Chapter 43: So they are letting contamination cases train with us now?
"That’s fair."
He nodded to himself, agreeing with the instructor.
A few of the trainees laughed. Dr. Sable handed a file to Instructor Kade and—
"Public classification only."
Rowan glanced at the file, then back at Lucian.
"Understood."
That little interaction was more than enough for the two to understand the situation, the instructor looked at Lucian with a curious gaze.
The files passed to him were not complete, most details were hidden, so while he wasn’t particularly interested in knowing the complete truth—
He still wanted to see how special the boy was.
Dr. Sable then looked at Lucian one last time.
"Control yourself."
"That is the goal."
Lucian shrugged but Sable looked at him with a serious look on her face and—
"No."
"That is the requirement."
Lucian paused for a moment, then he nodded, Sable nodded back and left.
And now that Lucian was alone in the Training Hall, he suddenly felt more... exposed, especially since every single person in the hall was now looking at him.
"New trainee. Lucian Cross. Blood-Altered Human. Incubus-Class."
Finally, Instructor Rowan introduced Lucian to the class.
And the reaction was immediate.
"Incubus-Class?"
The boy with golden eyes frowned.
"Blood-Altered..."
And just like that, whispering began.
Curiosity.
Discomfort.
Even contempt.
Lucian heard all of it.
Very clearly.
Annoyingly clearly.
A boy near the front looked Lucian up and down with an arrogant smile.
He was handsome, clean, and polished, his training uniform looked custom-made. He had dark brown hair that was neatly styled, and he wore a thin silver ring on one finger. The air around him was that of someone who had been praised too early in life and was now used to it.
*Picture*
"A Blood-Altered Human, huh..."
The boy snorted.
"Incubus-Class too."
His disdain couldn’t be more obvious.
"So they are letting contamination cases train with us now?"
Lucian looked at him, the boy’s grin widened as he noticed his gaze.
The hall went quiet.
Honestly, Lucian didn’t know what ’Contamination Cases’ meant, but the tone alone was enough.
He had lived with people looking down on him his entire life.
So he could tell what was happening.
This time, however, the situation was different.
Lucian was no longer the previous Lucian, he was no longer the powerless man who could no longer grow no matter how much effort he put in.
Now he was stronger.
And more arrogant.
"What is your name?"
Lucian questioned as his purple eyes glowed, but that didn’t intimidate the boy, he seemed more pleased.
"Dorian Ashcroft."
He answered arrogantly.
Lucian simply nodded and then turned away, not giving him any more attention.
"What? Too scared of the name Ashcroft?"
Dorian grinned.
That made Lucian frown.
He had no idea what Ashcroft was.
Was that some powerful family?
He wondered in his head and that made him more careful.
"I am."
He nodded.
"I expected too much."
Dorian just shook his head in disappointment, trying to taunt him, Lucian did not react, he simply looked at others, watching their reactions and trying to understand the power structure here.
He was more arrogant, yes, but he wasn’t a fool.
He wouldn’t make a move without a proper understanding.
"Alright, that’s enough."
That was when Instructor Rowan stopped the two and—
"Assessment will continue.
Cross, join the line."
Lucian walked toward the others.
A girl with short black hair and sharp eyes shifted slightly, giving him space. She looked normal compared to some of the others, so Lucian stood next to her.
*Picture*
"It’s good that you didn’t try to provoke Dorian."
She glanced at him and spoke in a low, slightly cold voice.
Lucian looked at her and tilted his head.
"Why?"
"Because the more you try to provoke him, the worse he gets."
"Is that so..."
Lucian’s eyes glowed as he looked at Dorian.
After a moment of silence—
"Mira Dane."
The girl introduced herself.
"Lucian."
"I know, they announced it."
"...I was being polite."
Lucian sighed.
Do these people not know manners?
"Seems pointless."
Mira shrugged.
Lucian looked at her, then he decided to change the topic.
"What does contamination case mean?"
He questioned.
"You do not know?"
Mira’s expression changed slightly.
"No."
Mira looked at him for a moment, then she answered—
"Blood-Altered people usually get abilities from diluted supernatural blood. It is one of the most common ways a human can gain abilities to face supernatural beings but old families still look down on it."
"What old families?"
Lucian asked and this time, Mira blinked.
"You... really don’t know anything..."
She muttered like she couldn’t believe it.
"I do not."
"Old families are... well, old families.
Families that have been in the Enclave for a long while, they have a very strong influence in the Enclave."
"And let me guess, Ashcroft is one of the Old Families?"
"One of the strongest."
"Of course."
Lucian nodded to himself.
Just a while ago, he was complaining how everything seemed way different than he was expecting and now he had the most cliché Young Master from a big Family picking on him.
He looked at Dorian and saw him grinning at him.
He almost wanted to facepalm.
"As I said, don’t provoke him."
Mira whispered.
"Yes yes."
Lucian just nodded as he grinned back at Dorian.
Mira’s mouth twitched.
"Alright, first assessment.
Force control."
That was when Instructor Rowan’s voice cut through the hall.
The trainees moved toward a line of machines near the wall, Lucian followed them.
The machines looked like vertical metal plates mounted on stands, each plate had numbers displayed above it. Instructor Rowan stood beside the first one and—
"Keep in mind that this test is not about maximum output, it is about control. The screen will show a target force. You strike or push the plate as close to the target as possible."
Lucian stared at the machine.
"If the target says twenty, I want twenty. If it says fifty, I need fifty, get it?"
"Yes, instructor!"
The first trainee stepped forward.
A boy with thin arms and pale eyes.
The machine activated, the target showed 30.
He tapped the plate.
37
"Acceptable."
Rowan nodded.
Another trainee came forward.
Target: 60
She struck with two fingers.
52
"Good."
This continued for a while, trainees came, almost all of them were only off by 6 or 7, that was until Dorian stepped forward.
The target showed 75.
He smiled lightly, lifted one hand, and struck the plate with clean, controlled force.
75
Perfection.
A few trainees looked impressed, Dorian did not look at them, he looked at Lucian.
Oh c’mon.
