Chapter 6 - Talent

Professor Glory was preparing for her first day of class as a teacher for the pathfinder students. While she had been a teacher for 4 years before now, she only ever taught the guard and officer students.

She was now here to teach to prospective Pathfinders, those brave enough to leave the walls and hunt the most dangerous beasts in the wild. Instead of the common monsters that could occasionally find themselves inside human walls, or the unique ones that frequently attacked the walls. They hunted the beasts that range up to Behemoths, true monsters. She shook off those thoughts, no time to cover up her nervousness, students would be arriving soon after all.

It was less than five minutes before the first student arrived, the time now nearly three o'clock. The boy was handsome, younger, and with completely white hair and clear skin, wearing a grey sweatshirt and blue shorts that fell just over his knees.

"Good afternoon," the boy said, looking at her.

"Er-, ah- Uhm yes, Good afternoon, your name?" She replied, still not quite ready to represent the Pathfinder students.

"Raiden," he said simply, more students beginning to fill the room behind him.

Raiden was intrigued by the theory class teacher, she hadn't introduced herself, and she had answered him with a stutter. But regardless, she was chosen to teach the Pathfinders, meaning she was competent, competent enough to warrant the position.

Students filled the room, the same twelve who originally found themselves in the practical class just over an hour ago.

Raiden spent most of his break eating and trying to "feel" the matter in his environment. Not able to channel any matter into his hands, nor the two wooden weapons he was permitted to leave with.

The theory professor introduced herself as Emily Glory. Their new and future teacher for the next two years, she started by getting an idea of the classes names and general knowledge, finding most of them to know the basic strengths and weaknesses of each element, their main attributes as well as general knowledge on what superior matter-wielders and elements are.

"Firstly, I'll start by going more in-depth into what dark-matter and your abilities are and where they come from." She started, with no stutter now that she was teaching the whole class.

"About twenty years ago, in the year 2023, scientists made a discovery pertaining to dark matter, a mysterious and unknown form of matter that seemingly passed through the known world, not affecting it whatsoever." She said, before continuing again, "Trying to capture and measure this unknown energy, they ended up causing a world-wide blackout and massive explosion, the explosion alone was enough to wipe out everything living within a kilometer of the epicenter." She finished grimly, but with and informative tone.

"However, that explosion was only the beginning, from that moment on, the entire world began awakening elemental powers, nobody having any idea where they came from with the blackout blocking most forms of communication, many died that month, all across the six main continents, and it was therefore labeled the Collapse." She finished, most students now looking at her with a genuine interest at the in-depth answer to the origins of their abilities.

"For twenty-one years now, children were born, and men and women reborn with an affinity for an element of matter, and some, rarely, are gifted with two." She said, looking at Alex, who she clearly knew had two affinities.

Gesturing for him to come forward, she began, "Alex here, has two affinities and is therefore referred to as a 'Superior'." Professor Glory added, letting him know he could go sit down once again.

"This basically means that his material body is more in tune with the dark matter around us in this world, even more rare are those with an affinity for Dark and Light matter." She continued, "While very rare, some are endowed with a superior element, these elements only appear among superiors and are always the secondary element." Emily finished.

"Now, do any of you know the difference between primary and secondary matter elements?" She asked the class.

A few students raised their hands, Emily choosing Olivia to answer the question, "Among superiors, primary elements are the first to appear and are more powerful than secondary elements." Olivia finished confidently.

"Close, but not quite, while primary elements are the first ones to appear, they are not actually any stronger or weaker than secondary elements." She responded, to Olivia's plight. "It's a common misconception, due to a Superior's use of their primary matter being more frequent, said person's understanding of their secondary element is often inferior, causing them to perceive it as weaker." She added, completing the younger lady's answer.

The class continued with Professor Glory adding various pieces of knowledge and filling in the gaps between what the students did and didn't know.

The last thing that Emily added before the class reached its end involved the two superior elements. She explained that despite the intense offensive ability they possessed as well as the incredible stealth and healing uses that most people knew of, their most useful ability lay in the capability to augment and amplify the underlying primary matter. Permitting it to utilize either the stealth of the Dark element or the mending of the Light element, and finally, to combine it with the overwhelming power of the Superior elements.

On his way to his new home, Raiden followed the longer path laid out between the academy building and the main dorm area he was staying in. Compared to the old and rundown downtown area his apartment complex found itself before, this new, clean and modern area was refreshing.

Arriving at the rightmost building, he swung open the glass door and greeted the secretary. She nodded his way and Raiden make his way towards the elevator.

Swiping his keycard, he entered the main room and made his way towards his living area. Sitting on the couch, he recalled the information he'd learned today. It had been awhile since he could seriously take his mind off of the death of his father and his constant thirst for revenge.

He considered visiting his sister, but decided against it. For right now, Raiden needed to focus on improving himself and becoming more powerful, so that he wouldn't be killed the moment he stepped outside the walls upon graduation.

Power was a matter of perspective, you could chalk it up to technique, skill or talent, or you could look at it as the sheer amount of dark matter one could wield at once. The only way to improve that capacity was to slay other matter wielding beasts or humans.

Raiden thought about it for a while, and then he decided. Once I'm strong enough in technique, skill and talent… He'd decided he would join a rogue monster hunting organization. They were a form of alternative to Frontline, mostly looking for beasts that appeared in the walls. In teams of four or five, the standard for both Frontline and these legal vigilantes.

This would allow him to prepare, if not just a little bit for the exterior of the walls. He imagined that his classes would eventually permit him to hunt a few creatures here and there and absorb their energy, but it wouldn't compare to doing it in his free time. Besides that, he could make some extra money on the side.

To put that plan into motion however, he needed to become powerful enough, I'll need a lot more skill than I have now. I guess there's really only one place to start from here… Just after arriving at his dorm, Raiden left once again, grabbing his two blades and heading in the direction of the central building.

Upon arrival at the front door of the recreation area, he walked straight to the stairs that found themselves on the left of the cafe. Chairs and tables filling the room, a few familiar faces sitting in the seats, but Raiden paid it no mind. Arriving at the gym on the second floor, he noticed Alex training with a wooden sword on the floor mats in a corner.

He took the adjacent corner, a good twenty feet from Alex, and began attempting to "feel" the lightning matter in his environment.

Sinking into the most comfortable position he could think of, Raiden tried to imagine the feeling that he'd felt the day his father died. The chaotic and visceral intensity of the lightning matter that kept his sister unconscious. That near tangible energy that surrounded him that day, and then he felt it. It was ever so slight, at first freely changing forms and feeling out the next path it would take, but there was something in the air surrounding him. Suddenly, the free and streaky energy became pitch black, looking smoky, almost ethereal. It was changing and manipulating the small currents he felt, devouring them. W-what's happening? Raiden thought, pulling himself out of a forced state of pseudo-meditation.

Alex was training his overhead swings in an effort to familiarize himself with the motion and further increase the strength in his biceps. Adam had explained to him that the stronger he was, the better control he would have over his sword. The more utility he could force out of his matter, the more power.

He'd been working at it since theoretical class ended, no time to fall behind anyone else. He was a Superior after all, he had to set a good example.

After a while of swinging his wooden blade, he noticed the boy with the clear white hair and the interesting black ring come walking into the gym wearing the same grey hoodie and blue shorts he'd been wearing during class. Frontline didn't enforce a dress code on the students nor those who they employed. They believed instead that members should dress in a way that kept their options open for combat. It was really just a convenient way of saying "we don't really care", at least in Alex's opinion.

Watching the boy, youngest in their class, make his way over to a corner, he watched as the kid stood still, holding his two wooden daggers while in a lowered stance. One blade held backwards below his hips and the other pointed upwards, Interesting form… Alex swung his sword again and then looked back at the young man, I think his name was… Raiden?

Regardless, Alex looked at him curiously, not certain what the boy was doing. He was completely still, first for five minutes, then ten, fifteen, and twenty. Alex tuned out to the sound of air moving around his blade before Suddenly, he completely biffed his next sword swing, astounded at what he was seeing. Blue streaks of lightning pulsed occasionally at the very tips of Raiden's blades.

Already impressed, Alex had ceased swinging his sword, but it was what he saw next that truly left its mark on him. For what seemed like only a split second, Ethereal black swirls began clouding the young man's image, like particles of ash obscuring the blades he was holding, to add further to the spectacle, the sparks of lightning that were fizzing out around the kid's daggers were black, a purple glow replacing the blue from before. The last change, Alex not sure if it was still his imagination or not, was the shade of his hair changing, it greyed to a tint that was no longer white, reminiscent of the grey hair that Adam wore.

The event lasted no longer than a second before ceasing, but regardless, Alex wasn't sure of what he'd seen. It could have been his imagination, but it looked like the embodiment of darkness, not the kind that was void of light, but the kind that devoured it.

Raiden sat back, exhausted, he had spent more than three hours at the gym now. He had managed to feel the free moving sparks and current in the air he was looking for a few times now.

What he didn't do however, was attain that same energy that pulsed on his first attempt. No matter how much he tried to grasp it again, he simply couldn't get a feel for it. It was as if it was and wasn't there all at the same time, and that now that he knew where to look, it became invisible.

Speaking of the first attempt, Alex, the man who was earlier wearing a red jacket, left right after he pulled himself out of the initial meditation. He had a confused look on his face and kept looking back at Raiden, but he didn't mind it too much. Figuring he was likely just curious as to how Raiden had successfully managed to channel some slight amounts of lightning into his blades.

Finding himself back home after a long day of hard work, Raiden allowed himself to relax for a while on his bed while listening to music, and for the first time in two weeks, he got a quality full night's rest uninterrupted by the usual nightmares of his families demise.