First Ability

When he entered he saw Wintry was waiting on his bed and he frowned. "I suppose this means we have to talk?"

Without moving her lips she responded. [Sort of.]

He moved to the bathroom and started cleaning off his gloves. "Telepathy? Can you hear my thoughts?" He asked.

[Yes to both.]

In that case just read my thoughts. Why didn't you report me the second I started to plan to mangle our commanding officer?

[Because he is a corrupt piece of shit. For the record I should have warned you he had his eyes on you since day one. But I thought the Inquisitor investigation would keep him in line. But apparently they decided to give him enough rope to hang himself by raping one of his students. When they realized it was you they didn't care since it was just a lowly orphan.]

Ha. No surprise there. Honestly it was one of the better attributes of being an orphan, I was constantly underestimated. But I was surprised the higher ranking officers okayed an operation like that, there are several children of influential people in this school.

[Apparently Coble's father was being squirelly with his embezzlement scheme so they were looking for any way to get a foothold in the door.] Wintry explained.

Steel finished cleaning the gloves and brought them over to the study table that was in the room. He then completely dismantled both the gloves and the injector he used on Coble. More than likely he would be questioned off handly. But since he hacked a dozen or so systems and the inquisitors' listening devices they would strengthen security and more than likely become aware of his hacking talents.

[We will see. Do you have nothing else to say about my ability? It was a pretty big thing for me to reveal this y'know.]

Should I? Steel started imagining Wintry naked and in sexual positions. Using his horny teenage mind to the best of his abilities.

[STOP! Please stop. Oh My Lords.]

I assume that is the reason you have been leading our squad so efficiently? You have been reading where we would best fit in and work best in the squad?

[Yes it is, can you not do that again?]

Certainly, but I suppose that means you can't dig too deep into my mind if I am putting some more heavily invested thoughts front and center?

[You are correct, I cannot go digging through your memories if you are entirely focused on something. By the way, they are dragging Coble off. Apparently they decided it was too much trouble so they are just going to just ship him off to a prison planet and have his father framed for a crime.] Wintry responded as she seemed to still be sitting on his bed with a glossed over look.

It must take a lot of focus to dive around into minds the farther away they are. To be fair his ability was similar in that sense. The further away something was that he was focusing on the less he was aware of his own surroundings. Which gave him an idea.

He moved over to Wintry and leaned close so their faces were close. He stayed like that for a few minutes until the glossiness in her eyes disappeared and she flinched as she read his mind.

I am tired and slightly annoyed after dealing with that shit head. So unless you are volunteering to be my cuddle buddy tonight I would appreciate having my bed back.

She blushed then scurried off of his bed and walked over to hers. He chuckled and climbed into his bed. Thinking about possible armor alterations he could make to a custom infantry armor.

The next day he was up as usual. The squad was going about their morning routine without their Warrant Officer when halfway through the Colonel showed up.

"Coble Squad! Form up on me!" Colonel Dakota called out as he entered the room.

The squad quickly formed into a line in front of him. "All of the Coble Squad is here and accounted for sir!" Wintry called out when they were all standing at attention in line.

"Good Trainee Wintry. Listen up. Your superior officer, Warrant Officer Coble, has deserted. If you have contact with him you are to inform myself or Chief Officer Jones. In addition, until you move on to the next year you will be under my supervision. Understood?" Colonel Dakota declared.

""Yes Sir!"" The squad responded in unison.

"Now then, I noticed that Coble was very loose on his exercise regime. So let's change this up a notch." The Colonel declared before he started them on a new regime which had most of the squad exhausted.

The only reason Steel wasn't was because he had been constantly pushing himself during his exercises. Now as he was looking at a notification from his system he smiled.

There are parts of the Nano System that are argued over and discussed in detail. One of which is how talents are delegated, the other is how abilities are chosen for a person. While Steel lived in the slums he came to learn that one of the gangs learned how it works and was using it to their advantage. So for the past year he has focused on one thing he wanted to work on, designing and reverse engineering equipment. The result of his efforts showed itself as he grinned like a madman.

[ALERT! BROKEN THROUGH 100 POINT MARK!]

[NEW ABILITY CREATED TO ASSIST NANO USER!]

[Ability: Blueprint

Option 1: By touching an item a blueprint of the item will be created as to the user's full understanding of how the item operates.

Option 2: User can alter and design blueprint's to his liking using a local data storage unit to save it.]

He was hoping for a utility based ability, but this definitely went above and beyond what he wanted. He should start thinking about what he wants next but for now he should focus on the present. Especially since the final exam for first years was starting this week.

[So that is how abilities are chosen?] He heard the familiar voice of Wintry in his head again. Flinching for a moment and then shaking his head.

He was going to have to get used to that soon. But yes, abilities are chosen to make life easier for a person. I am actually curious to see what ability you will get. But there is not much I can say about it. After all it is only a theory until it is proven several times over.

"Okay listen up, there are no other classes for the day. Instead you are to study and train for the start of exams which start the day after tomorrow. Don't dally when you could be training and reaching the 50 point mark." The Colonel's declaration caused an immediate dispersion of the squad.

Steel thought for a moment before he stepped forward still at attention, "Colonel Dakota Sir! What if some of us continue to train with you?"

Several of the students looked at him in shock while two of his squadmates stepped in line with him as well. Ulin and Wintry were the first to join him. But it was immediately followed by Tako and Hermes. Then the rest of the squad walked into line as well.

"Hahahaha! Then I suppose I will have to train you until you have to be carried back to your room. You don't mind if it is not just your squad do you? This question of yours has got me feeling like it would be fun to run the entire first year through the ringer." He immediately set them on to a much harder regime than before.

As Steel was running he noticed that the Colonel had also sent out an alert not just to the first years but to the entire school. Informing them that for the rest of the day and tomorrow he would be running the first year Coble Squad into the ground with training and asking if they wanted to watch or join.

It wasn't long before the rest of the squads were either watching or joining in. The only squad that completely joined in was the Trevor Squad, apparently their repeated defeats at the hands of Coble Squad stoked their competitive spirit.

By the time night came around and the Colonel ended the training for the day, a large chunk of people had already been carried off to their room. Steel was covered in sweat again but this time he wasn't the only one as he entered the cafeteria with the best menu looking for tasty food.

Which today's menu happened to be a good one as he retrieved his creamy pasta with a side of garlic toast, cooked bits of bacon, and a piece of double chocolate cake for dessert. He greedily ate but savored the meal as several other members of the first year sat around him, there were only sixteen that made it through the day. Five of them were from his squad, the other eleven were from the other squads.

"No wonder your squad members are so strong. So many of you push yourself to that extreme?" The infamous Ice Queen asked.

"Ha… actually yes but it is mostly because of Steel and Wintry." Ulin explained as she and the others glanced over at their commander and second-in-command for Coble Squad.

"Steel and I push ourselves to the extreme and the others follow suit because they believed it was normal. But if they checked their records I am sure most of them already passed the point count needed to graduate the second year as well." Wintry explained between bites of swallowing pasta.

"Is that true Steel?" One of the other more energetic students looked to Steel to see him looking down at his empty tray.

He looked around for a moment before he stood up and walked over to the line again, "still hungry." Was all the answer he gave which received a chorus of laughter.

The next day started off with those sixteen starting to train and several older students joining in and some of them realizing that some of these students had already surpassed them. It wasn't until halfway through the day the rest of the first years raced down into the training area, some still throwing on their training gear. It appears they had just woken up.

By the time the end of the day came, Steel was feeling better than he did yesterday. It was probably by the Colonel's design so they would be ready for the exam's that started tomorrow.