Chapter 18- Determining levels of Control

Dubs entered the dining hall to see a number of squads eating together. Lilith and George were eating and laughing with a couple other recruits. Two elven males who looked exactly alike- both blonde with long hair and pointed ears, wearing green archer uniforms with bows strapped across their backs- sat on each side of her.

There was also a dwarven female, she was short and unattractive but seemed to be having just as good of a time with her squadmates. She wore smithing rags, and had warts covering her definitively large nose. Her brown hair was braided and ran down a few feet.

Also, a goblin female was a member of the group. She wasn't as you would imagine most goblins to be. Aside from her lightly green tinted skin, she appeared almost human, with only a few differences in appearance. She too wore nothing but rags, similar to Lilith, along with some golden rings on her ears.

It seemed that there were no uniforms and very little clothing available to the resistance. "Perhaps as we gain more members we will have a greater ability to produce for ourselves clothing, weapons, armor, and other resources.", Dubs considered.

He looked over to see his squadmates, eating quietly next to Peter. Not a single one said a word, and as Dubs approached Peter stood up from his seat.

"Alright squad, breakfast is over. We will begin our training now and we won't be eating till dinner, so I hope you've had your fill." Peter remarked.

Turning around he faced Dubs and patted him on the shoulder. "Tough luck Dubs.", Peter sarcastically stated. "Looks like you missed the breakfast window. Lets get to training. If you behave yourself you might be able to eat dinner later."

Dubs remembered back to the experiments. This was nothing compared to the mockery the empires knights had put him through when they tested their magic. Remembering back to this, he forgot all about his anger towards Peter, and cheerily replied.

"Yes, Lieutenant Peter!"

Peter, looking almost dissapointed that Dubs had not retaliated out of anger, continued to advance and lead the group back to the training grounds.

As Dubs walked, his other self began speaking to him. "I could take care of that guy at any point you know. Just say the word.", he tempted.

Dubs smiled and replied in his thoughts. "I know. But did you see the look on his face when I didn't retaliate? That was golden. If all I have to do to piss him off is comply with his orders and refrain from complaining, this will be an easier task than expected."

"Ahaha! As expected of you, Dubs. You truly are always one step ahead of me. I like your thinking. Keep doing what you're doing and we really will go places." The voice exclaimed.

Dubs felt the dark aura within him become stronger, and realized that the merging process was occurring. "It seems that the more we agree on things, the more we merge together. Soon we truly will be one personality.", Dubs thought.

"Exactomundo Dubs! When that happens, we'll be unstoppable! With your wit and my power, we will climb the rankings of this world and nobody will be able to contend with us."

Dubs agreed and continued walking.

"Alright, this is my limit. I'm going to sleep. I'll talk to you again when I've recovered some energy." The voice groggily said.

"Understood." Dubs replied.

Arriving at the training grounds, Peter had the rookies line up so that they could demonstrate their abilities.

"Alright everyone! Line up and I will go down the line one at a time. When I get to you, I would like you to practice your magical control. Simply gather up a sphere of energy into your palms- it doesn't matter what type of energy, whatever you are comfortable with."

The other four quickly formed a line. The slick haired boy was first, followed by Enferia, Tirian, and Drodus. Dubs took a spot behind them all.

Peter walked up to the slick haired boy and addressed him. "Alright Samuel. Show me what you've got."

Samuel faced his hands towards each other and slowly particles began to rise up from below into a spherical shape. The murky particles looked like dirt, and they swirled around in a ball.

Peter rubbed his chin. "Hmm... interesting. Well done! You have a high level of magical control and a good affinity for earth magic. Among the earth magic class there are 3 different classes of spells. Acidic, Terrestrial, and Biological. Terrestrial spells are the ones that require only specialization in earth class, however acidic require one to be adept in both earth and water magic. Biological spells, on the other hand, require speicalization in earth and light magic, with certain exceptions."

Peter continued his lecture. "As soldiers training to be mages, there is one spell that every one of you here must work towards being able to cast. It only requires a basic understanding of the classes of magic that is requires, however it requires one to be able to use earth magic, light magic, and ice magic- a certain subclass of water magic. If you can master this spell, then you will have a great advantage in your long term pursuits as you research and practice to become stronger."

Peter looked around, and began pacing back and forth. "This spell is the cryogenic stasis spell. It allows you to freeze your cells, while maintaining the required functions and nutrients required for them to stay alive, through the combination of light and earth magic. This was the original goal of the research of the surfacers, however it is now commonly used among anyone who becomes adept in magic."

"If you manage to master this spell, your lifespan will become indefinite. So long as you can maintain the spell passively, you will cease to age. This is not an easy task, but once one learns to use the spell without having to concentrate energy towards it, it will be extremely beneficial. Even if you manage to master this spell however, do not allow yourself to become overconfident. In this dangerous world, age is not the only thing that can kill- and the majority of people who master this spell have died due to taking on enemies much stronger than themselves."

Peter finished his lecture and moved on to Enferia. He gave her the go ahead, and she placed her arms together and began concentrating. An elliptical ball of white light began to swirl around in between her hands, slowly becoming more and more spherical.

She was able to make the ball mostly spherical, however the elliptical shape still remained noticeable. Peter stopped her and began to talk. "It seems that you are best affiliated in light magic. You have a good ability to improve from a bad situation, however your control isn't perfect. If you work on that, you should be able to become very strong!"

Enferia nodded and exlclaimed "Yes, Lieutenant!"

Moving onto Tirian, Peter began his examination. Tirian also began to create a sphere of magic- this one was a deep blue, and watery. Waves rippled across the ball as Tirian concentrated on it.

"It looks like we have a very promising bunch here in my squad!" Peter happily pronounced. "Your control is good, and the water element is a necessary component to the cryogenic stasis spell. Once you have practiced enough with this one, you may begin to study the other classes."

Moving on to Drodus, Peter looked at him seriously. "Give it your best shot, boy. Dwarves have never been too adept with magic, but if you practice and work hard, you will surely catch up to the rest."

Drodus began to stare intently at his hands, and for a few moments nothing happened. After a bit, slowly some flickering red particles, along with other clear particles flowed together. They formed a spiky ball, and the length of each spike oscillated between long and short as if there was some sort of magnetic pull switching the direction where they were being attracted to. The ball looked like a marble, clear with streaks of red swirling around throughout it.

Peter began to think. "Hmm... as I expected, your control isn't great, however as a dwarf to be able to resonate with two classes of magic right off the bat is astounding! Unfortunately, the fire and air classes are not needed for the cryogenic stasis spell, however there are plenty of other uses for them. Train hard within the classes you are adept with, and later we can focus on building you up in other classes.

Drodus nodded, with a serious face as if to say "I will work hard to overcome the disparity in skill between me and my squadmates."

Finally, Peter moved on to Dubs. Peter looked at Dubs and he disinterestedly stated "Alright, lets get this over with."

Dubs put his hands together and began to focus on gathering magic.