"Randy Smith! Quickly come forward and receive your statistical results!" Said an instructor in a loud but disgruntled voice while waving something in his grasp as if he was holding a piece of trash.
"…"
The student named Randy Smith that was called upon did not rush to get his statistical results nor did he really care about his results— it was always the same results, anyway.
Therefore, with his head bent over, which hid his lifeless eyes, he slowly got up and walked to the front of the class under the watchful eyes of his fellow classmates.
Some of the students immediately began hurling mocking jeers at him as he walked past them. Their voices were loud enough for even their instructor to hear. Despite that, the instructor never seemed to care enough to stop them.
After all, everyone in this class hailed him as their class's or perhaps their academy's—
"Hahaha! Look at him, that loser is still as trashy as always. He still hadn't managed to awaken his ability after so long. Even though everyone in this class had already awakened their respective abilities. What a waste of space!"
"I know right! That loser thinks he can make it in our prestigious academy for special ability holders without any ability. He had better go home and enjoy his mama's cooking until he dies of old age. How sad it would be for his family when their son becomes the first to die in their family!"
"Hahaha! You are too wicked! What's wrong with you, man?!"
"The funny thing is that that loser always acts like a diligent and model student. He always ignores everyone except for that girl in the other class."
"Oh, by that girl, you mean her? Are you talking about that 'girlfriend' of his in the other class?"
"That's right, I am talking about her. The poor loser always hangs around with her due to them being childhood friends and all."
"Tsk. Using that relationship as a way to get close to such a fine woman, what a sly bastard! Such a waste for that girl though. I wish I could switch places with that loser."
"Hey man, you are talking like you deserve that chick or something. Are you crazy? Don't you know who is currently interested in her? Do you want to die?"
"Ah…"
As the students heard this comment, they all turned to look in a certain direction. They saw a handsome young man, who had a stern and indifferent expression on his face as he sat behind his desk.
However, unbeknownst to the other students, he was furtively looking at the student named 'Randy Smith' with a cold glint in eyes as he walked past his desk.
Meanwhile, one student pointed surreptitiously at him and said in a low voice: "You mean him, right? That son of— I mean, that rich guy in our class?"
"Damn right… I thought you had forgotten or something. Anyway, let's wait for that loser to get his results, so we can have a good laugh over his 'good luck' and 'Don't give up hope' advice that he always received from the AI as mental support. Hehe."
"You're right, it is better to focus on that trash. I don't want to get involved with that rich guy. I can't wait to diss the shit out of our precious loser, Randy. I always enjoy that helpless look on his face."
"Are you a fucking sadist or something? But you are right, that fucker never fights back or even says anything in response to our 'pep' talks. Heck, the dude never even reports us anymore. He is indeed a handy punching bag, physically and psychologically. Hehe."
…
The privileged and talented students kept calling the student that was just called by their instructor names and ridiculing him. However, the young man ignored their chatter and made his way to the front of the class. He was already used to this kind of treatment.
Behind the lectern, the instructor held within his grasp, a parcel. His statistical results had been placed in a computer chip and placed in a parcel just like everyone else's. He only needed to insert the chip into the slot on his technological bracelet to view his results on the holographic screen that would be projected.
The young man had always kept his head down, not wanting to attract any attention, but alas, it was futile.
Almost everyone in his school knew about his status within this academy for privileged and talented awakened individuals.
Why was he looked down on? It is very simple. Unlike the others, he was not one of the privileged and talented individuals in this institution.
One could say that he was at the bottom of the hierarchy.
The truth was that no one knew he had tried his absolute best in training every single day through blood and sweat.
However, hard work did not necessarily mean that there would be hard-earned or fruitful results.
With many thoughts going through his mind, he gradually approached the instructor with his disheveled curly blonde hair slumping down his face. His hair slumped down hair swayed to cover his vision due to him keeping his head down even as he walked.
At the moment he was about to reach the instructor's lectern, the instructor casually used his ability of levitation to pass him the chip with his statistical results in the distance. As he did not plan to let him get closer than a meter away from him.
The ability of the instructor was Telekinesis— the ability to move things with mental energy, without the need to physically touch them.
He was also very used to this treatment from his instructor. Everyone in this institution shunned him.
No one wanted to get close to him, but at least one person did not abandon him, no, two people. If he includes people outside of the institution, then three people.
He had always thought that he was incredibly lucky to have three people who had continued to support him. Even his parents were disappointed in him after he failed to awaken his ability more than ten times in succession.
The student named Randy Smith grabbed the floating chip with his hand and without making eye contact with the instructor, he turned around, about to leave.
In the past, whenever he made eye contact with his instructor, he would always receive a disgusted expression from him. He had experienced that look of disgust so many times, on numerous occasions, that he had developed the habit of not looking his instructor's way.
But as he was turning around, a sudden voice caused him to halt and raise his head involuntarily.
"Randy Smith! As a student in my class, you have not awakened your abilities despite attending this institution for four years. What do you have to say for yourself? As a student of this prestigious academy, to not be able to awaken your ability with all the resources supplied is blasphemy to the academy that you attend."
"That is an inconceivable result, to say the least. Even the students who lacked talent like you, after attending a prestigious academy for awakeners, they had always awakened something in the end, even if the said ability was a trash ability. And even if they didn't awaken their ability, they still managed to determine the energy they were compatible with and built their strength on that discovery!"
"But what about you?! Are you negligent or are you just incompetent trash with no compatibility with any of the energy types?! You're such a disgrace to not only me but the whole institution. As your instructor, I have the right to let you know that in a month's time if you still haven't awakened your ability by then, you would not qualify to partake in the university exams!"
"Even if your basic statistical data was better than all of the students in this class, without an awakened ability or compatible energy, it is pointless to dream of attending a university renowned for raising ability users and combatants for various occupations. So, keep that in mind as you make your future plans!"
The instructor said all these words in a cold and indifferent tone.
He did not like these types of students who wasted the academy's resources yet still failed to achieve anything noteworthy. Before they could embarrass their academy in the Eastern District any further, pests like him must be weeded out of the institution.
"I-I understand, teacher." Randy dejectedly replied with a dispirited voice. It was in low sounding voice, almost whispering, but the instructor could still hear him very clearly as if he stood right next to him.
"Hmph! Such a disgrace to our prestigious academy! Now, hurry up and make your way to your seat, and stop disturbing the other students with your unlucky presence!" The instructor chided as he pointed to Randy's desk at the back of the class.
…
Randy walked back to his seat, all the while continuing to ignore the other students' jeers and laughter.
To him, these students were like birds chirping nonstop as they mercilessly peck at worms and bugs, like frogs croaking repeatedly to trick their preys before using their tongues to catch the unsuspecting fly that flew across them, and like snakes hissing to sneer at their prey to make them feel dispirited before they pounced on them.
Obviously, he was the prey in this case, as they kept looking for some sort of fault with him every single day that he met them.
The moment he sat down and placed his chip into his bracelet, the information on the chip displayed itself on a holographic screen, which showed his statistical data.
Normally, one wouldn't do such a thing as insert their chip into their bracelet in the classroom since all their information would be on full display to others.
However, he had no choice in the matter if he didn't want to be picked on later for not obeying their command.
In reality, the students of their institution may appear or act like privileged students, but most, if not all of them, were rotten to the core.
These classmates of his always ganged up to beat him up whenever he refused to comply with their demands. Even when he decided to report them to the academy because he couldn't take it anymore, no one batted an eye.
The only response he got was an indifferent statement from the principal that said: "Students fighting amongst each other is normal, as only through fighting and fierce competitions could they learn to use their abilities."
Furthermore, the school said they wouldn't intervene in these disputes as long as the other student did not get hurt too badly by his fellow classmate or challenger.
Moreover, the academy had specialized nurses with healing abilities that could heal minor injuries. Therefore, fighting among students has become advocated by the institution on the premise or condition that both parties agreed to the duel.
Of course, Randy did not consent to any of the fights. However, the other student claimed that he did. Furthermore, since they also had an alibi who also said the same thing, then that left him, who said otherwise to be lying about the situation.
The academy would then admonish him for being unscrupulous and for trying to use the academy to punish 'good' students.
With things being the way they were, Randy Smith did not have a choice but to give in to these students' demands from then on, and one of those demands include showing them his statistical data every term and semester.
The look on Randy Smith's face right now could be described as clouded or listless. This was because he wasn't really interested in his statistical data since it was already obvious judging from the way their instructor spoke to him a while ago.
Nonetheless, he still had to fulfill these students' wishes, or he would end up suffering more after school ends. However, that was something he couldn't afford to let happen since he had his daily routine to fulfill.
And so, without any suspense, he pressed a button on his bracelet which elicited a buzzing sound from his multi-purpose technological smart bracelet.
This smart bracelet functions as a watch, a phone, and even as a computer. You could essentially use it for many things unlike the previous era's devices, where there were only smartwatches that functioned as phones but were limited in their usage.
Ziish!
The smart bracelet let out a buzzing sound when the tray on the corner of it opened. That was where you insert the computer chip. The chip functioned like an SD Card or something equivalent in the bygone era, but it was more advanced in terms of technology compared to those.
That was only natural as the current technology had improved rapidly by leaps and bounds due to the many changes that occurred on their planet earth.
Ding!
The bracelet then let out a muffled chime as it took in the chip and started processing the information on it in a swift manner. And the process was indeed noticeably short as the information on the chip was displayed on the holographic screen a few moments later.
When it did, as if they were programmed robots with specific tasks, every student in the classroom immediately turned their attention to the direction of Randy Smith's desk at the same time in anticipation of his test results.
There was a function on these smart bracelets that allowed everyone to see the information displayed on them from any direction the others were looking from. This was except at the very corner where the window-like screen makes a straight line.
But that didn't matter much since Randy Smith, 'the loser', sat at the very back of the class like an outcast.
That meant that almost everyone in the classroom could see his statistical test results if they so much as tilted their heads with enough effort to look in a 'surreptitious' manner. As if they really had to do that when the instructor didn't even mind their earlier jeering toward him.
…
Name: Randy Smith
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Rank: E
[PHYSICAL MEASUREMENT]
Physical Strength: 200
Physical Resistance: 200
Physical Stamina: 195
Physical Agility: 100
[MENTAL MEASUREMENT]
Mental Strength: 50
Mental Resistance: 45
Ability: None
Energy Type: Unknown, Unconfirmed.
Status: Based on his high Basic Statistical Data, this student has an exceedingly high potential to become a skilled combatant. However, he is in danger of failing his class due to not only failing to awaken his ability but also incompatible with any of the discovered energy types. As such, there is a possibility of this student being excluded from the upcoming university entrance examination until further notice.
|Advice: Please try harder! Don't give up hope just yet! You can do it, Student Smith, Randy!|
…