Chapter 24: Intimidation
Getting off his bed, which was quite comfortable considering the fact that he was currently far far away from proper civilization, Alaukik stretched his arms a bit, and then glanced at the clock on his table. Seeing that it was already 7am, Alaukik thought,
'Meh, it's only 7. Unless I'm wrong, we were supposed to gather by the grounds at 7:30 right? I think I can sleep for a bit more?... Nah, I guess I'll just go there early. Let's just quickly get ready now.'
And in just one and a half minutes, Alaukik was once again standing in front of the entrance of the tent, completely ready. He was in his military uniform, but for the first time, he was also wearing a blindfold around his eyes. It just made it more convenient because he unconsciously opens his eyes when concentrating on something, and when other people look at him in that state, they kind of start freaking out about how there's nothing in his eye socket and you can see the red colored muscles directly. So to make sure that doesn't happen in the middle of a battle, he wore a blindfold. Another part of wearing one was that it was just cooler looking than just keeping his eyes closed. Feeling satisfied with his looks (even though he couldn't make anything out properly), he immediately teleported out of the tent and directly to the base grounds. There, in the corner of the grounds, he waited for his company to assemble. Looking at the watch on his hand again(a quartz watch), he noticed it was 7:25, but none of his company members had assembled. Even though there were many soldiers out on the ground, training and practising together with their squad, his company had not appeared. How knew that none of them had appeared because they were all required to meet at this very location at 0730, and were supposed to assemble by at least 0720. Seeing his watch tick on, Alaukik patiently waited for a few more minutes, until finally, at 0731, a group of 90 men came walking towards him. And, without greeting him whatsoever, they stood in front of him. Out of 90 men, only one of them gave Alaukik a salute and stood properly. The rest all were standing with lazy postures and not caring for what Alaukik thought. Seeing this, Alaukik, who had planned to get to know his company and interact with them, decided to change his game plan.
'So this is what Hriday meant by dissatisfaction among the soldiers huh..'
*Clap Clap*
Getting their attention with his claps, Alaukik started to speak,
"Good morning my soldiers. Today, we initially had gathered here to get to know each other, and to build an understanding between us. However, it seems like most of you have a different idea. Now, why don't we start by addressing the problems you might have? Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about?"
Hearing his speech, many of the company members began whispering between each other.
"Who does he think he is huh? Just because he got promoted to major by his relationship, he thinks he can command us?"
"Heh, all of us here are geniuses from various parts of the Federation. Does he think he's strong enough to control all of us?"
"Look at him, he barely looks like my child in age. Does he believe we'd be willing to follow him?"
"Just because General Hriday was forced to include him in the military does not mean that we have to follow him! Brothers! Let's show this child that we aren't tame chickens who'll listen to a child!" came the voice of one of the more outspoken looking soldier. Hearing this, a lot of soldiers started nodding their heads and looking at the one soldier. Seeing this, the soldier became more confident and decided to walk towards Alaukik. Coming to the front of the group, he looked down at Alaukik, and then spoke,
"Child, you aren't fit to lead us. Just because you were able to join the military at a high rank because of your connections does not mean that we will be willing to accept you as our leader. Hmph, I bet you don't even have the power to beat one of us, much less our entire group."
Hearing this, Alaukik glanced at the soldier who walked out, and then gazed back at the company. He then asked,
"Does everybody agree with this soldier here?"
Hearing this, the rest of the company glanced at each other for a few seconds, before some started agreeing with the soldier, and slowly, most of the company was agreeing with the outspoken soldier. Some of them even started taunting Alaukik,
"Hmph, he's just a child. Heck, he can't even see. What can he do to us?"
But, from the middle of the company, a group of 5 soldiers stepped out. They started walking towards Alaukik before giving him a proper salute and then saying,
"We do not agree sir!" Out of them, the one who saluted Alaukik at the beginning stepped up and said,
"We believe that you are fit to lead us sir! General Hriday would not assign you if that were not the case!"
"Is that so.. Well I'm glad at least some soldiers have common sense. Then, you five, stand behind me. I think it's high time I teach the rest of these idiots a lesson."
Hearing this, the five immediately walked behind Alaukik, and stood there silently. Seeing this, Alaukik started to like this group of soldiers. As for the rest.. He would have to teach them a lesson.
"Very well soldiers," gazing at the rest of the company, he continued,
"Today's lesson will be, reality is often not what it seems." Saying this, he spread his arms wide open and then with a huge grin on his face, whispered
"Teleport."
Suddenly, to the surprise of the five men, Alaukik and the company disappeared from the training grounds. Being very confused as to what happened, they looked at each other and tried to understand what had just happened. Suddenly, one of the men pointed up in the air and said, his voice shaking,
"There.. They're all up there."
Hearing this, the rest looked up, only to see their entire company falling from the sky at extremely high speed. Whereas, the reactions of those in the sky were completely different. One second, they were on solid ground, and the next, they were free falling from nearly 2 km in the air. When they realised what was happening, most of them started screaming loudly, while some tried to reach for their CAD's, which they kept with themselves at all times. However, before they could try to cast a magic spell, Alaukik appeared beside them, standing in the air and calmly looking at them. He then grinned even more and whispered once more,
"Bind. Portal." And with this one simple word 'Bind' , all the soldiers suddenly couldn't move their hands and feet. It was as if there were chains around them, tying them together and not allowing any movement. And so they fell, fell straight towards the hard, hard earth. And while all this might have seemed like a long time, it was barely one second before they all reached the ground. However, instead of becoming squashed meat, they found themselves back in the air, falling once again. This continued for at least ten minutes, during which most of the company had fainted, with barely 2 or 3 retaining consciousness. Finally, Alaukik decided it was enough and so closed the portal he made in the ground connecting it and the area 2 km above ground, and then made a cushion (using melding) large enough to catch the entire company, so that when they landed, they would still be in one piece. Once most of the company landed on the cushion safely, he gazed at the 3 soldiers retaining consciousness,one of which was the outspoken soldiers,and asked them,
"So? Do you think this Blind Child is worthy of leading you?" To which, the only response he received was,
"You.. you monster," before those 3 also lost consciousness.
"Well, you aren't wrong but, isn't it rude to call your leader a monster? All I put you through was a little exercise… Eh, not like it matters anyway. Hmm, what do I do with them now?..."
Hearing this, one of the five men who were spared from the exercise said,
"Sir! If I may speak," seeing Alaukik nod his head towards him, he continued,
"I believe we should carry them to the infirmary sir. Most of them have dislocated joints, while some of the severe one's also have broken bones.."
"Ooh? It looks like you have quite the eye soldier. Well, sure, take them to the infirmary. I will go back to my tent. Ah! Before you leave, do tell me your names."
"Yes sir! My name is Vinay Mane sir!"
"Usman Atallah sir!"
"Ravi Mani sir!"
"Amin Bari sir!"
"Labib Sinai sir!"
"Very well, Vinay, Usman, Ravi, Amin and Labib, go take these idiots to the infirmary. And also, remember to remind them of what happened in case they forget it due to the shock. Well, I hope tomorrow you all will assemble on time." And with a slight wave of his hand, Alaukik vanished, leaving the five gazing at the huge pile of people who they had to transport.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SoManyAngels
SoManyAngels This took some time to edit. Heck, I had to come up with new powers in the middle of the chapter, cause I realized Alaukik barely has any. He only has melding as a offensive one, while the rest are all support. So, if you guys could come up with new ideas, that would be amazing!
Anyways, I'm kinda feeling dizzy myself after writing this chapter, so Imma drop out now!
Thanks for reading and have a great day ahead!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone