements, which parries to make, how to dodge, what different strikes and slashes do, the whole shebang. However, Lucian only cares about becoming the strongest. He has to. It's the only way he knows that could awaken the exception that is hidden somewhere inside him. He hopes. He prays. He keeps dancing around the dummy with his knives flashing in the sunlight. He knows he couldn't even take on a human in this form, much less a monster or a demon. He dreams of what life would be like outside this draconian facility. Probably cold and dark, but at least there would be freedom. Freedom is all anyone yearned for when in a society like the one he lives in now. Unaware of when the Examiner had entered the room, Lucian snaps back to reality, just in time to see her storming towards him. Whoops, he had zoned out again. 

"Lucian! Wake up! Yer making yerself look like a fool in fronta' all yer mentees!" She shouts in a thick Irish accent. 

"Ah," Lucian replied without a second thought. 

"Ah? Jus' ah? What typa' person do ya think ya are ya lil' punk? What ya got to say for yerself?!" Lucian is quite sick of the Examiner's attitude towards everyone. 

"Well damn ma'am, your English becomes quite lacking when you're mad. What seems to be the issue?" The unexpected come back makes the Examiner's cheeks turn beet red. The younger trainees behind her begin to snicker, immediately ushering in a chorus of people uttering "Shh," between attempts not to laugh. The Examiners face scrunches up in a snarl. 

"You lil-'' Lucian really likes putting on a show, so he keeps up the act, knowing full well he'll be reprimanded later. 

"Now now you hag," Oh god I'm really gonna get talked to now, "You know not swear in front of the kiddies. Maybe my exception is curse word detection! Or maybe it's just my superior intellect..." The examiner's eyes immediately flash, and in one fluid motion she pulls a pen from her pocket, turns it into a nasty looking sword, and slashes through Lucian's arms, but they remain attached to his body. He immediately loses feeling in them, and then realizing he has no time to dodge, he is forced to accept his fate. 

"You're lucky my exception leaves me unable to kill, or you'd be a dead man, Lucian." Her English has finally returned to normal. 

"Dang ma'am, that's the fastest I've seen you move in a long time!" Lucian pours in all the sticky sweet enthusiasm he could. "I'm serious, it's like watching a dinosaur come back from extinction!" He knows what will follow, so when her leg arches towards him, he manages to lurch back and avoid her kick. As his numb hands fly back and flop to his sides, her eyes return to normal. Bowing, Lucian turns to leave the room, and the trainees clap in approval. What a bang up place we live in, thought Lucian as he was escorted back to the main office, both to receive his punishment, and probably also to fix his arms, so that way he could at least defend himself in the future.