Lessons Learned

*WOOSH*

TITAN was sent flying into the wall, leaving a massive crater as he smashed into it. As he dug himself out from the rubble, he was perplexed. How had this happened? All he saw was the kid smile, and in the next second, he was eating wall.

*ROAR* The Titan's fury erupted, a thunderous bellow that shook the arena. He would not let such a kid grow stronger. He had to crush this threat here and now. His pride was wounded; a new enhancer had left a mark on him! Titan, one of the top 10,000, sent flying by some unseasoned kid. He would not stand for such an outrage.

Too bad I can't see his battle techniques, Gin thought to himself. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to draw them out of him in battle. He began to levitate the scattered rocks around him, suspending them in the air for a moment before launching them at furious speeds towards the Titan.

Titan quickly raised a shield of earth in front of him, forming a thick, circular barrier. The rocks pelted the shield with relentless force, each impact reverberating like a sledgehammer. It felt like a high-speed car crash, a barrage of highway traffic slamming into him. In retaliation, Titan summoned earth spikes and hurled them at Gin with a roar of fury.

Allen raised his arm, his hand opening up. The incoming spikes disintegrated mid-air, turned to dust by his immense power. Titan's eyes widened in shock, beginning to wonder what his brother had gotten him into. Desperation fueled his next move; he spread his arms wide and then clapped them together. The earth beneath Gin folded in half, the ground snapping shut where Gin had stood moments before. The crowd fell silent.

The scouts in the stands thought this was the end—a new talent snuffed out prematurely. Some exhaled in disappointment, thinking what a waste. But why hadn't the match been called? It was clear who the victor was, or so they thought.

Lightning descended upon Titan, a blinding bolt that struck with incredible force, smashing him into the ground. Gin stood triumphantly atop him, grinding Titan's head into the dirt with his foot. "Hello there," Gin said with a confident smile. He then unleashed a telekinetic burst, a few hundred pounds of force directed at Titan's head, knocking him out cold.

The crowd erupted into a frenzy, cheering for the newfound champion. Although fame was nice, at that moment, only one thing was on Gin's mind: the credits he was about to receive.

Being a riser made him an attractive prospect to all the scouts in the stands. Risers were indeed very rare. Though the scouts had yet to figure out that Gin was also a dominator. This was because Gin had not used any dominator type techniques, which involved mainly the body. Techniques were usually set into two categories, one being the mind and another being the body. Most body transformation techniques, like transforming into an animal or manipulating the earth around your body were examples of being a dominator type. Though some techniques did not fall into any of the two categories and sometimes could fall into both. Techniques were very strange, powerful and mysterious causing the envy of many enhancers.

The man who had started the match floated down from his platform and declared Gin the winner. He quickly left the arena because he did not like the attention. Attention only meant more problems And he needed to focus right now on getting himself into the Academy.

"Hey, that was a nice match!" Gin turned over to see Xi blushing with her with her hands together at her waist. She was wearing a purple dress with black high knee socks as well as a red bow in her hair.

"Oh thanks" he responded, unsure of what to say. Gin did not have much experience talking with women and was focused on the future, he could not afford a distraction right now. "I have to hurry and train now, it was nice seeing you again though" He quickly left before Xi could say another word.

Gin had used his lightning translation technique and appeared a few miles away in an alley way that we could see from where he stood. Battle arena was conveniently placed on a hill and this meant a quick entrance and exit for Gin.

Xi pouted to herself but turned to one of her servants and ordered him to find Gin. "We need to hire him for my upcoming search in the forest. I need to find the crystal butterfly."

It provided one with the ability to turn ones skin into an almost invincible diamond hardness. It was also loved for its beautiful appearance. Women wanted this most of all but It was just too expensive and extremely hard to find.

Only 1 woman in the entire city had such a technique. They only knew about it because of her, but her identity was a mystery. She posted anonymously and sold the information to the highest bidder.

The Jade family of course. Xi was enamored the moment she saw the technique.

----

At the border wall a youth approached wearing a dark cloak, gave his id and began flying at the wall after entering, then teleported away crazy fast.

"WOAH" the guards gasped, exhaling moments later, wishing they had those techniques. Gin was going to train.

---

A few weeks later, Gin sat around a campfire in the wilderness over a hundred miles from the wall.

A mysterious old man had come by in a life or death fight between Gin and a monster. Crushing the monster with just a look. The old man didn't use telekinesis either. His techniques were mysterious and he offered to train Gin, saying he saw much potential.

He told him that he didn't need to answer yet but could give his answer back at the city; To find the Tavern of dust. A tavern in the backstreets of Astra on the lower end of the suburbs. It was mainly known for hiring enhancers or placing bounties. He gave a special badge to Gin to show the man at the door, also telling Gin he knew his father if he would like to know more about him to find him, but before he could ask, the old man was gone just as quiet and quickly as he came. Gin was watching the entire time! He simply vanished!!

The badge was shaped like a phoenix rising from the ashes, a black coin with specks of white and a golden overlay of the phoenix. He pocketed the coin.

Gin looked up in the air and said in his head "Stats."

[Name: Gin]

[Race: Human]

[Stats:]

[Mind : 7->35]

[Body : 7->35]

[Focus: 10->60]

[Energy: 5350]

[Techniques: Telekinesis Lower Rank B, Lightning Translation Upper Rank C, Absorb Mid Rank D, Sticky Skin Low Rank D, Needle Skin Mid Rank F]

[Battle Rating: Lower High Class Warrior]

Gin planned to sell Sticky Skin and Needle Skin, One could not choose the techniques they got, but they could sell them to the others for more credits. Absorb allowed him to take the energy from other Beasts while fighting but its rate was extremely low, especially at rank D. He could only absorb 5 energy a minute. It was not very good initially but using his reward from the Titan fight, he was able to 5 times its intensity. So now it was 25 energy a minute.

Sticky skin, well… allowed one to climb better. Not much to say about it. Needle Skin allowed you to shoot rapid needles out of all parts of one's body at the expense of energy. Not a bad skill but Gin felt it did not fit him and he would rather have more credits.

This may not sound very good, but the amount of strength and power one acquire between ranks was worlds apart. In the future this would turn into a very reliable technique and tactic.

Gin began to head back to the city to meet his potential master and to learn more about his father, why had he abandoned Gin, and what about his mother? He was dying to know these answers since he was a little boy.

Back at the city…