Rhys barely had enough time to process what Aria had just told him, before she opened the doors to the lecture hall. Suddenly a room full of cautious, curious and aggressive eyes openly glared at the three of them standing in the doorway. Thrown off guard by their gazes, Rhys decided to clarify what she told him later, for now he would just find his seat.
Rhys, Connor and Aria had to spilt up because the only available desks were far away from each other. While Connor and Aria headed for their desks, Rhys carefully walked to his seat, making sure not to bump into anyone and possibly ignite the tension in the room.
The seats were configured in semi-circular rows that looked in on the lecturer's desk and large board in the front of the class. Unfortunately, most of the seats near the back were already taken so Rhys had to take the empty spot on the far side of the front row. He glanced back to see Aria taking her seat near the Center of the room and Connor settling down at a desk a few people in front of Sampson.
Rhys hooked his bag over his chair, and set out his notepad, MCP issued tablet, textbooks and stationery on the slanted desk. Finally everything was settled and the thick atmosphere was dissipating now that everyone was seated. He was about to look through the textbook when the girl next to him spoke up in a surprisingly friendly tone.
"Good morning fellow Sector 5 student, My name is Georgie." Rhys turned to see the bright eyed, dark-haired girl beside him. He put two and two together and gathered that she must be the Georgina Callahan from the newspaper.
"Enchanted." She flashed him a prim smile with dimples on her cheeks. She held out her hand with her palm facing downwards, as if she expected Rhys to kiss the back of her hand like some suitor greeting a princess.
Rhys awkwardly reached out his hand to take hers. He was definitely not going to kiss it, but perhaps when he took her hand he could smoothly manoeuvre their contact into a handshake.
[Aura Detection used +5 Exp]
[Name: Georgina Callahan]
[Aura: Crystallokinesis (weak)]
Her aura was on the smaller side but it was beautiful. It looked like she was encased in hundreds of shards of glittering crystals.
['Even if her ability to harness her power is weak, do not underestimate this one.'] The warning was clear in the teacher's voice.
Rhys immediately pulled back his hand when he saw her power. Even if the teacher had not warned him, he would not have touched her hand because a script for crystallokinesis once came into Gramp's script shop. Of course he read the script, so he knew that In its weaker application, Crustallokinesis was a dangerous power that could crystallise any moisture that it's core holder touched. The moisture in question could range from water vapour in the air, to blood or excess moisture on a person's hand. Even if she wasn't planning anything, it would be wiser not to touch her.
"Hey, I'm Rhys." He safely rested his hands on his desk. "Nice to meet you."
The girl's lips pursed and her forehead creased showing her displeasure. Maybe she felt slighted by him not taking her hand, well he did not care because Rhys preferred not to turn into a crystal, he was sure it would painful.
She loosened her face and gave Rhys a curt nod before turning forward, probably wiping their exchange from her memory. Although she looked calm, the swirling grey aura of the person sitting next to her spiked and a face full of rage turned to glare at Rhys.
The way his eyes simmered with anger startled Rhys, who was not sure why this random person looked like gutting him was the only thing he wanted to do.
"How dare you disrespect Lady-"
Georgie's hand clasped onto the angry guy's shoulder, which stopped him mid-sentence. Like a dog being kept at bay by its master, the guy turned back to face the front of the class.
Rhys realised that the guy must be the other person from Sector 1, Kataru Romano.
[Aura Detection used +5 Exp]
[Name: Kataru Romano
Aura: Gravity Manipulation (average)]
Rhys glanced at the two of them curiously. Both of them had very rare core abilities, which was practically evidence of them being from the districts of Sector 1, that and their long names. Also, Kataru had clearly called Georgie 'Lady' before she cut him off, which was only more evidence of what Aria had explained to him and Connor on the walk there. What she told them was pretty shocking, but it was becoming more believable by the second in the company of Georgie and Kataru.
The practice of something called 'Nobility' was real in Sector 1. And 'Tardras' was the name of one of those noble families. Rhys frowned, still finding it hard to believe.
The sound of heavy boots clacking against corridor outside the hall caught everyone's attention. Rhys and the other A rankers stared waiting to see who would walk through the door.
The door slid open and out came none other than the General. The same general who rescued Rhys from the nightmare planet where he infused with his core, and possibly the same general who promised Connor answers about his power. Moreover, the general definitely had something to do with teenagers from Sector 1 entering a college in Sector 5. This was the large, muscled man of the hour. He was the keeper of everyone's secrets and the holder with all the answers to everyone's questions.
[Aura Detection used +5 Exp]
[Title: The General
Aura: Pyrokinesis (very, very Strong)]
His fiery aura was incredible, it was like he was standing the middle of a tornado of fire. It was the largest and most vivid aura he had ever seen, far more incredible than Connor's even. Furthermore it was pyrokinesis, so he could both generate and manipulate fire.
'Very, very strong?' Rhys squinted at the System's reading.
['This man has incredible power for a human, it's almost in humane. The System's measuring system is based on the average strength of humanity, so I'm sure this man is pushing the upper limits of what is possible for a human. Know that someone reading as very very strong is at the limits for what the current measuring system can read.']
Rhys gulped slightly thinking about the gravity of what the teacher said. The General was at the top of the food chain of humanity, a predator and someone he could not cross.
Alongside the General were two soldiers dressed in black combat-ready military gear, complete with sheathed weapons and masks that covered the bottom halves of their faces, leaving only their eyes on display.
They were intimidating as hell, especially when Rhys used his aura detection on them.
[Name: Unknown]
[Combination Aura: 2 Auras detected]
[Auras: Enhanced Senses (average)
• Healing (strong) ]
[Name: Unknown]
[Combination Aura: 2 Auras detected]
[Auras: Strengthening (strong)
• Barrier Creation (average) ]
Rhys stared dumbfound at the two military personnel standing behind the General. As if the old General was not bad enough, he brought two double aura, double core monsters with him.
"Stand up and greet the General." The soldier with the Strengthening and Barrier Creation core growled at the students through his mask.
Like obedient little students, everyone got to their feet and greeted the general with a solemn nod of the head with their arms at their sides.
"Don't be so hard on the babies." The General waved off the soldier's serious tone. "Students, please take your seats."
Rhys sat and stared up at the grey bearded general, entranced by his fire aura of ferocious dancing flames.
"I have come here this morning to introduce myself to the most promising students among our large batch of freshmen this year." He grinned widely, showing off a perfect set of white teeth. He looked like he belonged in a toothpaste commercial.
"I am General Hawthorne and I am in charge of this Military college. You may call me 'General Hawthorne', or just 'General'." Rhys was really intrigued by this old man who was the complete opposite of his Gramps.
"Besides introducing myself, I've come to introduce you to your teachers who will be teaching and guiding you throughout your first year here." He gestured to the two soldiers at his sides.
"This is-" The General squinted down at the soldier with the Enhanced Senses and Healing core. Rhys watched as the life drained from the soldier's eyes as he realised that the General did not know his name.
"Well, I think it's probably best for them to introduce themselves." The General cleared his throat and made a hasty exit for the door. Startled by his sudden departure, Rhys wanted to stop him and have him answer some questions, but he was already out the door before Rhys could speak up.
Everyone deadpanned thinking about the behavior of someone who was supposed to be dignified and honourable, like a General should be. Instead he forgot the names of his subordinates and gave a half assed greeting to the new A ranked Freshmen.
The two soldiers in front sighed in resignation. To Rhys it looked like they had been dealing with the General's behaviour for quite a while.
"You may call me 'Teacher A'." Said the soldier with the Healing and Enhanced senses core. "And you may call this soldier, 'Instructor A'."
Rhys pondered their 'simplistic' names. Were they being referred to as Teacher and Instructor A because they were in charge of the A rank students? Or were they going by these names because they didn't want to reveal their identities. Along that point they had not even taken their masks off.
Teacher A continued to speak. "As your teacher I will be guiding you through the theoretical and knowledge based side of your training, while instructor A will be in charge of the physical and combat side of your training."
Teacher A stepped forward to the front desk and began to set up the computer. "Today's lesson is about world history and current affairs. Being from the Sector 5 districts, you students most likely do not have an accurate understanding of the Sector system, especially the students from District 20. Today's lesson is about clearing that up so you are all on the same page. You only need to look at the board and listen. If you have a question raise your hand."
An old world map was displayed on the board in front of the classroom. The seven continents as they used to be before the Xerserth invaded.
"I hope everyone knows what this is." Teacher A cleared his throat. "This is a world map from 2021, showing the seven continents as they used to be."
With the onscreen mouse Teacher A pointed to the seven continents and repeated their names. "Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, North American, South America and Antarctica."
The picture of the screen changed to show the current world map which was a vastly different picture.
"As you all know, among the Xerserth armies was an incredibly powerful being, called a Saint, who had an ability the military has of yesterday evening officially named 'Terrakinesis', or as popular culture has renamed it 'Terrorkinesis', because of the terror and devastation is brought to Earth. From peace talks with the Xerserth we confirmed that the ability is in fact a core ability that allows the user to reshape landscapes and terrain, even on a planetary level."
['Terror-kinesis, that's humorous.'] the teacher chuckled.
Rhys looked at the new world map. The Saint used his power to push the continents back together, creating a kind of Pangea. South America tucked into Africa. North America now bordered Northern Africa and Western Europe. Australia and New Zealand were pushed north into Asia along with many other Island countries.
"The Xerserth decided to push the continents together in order to easily extract the resources they wanted from Earth without having to travel long distances and over oceans to colonise the entire planet. As you can see, pushing the continents together was not the only terra manipulation they did."
Teacher A outlined the ovular shape of Pangea on the screen.
"Parts of the old seven continents that stuck too far out of the Pangea continent were broken off by the Saint, and used to create the belt of islands around Pangea."
Rhys stared up at the map and marvelled at the kind of power that would allow a being to reshape a whole planet.
"Eastern Russia, all of Antarctica, Southern South America, Southern Africa, Most of Greenland, all of Canada's islands as well as North America's Alaska were broken off of Pangea, and broken up into smaller islands and spread around the ocean to become part of belt of islands encircling the Pangea continent."
Rhys stared at the circular belt of islands that surrounded Pangea. He knew from school that the government and the military had only been able to reach about three thousand of the islands surrounding Pangea, but apparently there were thousands more that still had not been located.
"Some of you might not be aware, but a few of the islands on the belt were used as dumpsites for animals and other alien beings that the Xerserth apparently did not find valuable anymore."
Rhys frowned at this. This was completely new information to him.
"Yes, you at the back?" The teacher pointed to a student at the back of the class with his hand up.
"Um, Teacher A, what exactly was dumped there?" Rhys was relived to see that he wasn't the only ignorant one.
Teacher A nodded, as if deeming the student's question worthy of answering. "As you should know, the Xerserth are a race of beings that colonise other planets habitually. Many of which were not able to fight back like Earth was. From these colonised planets the Xerserth seemed to have taken the native beings as well as native animals as test subjects. When they were done with them, they would dump those beings and creatures in the seas or on the islands of our Pangea. That is why alien species of sea dwelling creatures now inhabit the seas around Pangea as well as a few aliens and alien creatures inhabiting the islands."
'That's actually pretty cool.' Rhys tried not to smile thinking about the aliens running around on the islands.
"Yes, you?" Teacher A pointed at a different student.
"Aren't there like any collisions with these aliens. Like, if they stay on Earth's islands isn't there gonna be a war?"
"No. As of now, Earth's government and Military has maintained a friendly relationship with the Aliens inhabiting our waters and islands. They too are the victims of Xerserth and we have maintained a successful relationship by mutually sharing information, resources and technology."
Rhys could only wonder what they looked like, and hoped he would get to see them one day. There had to be pictures in the library.
"I digress. You'll learn more about those beings during your island expedition later."
The class broke out into whispers and excited movement at the hint of going to see the islands. However, Rhys noticed the puzzled look on Georgie and Kataru's faces. The looked confused as to why the others would be excited by this, as if the beings on the island belt were old news to them.
"Let's refocus." Teacher A brought everyone's attention back to the board. "Now let's talk about the Sectors and Districts as well as the Nobles in Sector 1."
Rhys's eyes shot to the board again, he was surprised and excited to match what the teacher would tell them with Aria's explanation. Was a practice like nobility really happening in this new age?