Nikoli throws the ball against the wall, watching it ricochet back toward him. He catches it effortlessly and throws it again, continuing the cycle that has been his only distraction since he was brought to this place. A couple of days ago, they had pulled him out of ability training, brought him to this room, and left him there without any explanation.
Every time he tried to ask why; the staff ignored him. It seriously pisses him off. Doesn't anyone know he's the strongest guy in the academy? How dare they treat him this way? If he could get away with it, he'd blast all those losers with his fireballs. Maybe this is a test to see how he'll react. Maybe if he shows them what he's capable of, they'll finally see his worth and let him out of this hole. With that thought, Nikoli stands.
He walks over to the camera by the door and starts yelling at it, knowing it'll get someone's attention. "Hey! You guys can see me, right? What's the deal? Why am I here?" No response. He feels himself heating up with anger. He materializes the biggest fireball he can and hurls it at the far wall, expecting it to leave a mark, but the wall remains clear. "What gives? Is this padding flame-resistant? Are you actually imprisoning me in here?" Still no response, and now he's really losing it.
Nikoli flings fireball after fireball around the room until one of them catches on the bed. That, apparently, is not inflammable and lights up like a bonfire. He laughs out loud and turns back to the camera. "How do you like that? I'll burn this place down! Are you going to let me burn alive in here? Is this my death sentence? Am I being punished?" The thought of that event crosses his mind, and he begins to worry that it might be true.
Just as he starts to get really concerned that they might leave him to die, the door finally opens. He grins triumphantly as he turns toward the door. "Ha, I knew you'd open up eventually! Did you really think—"
"Shut it, you delinquent!" To his surprise, a woman walks in, and with a flick of her wrist, the fire immediately snuffs out. She turns to scowl at him. "Are you so immature that you'd endanger yourself?"
Nikoli feels like a child being scolded by his mother. No, what is he thinking? He doesn't have a mother, and this lady is just a— "No," he mutters, cutting off his own thought.
She walks further into the room and looks at the desk chair, contemplating sitting down but deciding against it. She turns back to him. "You've got a real anger problem, you know that? It's absurd."
Her judgmental tone offends him. "What's it to you? You don't know me, and you have no right to reprimand me. You're not my mother."
She momentarily loses her composure, as if his words hurt her, but she quickly regains control. "You're right about that, but I can still call you out for being a spoiled brat. It's clear to see."
"What are you even doing here, lady? Do you get off on belittling minors? Why am I here?"
"You are quite annoying, you know that?" She says it as if it's supposed to offend him, yet she starts laughing. She composes herself and says, "Sorry, it's just you remind me a bit of myself."
Nikoli is weirded out but doesn't let it show. "Congrats. Now would you tell me why I'm here?"
"So impatient, I see. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why you're here, but I'd imagine you'll be informed very soon. I'm just here to offer some advice. I've heard about you, and I felt you could use it."
"It's not advice I need; it's answers. If you can't give me that, then you're useless to me and should just leave now. While you're going, tell those losers out there that they better start giving me some answers soon, or I'll burn this whole freaking cell down, even if I have to put myself at risk. Don't doubt me."
She smiles as though she finds him amusing, which annoys him. But at the same time, he feels like this lady might actually understand him. Normally, people would back off or get defensive by now, but she's very calm.
"Listen, Nikoli, you've got great spirit, and I really admire that, truly. However, if you keep acting this way with no restraint, you're going to put yourself or those you care about in danger. It's especially dangerous in battle."
"There's no one I care about, so it won't be a problem. I'm not afraid to die. I fear nothing."
"That may be true, but even so, you must learn control. Even if you don't care about yourself, and even if you have no loved ones, there are still dire consequences for acting recklessly. Believe me, I know. I lived it."
"Just because you screwed up and caused some bad event doesn't mean I'm destined to. I know what's best, and I'd never be in such dangerous situations. And I'm one hell of a leader, too, so my unit wouldn't be in danger."
"Nikoli." She begins to continue her lecture, but just then, a guard signals her, indicating it's time to go.
"Oh, well, look at the time. Looks like you're done here. Thanks for that totally useless advice, though. Take care."
She looks at him as though she's reached her limit in trying to get through to him. She walks to the door, but just before leaving, she gives a final warning. "One day, you'll be faced with a choice that will likely determine the fate of your entire unit. I pray you'll choose with your head, not your fury. All the best to you."
She walks out, and the door shuts behind her. Nikoli is left thinking about what she said, and as he does, it just pisses him off even more. He looks at his bed, now scorched, and thinks back to how she snuffed out the fire with no effort—something he couldn't do. It frustrates him. As marked children, they can summon their element and project it outward, but only in small portions. To fully extend their powers to be useful in battle, they need to amplify it with some sort of medium—usually a weapon to conduct the energy. They don't learn advanced weapon training like that until they reach secondary level at age fifteen, so he still has a year to wait.
That pisses him off, too, because with his power, he could easily master those advanced lessons if given the chance. The bottom line is, only masters can control their powers that skillfully, but even they can't control natural elements. They have control over the elemental energy projected from their souls, but marked children cannot control external elements found in nature. The ancient Junsui demons could do so much more—how he envies them.
About ten minutes after she leaves, a woman arrives to fetch him. She introduces herself, but Nikoli pays her no mind and just follows her as requested.
She brings him to a living sector decked out with fancy tech and drops him off in a decently sized and designed room. She says something about a roommate and other details, but he tunes her out. Once she leaves, he heads straight for the shower—he hasn't had a decent one in days. He's happy they have their own bathrooms; he hates having to share. Hence, a roommate doesn't appeal to him, but he'll just ignore whoever it is, as he does everyone else. Easy.
As Nikoli exits the bathroom, he sees a surprisingly muscular guy with neatly combed green hair removing his shirt, standing in just his boxers. The guy turns to him and beams a smile. "Hey, roomie! Taking a shower too? Are they nice? I think I'll dive in for one myself!" He reaches for his boxers, and Nikoli's face turns red. This may be harder than he thought.