"Hello to you too... I guess," Mako replied awkwardly as he tried to not take offence to Nathan's obvious provocation.
Mako knew very little about Nathan and didn't want to make any judgements on his now teammate before getting to know him a bit more, but he did seem odd to him as Nathan always showed an uncaring and violent persona.
"Took you long enough to figure out how to use the teleporter, huh?" Nathan sneered, smirking at the trio.
However, Bill wasn't having any of it as he clenched his fists, trying to keep his temper in check. He also knew that Nathan's comments were intended to provoke a reaction, but unlike Mako who had a greater ability to ignore such remarks, Bill wasn't like that and the fact someone was doing it to them the moment they stepped into the military base made it much more infuriating. "We're here now, and that's what matters," he retorts, his voice laced with irritation.
Mako stepped forward, trying to defuse the tension. "Come on, Nathan, let's not start any unnecessary conflicts," he said, trying to reason with his new teammate.
However, Nathan seemed unyielding, enjoying the sudden rise he got out of Bill. "Oh, I'm just stating the truth," Nathan replied with a smirk. "You three always seem to lag behind."
Bill's patience reached its limit. He didn't even pay much attention to Nathan at all, not during the debriefing before the recruitment test or the debriefing with Commander Sable which made it quite irritating for a complete stranger to talk bad about him and his friends.
Bill took a step towards Nathan, his eyes ablaze with frustration. "You know, Nathan, you're sure good at talking a big, but I didn't really hear much about your accomplishments from Commander Sable. It looks to me that you were just finding different ways to survive and got lucky!"
"WHAT! Don't mess with me!" Nathan shouted in anger to Bill's taunt.
"Oh, you're mad now, huh. I think you're all just talk. All you have done is keep a cold attitude and talk, let's see if you can back it up in a real fight." Bill said as he cracked his knuckles.
The two boys stepped closer to each other in anger, ready to shut the other person's mouth but before they could reach close enough, a wall of ice formed between them, blocking the the two of them from coming any closer.
Erin who had been observing from a distance had stepped in to prevent the situation from escalating further. "Enough, both of you!" Erin interjected firmly. "We're a team, and this bickering isn't helping anyone."
Nathan huffed, crossing his arms defiantly, showing that he didn't really care. Nathan knew that if he picked a fight here not only would there be damage to the teleportation room which could be disastrous but there was also no guarantee that his friends wouldn't jump in.
He instead decided to take up on Bill's fighting offer another time and teach that a fool a lesson.
Mako placed his hand on Bill's shoulder and told him to take a deep breath which Bill did, which allowed himself to calm down, as he nodded back to Mako, signaling that he was fine now.
As Nathan and Bill exchanged heated words and almost fought, the atmosphere in the room had become tense.
Just as Erin stopped them from escalating the argument further, Commander Sables entered the scene, his stern presence instantly quelling the tension.
"Alright, that was enough!" Commander Sables said in a firm tone. "you six are a team here, and bickering won't get you anywhere. Save your energy for the difficult tasks ahead."
Everyone including Nathan and Bill both lowered their gazes, showing respect to their commanding officer and mentor. They all knew better than to argue in front of their superiors, especially Commander Sable.
"Now," Commander Sables continued, "Put your belongings in your private quarters, and then head to the meeting room in fifteen minutes. I have called all the special class cadets for an important briefing."
"Yes, sir!" They all replied in unison as they quickly moved out of the Teleportation room.
Following the commander's orders, Mako, Bill, Nathan, Erin, Iris, and the other special class cadets had headed to their quarters to store their belongings.
The living quarters provided to the special class cadets within the military base were spacious and well-appointed, and were designed to ensure comfort and privacy.
Each cadet had their own individual room, equipped with a comfortable bed, a study desk with a built-in computer, a wardrobe to store their belongings, and a private bathroom. The rooms were decorated in a simple yet stylish manner, with neutral tones and minimalistic designs to create a calming atmosphere for rest and relaxation.
They group didn't really have time to settle in as they just put all of their stuff inside the room and opened the wardrobe to find several pairs of their military uniforms, neatly hanging on coat hangers.
They all quickly got changed and left their rooms to meet up and then head on over to meeting room together.
Mako also got ready but before leaving he quickly took out the earth ability book and the two skill books and proceeded to insta learn them, just in case.
He didn't have time to check out all the details so he left that to do after he had attended the meeting and quickly left to meet up with the others. At the end of the hallway, Bill, Leon, Iris, and Erin were all ready and waiting for him, but Nathan was nowhere to be seen.
Mako suggested that they wait for him, and despite everyone else's disdain, they agreed and decided to wait a couple of minutes for him.
However after a couple of minutes there was still no sign of Nathan and the meeting was about to start so Bill suggested that we shouldn't be late to our first official meeting prompting everyone to start moving, and Mako followed them to.
They arrived to the meeting room just in the nick of time and just as they entered they saw Nathan casually leaning against a pillar with his eyes closed, waiting for the meeting to start.
Although he didn't do something directly this time, he purposefully choose the spot that was visible upon entering and chose a pose of standing that was guaranteed to trigger them.
Nathan's plan worked brilliantly as veins were popping on Bill's head just thinking about the time they wasted looking like fools waiting for him while he was already gone.
The group just tried ignore him for now as they stood at a different place and waited for the meeting to begin. More and more cadets entered the meeting room and they were all special class cadets with Mako counting around 60 in the room.
Once they gathered in the meeting room, they had also noticed that several instructors and senior officers were also present.
Once everyone had arrived, Commander Sable addressed them, his voice authoritative yet encouraging. "I have gathered you all here because we have recognized your exceptional potential. You have shown great promise during the recruitment test, and now it was time for you to put your skills to the real test."
He presented several scroll that were placed on a table in front of him, which he called them mission scrolls. He ordered that one person from each team pick a scroll and whatever mission was on that scroll would be the mission they would have to do in a three month period.
He explained that the school term would end in three months time and military school will start. So they had to complete the mission to receive exclusive rewards with them also receiving a grave penalty for failing or running out of time.
One by one cadets came to the table and took a scroll. After they took the scroll, they were escorted out with their team and a senior instructor which Mako assumed to be their mentor.
Mako and his team never got a chance to come up and take a scroll as the whole meeting room was empty by the time their turn came around with a single scroll left on the table.
Commander Sable picked up the scroll and called for all them to come closer to hear about their first mission.
Commander Sable unrolled the scroll to reveal the details of their first official mission as a team. "This was a low-rank mission, but it was no less important. A small village located near the border of two major cities had reported a series of strange occurrences, and we suspect that there may have been a group of bandits or rogue ability users causing trouble. Your task was to investigate the situation, gather information, and neutralize the threat if necessary."
As Commander Sables had explained the mission, Mako, Bill, and the others who listened intently. Their hearts were racing with excitement and determination as they had realized the significance of this opportunity.
"Each of you will play a vital role in this mission," Commander Sable continued.
The commander proceeded to assign specific roles to each member of the team based on their abilities and skills, ensuring that they complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses.
"Your performance during this mission will be evaluated, and it will determine your future assignments and training opportunities," Commander Sable concluded.
"I have faith in each one of you. Now, you have one week of training time with me before you are set to leave, and the results of your training will determine one major thing... which one of you will become the leader of this group." The commander added.
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