Specialised Training: Dance Fest

***

"Try the moon walk," said a young African American who stared at Paul's feet as he spoke.

He had a smooth and wavy fade, with a square shaped face. He had a beard made into a chin curtain, neatly trimmed to make it look pleasing to the eyes.

Paul was sweating at this point. He had been dancing since for hours with little to show for it.

His instructor who was named Denzel, kept analysing his movements intricately to the point where Paul was frightened to keep going.

Paul breathed deeply and raised his right foot, its tip where his toes were located being the part that touched the ground lightly.

Slowly, he slid his foot on the ground, followed by the left, then right, then left, right, left, right...

Denzel kept staring, looking for what exactly would happen.

Ultimately, nothing happened much to the disappointment of Paul who had started to gain a little faith after the first few times produced some results. Small and insignificant as they were, they were results.

They were in the Support Course Field. This field had many Invigorated testing the effects of their support abilities. There was equipment like treadmills to test out the degree of enhancement that came from the support abilities.

Support abilities were generally abilities which assisted others. They could enhance speed, strength or defence to the assigned targets. However, they were not always limited to this.

While the term support was generally attached to weak and less offensive abilities, it did not do justice to the magnificent things that could be done with support abilities.

This room was specifically meant to see the other effects that could be given by Invigorated with this type of abilities.

Paul, being unsure of what his ability could do, had decided to start with the Support Course Field as he felt that his ability would belong to this category.

The earlier results that had made him feel hopeful were basically tendrils of energy coming from his body when he had danced. Faint and barely anything to cheer about.

This was the second day during training and it was the first time that he had seen anything other than his dancing body.

Paul prided himself on his combat potential. He had taken a liking to combat techniques ever since he had been taught by Josh, even going as far as idolizing him in that department. With good reason.

He was undoubtedly the best in the current group of recruits, which he attributed to the fact that he had a nimble body that was exceptional with most of the moves. Therefore, he didn't have as hard a time with learning the moves as the others.

This was the reason he had been chosen to go to Safe Zone 4 to experience first hand the atmosphere of the massive number of stragglers rushing to attack and the amount of unrest they caused with their change.

Though, it had gone wrong.

"Nothing again," he said as he looked at Denzel.

"No, no. Not nothing," said Denzel as he narrowed his eyes. "Did you feel anything when you were dancing?"

Paul was confused. When it came to dancing he could feel his body perfectly. He enjoyed the art so much that he would always check his physical condition before a performance or a simple practise back in his life.

"No. I didn't. Its the same with the other dances," he said with a crestfallen tone.

"Do it again," said Denzel as he stared at him with serious eyes. "You were a dancer, right? Unlike in our past lives, this time, dancing can actually save people instead of just being an entertaining thing that people watch. If you truly have the passion for it, continue to dance until there's no strength left in your bones."

Paul was caught off guard by such a statement. He smiled sheepishly.

'It's really hard to produce results when you don't know what exactly to expect. At least back then I knew to expect applause and the occasional phone number,' he thought with a mental sigh.

"You won't get a phone number out of me but you can expect my full guidance," said Denzel with a raised brow, his hazel eyes emitting a faint light.

"Hmmmm.... sure... wait...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" exclaimed Paul as he clutched his head while backing away. "You can read minds?!"

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?! You're invading my privacy!" yelled Paul.

Denzel shrugged.

"I'm not. The human mind constantly emits thoughts. Literally emitting thoughts, mind you. I can see them in the form of a fog that rises from your head and spills into the air. The point is, these are usually random, trailing off thoughts. I can read them.

However, your mind has an automatic lock on all important memories and thoughts. I can't access them unless you allow me too. Either through giving your consent or me torturing you until your mental lock is broken. This is the same for all humans. So rest assured," Denzel said.

Paul slowly relaxed but his suspicious gaze was still on Denzel.

"That last part was vaguely threatening," he said.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't do that AT ALL," said Denzel with a smile.

"Anyway, let's do the moonwalk again."

Paul did as he was told. He prepared to do the walk again, though he was so used to the idea of failing that he wasn't expecting much.

"Dance with intent, Paul. You're no longer dancing for a crowd to cheer you on. You're dancing for your life. Let that click in your mind. It's not just about the beauty of the performance, but the soul of it," said Denzel with his stern expression.

To most people this wouldn't have made sense but to Paul it left an impact. He had definitely been trying to do the dance with exquisite moves as he had trained himself. But he forgot that no one was watching. It would only be him and other Invigorated against Stragglers.

And so, he tried again.

His right foot raised.

He swiftly slid it on the floor, followed by the next foot, the right and left. He slid across the flow with fluid sequence, his eyes closed as he tried to decipher the effects of his ability.

'What could it be? I was an aimless person in life. I never really got the chance to choose what I wanted until I stumbled onto it later. I was pathetic. But I slowly turned it around.

Dance was the only thing I had left. My family was barely a family. I was passionless. While I loved dancing, I appreciated it more because it helped me not sleep on an empty stomach. It helped me build self esteem. What is it that I can do with this?' he thought.

Paul had lost esteem for himself after always being at the bottom. At school, at home and at work with his first job as a janitor. At least at his specific work place, he was always seen as the dude whose only good trait was mopping the floors.

That complex was still with him as he was quick to admire those with strong abilities and personalities. An inferiority complex.

"Paul!" he heard Derrick's voice that sounded to be a distance away.

He opened his eyes.

"Please stop dancing," said Denzel who was floating above ..... a gigantic white object.

Paul was confused at first, then as he looked around, he almost dropped to the floor in shock.

His face turned pale.

In the air were stars and on the ground was a large moon!

The stars sparkled with a bright light as they were stationary in the sky. They emitted a myriad of coloured lights; white, purple, green.

The moon was....weird. It was not as it was presented in movies or on pictures of humanity's first journey to the moon.

It seemed more like an artistic sketch that had a cream hue, dark swirls seen as doodles over its surface. The entire room had changes into this beautiful painting like image. It was beautiful.

"Woow!" he said out loud. He was sweating but he was entranced by the picture before him. This was caused by his unnamed innate ability.

As he took a step forward, his body left the ground and floated lightly! It was an amazing feeling that he revelled in.

It was exciting and shocking.

It lasted only for a second, before everything vanished and he dropped to the ground. He landed on his feet and thanked the heavens that he hadn't been floating too far.

Denzel also landed on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief. This was the danger of dealing with unexplored innate abilities.

"It was an illusion, to the best of my knowledge. Though, I can't be sure," said Denzel.

Paul was still in a daze. He looked around to see the other Invigorated going about their business without paying attention to him and Denzel.

"That was... interesting," he said with a wry smile.

"Yeah. It was. Let's do it again," Denzel said with a flash in his eyes.