Chapter 35 - Unit Assignment (4)

We spent the next hour or so discussing the upcoming unit test. Yes turns out we have a Unit test which will make up for another ten percent of our grade.

Throughout this one hour, we did discuss how to effectively work together as a team.

It was... awkward, to say the least. Lucas barely said a word, Marcus kept making snide comments under his breath, and Maria was way too enthusiastic about everything.

River, to her credit, was doing her best to keep the conversation on track, but even she seemed a little overwhelmed by the dynamic.

Eventually, the topic shifted to our abilities. We needed to know what each of us could do if we were going to fight effectively as a unit.

River suggested we share our powers and figure out roles based on that.

I wasn't thrilled about the idea—I didn't exactly like showing and telling people about my powers—but sadly it couldn't be helped.

And so reluctantly, I went first.

I stood up and unfurled my wings, the feathers stretching out behind me. The room went quiet for a moment as everyone stared.

"My ability is called Angel's Wings," I said, keeping my tone neutral. "It let's me fly, enhances my movement speed, grants me an edge in close combat. And I can probably use it defensively if needed."

Maria's eyes lit up. "That's so cool!" She exclaimed, leaning forward.

"Okay, now it's my turn!" She held out her hand and a small plant sprouted from her fingertip, growing rapidly until it formed a tiny flower.

"My ability is called Mother Nature. I can create plants and control existing ones. It also allows me to heal minor injuries, so I can support the team if anyone gets hurt."

Yikes. There it is. Mother Nature. Although how Maria describes it makes it sound like just a support type ability, it's not.

Far from it. If used correctly, you could wreak havoc on the battlefield. Just imagine giant plant vines with the dexterity to survive even a nuclear warhead just spamming all over the battlefield.

It would be complete chaos right. That's exactly what makes her and her father so frightening. Yes she inherited this power from her father.

It's this same power her father used to rise up the military ranks to become a Brigade commander.

So yeah it's much more frightening than this girl is letting on.

Snapping out of my daze, I saw it was Marcus's turn.

Said Marcus rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. Instead he just snapped his fingers and a small spark of electricity crackled between them.

"Electrokinesis," he said in a flat tone. "I can generate and control electricity."

River smiled and stepped forward. She moved her finger slightly, and the ground beneath us jutted up a little, forming a small bump.

"My ability is Geokinesis." She explained. "I can manipulate the earth. It's useful for both offensive and defensive purposes. Also I can create barriers and traps if needed."

Then it was Lucas' turn. He leaned back in his chair, his expression as apathetic as ever. "I don't have a superpower," he said simply.

The other didn't seem to find it odd of course—obviously except me.

And rather than finding it odd, it's more of I know the real reason Lucas didn't have a superpower: he was a fantasian.

The reason the others didn't question it was simple. Even a thousand years after the events of the day the sky fell, when humanity first gained powers, there were still some people who didn't awaken their abilities.

Those individuals weren't required to serve in the Terran military and could live relatively normal lives.

Of course, they were also free to volunteer for the military and take the implant if they wanted to, but it wasn't mandatory.

Which is why Lucas despite not having powers, being in a military academy wasn't that unusual.

Still it was a little ironic. Here we were, a group of superpowered cadets, and one of us was from the very enemy we were at war with.

But I wasn't going to say anything. I mean it's not my place to say anything. It was Lucas'.

Anyway, once everyone had shared their abilities, we then began to assign roles based on our powers.

"Marcus and Nathan can handle offense," she said, "while Maria and I can focus on defense and support. Lucas, since you don't have any powers, you can take on a more tactical role. Sound good?"

Lucas shrugged, clearly indifferent. "Whatever."

Marcus smirked. "Well, as long as I'm the main fighter, I don't give a rat's ass what the rest of you do."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Let's see about that." I said my tone dry. "We should test our abilities to see who's actually the most effective in combat."

River nodded. "Good idea. Let's head to the building's training facility and run some drills. That way we can figure out who does what best."

Yeah that's probably for the best. Because as much as I'd like to just say that the stronger abilities are the ones best for combat.

I also know that a major factor in combat was the user. Even if you had powerful abilities like the power to conjure up plasma, it's pointless if you have no idea how to properly implement it in combat.

And yet you can have an ability as simple as weapon mastery or thread manipulation and you can make them exceedingly dangerous.

So yeah, rather than just assigning roles based on our abilities, it was probably best to figure it out after we test our skills in combat.

And just like that, we were off.