Alley had vehemently refused to be separated from Eric and was about to create more scenes—screaming and flailing, acting all childish—until the guard leader let her. Eric didn't know if this was a good or bad development, but here she was, all huddled up beside him in the cold cell.
The other kids had created a wide gap between them, each one wary to sit next to Eric's bad side with what they'd seen when he casually flung the bully among them.
I'm getting more famous than I intended. Look at them, all jittery like a group of rodents.
Since these kids already know I have some amplified powers, I won't display any further—but I must use them to my advantage.
Let's hope there are some good lads with good abilities too.
He dropped lightly on his feet, joints popping and muscles aching. He felt stale.
I should start to classify them by strength, but let them understand their fate.
"Who here has faced a beast? Any type. Native? Alien?" The room fell silent, save for the quiet giggle coming from Alley. She covered her mouth, trying to stifle her sound of amusement, but her shaking shoulders and vulnerable facial expression gave her away before the giggling stopped.
"How could they have faced a beast?" she said, eyes half-closed and her lips still curved into a smile. "They'll only last as a meal for the weakest ones, especially the aliens."
Eric held his gaze on Alley for a while, a dry lump forming at the back of his throat with his distaste for interruption. Then, glancing away sharply after Alley got the message, he said, "I'm trying to raise an army here. We have no time for foolery except when it comes from me."
"Huh? What?" one of the kids, a slim, round-faced boy with chipmunk teeth voiced.
"This one needs a hearing aid. Jot that down, Alley," Eric casually dismissed him. "Now, I'll ask again—not because I give a shit, but because I gotta set the mood somehow. Who here has fought a native or alien beast before?"
A hand slowly raised from the middle of the crowded spot. Eric noticed the bully, the one who tried to kick him to oblivion with his body hardening ability, shuffle uneasily on his feet as he stared down at the boy who raised his hand.
I gotta do something with this steel-laden idiot.
"What beast did you face and how did you survive it?" Eric asked the boy in blue overalls, with wide glasses and a freckled face, pinched awkwardly. He looked like a nerd. His thick wide glasses magnified the size of his eyes almost three times.
"Hi, everyone," he started, "my name is Xavi..."
Hell yeah, he's a nerd.
"...and I am a Tier 4 Ice-man. The first beast I faced was a native one, and it was my thoughtless uncle who figured it was wise to try to molest a 15-year-old boy after buying him a new console?
"While he was in the act, I managed to shove a large ice cone up his rectum. It went so deep even his psychokinesis couldn't get it out. Also note, my icicles don't melt easily."
By the time Xavi was done with his little presentation, the room was already hysterical. The boys cackled so loud that the tense atmosphere dissipated, replaced by lightened moods, teary eyes, and aching bellies.
If only I could award points like my system does, I'd give this Xavi boy 1,000-point bonus for humor.
[So nice to hear you call me 'my system.']
[Seems I'm winning...gradually.]
Tch. That was a slip of thought.
Anyway, I can't let such a boy go. He's welcome in my army, if not for his unmelting ice ability, then for making me open my guts in laughter.
"Alright, get over here, Xavi. We'll test out your icicles later. Welcome to the freaking army. You've won a fist bump from Alley for being the first member."
Alley did as he said and even added a wink, which flustered the hell out of Xavi's weak heart.
Now, he was facing...Eric counted… fourteen other boys.
"Do you guys have any idea why we're here?"
A hand shot up again. Xavi had set the bar for that polite gesture.
"We're going to be fed, taken care of, and later transferred to the academy to hone our abilities," said a tiny boy who Eric couldn't even see because of how small he was.
The others murmured their approval of the boy's announcement.
Eric smiled. "I hate to break it to you, but none of that will be happening."
"None?" The bully clenched his fists, his face flushed while he gritted his teeth.
"Well, maybe the feeding part will be happening, but I know you don't care about the other promises as long as you're fed."
"Oooh!" came from the boys. Even Xavi gave a weak, childish laugh that earned another fist bump from Eric. Without waiting for the bully to retaliate, he continued speaking to the kids.
"No one kidnaps kids or buys them in secret, and keeps them in an underground facility just to feed them and send them to the academy for special training. None of these wealthy cunts do stuff like that without running the cameras.
"Their acts of philanthropy can never be off tape. So stop the delusion.
"The only special treatment your sorry asses can get is getting to stand in an arena in front of tier-5 families and above watching you with interest or amusement before you are gutted by some unforgiving, hungry, and unfettered alien beasts.
"And trust me, there's no escaping their claws and jaws—those of the rich cunts, I mean. As for the beasts, there are ways to escape, but only if you epitomes of naivety will listen to me right now."
The room fell dead silent once again. The fear on everyone's face was well-written, clear, and fresh. Only the rhythmic sound coming from the drops of water dripping from the hands of a Tier-2 water dancer gave the room a somewhat lively atmosphere.
Rule one, make them see they're wrong.
Rule two, instill fear in them.
Now rule three, make them see hope...
…And that, I don't know how to do.
"Everyone with a Tier-3 and above ability, come over to this side. Quick, we have no time to waste."
Quietly and obediently, nine of them moved away from their end toward Eric's, the furious bully included but with much hesitation.
"Hey! Don't stand in front of Xavi, he's the first member, and technically your leader I don't care how strong you think you are. Move right behind him!"
They all shuffled behind Xavi as they were told, while the bully—whose name Eric later learned to be Lood—left a lasting look on Xavi before moving. Well, Xavi was on cloud nine and couldn't be bothered.
The remaining six boys, all between the Tier-1 to -2 range, stared down at their feet, feeling awkward and embarrassed to be standing before a large number of superiors. They felt bare and insecure than they already are.
Eric could feel their spirits broken and knew firsthand a badly motivated force was not enough passion to fight beasts, let alone survive them.
"You don't have to be pressed about that," he said. "There's a very big chance the first to die will be the whole six of you."
"You didn't have to be so blunt," Alley groaned.
"I'm not trying to scare them," Eric said, "it's just the deadly razor teeth and claws of the beasts. But fear not, I will be in charge of you lot, and you'll live as long as you follow my orders. Alley will be in charge of the high Tiers behind me since they don't need much tutoring because of their high tiers anyway."
"Hell no," objected Lood, showcasing his ever ready furious side yet again. "I won't take orders from a weakling bitch."
"Oh, that's right. Alley dear," Eric's tone softened, transforming into an evil grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Show him what a weakling bitch can do."