At the side of a lake, a rock skipped along the water surface, eventually drowning beneath it's depth. Neal picked another pebble from his pocket, repeating the same action over and over again. This was his way of thinking and letting out the steam. However, when there was no water, he would throw pebbles a far distance in the air.
'What was that all about? Do they hate me already? Am I really useless like he said? Then why am I even here?' Neal thought of each question as he let a pebble fly across the lake.
The questions that disturbed him the most though, were "What did the symbol even mean? And how did it have anything to do with a "Combat class." Most of all, why did it even matter."
Running his hands through his pockets, Neal tightened his face in annoyance. He had run out of pebbles to skip. Just as he was about to scout the area for more, he identified Evans in the distance.
"What does he want now?" Neal questioned himself. "I thought I was useless."
Evans upon getting to him had an apologetic look on his face. If he was being honest, it revealed what the conversation was going to be all about.
"Neal, I am sorry about what Xavier did back there.."
"Why are you apologizing again? You already did that back in the meeting hall. Besides I already told you I would manage."
Even though Evans was not the one that said all those things to him back there, he didn't really feel comfortable around him. In order to break the awkward barrier he felt, he decided to invite him over, to skip rocks that is.
After gathering some stones, the two tossed them across the lake in silence. Though this soon ended as Evans spoke once again.
"You must be wondering why everyone treated you like that back there. Why they didn't like your symbol."
This caught Neal's attention in a flash, besides, these were part of the questions he already asked himself. The fact that he stopped throwing pebbles into the lake told Evans he was focused in on the topic.
"The problem doesn't stem from the symbol itself, it comes from what it means. Besides all of us have symbols of our own," Evans opened his palm soon after.
A circle symbol was tattooed on his palm just as he said. This made Neal aware of the fact that symbols were actually a norm in the tower.
"Combat classes determines a person's fighting style and how they perform in the field. We can tell which class a person has simply by looking at these symbols. In the tower, there are only nine Combat classes, with some being more common than the others. Archer, Samurai, Beserker, Dual wielder, Supporter, Chainweaver, Monk, Assassin and Guardian. My symbol is that of a Guardian; however, yours is that of an Assassin."
Learning a bit of information, Neal could not help but stare at the mark on his palm. It had a red glow that burned just like before; however, this time it was bearable. Neal had a hard time believing he was actually an Assassin by class, and he couldn't really be blamed for that.
"So basically, you are telling me they were annoyed by the fact that my Combat class was Assassin," Neal asked.
"Yes," Evans responded rather swiftly. "You see, in the tower apart from having great will, strength is also required. The monsters in this building have an absurd amount of strength and assassins don't really have enough of it to match up with them. Among the Combat classes, the Assassin class has the weakest physical strength. Though in return, they have the superior speed among all the classes, not that it really matters."
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Neal attempted to the point.
Moving his gaze to the side, Evans exhaled audibly before speaking once again. "It means that the Assassin class has the least possibility of surviving in the tower. However, do not let this affect your will to survive in any way. Through practice and training, I believe you can overcome the odds."
Neal's eyes showed a hint of despair at that moment. He didn't really understand anything about combat in the tower, but he ordinarily believed that speed was supposed to be a deciding factor in a fight. Though from Evans words, that was not the case.
'Would he really lie to me about something like this?' he puzzled the thought.
"I understand you have your doubts; however, I have a solution to that. Why don't we spar a little bit. I believe that should explain everything," Evans suggested. "The first person to pin the other to the ground wins."
After what seemed like a minute, Neal nodded his head in approval. It didn't feel like a fight would explain anything at all; however, he wanted to understand what Evans actually meant.
The two stood a distance away from each other before standing in their fighting stance. Neal was rather surprised to notice that his body subconsciously knew the best stance for him to take.
Staring each other down, they waited for one another to make the first move. This did not change though until Evans bursted into a sprint, charging straight at him.
Instinctively, Neal moved to the side in response to his charge. Taking little but effective steps, he maneuvered his body to the sides, avoiding each one of Evans attacks. It was as he said earlier, his speed was obviously superior. He could tell from the way Evans struggled to keep up with his agility.
After seeing a bunch of openings, Neal eventually decided to go for the take down. Evading Evans hands, he ran up to him, placing a hand over his shoulders and a leg behind him.
To his utmost surprise, as he attempted to push him down to the ground, he felt as if he was trying to pin a rigid rock on it's side. This left Neal wide open as Evans would use the opportunity to slam him into the ground instead.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Neal rolled to the side in pain. He was sure that the slam earlier drove the air out of his lungs. In the blink of an eye, everything became clear to him. His speed only aided him when it came to evasion; however, it did nothing for his offensive power.
The scene of Xavier opening his palm with ease back in the meeting hall was an early example of the difference in strength. It was funny to him how he did not realize that earlier. The bad news though, was the fact that this strength gap was massive.
"Hey, sorry for that. I actually did my best to hold back though," Evans statement only angered Neal all the more.
Holding his lower back, he couldn't help but appreciate that he found out about all of this early on. Though the question was, "how was he going to overcome this obstacle?"
The sound of Evans feet moving on the sand caught Neal's attention. He stared at him unsure as he observed him walking back to the area holding some structures.
"You should follow me. I never took you through all the details. This should be the best time to do so," Evans suggested as he turned to face him.
A smile escaped Neal's face as he struggled to get up from the ground. Soon after, he followed the blonde, sparking up a conversation as they moved.