Free Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity by J. Clevenger Page A

off, "I don't know what things were like for you back home, or why you've got such a shitty attitude, but no one here's impressed."   When had she come over?
    Duncan barely reacted to the building confrontation.  His face relaxed a bit, going from sneer to a slightly sleepy smile.
    "Fine, whatever.  Watch your backs, though.  It’s pretty obvious this little bastard is the wannabe bank robber and that creepy roommate of his is the genocide guy."  On that note, Duncan turned to go.
    "I will.  I'm always watching my back." said all five of Hector.  The other four had arrived and were blocking the angry Filipino's exit.  "Now I'll be watching yours, too."  Hector parted to let him go.  No one else spoke until Duncan had left the cafeteria.
    "Man, what the heck is that guy's problem?" asked Hectors’ would be rescuer.
    "No idea.  Thanks for the assist, Kerry." Hector replied.  The cops were finally done.  They'd taken statements from Hector and Rick, examined the doors, then left.   He started to drift back to his abandoned meals, one of him pausing to pat her on the back as he left.
    "Don't mention it.  That guy's been giving everyone crap all week."
    "Really?" Hector had noticed the way the guy was usually the first to argue with Coach Achala, but he hadn't noticed Duncan with any of the other trainees.
    "Yep.  You should've seen the way he went after my roommate, Drew, this morning.  Basically accused the guy of using steroids or something." said the dragon girl.
    "Well, to be fair, losing that much weight in a day is kind of weird."
    Kerry snorted.  "A day.  You know what his power is?"
    "I don't even know his full name."
    "Drew Stasis.  He can freeze time for himself.  Doesn't need food or sleep or anything while it's frozen, but he can't move anything either."
    "Whoah.  That's pretty cool."
    "Yeah, cool.  He's basically spent two months getting into shape.  It may've seemed like a day to us, but from the moment Achala said 'Go.' yesterday, Drew's been running laps by himself."  Her face had gone stern.  "Hours of running, staggering and sweating until he couldn't go on, then resting.  All of that, on a track filled with statues that look like his classmates."
    "Wow, that's still pretty cool, but it's also hardcore."  Well, at least now Hector knew what his power was.  Determination.  That time freezing thing might be useful too.  "Makes you wonder.  If that's what the trainees are like, what about the actual operatives?"
    They both turned to watch Coach Achala.  He was eating alone, calmly and methodically.  Each piece of chicken was sliced to the same size, chewed the same number of times, and followed with a sip of water.  It should have looked mechanical, instead, it was serene.
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    Private Residence
    Hector had spent the day doing research.  Okay, he'd also attended Ethics and Physical Conditioning, gotten certified in pistols, gone to college level courses in mathematics, computer science, sociology and recent history.  Multitasking was easier when you could be in more than one place at once.
    This Hector had assigned himself two tasks for the day.  First, learn as much about his instructors and classmates as possible.  The incident with Isaac had shown him that what he didn't know, could hurt others.  The incident with Duncan had shown him that if he did hurt others, he wanted it to be on purpose.  His second task was both simpler and grander, maximize himself.
    Hector had been able to certify with a pistol because there was a shooting range near his house that was sloppy about checking IDs.  He'd spent at least three days there every week for the last year.  That hadn't been because he'd known the skill would be valuable, it was just fun.  Now he had to figure out every possible advantage he could.
    The most important thing he'd thought of was also the simplest to accomplish: research everything.  One of him was enrolled at UCLA. That one had split