This next part was going to be tricky. He had to find a way to get more power, otherwise he wouldn't dominate in the foot race, and he couldn't be seen as having any weaknesses. Fortunately an opportunity presented itself. In the break between the first two tests, Group Fourteen reconvened, and they were given water. In the line to get some, one of a group of boys shoved Peter out of the way, walking up to Regus.
Clearly they intended to join him, or at least speak with him about something.
Regus didn't care. And he wasn't about to wait to find out.
"Why are you touching my subordinate?" Regus asked, turning to face them.
The boys froze, confused. Either they hadn't realized that Peter was in Regus's squad, or they had thought he would be glad to be rid of him. They didn't understand his possessive question about Peter.
"I'm going to join your group," one of the boys declared after having recovered from his surprise. He straightened himself up, standing tall and proud. Not that Regus cared what he looked like. He could see that he was weak. His ability didn't even have any combat impression.
"No, you're not," Regus replied, raising an eyebrow. He didn't understand what this boy thought would happen. Regus would not bend to a command from a support who didn't have direct authority over him due to the chain of command. Most supports weren't entirely useless, but this one was. He clearly didn't have a combat ability, but if his ability even just boosted others, then he still wouldn't feel so weak. As it was, Regus could hardly feel his ability's combat impression, which meant it was practically useless.
And at the Academy, if you couldn't fight and couldn't lead, you were worse than trash. Although it disguised its appearance quite well with many classic classes and a few other extracurriculars, the Academy was first and foremost a school for training warriors to fight the creatures that arose to attack human civilization.
Not that Regus needed another ability anyway. The two he had gained today were quite enough. He wondered if there was a way to retain them. Probably not. So his greatest moments of weakness, as they almost always were with monarchs, would be while he was asleep. Even if he woke up, if his ability refreshed as he suspected it would, then he wouldn't be able to fight, or even run.
He would be dead, if the assassin was competent and had a decent ability.
He would have to put more stock into Samantha. She could help him train his body, or at least teach him how to, theoretically. He wasn't exactly sure how the Hunters' system worked. They might save everything about teaching others until an acolyte's later years, when they were closer to being parents.
But that was just a safety, and a long shot at best. Regus needed a much better defense. Or he needed to admit his nature to himself, which he wasn't quite willing to do yet. Obviously the most ideal case would be to have someone else in the room with him, within easy reach, who had a powerful enough ability and very strong energy generation, but that presented its own host of problems, foremost among them being his... condition.
Of course, there was always the possibility of him being able to draw power from the assassin themselves, in the event that it happened, but he refused to lean on that. After all, that put the spear in his enemies' hands. And Regus would never do that, not unless it was necessary. He might not be the one making the plans, but he would make the decisions.
"I know you're weak," the boy said, leaning close. "That little display of yours? It took a lot out of you."
He was smirking. As if he had discovered something important.
People who could sense power levels were rare. Regus himself couldn't sense them very well, he just got impressions of how useful people were in battle. No wonder the boy thought he would be useful. And perhaps he would be. But Regus would not accept anyone because they attempted to bribe him with their power. His decisions were his own.
Regus had two options here. He could either allow the boy to continue believing that he was weak, probably spreading the word, and leading to less opposition to his faction in the beginning, when he started to grow it. The leaders of some factions might think they were smart, not attacking him, because the others would waste some resources on fighting him, and anyway, they could easily crush him on their own timeline.
Or, he could scare the boy half to Atrius.
Of course, Regus chose the second one.
While he grabbed the boy by his shirt and hauled him forward, his other hand touched the pendant in his pocket. This was risky, but it was doable. Metals and a specific sort of crystal were the two best conductors of whatever the strange force was that fueled abilities. They were also the best containers, especially together, and fortunately, Regus had both on this pendant. As Regus pulled power from the boy, he sent most of it to his hand, getting ready to discharge it into the pendant.
"Do not attempt to intimidate me, trash," he snarled softly into the boy's ear.
Perfect. The exact mixture of dark promise and impeccable composure that he had been meaning to display. Luckily, it seemed Regus had been right about his ability. He was confident, so that meant his ability was useful, or set out a secure career path for him, and since it had such a low combat use power, the only option was that he could sense ability strength. Luckily, Regus's ability strength varied, so as he drew in energy, he was able to make his ability strength flare up to the boy's senses.
That would scare him. And scare him it did.
The boy had assumed that he only had a limited amount of energy, and he was right. But he had likely thought it was on a time constraint, like most people whose energy was limited. He didn't realize that Regus got his power from touching people. There were no limits to his power, not like this boy had assumed.
But as long as the boy hadn't been watching him earlier, when he would have seen Regus with more power, he might assume that the nature of Regus's ability somehow hid his true power, and would only reveal it when he was touching someone.
Now came the tricky part, where the pendant would be used.
Regus could just expel the energy, and then the illusion would remain perfectly. But that option was counter-productive, because he needed the energy for the foot race. Of course, there was always the option to just keep the energy, but he didn't want to reveal too much about his ability, not yet. Eventually it would be impossible to hide, but that time hadn't come yet.
So as Regus pushed the boy to the ground, he filled the pendant with as much energy as he could, leaving himself almost empty to the boy's senses. As long as this boy spread the word, then Regus would seem that much more dangerous.
Then he turned away, facing forward again. Most of the line was gone, and pretty much everyone was watching his little display. So no one stopped him when he walked up to the front and grabbed three packets of water, for him, Peter, and Samantha, the three members of his group that hadn't gotten some yet. Rowan had already gotten some and was staring at him slack-jawed, and John had just gone ahead and grabbed one for himself while Regus was teaching the boy his place, and everyone else was watching.
The crowds here really were supernatural. What would it be like to be able to manipulate them perfectly to his flow, to move as a king among the masses? In the end he would, but now...
Regus shook his head. He would confront his nature later. Perhaps tonight. Now was the time for action, not introspection.
Regus handed Samantha and Peter the water packets, and then he opened his own and tipped it back. The water inside came out in a slow, steady flow, which Regus drank until it was empty, then he crushed it in his hand and dropped it to the ground, watching as the groundskeeper's ability reduced it to dirt. The groundskeeper was another great mystery of the Academy. But he didn't have time for mysteries right now.
Because now the second test was starting. The Puddles was set up with just upwards of twenty tracks lined out on the dirt that had been created while they were getting their water. After Group Fourteen split back into squads, they were told to approach the track one squad at a time. And everyone in Group Fourteen made way for Regus's squad.
He was ready for it.
And when he walked forward, at the head of the strongest of Group Fourteen, he walked like he owned the place. Because soon, he would.