39 Chapter 39 - Training [1]

O lunch went down smooth, though every now and then a piece of chicken would go flying across the cafeteria. Ororo would quickly call out the culprit, while Sara kept an eye on her from time to time. Specifically, Prime seemed to have quite a strong interest in her. Although he couldn't quite put his finger on why, he acknowledged Ororo was tough. Actually, extremely tough.

Still, Prime didn't believe he'd easily lose in a fight against her. Sure, many of his powers were still dormant, and whenever he fought, there was a sense that he wasn't tapping into his full potential. Though it might come off as a bit arrogant, Prime was sure that so far, not even five percent of his true power had been revealed.

Meanwhile, Scott and Kurt joined the group, and after what Sara and Prime felt was more of a cross between lunch and dinner, they roamed the mansion's halls once again.

"By the way" Scott began, turning to Sara. "I didn't get a chance to show you my powers last time. The training room is down this corridor, and since we're nearby, how about we spar a bit?"

Upon hearing those words, all eyes turned to Sara. Frankly, they were all extremely curious to see how far the new recruit's abilities went. Plus, the display Sara had given last time didn't even come close to satisfying their curiosity – not until they could see that form that appeared on the internet.

"Sounds good to me" Sara nodded, flashing a friendly smile.

With Sara's confirmation, the group made their way to the training room, where they split up between men and women, each group heading to their respective dorms. While the girls chattered excitedly on Sara's side, they quickly dressed and gathered in the women's dorm.

The uniform fit snugly, though not uncomfortably so. Jean explained it was made of a material highly resistant to physical damage. Sara was even more impressed to learn that even in the event of impact, like being hit by a truck, wearing that outfit would leave her without a scratch.

Setting that topic aside, Sara, accompanied by Jean and Kitty, finally made it to the training room. The atmosphere was relatively warm, with the only standout being a panel in the center of the room adorned with various buttons. The guys were already there, seated as they conversed.

Noticing the girls, Scott, followed by Kurt, quickly greeted them, and they soon began discussing how they would proceed with the training.

"How do you all want to start? We could do a three-minute warm-up to test speed, attack power, reflexes, and endurance, what do you think?" Scott asked, gauging the group's reaction.

In general, Sara didn't have any objections to it, so she just nodded in agreement. Both she and Prime were eager to unleash a bit more of their powers and test their limits, now that they no longer needed to hide from curious gazes of others.

Getting everyone's approval, Scott headed towards the central panel of the room and began to adjust it, while a screen appeared projected above. Sara watched the device closely, impressed by its advanced technology. After setting everything up, Scott turned back to the group.

"Settings completed. Additionally, I've added a combat challenge at the end: the top two will compete against each other" announced Scott, explaining the details of the training.

Again, none of them had objections to it. After all, it was just a friendly training, and there was no intention to seriously injure each other.

"Let's start with the endurance test" exclaimed Scott, addressing everyone in the room, while a robotic voice promptly responded to his instructions.

"Understood. Initiating endurance test. Please maintain a minimum distance of fifty centimeters between each other" said the robotic voice.

Following the instructions, everyone positioned themselves next to each other, preparing their own powers and thinking of strategies to deal with the situation.

"Oh, almost forgot, even though it's an endurance test, you don't necessarily have to absorb all the hits with your body. Anything goes, so the last one standing wins" explained Scott as he turned to Sara.

Agreeing with a nod, Sara prepared for the test as the robotic voice began the countdown to the start of the tests.

(Ready?)

To Prime's inquiry, Sara responded with a confident smile, as her hand slowly transformed into the glowing red armor.

"I'm more than ready"

With Sara's words, the test finally began. At first, a barrage of golf balls was launched at high speed and in large quantity towards the participants. Jean controlled the balls, making them stop in mid-air before they could touch, using her telekinetic powers. Any ball that came close to Kitty simply passed through her, causing no harm. Meanwhile, Scott was destroying all the balls that approached, using his laser beam emitted from his eyes.

Witnessing Scott's powers for the first time, Sara found his ability quite intriguing and powerful. She found some amusement in the way the lasers could cut through space, but at the same time, she realized the lethal potential they could have if focused with enough precision, capable of even piercing through someone's body.

Kurt, on the other hand, chose to teleport around the room as the balls tried to keep up with him, but his movement abilities easily outpaced the projectiles, thwarting their attacks. Meanwhile, Sara demonstrated incredible dexterity even with just one hand, moving it at astonishing speed to catch and crush the balls, quickly acting to deal with each new challenge.

It's needless to say that, for everyone present, Sara stood out the most. Her performance not only showcased her strength but also tested her reflexes, considering the method chosen to deal with the balls. The purpose of this test was clear: how far could Sara and Prime go without a full transformation, only using partial parts of Sara's body.

"Wow, Sara, you're killing it" responded Kitty, with a surprised expression on her face.