Hello everyone welcome to part two. ok i am going to make a few things clear with out giving up too much of the story. first heath is not the all powerful person some of my readers think he is. yes he might seem that way now but he is facing freshman at the moment there are other powers at work and they will be giving him a run for his money. so stay tuned. i will try to post every other week i have to have a minimum of 5000 words and if i do this correctly with two chapters everytime i post this will get rolling fast. for future reference this will be a harem fantasy though that might end up happening more in the second book.
any question please ask send me a message any ideas or comments keep them coming
now enjoy the story
Knight
+++++++++++++++
Chapter 3
The sun streaming through the windows reminds me it is Monday. I had spent the weekend exploring Omega ring, walking around with Kezaban, and reading the DiCe manuals. Rolling off the bed I move into the bathroom and stop to take a moment to look in the mirror. My 6’4” height 214 weight shows the effort and scars from training my body and skills. The 12 pack pronounced under my bronze skin. My striking golden eyes stand out because of my midnight blue hair. Obsidian black roots the blue slowly starting to show around my shoulders and becoming more apparent at the tips, falling to the middle of my back. Taking a quick shower I rush to get dressed before run out of my apartment.
As I step off the tram, Sigma ring is bustling, more freshman showing up. I walk through the crowds heading towards the cafeteria building. Standing in line in the cafeteria I notice that our choices are cereal, cereal, and oatmeal. The cereal won out. Finding a place to sit I eat my breakfast without rushing. When I am half way through I notice the Gothic Goddess walking in the door with her sorority. I chuckle to myself and watch them get into line. Her smile is genuine as she laughs at some joke one of her friends tells her. I finish and stand walking up to put away my dishes I walk towards her. With her back to me but her friends see me coming. I see one of them nudge her nodding in my direction. She turns to see me a few steps away. I stop next to her and lean in close, using the apple bowl behind her as an excuse, to inhale her scent deeply before growling deeply in her ear. I smile and hold up the apple. Her eyes are blank and her breathing rapid. I start to smell a sweet smell emanating from her. She blinks rapidly and quickly grabs the railing behind her. I grin and continue on my way I stop at the door and turn my head to look over my shoulder at her and nod.
Outside of the cafeteria there are three people sitting on the wall waiting. Their energy comes off of them in waves. It gives me the feeling that they are powerful and are confident in their abilities. Kezaban is sitting to the left. The one on the right is a woman. She stands about 5’6” and 145 pounds with a runner’s body. Her bright pink hair and sapphire blue eyes make her stand out in a crowd. Leading the group was a bear of a man he stood at least 6’0” no more than 280 pounds. His spiky dark brown hair a statement in its own but his light hazel eyes show his true strength. When I catch his eyes he nods to the side and starts to walk down the sidewalk with the other two following him. I start to follow and smile as people move out of our way. Increasing the length of my stride I catch up to the three quickly. Without saying anything they lead me around the outside of the building. We approach a building with a logo on it, A Celtic circle and cross with the words “Neart, Misneach, Eolas”, walking up the man I assume to be Ursor points up to it. “Strength, Courage, Knowledge” He says “Three words you will live by while with the DiCe. You don’t act without knowledge, you act with Courage, and you are to act with the Strength of the school.”
We step into the building, and I see two students standing inside the front door. Both salute the man in the front and then join the rear of this weird procession. We continue through the building until we reach a set of doors. The leader pushes them open and I see close to 125 people sitting around this arena type gymnasium room. The leader steps into the center as the people around me take up seats around the arena.
The Leader looks at me and says “I am the leader of the DiCe, my name is Ursor Gerosp. You have been approved for a position in the DiCe. But we still need to administer your audition. This room is made of the same materials as the dorm rooms, the Arkini Alloy. It is a metal we found in the asteroid belt, it blocks the presence and powers emanations from leaving the room but does not cancel them out like the Abyssal Stone. In here you can release your full power and no one outside this room will know or feel it. The purpose the Discipline Committee is three fold. First is to stop any unauthorized fighting. On Sigma Ring, there is no fighting at all. Any other rings, the only fighting we allow are authorized clan fights and registered duels. The reason for this is so we as the DiCe can keep the area clear of civilians and non-combatants to reduce injuries. If you see a fight in progress, call in to see if it’s approved. If it isn’t, you break up the fight. And bring all parties in for punishment. If the fight is approved, clear the area and observe as a neutral party. As the first member on the scene, you take jurisdiction. That brings us to the second mandate, we are the acting judges and referees. As the first member on the scene, you make sure the fight is fair and you rule on the outcome. If there is an issue that needs resolved, the parties can ask for a DiCe member to sit in judgment for the issue. When there is a registered clan fight there are three DiCe members assigned to judge the fight there will be a certain number of members on the sidelines keeping people safe. Making sure they don’t try to use innocents in the fight. The three judges on registered fights rotate and you will be informed on your Percom when your day to judge is coming up. Now if you come across a fight between clans that is unauthorized you can try to break it up yourself or you can wait for backup. If you wait, clear the area immediately to minimalize civilian casualties. Our final mandate is to enforce the rules and guidelines of the university and to protect those innocent lives on the Xaos Reign Island. Inside this room the restriction on fighting is lifted due to our need to train our members. Now a few rules about being on the DiCe. First the DiCe is a very tight-knit pack. We all fight together. There will be no infighting. If you have a problem that you can’t handle, you will be brought in here and made to fight it out until either one can’t stand. Two if you are called, you will respond as soon as possible. Sometimes calls can mean life and death to the agent making the call. The only authority higher than us on this campus is the headmaster and, god forbid we ever get one, an Arbiter. Depending on what happens next will decide your placement among us. Now last thing, no matter what you see or know about another member of the DiCe you are not allowed to divulge that information to anyone. Most of us hide our powers to better keep students off balance. Just like no one will divulge any information about you either. You are now a part of our family and we consider you a younger brother. Now we will test you and this will be one of the most trying tests you will face here at Xaos Reign. Good Luck.”
He jumps out of the way quickly. As he does I start to feel three high speed AE users appear around me. I can feel the air moving with them at an almost supersonic speed. I slow everything down and watch their fists moving slowly toward me. Before the impact I completely mask my powers and presence. Pulling myself into the darkness at my feet, I move to a beam above the arena. Resuming time I see the three slam their fists into each other. Laughing I see them jumping around waving their hands around. An E user appears below me on the floor motioning to everyone showing where I was. The beam is bombarded by fire. I laugh as I remove my overcoat, tossing it towards the door. Looking around I spot Ursor and say. “Only chance, are you sure you want me to take this seriously?”
He looks up at me and nods. “You better. They are now going to give you everything they have.”
I shrug “better have some good shields then.” I respond.
I turn back to the people below me and nod. The E user gestures again, fire flowing from his fingertips. Suddenly he is joined by 10 other fire element AE and E users. The fire is intensified immensely as it hurtles my way. When it reaches a five foot radius around me, I start to exhale all the air in my lungs. Reaching a foot from me I start to inhale. Closing my eyes, I feel the flames around me rushing down my throat before hitting my stomach. The heat of the fire ignites my inner furnace. As the fire around me extinguishes, I open my eyes and see the people below me looking confused. As I exhale, the breath comes out shaped as a little tongue of fire. “Remember I offered” I say. Inhaling a deep breath, I look at them and purse my lips. Pulling on the fire inside me, I push the flames into the air in my lungs. Curving my tongue I push the extremely heated air through the tunnel of my tongue then through my tightly pursed lips. The fire that rushes from my lips is an abyssal black flame surrounded by a deep angry red. It consumes the air as it races towards the floor. I notice that everyone is rushing away from the center of the room as the temperature rockets making the entire room a furnace in a matter of seconds. Looking down I see if everyone made it out of the way safely, either by their own power or someone rescuing them. The sight before me makes me chuckle, luckily everyone is out of the way making a ring huddled close to the wall. I see earth and water users calling on their elements to try and put out the flames. I drop down into the center of the fire, I feel the fire sprinkler system kick on as the room is suddenly drenched in water. The temperature of the room stays the same, as my fire continues to burn. I stand there watching the fire eat the floor around me. Looking around at everyone, I see them staring in surprise at the black flames burning despite the water. I release my presence and power letting it return to my lower level of normal. I shake my shoulders letting my abyssal black scaled armored wings make their appearance as they seem to emerge from the darkness around me. I wrap them around me and in an instance I straighten them fully out behind me. The wind blast from my wings blows the fire out and knocks a few people off their feet. I draw my wings back in and let them fade as I lower my power and presence till it is where I had it before.
I turn to look around the room, stopping at Ursor. “I was tested when I was 5; at that time I was placed as an MAE user. When they had to rank my abilities, I broke the machine. Three people died just from the initial release of my abilities. At the time I didn’t know how to control them. There are three ranks above S+ that most people don’t know about. They are SS, SS+, and X. I am one of twenty-one people currently alive who are ranked X. There are less than 200 people alive today that are ranked above S+. Their ranking is usually hidden. They would be fought over or worse tracked down and destroyed. The monks at the monastery I lived at spent most of my life so far teaching me control, and how to hide my powers. They made sure that my ranking wasn’t found out. They recorded it as a low lever S MAE user. You told me you are my new family so I am trusting this to you. No one outside the DiCe can know of me at least not yet. There is a data net to hide my info if I am ever found out but it would change a lot of things in my life. Outside this room no one can know about me. I will kill anyone that threatens my life. There are a grand total of 2 people that know my skills. Other than you and my family back at the monastery.”
I finish and look Ursor over. He takes a knee looking around I see everyone following his lead. “Stand Up!” I say. “I didn’t nor do I want, any form of leadership. Not yet at least, I want people to follow me because they want to not because they kneeling before power. I want a normal school experience. I will follow your lead until such time as you give me reason not to.” I turn and find my jacket before walking over to right side of the room. Taking a seat I put my feet up on the seat in front of me.
Ursor moves back to the center of the room looking it over. “You haven’t told us your animal spirit. But I don’t know if we should ask. Knowing this school you will reveal it in due time. So that being said welcome to the DiCe.” He pulls up his Percom and taps a few buttons. Everyone that is in the room checks their Percom as they go off at the same time. “I put it before the DiCe for a vote on Heath’s position in the DiCe. Please vote now.” He looks down at his Percom and presses a button. I see the holographic screens blink up with people voting. After the last one turns off Ursor taps a button and a circular holographic display lowers from the ceiling. Displaying the results of the vote. Ursor turns to face me and says. “You have been assigned the Freshman Class Commander.” He taps a few commands into his Percom and moves over to me holding out his wrist to mine. I tap my Percom to his and feel it vibrate. “You will be in charge of the freshman class, both their auditions and their tests. You will assign them to their squads, you will be given times and places where your squads will patrol. It is your job to assign your squads to those times and make sure they are ok and are doing their jobs. I do random checks throughout the week. You are allowed to select 1 person to be your PA or personal assistant but it will be out of your 20 members. You will choose another and that person will be your Vice Commander. You have full discretion when picking your members or if you need to “release” your members. You will need to offer me a reason as to why they are not DiCe material if you are going to release them. If you don’t have any questions this meeting is adjourned. Read over the information I sent you Friday and install the new programs to your Percom as they are the DiCe authorization and authority modules that will give you access to the entire island. I will stop by your apartment next Monday morning and we can talk before classes start. Remember if you get a call you are to respond that means this week too.” He turns and walks off as I see the arena emptying.
Chapter 4
Kezaban walks up to me, shaking his head looking around the Arena. “Come on I will show you to the commander’s office. All the class commanders share one office. The same is true with the vice captains.” We start walking, Kezaban leads me up to the fourth floor. “While you are a commander, you are required to check in at the office once a day except for the weekends. All the schedules are posted in the commander’s office. You schedule your squads and post their schedules in the vice commander’s office. It is your vice commander’s job to make sure that your squads know their schedules.” The lift lets us off into the office. I see a holographic surface table surrounded by four chairs with a holographic surface desk. The entire room is surrounded by windows with a wraparound balcony. Kezaban smiles at me and points to a seat. “Each of us has a chair assigned to us. The desk belongs to Raish Maliut. He is our contact to and from the Headmaster. He does not interfere in our business but does offer advice on judging and referee rules. I will help you go over the first few applications so you know what to look for. Since you are the only member of the freshman DiCe you can save however many you want to put through your testing. Just keep in mind you can only have twenty for your crew; we will make exceptions if you can find outstanding specimens but only an extra five.” He sits in his chair and places his hand on the table “Kezaban DeNide, Sophomore Class Commander, Authorization 31DR247.” His hand is scanned and the holographic display springs to life. He looks at me and motions to me “Place your hand on the table state your name your title and a security code you make up but keep in mind it will be your security code from here on out you will use it a lot.”
I place my hand on the table and say “Heath Dinester, Freshman Class Commander, and Authorization 42DDD13.” I see the table start scanning my hand. I notice that a hand print appears at every chair around the table.
Kezaban smile and comments “The table will scan you for 30 seconds before it will accept the scan. One of the ranking commanders has to witness this.” He places his hand on the hand print and restates his name and authorization. The table finishes and flashes the message Welcome Commander Dinester. I sit down and look over the interface. Kezaban looks at me says “see the electronic files in the middle of the table? They are applications. The center means that they can be looked over by anyone who has time. Schedules will appear on the left side of your interface. You can sync your calendar to your Percom. Any important information or anything that needs urgent attention will flash in bold. You don’t have to worry about any of it right now technically we wouldn’t have a freshman commander until next Monday. So grab a file and go through the applications. You can flick them left right and up to send them to the appropriate commander, if it is yours swipe down. Juniors go to your right and seniors across from you.”
There is a chirp from the table. “Oh and you should probably say hello to our AI her name is Daio, it stands for Discipline Administration Information Operator. She usually handles everything from reports of fights to Tracking DiCe members. Things like the Applications are handled by us because the headmaster believes that we need work.” He grabs one of the holographic folders and starts going through them.
I smile and say “Hello Daio how are you doing today?” a female voice responds with “Hello Heath, I am doing well today. Congratulations on your early acceptance and promotion. If you need anything feel free to ask me. You can tap your Percom to any port and say my name and I will respond.” I nod “Thank you Daio I will keep that in mind.”
Opening the folder I quickly sort it. By the time that I am done all the commanders are sitting at the table going through their own folders. I look at Kezaban and notice that he is looking through the sophomore folder. “Why are there applications from the upper-class students?” I ask
The commanders look up at me and the Junior Commander says “As freshman you start off with 20 every year after that you will add 20. You will have a core group of as you move through the years you and they will become veterans. You will know by then who is good at what and can better assign the squads and have the newbies trained properly. By the way I am Melit Flesot, sorry I missed your audition this morning I had a more pressing meeting.”
I nod to him and pick up my folder and start looking through them. Kezaban look over at me and says. “You will have 3 different applications the first are the ones for the squads which will be part of your 20. The next are your applications for clerical positions. And the last are for guard positions. If you think the clerical or guard positions look good place them on your right. Any that don’t fit the profile file on your left and Daio will send out messages to them letting them know they aren’t being considered. For your squad positions you want to look over everything and take it all in their power rating their spirit and such keep in mind how they might work in a squad so on so forth. You can always keep applications if someone doesn’t work and you need to replace them. You can keep as many people as you want to audition I would recommend 60 that way you can have them do auditions tournament style I would also let your class rep know when you plan on stopping auditions. We only have the two weeks left of orientation then classes start and you will want to have the squads put together by the start of classes. If you have any questions just let me know.” I start reading over some applications while Kezaban returns to his.
A couple hours later we are laughing and joking about some the situation we had been in. I feel a vibration from my Percom. Pushing a button I see I have a message marked for private. I say “well guys, I think it is time for a lunch break before we finish up.” Standing up I grab my jacket. And start to make my way to the lift.
Ursor stand and stretches heading over to me. “Take it easy. You don’t rush these kinds of decisions. You have a couple days before you need to send out the invites for your first auditions. Come on lunch is on me. I have been meaning to sit down with you.” We step into the lift and head down. He leads me across campus to a restaurant. Stepping inside I see quite a few students sitting around with a few of their parents laughing and talking. He gets a booth in the back for us. We order a small lunch that could feed a midget army. Ursor looks at me and says “You need to be careful around the Junior Commander and Vice-Commander there is something wrong with them. Sometime last year they started acting differently it made me start to keep an eye on them. There have been times that they disappear off the grid with their more ‘Important meetings.’ He stops to gauge my reaction.
I stop him as the waitress delivers our food and drinks. “What do you mean they drop off the grid? Do they just not answer their Percom?” I ask
Ursor smiles then taps his Percom to the pad on the table. “Daio.”
Daio responds quickly “Yes Commander Gerosp?”
Ursor nods and asks “current whereabouts of Commander DeNide?”
Daio responds “He is currently engaged in some extracurricular activities with Annalise Beratett at the DiCe Headquarters, Sigma Ring, 3rd floor, Vice-commander Female Locker Room. Would you like me to contact him for you?” Ursor chuckles and smacks himself in the forehead “Of course he is. No Daio I was just demonstrating to Heath our GPS system.”
Daio says “Ahh I see, is there anything else I can help demonstrate? Perhaps the emergency contact and response system, or the Over-Watch System?”
Ursor shakes his head “No Daio, but can you tell me where commander and vice-commander Flesot this morning, during the time that we were administering Heaths audition?”
Daio comes across as a little mad as she says “You know I have no idea. There is nowhere on this island that I cannot see or access and yet they have found a way to block me. But I will find them. I have them one minute and then they are gone. Every time it happens it is a different place never the same place twice. What are we going to do about this?”
Ursor nods solemnly “I know Daio, we are trying to figure it out. I am hoping Heath here will help us out.” He says looking at me. “Heath the DiCe are supposed to maintain order and protect the innocents. But there have been a few incidents where people claim something happened and there is no video record or record of calls. The DiCe members in the area are also deaf and dumb on the matter. We don’t know what to do about it someone has to be manipulating the system. Doing it in such a way that Daio has no way of tracking it or controlling it. Which is bad because Daio is here for a reason and no one is allowed to tamper with an AI and that is why they are heavily guarded and monitored. Daio hasn’t been tampered with. It was one of her first concerns.”
I finish my lunch and take a sip of water before saying. “Why me? I mean …” my wrist vibrates interrupting me I look down bringing up the display.
The first message I have finally found you. -P-.
The second message makes me snicker. Help them. -P-.
Looking up at Ursor I nod and say “I will help any way I can. But how many DiCe members are we talking about here? This can’t be a small group.”
Daio pipes up at this point and tells us. “This morning there were 42 members missing from the Audition and I am also tracking an additional 6 that disappear on a regular basis.” I whistle softly at this revelation.
“Ursor that is almost a fourth of the DiCe how did this happen? I mean I can only assume that someone or a group arrived as a freshman last year and started this but what is the goal? What has happened during these “blackout” Periods?” I ask while casually glancing around.
Ursor looks around fuming. “There have been robberies, murder, gang rapes of both AE users and of humans, killing of humans. Some of them are just too violent and it isn’t just against humans or AE users. Anyone can be targeted it is maddening.”
I nod “It sounds like it. Daio do you realize when something is up? Do you have an awareness of an area you can’t access during these times?”
Daio responds with “No at the times when it is happening I do not receive any calls and have no awareness that people are missing.”
“Ok well let us see what happens. Maybe I can be of some help. We can figure this out.” I reply. Ursor nods. I think for a moment then comment “We should head back before someone wonders where we are and what we are up to.”
We stand and walk to the front counter and pay for our meal before leaving. We walk back across the campus and back to the office. Entering the office I see a smiling Kezaban and smile before asking “How is Annaliese?”
He blushes for a second then stop and thinks about it “How …” then he realizes “She is great though I think she won’t be walking anytime soon”
I laugh and say “Oh I get it she is running for the hills. Looking for a real man?” Ursor starts laughing and almost falls out of his chair. Melit sprays his drink on the table and starts coughing. Kezaban chuckles and nods to me. The lifts opens and the woman, that was standing behind Ursor this morning, walks in.
Ursor says “Hello Annaliese, how is your day going? Thought you would be half way to the hills by now…” He starts to laugh, Melit and I join him. She looks at Kezaban and he shakes his head. Ursor calms down and apologizes. “Sorry Annaliese, I took Heath too lunch and was showing him Daio’s GPS function. I asked where Kezaban was and we were informed you two were doing some extracurricular activities. So when we got back Heath made a few jokes at Kezaban. Some alluding to you running to the hills after Kezaban got through with you.” I raise my hands “Sorry Annaliese it was too good to pass up.” She smiles at me and nods.
“I got halfway there when I remembered I forgot my purse.” Everyone busts out laughing. “Maybe I will give him another chance.”
Ursor cracks up and says “Isn’t a hundred and two chances enough?” We spend the afternoon joking around and getting very little work done. Looking at the clock I see that it is getting late so I close the folders and tap a pile of applications saying. “Daio these applications are declined please send the necessary messages to their owners.” I tap as few other commands saving everything. Placing my hand on the table logging out. Turning to the others I say “I am off for the night I will see you gentlemen and lady later.” They wave and I walk to the lift, taking it down. My wrist vibrates, I quickly look around to make sure no one is around. Looking at the message I see.
I am looking around now. Be Careful. I can tell you now there are two ladies looking for more information on you. -P-
I smile and type back.
Leave the ladies to me. But keep an eye on them for me. Thanks
Grinning I start walking across campus to the tram station and headed back to Omega ring thinking things over. I realize that this year is going to be interesting.