"Hermes, have you ever been scared to death before?"
He looks at Ashley confused
BOOM!!*
Hermes is losing air and vision, "what the.." it feels as if the room is slowly growing upwards in size. His facial expression changed from his usual look. Everything was blurry and it felt like he was slowly melting into the ground. If there was one thing Hermes hated in this life, it was the feeling of helplessness.
There was a strange air pressure pouring out of Ashley and the others. It was intimidating the soul out of Hermes. He felt as if he were a baby reindeer in the wild full of predators, like tigers who haven't eaten in days. However, he couldn't move... Even though nothing was wrong with his four legs, he couldn't run for his life... There it was... he felt helpless. Pride made him go out with a bang and accepted his fate. The baby reindeer was eaten~~~~~~~~~€€£¥
The air felt dense and different but it got back to normal. However, Hermes kept sweating.
It had only been a few seconds in real time but for him it felt like hours had gone by.
Ashley smiled and said, "Was that enough to convince you Hermes?"
He stayed quiet and kept his head down.
"That was called Ki, some call it mana or natural flowing energy. Specifically, that was intimidation type of Ki. It is one of the simplest forms of ki that everyone can learn how to do, but only the truly skilled can get the best out of it." Ashley continued.
Hermes stayed with his head down as he listened.
"Hahahahaah, look at him from only intimidation type. Told you he was not cut out for this" Judas exclaimed.
Everyone else just watched because they understood right away that anyone that felt Intimidation Ki of that caliber would have at least passed out for a couple of days and in some cases, some people die from going insane. Even Judas understood, however he doesn't want to accept Hermes yet, first he wants to teach him a lesson.
"Okay you got me there for a second hahaha." his voice is still shaky, but he continued as he looks up. "I'll join you with one condition"
"I'm glad you reconsidered but it better not be that same condition from before..." Ashley responds.
"Haha no, the condition is that once I learn about Ki I get to beat the crap out of that guy" Hermes says as he points at Judas with his thumb.
Judas got mad and veins started popping out of his forehead. Most in the room started laughing and Judas yelled. "HAHAHA, you're 100 years too early to think you can stand up to me commoner, I come from the wealthiests families that hire the best trainers, I have trained with them since I was a young lad. What could you hope to do against me when just now you got a glimpse of what Ki is."
Hermes turns his body around while he's sitting and he stared straight into Judas eyes and points at him. "i've already figured you out, once I figure this ki thing out, its ch-e-ck- ma-te for you" Hermes said in a anime styled mocking tone.
Judas stayed quiet with a surprised look on his face and got bothered by everyone else's laugh.
Ashley got up and started drawing a sort of diagram on the white board behind her.
"Hermes, many people have trained their whole lives to be able to take a step in Europa, as I told you every two years we come here to pick the ones that are ready and bring them over there. In terms of actual rank Bruce and Robin over there are part of the 6 commanders below our captain." She says as she points at the board. " Judas, Joseph and I are officials placed under them, there's another who is under Robin but she didn't feel the need to attend this conversation. You'll learn more as we go."
He just listened.
"In exactly 4 weeks there will be a trial where people that wish to go to planet Europa have to take. There have been many families involved in this ever since humans inhabited the Planet. They have been training their kids since a very young age, some of them even have schools where they train as a group until they are 17 years of age for the day where they can go to planet Europa. A lot of students in these schools were born in Europa. This has become a coming of age ceremony. Even if it means they have to give up their lifestyle to go to a battle ground most of them do it for the thrill and challenge, others do it as a way to provide for their family. There have been a lot of cases where random people outside of the schools that have great potential like you get a pass and get to go, however there is a condition. Don't worry about that right now."
"Say Hermes, how old are you?" Bruce jumps in.
"19, why?" he responds.
"Well there is a rule in Europa that you can enter the planet before you are 25 years old with a nation, although we would have got you into the planet by any means, but it is reassuring that you are under that age." Bruce said.
"So what happens if you're older than 25?" Hermes asked
"Lets just say you go through a questionnaire of sorts, to make sure you have what it takes to enter the planet." Joseph the III responded.
"That makes sense, I'm guessing by that point you should have your Ki polished and be able to defend yourself or have an entrance exam of sorts on top of other tests. That keeps it interesting." Hermes replies as he closes his eyes and starts thinking.
Everyone stayed quiet while staring at Hermes.
"Ashley, it's been bothering me for a while now, no matter how much i try to figure it out i can't seem to quite put the missing piece together." Hermes says.
"What is it Hermes?" she responds.
Hermes gets up and walks toward Ashley and Judas flinched at him but Joseph starred at him.
Hermes whispered something in her ear while staring at Judas and she started laughing and said. " Sounds like a plan."
Bruce smirked and Robin closed her eyes.
"Hermes," Joseph III said. "Don't think for a second that because Ashley took a liking to you, we won't hurt you. You mustn't forget that anyone in this room can kill you within 3 seconds. So I suggest watching your actions."
Judas started laughing and said, "haha, that's right."
Hermes stared at him with his fist closed and said "Why don't…"
Woosh.. Pum!
In the blink of an eye Judas' fist appeared in front of Hermes' face which was stopped by Bruce with one finger, Hermes did not flinch or blink, it was too fast for him to react, however once he noticed what happened he kept his cold eyes locked into Judas face with his left fist still clenched.
Bruce said, " All three of you should watch yourselves. Hermes, I also love picking challenges that are extremely difficult because too often things are too predictable and the trill is fun..." the permanent smile on Bruce's face went away. "However, it is stupid to suicide by betting your life just on pride alone." Hermes kept staring at Judas as Bruce continued. "The trial starts in 4 weeks, since everyone that will participate at least needs to have the knowledge of ki basics, as a result until we fix our ship we will teach you the basics of fighting and Ki until the trial, as well as answer any questions you may have about Planet Europa. And on the last day before the trial I won't stop Judas' fists... How about it? are you in?"
Hermes turns to Ashley again and says, "so is 4 good for you?"
That pissed off Judas and Joseph.
Ashley replied, " Yes, 4 is good."
"Answer you fuc…" Robin stopped Joseph and walked toward Hermes.
"Perro que ladra no muerde"(Dog that barks doesn't bite) She said in another language (Spanish) and by her voice Hermes figured it was a woman, however he was more surprised than usual as he stared at the covered up face.
"The training will start tomorrow first thing in the morning, I suggest being here on time if you're serious about it." Robin finished.
Hermes started making his way to the exit and walked past everyone, but stopped at the door. "Oh and Bruce, don't get me wrong," Hermes points to his head. " I never sacrifice a pawn unless I'm sure of winning..." he walked out.
Bruce stared and smiled.
Judas starts laughing and saying, "haha did you look at his face when Bruce stopped my punch."
Judas was blown back against the wall just by Bruce staring at him. "Fool, making me step in."
Judas scratches his head.
Bruce turns to Ashley. "I see what you meant. He truly does remind me of the captain."
As Hermes walked out of the ship he immediately felt everyone's intimidation ki outside, he won't fall for that a second time.
The thing that stood out the most was the high bloodlust that was coming from all of them. This made Hermes smile because with this he realized that thanks to Ashley the boring days are finally over.