He's weak

On the way to the infirmary John woke up, he first sight was the bright blue sky, he moved his eyes and saw his friends, he spat blood as he struggled to speak"ugh!.. Pu!.. y.. you guys..came..".

Alex glanced at John and said mildly"do not talk, it will cause more pain wait a little we will soon reach the infirmary". He couldn't watch John suffer just so he could speak, 'it was all Ulrich's doing if he catches him, the pain Ulrich would suffer will be worse than John's '.

Soon the infirmary appeared at the front, it was a huge two story building with light towers in the large compound. John was given a room where he would be attended to, the others were told to go back to the training ground, a verdict on Ulrich's act would be made there and all the kids were to attend. John couldn't go because of his state so Alex and the rest bade him farewell and left. On their way back Derek spoke

"I can't believe Ulrich be so heartless and why did Arthur defend him?, If not for him stopping Alex, Ulrich would have had his own beating". Derek shook his head as they had missed the chance to deal with Ulrich at the moment.

"Arthur blocking Alex was for the best", William said firmly.

"What!", Derek shouted"how could you say that, John is our friend!, Have you not seen his face clearly he was almost disfigured". Derek was annoyed at William's words but also confused, William couldn't hate John so why was he saying this.

"William is right, the state Alex was in is more than normal anger, if he met Ulrich he may not have survived and if he does it will be in a condition that will make Ulrich wish he was dead", Asher explained to Derek, he turned to Alex and asked

"When did you start to experience this?".

"I don't know when it started, it just happened today, but maybe when I'm angry it activates", Alex said while massaging the spot between his eyebrows, everything was confusing to him. Suddenly someone hits his head, he turned and faced Derek with an icy gaze and shouted"why did you do that?!".

"You said it happens when you got angry so we had an experiment and look you are angry but nothing happened, I don't see your red pupils or any advanced abilities. So we're not sure if it's your anger", Derek justified his actions innocently.

"You!..", Alex rushed towards Derek, who Dodged and ran away, Alex refused to let him go and chased after him.

Staring at the running duo, Asher glanced at William and said seriously.

"What Alex did today was really unusual, but he doesn't seem to be fully conscious in that state. The most confusing part is that it has no side effects, such amazing limit breaking capabilities should have side effects right?".

••••

Staring at Alex who was snoring loudly, Asher sighed and said to William"forget that I said it has no side effect, Alex can't be woken even water is not working!", Asher shook his head and kept the bowl filled with water on the table, he sat on his bed and said"how do we wake him up?, The commander has ordered for us to be at the training ground".

"Let's just go, we shall explain to him", William said walking out of the room, Derek followed, Asher stared at Alex for awhile and left the room.

"Young Spartans of the silver clan, I have gathered you here for we will punish one of you today, it will be good for you to learn from his mistakes for the next punishment will be worse. Ulrich Dunn you have disobeyed a clan rule, 'never hit a defeated opponent, especially in a friendly spar'. Witnessed by the other kids, you continued to hit your defeated opponent so your punishment has been decided and it will be two strokes of the cane and prisoned in the dark cell for three days, if you fail to change it will be for a month!", The bulky commander said and ordered an armoured Spartan warrior to flog Ulrich who was tied to a stake. The swooshing sound made by the cane made the kids tremble, Ulrich had two long throbbing red marks on his back, the marks seemed like with a single touch his skin would split. Ulrich hung his head down as the warriors took him away. Some kids looked at him with pity, others were nonchalant, he brought it on himself.

"Prepare yourself, your next training will begin tomorrow, I noticed some of you are not present, BUT! tommorow none should be absent". The commander concluded and left.

"Let's go back, maybe Alex has woken up by now", Derek said slowly while watching Ulrich's fading back, William and Asher nodded, they left the crowd and went to their room.

Three men were watching the kids from a far distance, their levels were high so they can see the kids clearly even though they were far away.

"The boy has already awoken the alderigde rage, he is very promising, I'm sure he could bring our clan to its former glory", Gavin said, for him Alex had already satisfied his desires.

"Awakening the famous alderigde rage seems promising but it does not change the fact that he did not awaken the alderigde phantom, I know there is no much difference between the enhancement and elemental phantom but the alderigde phantom is different, he will be weaker than other successors, we need to watch how he grows and I'm not optimistic",Gareth said firmly.

"Not awakening the alderigde phantom does not make him any less good, he has great weapon mastery, he trains a lot, he has awoken the alderigde rage, it's good enough to make our clan prosper, if he still lacks a bit, we train him more!", Gavin persisted in his opinion as he stared at his brother who looked at him silently.

"He's weak, look at his personality, his friend getting hit brought him to such extent, if he encounters a setback he will break, the cheiftian should remarry, this time a pure blood will be born", Gareth said loudly.

Gavin smiled and said"his anger and love for his close ones empowers him and why do you hate the kid, dear brother?".

"I don't hate him, he is just not fit to rule the clan, we do not just need ruling we need revival, out there no one knows us, we pride ourselves as one of the strongest blood clan in our race, that's a lie, we all know it we've lost our former glory, the great silver blood clan died with the empire, our chieftain would never change his mind and we know it", Gareth said emotionally and continued"our faith is in his successor and trust me when I say the outside world will break him, Alex would never come back the same if he goes there, he is weaker than other successors both physically and emotionally, and that is the FACT!", Gareth said, he did not hate Alex but he had no faith in him either.

"What we need is an alderigde and even the cheiftian has failed in that, let us watch him for now", the third man finally spoke, his voice was soft but it was like thunder in both Gavin and Gareth ears.

"We understand", they both bowed in respect.