79 Entering the Centre

Just outside the large dome-like building, Vorden and Ian were preparing to enter. The front of the dome was an open field filled with all sorts of junk. It looked like a battle had taken place outside.

They carefully made their way along the field of broken rubbish and Mechs, keeping cover while inching their way closer and closer to the entrance.

After looking left and right for any beasts nearby and seeing that there were none there, they decided to make a dash for it.

As they ran forward, they reached the hall and moved towards the door but stopped just outside as something had caught their eye. Ian bent down to have a closer look at something lying on the ground.

"More dead Rattaclaw's. Another group of them, even," Ian then dipped his finger into the black blood. Even though it was slightly dry, it seemed pretty new. "It doesn't look like they have been dead for long. Looks like someone's already in there."

Vorden didn't want to say anything but he was hoping that it was Quinn. However, as he walked past the dead Rattaclaw's, if it really was Quinn, it seemed like the secret he was hiding from Vorden was bigger than he thought.

"A passcode machine?" Vorden said as he spotted it off to the side of the door. "Do you know the combination?"

"Are you kidding me, how the hell would I know." Ian then held out both of his hands as he looked at the door.

He started to concentrate. After a while, Vorden could see a vein bulging on top of Ian's head. "Damn this door, it's so strong."

Ian continued to use his powers but the door was tightly shut and wasn't going to be so easy to break. But then, slowly, the door started creaking and the locks behind the door started to bend.

But the sound of the metal door being pulled apart had attracted some unwanted attention. Three Rattaclaws started sneaking around, following the sound until they spotted the two humans by the entrance.

"Ian, you better hurry up!"

"Just deal with the rats yourself!" Ian shouted.

As Ian put more strength into opening the door, part of the door started to bend. But as it started bending, the loud clanging only attracted more unwanted attention. Soon another four Rattaclaws joined.

"There's too many!" Vorden then quickly turned to the door and held his hands out as well.

"What are you doing, at least hold the back or something?" Ian said, but suddenly, the door was easier to move than before. It was being much more responsive.

As Ian looked at Vorden, he could see he too was visibly sweating. "It couldn't be?"

With the two of them using their powers, they were finally able to tear the door apart creating a hole just large enough for them to get through. They quickly ran forward and jumped through the small gap.

Now inside the building, they turned back around and held out their hands once again focusing all of their power.

The Rattaclaw closest to the entrance leapt forward, and its head had just managed to get through the hole.

"Close, damn it!" Vorden shouted. Just then, the door bent back, sealing the hole and slicing the Rattaclaw's head off. A loud thump was heard as it hit the floor and slowly rolled away.

The two of them, now inside and with the door shut, noticed something. It was incredibly dark inside the training centre. There were a few small white LED lights that were placed on the floor up against the wall, but other than that, the lights above were completely out.

As Ian took a step forward, he could hear the sound of glass cracking.

"Now why would someone go to the trouble to take out all the lights?" Ian said, "These places are built to last hundreds of years with the power they have and the outside looked like it was untouched."

"Maybe it was the person who came in before us?"

"Maybe. Here, take this," Ian said, as he chucked over a small pebble-like item. Vorden noticed that it was the same item that he had used when they had made their temporary shelter in the library.

As Vorden tapped it once a small orange glow emitted from the stone and surrounded him. "What about you?"

Ian then pulled out another stone, tapping it before putting it on his waist.

"Now, are you going to tell me about what just happened, or are you going to keep that secret as well?"

Vorden let out a little nervous laugh.

"No secrets. My ability allows me to copy other abilities. I copied it when I saw you use it at the library." Vorden had no reason to lie to the man. He already knew he could use the same ability and what were the chances that Vorden had the same rare ability as the man.

However, Vorden wasn't going to reveal the fact that he needed to touch the man to copy his abilities. That part he would keep to himself.

"That's kind of cool. I wish I could do something like that," Ian said, "Come on let's go,"

Vorden was surprised by the man's actions. He thought he might yell or complain that he had done something without his permission, but this was something that he hadn't experienced before.

The two of them continued to walk along the dark hall. For now, there was only one direction they could go and the LED lights helped lead them the right way.

"Psst, hey Vorden, this is your last chance, switch with me now," Raten said, "If the portal's in here, I can save you the hard work and kill him straight away."

"Buzz off, will you."

"Fine, but that was your last chance."

The two of them had finally arrived at the reception room. There were still small LED lights placed across the room, so at least they had a sense for the size of the room. Still, just like the previous room, the lights had been taken out.

Each of the lights above were smashed in.

"It must have been a beast," Ian said.

"What makes you say that?" Vorden asked.

"Well, a lot of beasts on this planet are on a cycle. For the year it remains dark, they go out and hunt. But when the sun comes out, they hibernate for the year. My guess is that a beast sensitive to light managed to get inside somehow and started to destroy them all. If it was a human that did this, they could have just found the source of power and shut them all off at once, or even just used the light switch."

They continued to move forward until they had eventually reached the front desk. Now, all that was left was to enter the arena and they did so, going through one of the entrances. When they exited, they had come out into the stands.

"Grahhh!" As soon as they entered, fierce growls started coming from the hallway.

"Quick, turn of your stone!" Ian whispered loudly.

However, it was useless. They could hear footsteps banging against the floor as something came rushing forward from the arena and into the stands.

"RAKKKKKKKKKK!" A loud screech echoed through the entire arena, as the creature had spotted its prey and was now running full force towards them.

****

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