MATT
"Excuse me, class," Mr. An says. "For a while."
All of my classmates do a frowning expression, but they can't oppose a teacher's command after all.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation. I promise. This will be fast and short."
Mr. An attracts the attention of everyone except for Jeon. Here he is, looking at the floor, resting his cheek on his hand. This must be because of yesterday.
"I will hand you your Evaluation Data Sheet. Take great care of this to not get lost."
Mr. An hands the papers to the one sitting in the front row.
"You may begin distributing."
After his words, all of them start moving in sync with each other like dolls. The rustling resounds. Then, the hands stop moving, but nothing reaches me. I tap the shoulder of the girl sitting in front.
"Excuse me, do you have any more of that?"
"You're asking about this?"
"Yes. I didn't receive any."
My classmate raises her hand.
"Yes, Ms. Yun?"
"Sir, I would like to ask. Do you still have any EDS left?"
He looks on the rostrum. "There's nothing. Why have you asked?"
"Because he still doesn't receive his." she's glanced at me. "I thought you might still have it in you."
"Ah. Yes. Mr. Cruz, please meet me after class."
"Yes, sir."
What for?
"Alright, everyone, you can prepare to leave the room. Thank you and goodbye. Don't forget to visit any clubs."
"Farewell, Matt," Jeon says.
Hmm? "Yeah. See you later," he spoke to me for the very first time today.
While packing my things, I feel a light touch on my shoulder. Behind me stands Mr. An, and he waves his hand.
"Matt, follow me."
With a blue folder in hand, he leads me to the backmost part of the classroom. The area's separated from the rest of the room because of the black divider wall.
"Have a seat."
"Thank you, sir."
I sit on the black plastic chair that's facing his desk. Meanwhile, he peeks into the classroom.
"It seems like everyone has left."
"Excuse me sir, but what do we need to talk about?"
"We need to talk about a lot of things, but first, can you answer my question?" he clasps his hands on the wooden surface. "Please tell me what happened at the Research Facility detail by detail."
I nod. "I and Jeon went together to the research facility sometime around 8. When we saw students gathering around, we walked to the vicinity. To be honest with you, I don't know about my own ability."
"I'm well aware of that. The government of your country told us."
Oh. "So, Jeon asked me to go with him. Upon entering, we encountered several facilitators, but our group followed Mr. Evans until the site of the assessment."
"Please continue."
"I told Mr. Evans about the status of my ability."
"What did he say?"
"He led us to a room, opposite to the testing room, and told us to go there."
"Is Mr. Myers still with you at that time?"
"Yes."
He leans to the table. I raise my brows. He nods.
"In that room, I told the staff about my ability. Then, she shot me using something gun-like that flashes a dark blue light."
He smiles.
"After that, she returned to the computer. It seemed like she's looking for data or something..."
"Data?"
"Yeah. I remembered her talking to her co-worker. Her expression changed considerably, but anyway, she informed me my ability is Heat Transfer. She warned they're quite uncertain about the results but advised me to use the testing room for Class 3 students."
"And then, you didn't wait long for your turn to be assessed?"
"Yes."
"What about the time you're using your ability. What do you experience?"
This is starting to sound like an interrogation.
"I entered the room. There's a red circle mark in the middle. When I stepped onto that, a barrier blocked the door suddenly. I executed my ability, or atleast I tried several times."
"At first, I tried to concentrate, but nothing happened, so I decided to think about something angering to raise the possibility. Unfortunately, it still didn't result in anything."
"And then?"
"And then I tried thinking about the concept of Heat Transfer. The next thing I knew was my surroundings being red. I restrained myself. However, I could not stop. I couldn't. I think I collapsed because of that."
"The doctor said you collapsed because of overexertion and exhaustion."
"That's all I can remember."
"Alright. It's my turn to explain things." he rests his chin on top of his palm. "I know, you're wondering about my questions, but the truth is, I only wanted to hear the side of the story from you, yourself."
"Back at the hospital, the doctors ran several tests. It is very unusual to have a 50 °C fever, even for a Sken like us, and so that's why they took a sample of your blood."
"Really?"
He nods, still maintaining his firm gaze. "Human and Skens have many similar organs in the body. One example is the heart that pumps blood throughout the body. However, what makes us different from humans is our core."
I think I heard that somewhere before.
"The core is located inside our heart and is the main source of our ability. If damaged, two outcomes are expected. Either a Sken's ability will deteriorate, or worse, they will die."
"That's really horrible."
"Because of these conditions, the doctors took a blood sample to determine your condition. But taking a blood sample from you didn't only reveal your condition but also your ability."
"If the core is in the heart, I think it's possible."
"For sure. Actually, I'm going to teach you this in Biology, but well, the core produces cells called A.A.C. or Apex Ability Cell, which distributes the core's power throughout the body in the mainstream of the blood."
What a long explanation.
He raises the blue folder. "Moving on, the contents of this folder is your EDS."
So that's why I didn't receive mine.
"The reason why I didn't give this earlier is it's a sensitive subject." he lowers his voice.
"Why's that?"
"Please read it."
"Thank you."
The paper is a light shade of apple green. On the topmost part, both in Hangul and English is indicated that it is EDS.
Hmm... Let's see.
Age: 16
Height: 182 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Eye color: Black
This is the info I wrote when I enrolled myself. I flip the paper on the other side.
Ability: Unidentified
Power Level: 4,320 aa
Classification Division: Paradigm
Ability Level: Level 1.
I don't understand.
"Excuse me, sir, can I ask you a question?"
"I think you really should."
"How many Class Divisions are there in the system?"
"There are 4: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3. All of them vary in strength, but there's no doubt that Class 4 is the strongest among all."
"I thought so too, but why's the one written here says Paradigm? Class Division Paradigm."
His eyes become smaller.
"That's the reason why it's a sensitive subject."
"Sorry?"
"Your ability is unidentified, and it's impossible to happen here where all scientific advancements have sprouted."
So?
"And your Class Division is not a member of any existing standards here."
Why?
"Your Power Level is above 4000 aa. Normally, a Sken wouldn't even reach that level. Not even the most powerful ones. In fact, no one in history ever got this high."
"Really?"
"So do you get what I mean?"
"I do—"
He gets out of the chair. "You are." he walks closer. "The most." he kneels. "Powerful Sken in the history of Vex City."
What?! "Are you serious?"
His expression becomes calm.
"Of course. I'm not joking or taking you for a good time."
Something springs in me, and in a second, I can hear my heartbeat in my ears.
"Hey, don't drop your EDS."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's yours now. Take good care of it."
"Yeah..."
"But, don't tell anyone about your ability yet. It will surely cause a commotion outside."
"I understand. I'll keep my mouth shut."
He pats me on the shoulder.
"I think that you should go now. You still need to visit and join a club."
I completely forgot about that.
"By the way, what club are you interested in?"
"I'm quite interested in the Art Club of this school. That's if there is one."
"That's great. Our school has, of course."
He glances at the wall clock.
"So, should I attend you there?"
"You don't need to because you're busy with paper works. But if you can, just tell me where's it exactly."
"I'll accompany you there."
"If you say so. Thank you."
He stands from his desk and walks to the hallway.
"I didn't know you're interested in arts."
"I'm really fond of it, but let's see if I can make it through them."
We make a left turn at the intersection of hallways. I've never been to this place, but the structure is still similar to the rest of the school. Wooden floorboards, white walls, and a small chandelier.
"Here. This their clubroom." he's gestured to the room on the right.
I bow. "Thank you, sir."
"Think of it as a payback since I took your time earlier."
Mr. An leaves. Now, I'm left standing in Room 1032. They might not understand my English, but here goes nothing. I open the door.
What fronts my line of sight is a wide room.
Or maybe it's wide because only a few furniture are present.
Several students are standing. They're gazing at me.
"And who are you?" a girl older than me asks in a sharp tone.
"Good afternoon. I'm a 1st Year student from the pilot section."
She rolls her eyes. "Great. Exactly what we need."
What's her problem?
"Heh. Hahaha." she bursts into laughter suddenly. "Right? Everyone."
The students at the back raise their brows, some look away, while there's a boy who keeps on leaning against the wall. He's smirking.
"What?! You don't agree with me?"
A boy with amber hair, swept bangs on his forehead goes toward us.
"You're scaring the 1st Year Student, Sunjin." by this, he grabs the girl by the arm. He drags her from me."
"Please excuse her," he says in English. "I'm the club president, Tangop Choi, a 3rd Year student from the pilot section. Nice to meet you."
The club president offers his hand. I grab it in a firm handshake.
"Good afternoon. I'm Isaiah Matthew Cruz. Nice to meet you."
"Please excuse Sunjin."
The girl or Sunjin is residing in the corner of the wall. Her arms remain across her chest as if she's guarding herself while she's looking on the floor.
"She really developed hatred towards 1st Year students from the pilot section. Let's just say she didn't have a very pleasant experience last year from one of them."
"More on like those students had beaten her in last year's audition for the inter-school competition." the boy leaning to the wall tells mockingly.
"That's not true at all! I'm just sick that day, that's why he'd beaten me."
"You mean sick in your head?"
The other club members make eye contact with each other.
"Anyway,"
My attention shifts to the president. He stands tall and leveled.
"Yes?"
"You're late! Good thing that I haven't left yet or else you won't be coming back here again."
"Yeah. Because someone just escaped the asylum." the boy suggests.
Sunjin shoots another glare.
"I'm sorry. My teacher had me run on some errands after class."
"I thought all teachers are advised to dismiss classes early. And holding us beyond the last period's not an exception," the president says.
His stare gets sharp. "You know, I despise tardiness."
"I'm really sorry."
"It's fine just for this time. Anyway, are you pursuing our club?"
"I am."
"If that's the case, you need to undergo the audition we're holding on the last Friday of the month."
"Ok. I'm willing to participate."
"But mind you, there are already 30 1st Year students who came. They also wanted to join the club. But when I told them about the audition, half of them backed out. What do you say?"
"I'm still willing to join."
"The judges are professionals. Are you still willing?"
"Yeah. I can do that much."
"Very well then. What area do you specialize in?"
"Painting."
"What kind of painting?"
I actually don't remember but according to Anne... "Portraits. I can paint both in Oil and Acrylic."
Sunjin clicks her tongue.
"For the audition, you must bring all your materials, alright? We won't provide anything except for the canvas so you need to bring your paint, brush, pallet, and thinner," the club president says at once.
I nod.
"Alright. Thank you for your visit. See you at the audition."
"Thank you. Thank you, everyone."
I bow then wave my hand.
I leave the clubroom.
I need to buy supplies because the pencil set from Anne is the only supply I've brought. Well, I should give her a call later.
"Hey!"
I turn to the sound of the voice. A girl with pale skin, brown hair, and small round eyes is approaching me. Our eyes meet, black to dark brown.
"Sorry. Haven't we met before?"
"I'm from the art club."