7:30 PM
Couple of hours after the battle against Don Ventus…
Private infirmary of Phoenix Zero gearer circle…
Vision was a bit blurry. Storm blinked twice, his unclear vision soon getting clearer. He looked around himself in a frenzy just to discover himself in a hospital bed inside a fairly large room for a single patient.
"Wait, where am I?" Storm tried to get up. Got back down soon enough as he figured out not a single trace of strength left in him, he was completely worn-out.
He looked to his right. Saw a bedside box. Logo of Phoenix Zero was printed on the mattress that was on top of the box.
--How did I end up in a hospital of all places? Oh, I remember now, I was fighting against Don Ventus, the leader of the dark band called DEADEYES, with my teammates, but we were failing and we would have, most likely, if….. Electron hadn't shown up at the very end!--[Storm thinking in his own mind]
Storm got cut off while reminiscing about the past events because of the sound of the door knob getting twisted, meaning someone was entering the room. Maybe the doctor is coming to check in. But he doesn't have the slightest idea as to why he was so worn-out! It was bizarre. Nobody would get hospitalized like that because of running low on gear energy!
--Now that I think about it, I've never been in a situation where I ran so low on gear energy!--
"Oh, would you look at that, you're finally awake, that sure was a long beauty sleep young man!". The doctor, who was in his mid thirties, entered the room with a gentle smile on his face.
"Oh… Exactly, for how long... was I out?" Storm asked the doctor confusedly.
"About a couple of hours, you were so weak after you reached your critical state that you instantly fainted, right after you talked to Emily Lance."
"Seriously, I never heard anyone fainting just because of that!"
"I am a professional doctor, working for Phoenix Zero for over 8 years, I've never seen or heard something like this either! But, don't worry about it too much! It'll be alright before you know it, just try not to push yourself too hard!" The doctor assured him with a mild laugh.
"Um… So, when I'm getting discharged?" Storm scratched the back of his head.
"You'll have to stay the night here, you'll be discharged tomorrow, we just need to examine you a little bit longer before we can discharge you."
"Ok, thanks for letting me know, doctor….." Storm kept his sentence incomplete in order to learn the doctor's name.
"Rushow, Dr. Erick Rushow!"
"Oh, ok, thanks Dr. Rushow!"
In response the doctor smiled by closing his eyes and putting his hands up in front of his own face performing a gesture of kind reply.
Doctor Rushow left the room. Circle leader, Van Dawson was waiting there just outside.
"It's just as you suspected Dawson…"
"Go on…"
"The boy has a pretty powerful electricity ability gear inside him, that much we all already knew by now, but his gear is….. not complete…"
"What do you mean by that?" Dawson asked him to clarify.
"What I mean is his powers are broken because he inherits a broken gear… This is the reason that he was given an arcane emblem. His power was bizarre and almost unidentifiable."
"That is certainly pretty bizarre, not gonna lie, in my days as a Phoenix Zero general member and now as the leader, I have encountered lots of weirdness, but nothing of this sort…" He paused for a brief moment. Then added, "Is this something to worry about?"
"There's no need to worry about this kind of thing, He just has to make sure that he doesn't push himself too hard. He can go into a very unstable position both physically and internally for processing a broken gear too much." Doctor Rushow smiled and advised Dawson to stay free from worries.
In response, Dawson remained silent.
Dawson set off for his destination.
Doctor Rushow walked towards the half-open door of Storm's room.
By the sound of the door, Storm looked to his right.
He saw doctor Rushow. He could see the concerned look in his eyes. The doctor looked serious. Storm squinted at him. "Back so soon, got anything to tell me? And why do you look so pale, have you seen any ghost or what?'' Storm tried to joke.
But the doctor did not seem to be in the mood to joke. But his serious look soon turned into a smiling look.
"No, nothing, I just came to close the door. By the way, never try too hard, or you'll be hospitalized in the middle of a battle in the future with a full power drain. Hey, you know you won't always get a doctor!" Although the doctor said those words with a smile, the words sounded very warning.
"O-ok ..." Storm was left completely baffled by Dr. Rushow's words. He was able to see through him and what he was trying to say, he understood something was wrong.
"Now go to sleep, you will be discharged tomorrow morning. It is not possible to be physically and mentally strong without sleep. Good night."
"Good night to you too."
After saying good night to each other, the sound of the door getting closed was heard. Storm turned off the lights in his room.
It was 8 PM when he went to sleep. It was a bit early for him than usual, but he had to deal with it, he was a patient after all. After rolling in bed for half an hour, he finally fell asleep.
Before he knew it, it was 7 in the morning.
--Seriously!! It felt like I slept just a minute ago. Well, whatever, I was said to be discharged early in the morning. So it could be anytime now.--
Storm got down from his bed and slipped his feet inside the sandle.
Then went to take a shower. He got out after 15 minutes. Feeling completely fresh after taking the shower. Wore his usual t-shirt and the jacket that he got the other day. Changed the pajamas and wore his baggy trousers.
Changed the sandles and put on the boots.
He waited for a while. After that Doctor Rushow appeared.
"You are good to go now! Once you go back to the dorm, check the outfits on your bed. You have to wear them because…
--Well, here I am, in the Phoenix academy! The outfits were for that.
I was among the 12 students of the Phoenix academy's alpha class which was developed to improve the overall B and less rank gearers to have some room for improvement.
Well to give a perfect description of the outfit in one word- it was 'Perfect'. Storm was able to understand the beauty of it because his sense of fashion was top class!
They wore a black vest on top of a navy blue, full-sleeved shirt with an unfoldable high collar alongside black pants for the males or short skirts for the females with long socks and flexible canvas shoes.
"Now, what do you think of our academy?" Robin asked while gloating.
"My initial response----- I NEVER, EVER thought I'll be in one of these schools again!" Storm replied.
"Bro, that was insulting, it's not like your typical elementary or high school where kids go to learn and graduate as thesaurus, it's an academy to perfect all of the gearers to achieve the overall rank of S and A."
"Now what is this ranking system you guys got here?"
"Man, you don't know a single thing about the gearers circles, do you?" Robin took a break between his words to see Storm's facial expression, which clearly told him that he was clueless. "(Sigh…) Ok, let me continue, the overall ranking system is the average of two different standards of measurement of a gearer. No. 1 being the power lvl, which determines a gearer's power lvl and gives them the emblem based on the results, I'm suppose Kiri already told you back when you received your emblem?" He stopped again for Storm's response, he nodded to confirm that he's aware of the power lvl system. "Ok, so you got an idea of what is the power lvl system, now there's another thing when it comes to determine someone's ranking, which is experience lvl, experience lvl are not limited to one or 2 or any one numbered stage, experience lvl can even be 1000+ based on hypothesis. Highest experience level in our kingdom is gained by the Gearer Supreme, the top of all the top gearers in this nation of Sapphire. His rank is SS+ which means he is overall 2x stronger and experienced than any SS ranked gearers who are 2x more upper in overall ranking than any S rank. Whatever, back to the point where we were, experience lvl is gained and upgraded as you keep on going though many battle experience, it could be simulation, it could be friendly sparring, basically it could be anything which includes uses of a gearer's abilities. Averaging one's constant power lvl and the experience lvl there's multiple overall ranks starting from 'D' all the way up to 'SS+', do you understand now?" Robin ended his long lecture as he took a long breathe in.
"So which grade are you guys in?"
"There's no grade, the only way to graduate from here is to achieve at least an overall level." Robin added, "We've been here for couple of years, haven't achieved the A level yet, 3 of us (he's talking about former RISING 3) have stated as bottom of the table as D ranks, now we're B ranks, one more step away, but it's a long shot."
"Keep slacking off and you'll be forever stuck as a noob!" Emily entered the classroom of 1-X.
"Does rank B sound to you like a weakling's position? Don't forget you're the same as well!" Robin showed her the index finger meaning he has pointed out something really deep!
"Yeah, rankings are just hollow stats of a person, I've seen a lot of stupid with higher ranks, mister!" Emily countered him.
While both of them were busy being on each other's tail by debating things one after another a nearly 6 feet tall man entered the classroom.
"AHMMMMMM!" The men stood in front of the teacher's desk and tried to get everyone's attention.
Everybody seemed to be feeling his presence and looked at him for a moment, but instantly got busy in what they were doing previously.
"Eh...…...."
The guy was left surprised for a bit but soon he realized something. It was his appearance which didn't strike the students as of a teacher's! He was wearing a black tracksuit, casual pants, a couple of fingerless gloves just like Storm's. It's not that which was bizarre, he wore a headband which extended up to his left eye and worked as an eye patch. It was making him look more like a pirate than a teacher in the academy!
"Yo, guys... Yeah, all of you, could you pay at least a bit more attention to me? I'm your teacher here…"
Everyone looked back at him again and this time they were kind of shocked to realize that it was their teacher. Most of them in the classroom were familiar with him and had been under him in this class for over at least a couple of years. But what threw them off from recognizing him was his new appearance with the gloves and eye patching headband! But now their jaw draping reaction tells that they don't believe how much that headband has made him look different. Only 3 of them including Storm did not understand anything, because they just joined the academy today. So he just looked left and right to get his answer.
"I see some unfamiliar faces, so I take it there, 1… 2.. 3… Yes, 3 new students here. So it's necessary that I introduce myself. I'm Moreno Spyte.
"Come in Miss Sarah, is principal on his way?" Moreno saw a woman standing outside waiting for the signal to get in.
"Yes, he's on the way here as we speak!" The dark haired female wearing a casual white shirt 1 button unhooked, tie and a brown belt holding up a matching brown colored medium short skirt spoke up in reply to Moreno.
Moreno fixed his long spiky dark blue hair as he said, "That man is never on his way, he just appears out of nowhere. That guy is a genius to be able to warp space so that he doesn't even need to travel, phew, what a cool guy he is…"
"Let's begin…."
"Eh… who now?? Hey principal, don't scare us like that! I almost had a heart attack!" Moreno got absolutely surprised seeing the pretty faced blonde short wavy haired principal with his white suit on just beside him out of the blue.
"No more delays, our students are watching adult circus for long enough, I could tell by the vibe I'm getting from this room!" the principal spoke up strictly but soon he started talking to students with a soft voice with a pretty smile glued to his face, "Those who are old here, know me well enough, even though I barely ever show up. I'm Nite Kenon, the principal of the Phoenix Academy. I welcome all of you to the 5th academic year of the academy. Hope you achieve a lot and finally graduate as an A rank. That's all, I'm done here, continue, Moreno and Sarah."
A blink and he was gone. Everyone including Sarah was dumbstruck by this sudden appearance and disappearance except Moreno who was fanboying over the principal having stars in his eyes with a 'He's so cool!' expression on his face.
Seeing all of these Sarah felt like she's the only sane person there as she lightly slapped her forehead in disappointment!
[Storm's POV]
--That academy sure is something else. It's gonna be a bizarre ride, I can already tell by the looks of it. Full of weirdos!--
"Ahem, I'm Sarah Reaner, the senior teacher just like Mr. Moreno, as it's the start of a new academic year we'd like to discuss something. Moreno, please continue…" She passed her speech onto him only to discover he was sitting on the chair in front of the desk and sleeping, she shook him awake, "Um, could you please discuss something that you should MISTER MORENO!!!"
"Ye.. Yeah, I'm awake, yes, I'm doing it. Don't be mad!" No matter how much he tried to convince her that he was awake and listening to everything that she had to say and paying attention it didn't make her any less mad at him!
He took a deep breath in as he stated his speech, "Our academy students, each and every year are treated as a freshman who have just joined unless you are really close to becoming an A rank which is the whole point of this academy treatment to all of the rookies and the members of the Phoenix Zero gearer circle who are below Rank A. If you don't know how the ranking works by now, then shoot yourself with a blaster!"
Everyone just sweatdropped at the same time at his playful way of violent speech!
"So, there's nothing called yearly graduation here, only way to graduate is to become an overall rank of A. One question might rise after this, that, why there's no different grades based on who's in which rank from bottom to top? Because the only way a gearer could become experienced is by doing the teamwork with the gearer of different rankings, that way there will also be a way for each and every student here to self evaluate themselves. They can also have some friendly rivalry, competition which could lead them to become better and better. Being with the students of the same ranking won't do any of that."
"Yeah, we already knew all of that, it was an old speech, what's new this year?" Jade became impatient and raised her hand with the question.
"I am getting to the spicy part, just be patient, Jade." Moreno tried to keep her less overhyped and impatient.
"Nngh.." Jade pouted as she looked away.
"Our academic year starts in July of every year. We still somehow managed this year as well to be the start of the academic year in July, but technically it's almost August, we're just 4 days away from it. All of our teachers including myself was so busy with missions we barely had any time to make it in time for this year's activities to begin." He stopped for a while then dropped the bombshell, "The new and spicy news is, alongside having new teams formed with the teachers for your academic gearer missions, there is going to be an alliance of the 7 official gearer circle of the Sapphire kingdom's academies, it's an approach to strengthen the bond between each and every circle, academy and to make the future generation of this nation strong enough to protect it from any form of harm. You can call it a mini version of the world organization, we've also heard the news that this approach is also taken by our neighbor nation- Pearl Kingdom. Emily, you should be the one of the very few who knew that news even before it hit the streets, right?"
Emily nodded in response, although Storm had literally no idea at all as to why she knew news from another kingdom when it was not even available for public disclosure.
"Finally, we know there's always a tournament each and every 4 years, it happens between all those under A rankings, but this year being under A rank is not going to mean that you can participate in the tournament, this alliance of academy which we're calling the 'United Gearers Academy', 'UGA' in short, we'll hold a tournament among the students to justify and narrow down the number of students who can participate in the nationwide tournament, it's like an entrance exam as the main tournament will also have unregistered/unofficial academy's students as well as individuals below the rank of A!"
Right after he dropped the bombshell, everyone became so ecstatic that the classroom sounded like the tournament crowd in the gallery itself!
"Give it your all guys, train hard so that none of you're left behind!" Sarah gave thumbs up to all of the 12 students.
"Before you jump off your seats, there's one more thing left to do in today's class, no training, no written QnA! We'll be deciding the teams for this year for the academic missions under the six pro teachers!"
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End of the 4th chapter
Next time on Phoenix Zero
Chapter 5: "The new teams"
As the new teams will form we'll also get an interesting reveal regarding Emily, also we'll find out about each and every 12 students of the class 1-X, the class of the gearers. Storm will figure out what will be his first mission under the pro teacher and gearer- _________! (Next time).
Info Book
Page 1
[Gear beasts or gear summons doesn't have eyes, sometimes they lack the head, because these creatures are not alive, they take the shape based on their gear type and origins, as eyes are the windows to the soul, they lack the feature because they are not living souls, instead of a soul their driving force is the nano biochemical elements known as 'Gears'. This rule is applied similarly in case of most of the mutants as well including the giant spider from the 2nd and the 3rd chapter.]