New Skills and Abilities

It was their final year in middle school. Soon, the group of kids (except Catherina) would be moving on to high school. Samuel, Catherina, Sylvester, Sylvia and Delgato have lived perfectly 'normal' lives as regular middle schoolers while also being fully engaged in the freaky training sessions forced upon them by their trainer, Silendiana and occasionally, Dr. Michelson.

Even though they were still middle schoolers, they could now be considered as genuine forces of nature. Even Delgato, as the only regular human in their midst was relatively just as dangerous. With Dr. Michelson as his direct tutor, his level of intelligence had skyrocketed, being almost on par with his 'not so human' friends. Samuel, on the other hand, had unlocked a pyrokinetic ability. He had the ability to manipulate any flame in his immediate environment.

With this ability, Samuel could take control over any flame in his line of sight whether dragon flame or regular flame, as well as to decide whether to burn his target or not to burn it due to another skill he had, named thermal fluctuation. This skill granted him the ability to determine the temperature of his crimson flames, even granting them a cold temperature; so cold it burns. He was also able to apply this skill to his newly acquired cryokinetic ability; though, it was not as profound as his pyrokinetic ability.

Catherina had a similar growth in her skills. She also acquired the pyrokinetic ability that manifested itself by turning any flame she tried to manipulate blue. She also had the thermal fluctuation skill helping her determine the temperature of her blue flames. This ability worked better with her hydrokinetic ability. She could adjust the temperatures of any water body in her control around her immediate vicinity. She could create hot springs if she so wished; and she did.

Her hydrokinetic ability had also strengthened by a lot. She could very well cause a tidal wave the size of a three story building if she so wished it.

Sylvester and Sylvia had grown more powerful in their own right. They had developed their physical strength to better complement their lightning speed. They had unlocked different variations of their battle forms that influenced a specific aspect of their bodies. Their first form was their regular battle form which balanced all their physical abilities. Their second form had a slim streamlined design. This design served to boost their speed beyond the upper limits of their capabilities. They could very well surpass the speed of light with this form if they went all out.

Their third form looks similar to the first form but it has lightning clawed-gauntlets on their hands and lightning boots on their feet. This design served to boost their attack power beyond the upper limits of their strength. They could hit with greater strength than before. Strength almost on par with that of a dragon. Their final form had a bulky design that boosted their defensive capability beyond the upper limits of their capabilities, the only downside being that it sacrifices their lightning speed.

Finally, as the only regular human in their midst, Delgato didn't get any abilities that were as a result of his race. Notwithstanding, training under Dr. Michelson and Silendiana was not a waste. His strength alone, even as a middle schooler, was in the same category as that of fully grown professional fighters. His reflexes alone, though incomparable to that of his non-human friends, was good enough to even dodge point blank bullets. With Dr. Michelson's mentorship, he served as the technological brain of their team during all their training missions. In technical terms, Delgato could be referred to as an evolved human.

One may wonder why a regular human was allowed to join, what was essentially, a group of calamities, in their training, but, unknown to any of the children, Delgato being included in such intensive training was sort of an experiment done by Silendiana and Dr. Michelson. They wanted to know how a human body will evolve after being pushed beyond its limits both physically and mentally. The results of the experiment were highly encouraging.

Going through such intensive training from their two teachers over the years had forced the children to evolve and grow stronger quickly. With the skills they currently possessed, they could very well be unstoppable threats to the world's security if they were to switch to the dark side.

A week to their graduation ceremony, Silendiana dropped an unexpected bombshell upon the Griffin siblings. "Sam and Cathy, after the graduation ceremony, you'll both be heading back to Sienna Metropolis. Your training period with me is finally complete", she declared only to be received by the shocked faces of all the children.

"What's with all your strange looks? Are you not happy to end your training with me?" she asked with a scary grin that sent chills up their spines. Before they could ask anything further, Dr. Michelson quickly stepped in, facing the Griffin siblings. "Your duties lie in Sienna Metropolis, not here. Coming here was for the sole purpose of training you two. Staying away from Sienna Metropolis for too long would create a sense of unfamiliarity in you. Since our knowledge on dragons is restricted, we do not know what sort of effect that would have", he explained. "I guess you are right. I didn't think training would end so soon", Samuel said with a reluctant tone.

"As dragons, there is just so much a non-dragon like Silendiana can teach you. You've learnt as much as you can learn from her. It's now up to you two to further develop your strengths on your own. I hope you both understand", Dr. Michelson added. "We do Doc. It's just that we've been here with everyone all these years. We're really going to miss everyone", Catherina said with her brother sitting beside her, nodding in agreement.

"What are you talking about right now?" Sylvester asked abruptly. "Yeah! Are you forgetting something?" Sylvia also asked. "What do you mean?" Samuel asked with a perplexed look on his face. "Dude our cities are just a few hours' drive apart from each other. Getting here from Sienna Metropolis would be as easy as blinking for both of you. It would probably take just a few minutes for you to fly here", Delgato explained. "We can also get there just as easily", Sylvia added.

"Damn! Both of you are right. I can't believe such a simple thought escaped me. I guess this is the consequence of being too smart that simple things such as this escape me", Samuel declared proudly and they all burst into laughter.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, the only other announcement we have is that, there will be a surprise for you after your middle school graduation ceremony. Catherina, though you are not part of the graduation class, since you'd be leaving, the surprise affects you as well", Silendiana announced to the entire group with her signature bone-chilling grin.

"Uhmm! What do you mean when you say surprise? What kind of surprise is it?" Sylvia sked as she and her friends sweat bullets, having experienced several of her mother's 'surprises' before. They could never trust her words.

Silendiana covered her mouth to hide a giggle and said, "You'll have to wait till the end of the graduation ceremony to find out. For now, do not worry about it. Just return to your duties". She laughed as she walked out of the room, leaving the terrified figures of her charges.

"Oh! I just remembered. Samuel and Catherina, there is another surprise for you", Dr. Michelson informed them. "What is it now", Samuel asked with an incredulous look on her face. "You'll have to wait and see", Dr. Michelson smiled as he followed Silendiana out.